507 : Production I

My first semester of film school (USC calls it 507) wrapped up after a 4+ month crash course of how to make a film. In May we ended with a bang – a 507 student film screening.


Picture from the 507 screening.


Our first semester at USC was not supposed to have a film screening. After hearing my peers announce numerous times that it would be great to watch each other’s films, I knew we needed to have a 507 Screening. So I volunteered myself to organize it.

Everyone submitted their best of 3 films made during the semester. The first 30 given to me by a certain date & time were played in the new School of Cinematic Arts theatre.

I found out that some people were calling the festival “AshFest” since I was organizing it. I secretly hoped someone had made t-shirts!

The night of the screening was a great way to celebrate our semester and see each other’s accomplishments. A lot of the actors in our films came, so they got to see themselves on the big screen. I personally had an amazing time showing my film. People came up to me afterward to tell me how much they loved my film and laughed so hard during it. My actors kept hugging me and telling me how much fun they had working on it. It was a great night for everyone!

This was my promotional photo for my 507 film project, “STUCK.”

Summer

When summer came some of us went home to work and some stayed in LA to work at non-paying internships or jobs in the area. I stayed AND I went home – working both times. Film school is expensive! I need the money. Click here to read my blog posts about my position at Mark Burnett Productions and here to read about working for Entertainment Tonight in North Carolina.

Our professors told us to relax over the summer because our next semester course, 508, would be especially stressful. I worked 12 hour days at Mark Burnett Productions for a little over 2 months…not the best way to relax! I enjoyed the final 3 weeks of my summer break while at home and slept as much as I could. I got back to LA on Wednesday August 19th and began pre-production that very day.