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First Year: My LA Retrospective — Part 1

What I learned, and what I'd advise to my past self.

By Matthew SnyderPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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The Endless Horizons of Santa Monica Beach. Always a motivator for me.

Howdy y'all. Today, I'd like to divulge into a topic that is always pecking at a brain. I mean 24/7, you're about to lose hours of sleep type of thinking. Even as I’m typing, I’m finding myself rifling through moments upon moments of glee, moments of despair and ample amounts of everything in between. So, to keep these at reasonable lengths, I’ll probably be shaping the story into multiple parts. But without further a due, let’s talk about my first experience trying to “break” into LA and Hollywood.

Now first, who is this story being told for? Well besides my own sanity, I’m hoping this reaches some of the thousands upon thousands of hopeful dreamers out there in college, taking out student loans, getting education, and aren’t completely advised on how to be fully prepared for what really lies ahead. This isn’t so much for them to “not make my mistakes,” but simply it’s a chance for anyone to learn from my experience and better prepare themselves for what lies ahead. Because I truly believe the things I didn’t prepare myself for are universally unavoidable. You’re going to deal with them, but being prepared will affect just how much they affect your situation. Also keep in mind, this isn’t limited to just entertainment but any profession.

Let’s jump into my pre-move decisions. Basically, what did I do to prepare for what I thought my biggest challenges would be? Growing up in Phoenix, AZ and coming from a large police family, I had been struggling to find my niche for what I wanted to do with my life. I’m sure I’m not alone with that one. After a few years of testing the waters taking Criminal Justice and Fire Science courses, I got lucky and found something special when I took my first Screenwriting course. Being at the community college, this course didn’t have the activity you’d find from a major university. In fact, it was the first time the course had enough students sign up in something like three or four years. It has the writings of destiny written all over it, at least for those hopeless romantics like myself. From that point, I knew what world I wanted to be involved in, the world of film and, specifically, story building. The next step was obvious at the time, get an education in it. So, coming from a middle-class family, I stayed local and was admitted to Arizona State University, which required me to take on student loans. With excitement beyond believe driving me, I soared forward. I also made one of the first great decisions to ready myself for an eventual move to LA, and I worked full-time while going to school. This allowed me to pay for part of my schooling, which dramatically decreased the amount of debt I would build up from the loans. This is something I think every single person who takes out student loans should do. However, this dedication to working full-time would eventually lead me to my first mistake as well.

So, I was doing the school thing and having a blast learning about the business; the history, the current players, all while working on small projects here and there for classes. You might be asking, “just what was the mistake?” The mistake was continuing to work my retail job instead of building my resume with internships while I could. Now many of you could be saying, “duh!” I would simply ask you to slow your roll a second. I did do an internship before leaving school for LA, as it was required by the school. With that said, I used a huge chunk of my saving to work the internship IN LA, for a relatively active production company. I learned vast amounts during my time there, and made a good contact within the business who has tried to help me during my time in LA. At the time, after having such a successful experience in LA, I thought it might be more beneficial to work into my loans more before leaving school. Had that contact worked out differently, and I had landed a paying job, then things would have played out slightly different.

Unfortunately, that card did not pan out. Did I put too many eggs into one basket? Perhaps, but the positive experience at the time made it seem extremely obtainable. Looking back, I would certainly advise myself to build up that resume more when I could. It would have served to better my chances of getting interviews, even though it should be noted that you're up against thousands upon thousands of other hopefuls with just as much, if not more, experience. It's such a large pool of hopefuls that having any edge to landing a paying gig are minute. So, with the coming mistakes to talk about, we'll see just what is really needed to edge yourself over the competition.

With all that said, the lack of working unpaid internships before leaving Phoenix may have kept me from being chosen for paying jobs in LA, more on that later, but something else was the driving force to me not finding work. Because I did find opportunities to work, but I couldn’t commit to them. Because of money, the next mistake I didn’t foresee and plan enough for as I moved into LA, and ultimately, the biggest challenge to overcome.

Next up in Part 2, we will talk about my interviewing experiences; the good and the bad, how time become the most valuable resource with not enough to spare, and the cost of living, specifically in LA, being the next mistake that I hadn’t planned enough for.

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About the Creator

Matthew Snyder

Howdy y’all! Who am I? Well it’s quite simple. I’m a rootin’ tootin’ outdoor adventurer. A sensitive, introverted poet. A funny guy, a jester who is sometimes too sarcastic for his own good. A film connoisseur. I’m Matt. Hello and welcome.

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