March 4th heralded the first run of CAL’s new week-long study away program in Los Angeles, CA. Seven students, including myself, who were currently studying within the College of Arts and Letters were selected to participate on this trip that centered on networking with creative alumni in the entertainment industry on the west coast. Burgers were stolen, it was “cold”, and everyone in Hollywood wanted us to take their tour, but the group of us prevailed and saw as much of the city as we could bear to stay awake for.
Outside of visiting the big time movie production lots and the beach and the great food, one of the big highlights of the trip for me especially was visiting mOcean and talking with a handful of the employees.
mOcean is a film and tv promotion vendor, meaning they produce materials like trailers, posters and websites for big time movie and series advertising. The interior design of their Burbank location was the epitome of vintage nautical quirkiness that could only house the most creative of individuals. For a look into what I’m talking about, check out their instagram.
Everyone that we met with had a genuine desire to help us as much as they could with each of our dreams, and I truly feel that everyone came back from that trip much better off than when they set out a week prior. Over the course of 5 days, we visited with Katie VonTill ( the new voice of Snow White), Alexandra Pia of DAX, mOcean, Disney Studios, Ghost House Pictures, Trailer Park Inc, Telepictures, Warner Bros’ Laurie Parres and Jim Falkenstein, Peter Stougaard, Jack Epps, Steve Van Wormer of Fox, and many recent and not so recent MSU alumni who now live in LA.
Needless to say, the program was chock full of opportunities for all of us to expand and develop our professional relationships with our eyes looking toward the future. Hopefully this program continues to grow and evolve with each coming year, as I firmly believe it puts everything into context for students pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.