Hey Eckhardt!

Think about the future!



That's what I've been up to... sort of. I graduate in April (barring failed classes) and with that brings the excitement of new beginnings! and the terror of the end of the current status quo.

I'm a pretty sedimentary kind of guy. I like to root down and sit for a while (you know get comfortable and get to know people) then once I have a basic set of friends I'm down to go where ever. I've got the friends and the down-for-where-ever thing all set but the two ideas don't seem to want to work together, and that's frustrating.


(THE FOLLOWING BLOG CAN BE FILED UNDER "POOR ME")


So dig this right?

I'm finally at the school of my dreams (Full Sail University) and I love it. Love love love it, it's everything I hoped it would be but with the minor complaints attached as expected. It's a film school and I'm learning to do something that I think I can love and actually do for the rest of my life. -comics notwithstanding-

What I really don't like is a lot of my classmates and I'm sure that will disappear with time. Right now most of them are pure potential stuck inside a teenager's body, so take my old man view of the world ("turn down your music!", "What do you mean naps don't sound like fun?") and my military established work ethic ("get it done quickly so we can go home to quiet and naps!") and combine those with relative children who have never held down a job before and my patience just flies out the window.

What bothers me most about The Children is that their collective over-eagerness is too unfocused. They're trying so hard to set new bars and blow down doors that they've forgotten to look at how the bars were placed there and check out the materials that make up the doors. Plus each one wants to have the highest role they can have in production (which is great as an overall goal but put it in perspective and learn the rolls of the little guy. It's important to know the work you'll be doing right out of school. -see it's alllll coming around I swear-)





So we're gearing up for entry into the "real world" filled with mythical "jobs" and "bills" and new things that they keep describing to us all for the first time in frightening detail. (get this... apparently you have to be polite and dress nice for job interviews!) For those of you who aren't keeping track, I'm going to be 28 in November -my wishlist is on my profile-.

Now I have three options ahead of me and I'm going to write them out in as much detail as I can in hopes that my stress will transfer itself to the interwebs and allow me to sleep.

(I figured out to post pics on here! I'm all happy)




So I have:

1. My WISHFUL plan
2. My EASY(er) plan
3. My SUPER HARD BUT ULTIMATELY REWARDING plan

1. WISHFUL: My buddies Eric and Yorgo are moving to Chicago in hopes of landing entry level film jobs while pursuing a passion project by Yorgo in the form of a documentary and I would love to head out there with them. It's also the most likely scenario in which I could convince my best friend Joe to come with me :P

This plan is the pipe dream of the bunch. Perfect world in which I get to stick with my buddies from school and bring in my best friend, but overall it seems to be a bit touchy and the job opportunities that I want just don't exist there.


2. EASY(er): New Orleans in a post-Katrina world is looking to boost revenue with a burgeoning film program, and it's working. Low cost of living mixed with a high rate of employment add to the allure. I don't really know anyone heading out this way but with a lower cost of living and a revolving door of projects coming through all the time, the opportunity to get my foot in the door is definitely there.

Of the three, this seems to be the most accessible in terms of starting out, but again running into the reality of knowing nobody hangs like a dark cloud over everything (I'm sure I'll get over it, I always do). While the revolving door option sounds good I kind of like the idea of staying with one production company and learning my craft with a group who does it a specific way instead of adjusting to many different ways. Joe won't move to New Orleans.


3. SUPER HARD BUT ULTIMATELY REWARDING: L.A. Yikes. This one is by far the most difficult of the three. It scares me the most but also fills me with a huge amount of hope. Perfect world scenario I get to intern at Marvel Studios or Mutant Enemy or something like that and I get work side by side with my heroes right outside the box (again PERFECT world, not naive expectation).

Realistically this could bite me in the butt quickly. It has literally caused me a lack of sleep in the last month. I know NOBODY in L.A. and I've only spent about 4 days out there and that was just on Hollywood Blvd. so.... yikes.






A good X-Factor included in this is my GI Bill. I plan on working on my Master's Degree in Creative Writing through Full Sail online over the course of the next year and that should allow me some extra cash (and also supremely help out with 1. and 3.).

I think I'm going to lean towards L.A. and try for an unpaid internship while working on my masters.

But I don't know.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading.

Lesson over.