Week Two in L.A

Well...it's Monday, so this report will be for slightly more than one week. Oh well. Let's see what I can remember about this last week, the second of sixteen. We finished up our two weeks of orientation which means that our schedule will begin to take on a degree of normalcy, so that's nice. The last two Sundays I have attended a church called Ecclesia: Church In Hollywood (www.curchinhollywood.com). I really enjoyed it. Great worship (a congregation not afraid of a little volume during worship...no offense to anyone, just one of my little pet peeves), great preaching, and a an overall nice environment. The church is located at Hollywood and Highland, meets in an old theatre, and is smack in the middle of some not so, well...churchy places :-) Great place for a church and it's right on the Hollywood walk of fame...too neat!
I started my internship with Beverly Holloway (Beverly Holloway Casting..."The Ultimate Gift" among others) and Dave Ross at Dean River Productions. I'm very excited about this opportunity. It'll be well-rounded and give me a chance to see a larger part of the industry whereas many places only allow you to see one piece to the puzzle. In fact, this Thursday I'll be in a development meeting for a project they are working on. Yesterday I read the script and started doing character breakdowns. Love it.
What else? I shot my first project for my Motion Picture Production class sunday evening. Working with a different camera made me a little nervous, but the footage seems to look alright. It felt a little chaotic and we even a little old Asian lady yell at us and threaten to call security. Ah, the joys of student filmmaking! :-)
Anyway, on Wednesday I'll find out if I've been chosen to direct one of the five main films that we will do this semester, and I'll find out if they chose my script as one of those five as well. The script I'm not so concerned about, but I'll honestly be a little disappointed if I don't get to direct. I'll get over it and my next choice is producing which means I'll have a big hand in casting and scheduling meetings, etc and I can live with that :-)
What else? I found out that one of my best friends bought me a plane ticket home at Easter, when we have our spring break, to see my family. God has surrounded me with such wonderful people and I'm overwhelmed. I wish our break was sooner and not so close to the end of the semester since the last couple days especially I've found myself really missing Lori and the kids. Like right now as I'm typing this everything's quiet and nothing's going on...these are the moments when I feel their absence the most. Many times there are so many things going on that my mind is occupied/distracted, so that's helping :-)
We had a week of nothing but rain. WOO HOO for SOCAL! We finally got some more 60-65 with sunshine and I'm loving it!
Met up with some Asbury grads the other night at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal City. That was a lot of fun...stupidly expensive food, but a lot of fun :-)
Then on Saturday, the 24th, our entire class headed out tot he L.A. Dream Center. I was assigned to a bus that I was told was going to skid row. I'm not going to lie: I was a bit scared. I texted Lori and the kids, "I love you guys very much." You know? Just in case I died. Anyway, we went to a "hotel" which is kind of a last stop before the streets. People living in one room. some of them with kids, some by themselves, but all their belongings are crammed into these little rooms with them. We handed out food down in the lobby and then the regular dream center people went around from door to door and asked any of us if we wanted to go. Everything in me wanted to stay right there in the safe lobby. So, I decided to step violently out of my comfort zone, my mind and body fighting each other each step I took. It was amazing. These people that reach out and build relationships every week with these people living at this "hotel" just blew me away. Their heart for these hurting people and their sincerity really touched me. We handed out food to people that couldn't walk down to the lobby, talked and prayed with them. I've never experienced anything quite like it.
As we rode home on the bus I asked one of the girls in my group how she got involved with the dream center. She shared her testimony and how she goes downtown every weekend to pass out food and talk to the people and then she goes again on Thursdays and Sundays to offer them rides to church. Her passion for the people is amazing. Then she asked the question that I didn't want to answer. "How about you?" I was looking forward to the outing, I thought it would be a great experience, but it was a class requirement. So, you can imagine how little I felt having to say, "Well, I'm a student, and...uh...well, for this class we're taking..." You see what I mean. Anyway...There's so much I could say but I don't have time right now. We can talk more when I get home. :-)
So, that's that. I jumped around a little and probably left stuff out, but it gives you the basic idea.
Well, until next time...love you all!