CBI Awards

So, my broadcast of UT vs Kansas State from Fall 2010 is officially a finalist in the CBI Student Production Awards! Now we just need the win. This is the only program from TSTV that was nominated and TSTV hasn't had a win in a long time. I would love to put another trophy in our case. Thanks to the entire crew that helped me put this all together.

Internship, Done and Dusted

My internship is complete. I know I did not update this as much as I said I would but that is because I did not want to take any risks by divulging too much information.

The highlight of the trip though was having breakfast with Hamish Hamilton and then being invited by him to shadow him during a gig in England. Yes, Done and Dusted flew me out to England for a week to follow Hamish Hamilton around while he directed T4 On The Beach. It was the highlight of my life so far and I am forever loyal to Done and Dusted for it.

I made great contacts and I am booked to do PA work for 3 upcoming gigs which I will let you know about as soon as they are set in stone.

Thank you Meghan, Ian, Hamish, Simon, Mel, Katy, Rich, Victoria, and Ashley for everything you have done for me this summer. I now know that not everyone in this business is a complete asshole.

My First IMDB Credit

Oh yeah, I kinda just got my first IMDB.com credit for the George Lopez gig. I am now among the elite, lol. I guess it's pretty cool that I am actually searchable on the site now.

Looks like I am down 83% in popularity. lol

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3939910/

NYC Update

I know that I have not been updating but with good reason. Alot of amazing things have been happening and my gut was telling me not to reveal too much information onto the internet. I don't want to take any chances of messing it up. I don't think I should talk about company business on my blog.

I can tell you a few big points:

1) I met Hamish Hamilton, one of my idols in the business. I have started to work closely with him and it is amazing. He is the best television director in the world. Check him out on IMDB.com. He is also an extremely nice and cool guy.

2) NYC is amazing. I haven't had a knockout meal yet but it's coming.

3) I am being kept busy working on major television events. There are even some interstitial ideas that I came up with that they are going to use in the shows.

4) I pitched my event idea to my boss and he seemed very entertained by the idea. He is sitting on the idea for now, but I really think he likes it.

5) All of the people I work with are totally awesome. They are making me feel welcome. I really feel like I could fit in here really well.

Give me some time to really settle in this place and establish myself and then I will MAYBE speak more freely about what I have been doing here. I am still committed to this blog though and the journey that it will depict. Hopefully it will inspire others to pursue their dreams no matter how "unrealistic"(I use quotations because being realistic is the path to mediocrity) they may seem.

NYC

Alright, tonight is my last night in Austin before I leave to Manhattan. From here on out I will be telling all my stories and posting all my pictures for the next 9 weeks. Day 1 starts tomorrow.

Prepping for NYC

So all of the grant money is in my account, I have booked my air travel for June 3 - August 14, and my accommodations are booked as well. I am set and ready to go. All I have to do now is put together the final touches on the pitch that I am going to present to them. I have been working on this idea for a few months now and pitching it to Done and Dusted one of my main goals when I get to NYC.

So I will be living in Midtown near Macy's and I will be there for 9- 10 weeks.

Until next time...

NYC Here I Come!!

So I had my interview today for the Wofford Denius Music Industry Grant. I guess I impressed them enough to a point where they offered me $8000 towards my summer in NYC with Done and Dusted!! I didn't even ask for $8000. I asked for $6800. If I didn't get this money I do not know how the hell I would get out there and live there for 3 months. Probably next to impossible.

Now it is time for me to start looking for places to live in Manhattan!

Thank you sooooo much Wofford Denius Program. I am forever grateful.

Got an Interview!

So I got an interview with the Wofford Denius Grant program! It's on Friday at 12:30. Preparing the best I can, getting a haircut today and hunting around for a friend with a suit coat.

Hamish Hamilton

Here's an interview with Hamish Hamilton, One of the founders of Done and Dusted. Also one of the best directors in the biz.

Here is Hamish Directing a U2 Concert

Grant Application

So I just finished putting together my application for the Wofford Denius Music Industry Grant. This grant could get me up to $8000 to use towards my summer in New York with Done and Dusted Productions. Pretty much, if I don't get this money, my dream may be shot. I will fight my hardest to get myself out there but it's going to be quite a struggle.

I put my heart and soul into this application. Just payed $20 at Kinko's to get it nicely binded even though I have about $150 to last me the next 5 weeks. So let the anticipation begin because I am turning it in bright and early tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

South by Southwest

So SXSW 2010 was an amazing experience for me. It started out with my photog buddy Chris hooking me up with an all access badge. This badge got me in everywhere except it was not mine. Some guy left back to LA and gave it to Chris who gave it to me. So around the 3rd day I got it taken at Stubbs. They saw the picture that didn't match my face and snatched it. I was practically in tears because that badge was such a rare opportunity.

Luckily I managed to weasel my way into something else before I got the badge taken. On my 2nd day I went into a venue called Pure Volume House. While I was in there I noticed that there was a 3 camera crew setup with a tricaster. I was like "I know how to use that stuff". So I went up to one of the guys working and asked him if I they needed any help. As a matter of fact they did and welcomed me on board their crew. They put me on camera and it turned out to be the most fun I've ever had. I spent 5 days filming bands from 1pm to 3am.

The production crew was called Bay Area Tone and they were shooting videos to be posted on PureVolume.com. I could go on for days with all of the stories I got from that experince like filming on a stage that collapsed because the crowd flooded it during Travie McCoy and getting burrito's and beer thrown at my face while people moshed to Andrew WK.

The best part though was that I got to direct two sets, one of them being the band Holy F#*K. This was the first time I got to direct a Live concert! I don't know how I felt about the results but it was my first and I had a blast.

Thank you so much to Bay Area Tone. Y'all are the coolest and I am forever grateful for the opportunity you gave me. You guys made this the best Spring Break of my life.

You can check out the footage at PureVolume.com

I was a part of Texas History!

TSTV got hired to produce the broadcast of the first NCAA Division Lacrosse game ever played in the state of Texas. So I was called in to direct it. We used a tricaster that streamed it live over the internet. It was a great learning experience and was lots of fun.

DONE and DUSTED

I just got the internship of my dreams for summer 2010. After watching the 82nd annual academy awards I waited for the credits to roll and I wrote down the name of the director. His name is Hamish Hamilton. I like to look up directors to see what they've done and this guy blew the rest out of the park. Hamish Hamilton has directed U2 Concerts, Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows, VMA's, and various events in Europe including T4 on the Beach.

Buuuuut, guess what else he directed this year...... THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW!!!

Yeah I know. Holy Shit right? I just acted on impulse and decided to call up his production company Done and Dusted to see if they can offer me an internship this summer. I spoke to a woman named Aurora and she told me to send over my resume. I followed up a week later and she told me to get on over to New York City.

I AM GOING TO BE WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE LIVING MY DREAM!

I mean, this is like a high school basketball player getting to spend the summer with Michael Jordan. I am so pumped! Now all I have to worry about is getting the funding because I am broke.

My friend mentioned a music industry scholarship that UT offers. I looked it up and it is the Wofford Denius Music Industry Internship Grant. For the past week I have been putting my heart and soul into the application. I've put in pictures, a detailed budget, and a personal statement that puts my heart out on the table. If I get this my summer will be set. If not, I will weasel my way out there somehow because this opportunity will not be missed.

Check out DoneandDusted.com to see what this company is all about.

Catch Up: NBC

So at the HBO gig I made friends with the Local Coordinator Julie Stewart. A month later she was rounding up people to work on a Notre Dame game that was being played in San Antonio at the Alamodome. So she called me up and asked me if I was on board. I of course said yes and booked a motel in San Antonio on Halloween weekend. Who needs college parties when I can work for NBC.

They put me on as a Utility for the A2. Basically I was working right alongside the guy that put together the announcers booth and hooking up all of the announcer audio. I learned so much working with the A2. He answered any questions I had about anything and I took advantage of that because I had a million to ask.

I spent the second half of the game in the replay section of the production truck. That was waaaaayyy cooler than I ever thought it would be. There are like 8 people working together on replay and it is such a fast paced environment. Such and awesome experience.

TELUSTRATOR!!!!

Catch up: ESPN

ESPN contacted TSTV, the student television station I work for, and needed some production assistants for the the UT vs Colorado game. I rounded up some of my Live Sports Volunteers and we went to work.

I was basically running cable for the crane camera but I met the director and got to interview him for a project a few weeks later. Great experience.

Catch Up: George Lopez HBO Special

So in case I haven't told you yet, I am from Los Angeles. Growing up in central LA introduces you to some cool people.

In high school I was in a band with few of my buddies. The lead vocalist was a kid named Jazz. We became pretty good friends and still keep in touch. Not until sometime after the band did I become aware that his dad is one of the best live directors in the business. Marty Callner is the king of HBO Specials and various other projects including Rolling Stones Concerts and Aerosmith music videos.

Well, during summer break 2009 I got to sit down with Marty, He told me that he had an HBO special with George Lopez coming up in San Antonio. So of course I had to ask him if I could come help with the production and being as cool as he is, he welcomed me fully. Marty Callner gave me my first professional experience in Live Television and I am forever grateful to him for that. He even let me sit in the truck while he directed.

There is so much more about this experience that made it great like hanging out with Emmy Winning director Michael d. Schulz and making contacts that would eventually help me in the future.

Check out Marty's website at MartyCallner.com

What I've been doing at UT

So the final piece of catch up is what I've been doing at the University of Texas up to this point. Since I am kind of getting tired of typing all of this catch up I am going to be brief.

Basically I have been directing tons of studio shows and Live Sports productions. I was hired on as staff at TSTV as the Live Sports Director/ Executive Producer. The games we produced were broadcast to 5 major markets in Texas. The games I have produced, without a doubt, had the highest production value of any previous game shot at that station. I was determined to maxmize our potential and now I have reset the bar of what is expected out of a TSTV Live Sports Broadcast. Yadda Yadda Yadda, everyday I'm hustling so that I can continue to reap the rewards of hard work. What an awesome drug.

Texas Bound

Something changed in me. I don't what what happened but when I started Santa Moncia Community College I became a work horse. For the entire four semesters that I attended my life solely consisted of school and my girlfriend. I would spend hours in the library everyday, study for tests weeks in advance, wake up extra early to do homework, and attend as many office hours as possible. I was completely devoted to school and determined to transfer to a major university.

Around my second semester I started searching for school to transfer to. The criteria was a University that had a student television station that produces live sports. My dream wasn't necessarily to direct sports games but they are the most challenging live broadcasts offered at the university level. I had to be a part of it. This school turned out to be the University of Texas at Austin. Their student television station, TSTV, does live broadcasts of UT sports and has a studio that produces content daily.

I used some money I had saved up and flew out to Austin to see it with my own eyes. After speaking with the station manager and the admissions advisor I was decided. I was going to do whatever it took to get into the University of Texas. I went across the street, bought myself a Longhorns cap and told myself that I was going to wear that hat everyday single day until I get my acceptance letter in the mail. I did just that; didn't wash the cap either. For six months I woke up every morning, put that cap on, and studied my ass off. That cap was a constant reminder of why all the sacrifices I was making were worth it.

After four semesters of hard work I put together my application with a transcript that showed a 3.7 GPA. I went from a 1.5 in high school to a 3.7 in college. I was amazed at myself and my parenta were still having a hard time believing it. It felt so good to make them happy.

I was in San Francisco when it happened. I was at a restaurant with a group of friends when my phone rang. I stepped away from the table and my admissions advisor Lisa Lockhart said a hello. I was surprised that I was getting a call from her but not too surprised because we had built a friendly relationship throughout my application process. I asked her what the call was about and she told me that she just wanted to let me know that after reviewing my application that they want to welcome me to the University of Texas.

My knees went weak. It was such an unreal moment for me. My whole life no one, including myself, ever believed that I could go to college, especially a tier 1/public ivy university. This day taught me a lesson that I needed to learn so badly: Nothing worth while in life comes easy. If you want big things in life, you are going to have to fight for it with your life. This is how I am going to achieve my dreams. With blood, sweat, and tears.

There's my Longhorn Cap that I never took off. Also my good friend Chris that drove with me out to Texas.

Mom and sister Sloane

After the Band

After I left the band I took some time off from life and decided to figure out how I want to go about life from here. I mean, I had nothing to show for myself. I was never a good student. I was the class clown and I spent my weekends chasing girls. My options were 1) get a day job and 2) go to community college.

Now I had no reason to believe that I would be successful in school because of my 1.5 GPA in high school. I mean, that is just retarded. But the thing is, I knew that I didn't want to be doomed to a day job for the rest of my life. I wanted to accomplish big things in my life that I knew that i was capable of. I will not settle for a mediocre life.

I remeber the moment when I sat down in my living room with my dad to tell him my plan. I told him that I need to be successful. I want to be a great director one day and if I'm going to do that, I'm going to have to go back to school. He looked at me very unconvinced. I think he took me as an idealist, which I kind of am, and thought I would be all about going back to school now but I would eventually give up. I don't blame him though... I mean, 1.5 GPA.

He actually tried to talk me out of it. I think it was because he didn't want to spend the money on tuition and books for me to just give up. I know this is going to sound like a movie moment but I looked at him and told him "I don't want to be a loser Dad. I want to be a winner." I don't know if he believed me at that moment but I don't think I completely believed myself either. I was just going with my instinct and I guess my dad decided to give me a chance.

So here are some pictures of my time in community college. Mainly just some pictures of me with my girlfriend at the time. She's still a good friend because she was an integral part in probably the most important year of my life.

Floating On Six

While I was in high school I played drums for a band called Floating on Six. Playing music was my passion alongside directing. Playing music with a band is just such an awesome escape and it made it even better that we were actually really good. Being as good as we were, we started to truly believe that we had a chance at the whole Rockstar thing.

We (my band and I) realized that we may not ever get the opportunity in our lives again to try and make careers out of music. We figured that since we were 18 and 19 that we could take advantage of our parents love for us a little bit longer and drop out of school, live in their house, and eat their food. You can't really get away with that when you're 30.

So the next two years after high school were all about me chasing the dream of being a Rockstar. We were really good but eventually mixing friendship with work turned into a bad concoction. Without going into specifics, I left the band and went immediately back to my ultimate passion. Live TV.

We are all still really good friends. It took about a year or so after the breakup but now every time I go home to visit we have a good o'l jam session. The chemistry is still there.

Some more KBEV Pics