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Friends and Family,

I will send a weekly update #8 this coming weekend, but I just wanted to quickly update everyone on the situation with my internship…I have one! It’s much different than what I originally envisioned for my internship, but as I look at the whole process of seeking out an internship, I can clearly see the hand of God guiding me toward this one.

I will save the details until update #8, but just wanted to quickly say one key fact. I am working for Dr. Gyertson’s (the president of Taylor University) daughter’s company. The crazy thing is that I had no idea that it was her company when I decided to interview there.

In Christ,
Dave/David/Shabotz

P.S. Several people e-mailed me the day after I sent my e-mail and wished me a happy belated birthday in response to it. I just wanted to let you all know that my birthday is actually April 28. Looking back on my e-mail, I can see how people could’ve thought that I was saying my birthday was on September 21, but that was just poor communication on my part. Thanks for the birthday wishes though. Happy belated birthday to all you too!

Friends and Family,

Update: Well, 21 is the number of the day today: it’s September 21, I’m 21, and I feel about as 21 as they come.

What does it mean to feel 21 you ask? Well, feeling 21 means feeling stuck between child and adult life…feeling like you ought to know what to do with yourself now that you’re leaving the nest. So how do I feel 21 this week? I’m a senior in college and am right now questioning what I want to do with my life. Sound exciting? Who else out there feels 21 right now? I’m sure I’m not the only senior in college with these feelings of angst.

Yes, it’s been both an exciting, boring, stressful, and fulfilling week of being 21, and I will tell you all about it.

Obviously, you all know that I have wanted to go into filmmaking for a career for quite a while now. Well, I certainly haven’t changed my opinion on the subject, but have done my fair share of questioning about it these past few days. You see, I’m probably in a situation right now that many of you over-committed college students (and maybe adults too) would love to be in…I have almost nothing to do. This is because I still haven’t been placed at an internship for the semester. As such, I have now been out in LA for a whole month this semester, and all I’ve done is go to class 2 hours a day, three days a week.

In one sense, it is very nice to have all this extra free time to just relax, but on the other hand, I am getting more than a little bit frustrated that I still haven’t been grabbed up for an internship yet. I guess I’ve found out these past few weeks that it’s not as easy to get involved in Hollywood as I had thought. I kind of came into the program just thinking that I’d get to pick and choose where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, but now I’m finding that I am just so dependant on these companies needing and wanting me…and really, it’s not about me choosing where I want to go, but it’s much more just about pointing toward where I’d like to go, and then hoping that that place will choose me. This reversal of fortunes has really functioned to humble me, and for that I’m grateful…but at the same time, it has been really tough and frustrating.

I’ve talked to various people who work in the industry that describe their work as essentially just doing any job they’re hired to do, and then waiting around for the next job. Right now, you could say that I’m experiencing what it feels like to wait around for the next job, and I can frankly tell you that I don’t like the feeling at all, and as the feeling extends on into more and more weeks, I like it progressively less.

So is my angst with waiting around a good reason to question my calling into the film industry? Not necessarily, but I must admit that I have had some of those feelings off and on these past few weeks as I’ve been waiting to start my internship.

But then there have been other things happening out here that have completely reaffirmed my desire to go into the film industry. For example, last weekend, I mentioned some of my thoughts about where I’d like to intern to a friend. She has been producing television out here for many years, and she immediately said that she was friends with my potential future boss, and volunteered to write me a really nice letter of recommendation.

When I see people so willing to help me out like that, it is such an encouragement, and reaffirmation that this is where I should be.

So yeah, like I said at the beginning of the e-mail, it’s been both an exciting, boring, stressful, and fulfilling week of being 21…in other words, it’s just been another week of life. (Is it just me, or does that totally sound like it could be a voice-over by Fred Savage in a Wonder Years episode?) I’ve covered the whole spectrum of human emotion this past week, and that’s life.

Prayer: Well, I wrote up a weekly update last week, and never actually got around to sending it to y’all, so I’ll just include the prayer section of last week’s e-mail here.

Written 9-13-03

I’ve been much better at being disciplined with prayer and reading Scripture this past week, so that’s definitely an answer to prayer since my last weekly update. I think a big part of the reason I’ve been better at that is the fact that the church I went to last Sunday (and Thursday too) had a sermon that really motivated me to follow through on that goal. So yeah, I’m still looking around to see what church I want to stick with in LA, but the one I went to last week was very good and could very well end up being my home church out here.

In regard to the internship, please remain in prayer that I would get set up with one that is well-suited for me, and that teaches me a lot about the film industry. Like I said, I still haven’t gotten set up with one, and am getting a little frustrated, but I know God is in control of the whole situation.

Also, as I mentioned last week, grad school applications are still looming over my head, and I really ought to get those done soon…before everything picks up with my internship. So please pray that I would be disciplined to get the applications done. At this point, I am applying to USC and UCLA.

OK, now I’ll add in a quick fourth one based on what I wrote this week: I’m kind of going through the typical “I’m a senior in college…what am I gonna do with my life?” syndrome right now, and would appreciate prayer for that. It’s kind of odd to be having these questions, because I’ve always felt so sure of where I was going. I definitely still do feel confident of where I’m going in life…just to a lesser degree these past few days. I guess other things that I have considered doing with my life are composing music, writing books, being a college professor, being a pastor, and then there’s a vast amount of possibilities within the film industry (director of photography, director, editor, screenwriter, etc.)

The tough thing about all these different options is that I have felt a very strong draw to basically every one of these careers at some point in my life, and I could see myself doing any of them. I talked to my parents about all this today, and they recommended taking a career placement test, so I’m going to look into doing that. So yeah, please just pray for guidance as I do some soul-searching about all of this.

Well, I’ll just wrap this e-mail up by saying that I’m all about being real with my thoughts, dreams, and struggles in these e-mails. I guess this one’s a little more focused on my struggles than most of my e-mails, but I hope you still enjoyed this glimpse into my life.

In Christ,

Dave/David/Shabotz

P.S. I still hate emoticons >:- P

Friends and Family,

Update: Well, it’s been quite a while since I last wrote a weekly update, and a lot has happened since then. First, I finished up my time at USC. Second, I went home for a week and a half and just relaxed. Third, I came back out to California and began my semester at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center (LAFSC) in Burbank.

In regard to finishing up my time at USC, the last week proved to be a very interesting experience. As you may recall, I was planning to try and communicate my Christian faith through my final film. Well, I did end up doing that, but nearly gave up on the idea at several points during that final week, because I was running into so many problems with the film, ranging from simple logistic problems like having sets and props not work out, to even bigger problems like not liking the script I had written, and not having time to tweak it. Well, eventually I just went ahead and made the film even though I didn’t feel ready to make it, and now, looking back on the film, I’m not completely sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, several people I showed it to could really identify with its portrayal of finding peace through stillness in God’s presence. But on the other hand, some people I showed it to could not identify with it, and didn’t think the film was very well-done.

So, was the film a success? I guess it all depends on how you look at it. When I first showed it to my class and got negative feedback, I deemed it a failure. But as I look back on it now, I would say that it was in fact a success…simply because I learned from it. I came away from the experience with a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t work in portraying faith through film. And since one of my biggest reasons for making films is to give me a venue through which to express my faith, the things I learned through this film’s negative feedback will inevitably prove valuable as I continue to try and better communicate my faith through my art.

But yes, USC was an incredible experience overall. I can’t say that I suddenly became a world-class filmmaker ready to make the next Citizen Kane while I was there. But what I can say is that I grew immensely as a filmmaker, and had my whole approach to filmmaking transformed during the six-week program.

OK, so I will summarize my USC experience in one sentence: “I learned a lot about making films.” Now I will summarize the semester program I am at right now in one sentence: “I am learning a lot about the film industry.” Yes, it’s a very cool progression I am going through here. I really didn’t even know it would work out this way when I signed up for going to USC right before going to LAFSC, but this is perfect, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to go into filmmaking: First get good at making films, and then learn about the film industry. Actually, I would recommend what I have done even further and say, “First get good at making films on your own. Then take a class on filmmaking, and pick up all the important techniques you missed while teaching yourself. Then learn about the film industry.”

But yes, the reason this semester is teaching me so much about the film industry is because the main component of the semester is a 20-24 hour-per-week internship at a Hollywood production company. I just had my initial interview for my internship on Friday, and it looks like I might be working at 20th Century Fox. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I will let you all know next week when things are solidified.

Since I haven’t actually started the internship yet, I’ve basically done four things up to this point in the semester: 1. spent a lot of time hearing lectures about the film industry in preparation for my internship, 2. spent a little time taking classes on Faith and Film; Screenwriting; and Producing, 3. watched a lot of films, and 4. spent a lot of time hanging out.

Yes folks, you may not believe it, but the majority of my time out here has actually been spent hanging out with my classmates. Don’t jump out of your seats Taylor people. I know you thought I lived in the Geek Room*…but it is true…I’ve only spent about an hour to an hour and a half studying a day so far. That’s because the workload for this semester is just not too intensive. There will be a few big projects like writing a full-length screenplay (and applying for grad school) this semester, but most of the schoolwork looks like it’s not going to take me too much time.

* For all you non-Taylor people, the Geek Room is an after-hours library study room at our school.

So yeah, that’s about all I have to report about my semester out here thus far…oh, except for the fact that I saw a Delorian (sp?) on Friday night. You know, the “Back to the Future” car? I guess that counts as my first major celebrity citing in Hollywood.

Prayer: As I mentioned, my internship is not set in stone yet, and so I’d appreciate prayer as the final details of that come together. Also, please just pray for me to be consistent with various disciplines like prayer and reading Scripture. Also, I must admit that I’m a bit nervous about applying to grad school since the places I’m applying (USC, UCLA, NYU) are basically the Harvards and Yales of film schools, and only 1 out of every 10 applicants get in. So please pray for peace of mind with that. I know God will get me to where He wants me to be…I just forget sometimes, so pray that I’d remember. I guess those are the big requests for me right now. Thanks.

In Christ,
Dave/David/Shabotz

P.S. I hate emoticons :(