On the drive to our first appointment, we passed the Warner Bro’s studio lot. You could say I was fan-girling because Pretty Little Liars is filmed there.

Yes, it’s my guilty pleasure.

Anyways, we met up with Philip Sokoloski. He is the Vice President of Integrated Communications. It was really interesting to hear about the company. Their main goal is to keep film jobs in L.A. They work with neighborhoods and government officials to allow production companies to film in the area.

His advice:

• Get involved with agencies.
• Stay involved in work opportunities.
• Stay involved with PRSSA.

This industry really is all about building relationships and it’s about who you know.

We then met with Jade Stevens. She is a Special Projects Manager for Lagrant Communications. Here are some key points I wrote down:

• Be an expert.
• Go into an internship with goals of what you want.
• Have writing samples.
• Don’t ever second guess yourself.
• Don’t tell yourself no or say why you aren’t good for the position.
• Always put your best foot forward.
• Go above and beyond.

I really like this next one:

• Go to more things by yourself. It will force you to talk to people. 
• Try and go to a networking event every week.
• Be a part of different associations.
• Put yourself on their emailing lists.
• Go to other events besides communication events.
• Go to ANYTHING… you might meet someone who can help you down the line.
• Don’t assume you know everything.
• Ask as many questions as you can.

We walked in downtown Los Angeles and had lunch. We then made our way to Universal CityWalk. Charissa Thompson, a host for Extra, interviewed Ken Jeong and we stood behind while they filmed.

We walked around CityWalk and met up with Gail Moscoso who is the Senior Publicist, Digital Publicity for Universal Studios & CityWalk. We also met Crystal Williams who is over international PR.

These two women were incredible. They took time out of their busy schedules getting things ready for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to meet with us.

Some key points from their presentation:

• Build relationships.
• Be a people person.
• Build a relationship with the assistants.
• “It’s not just your career, it’s your life.”
• “Never burn yourself out for any job.”

We went to The Grove and met up with Cori Fox, an alum of UVU, who works for American Idol Productions. We had dessert at The Cheesecake Factory and heard about her career and what she does. She mentioned how helpful her internships were during college. She works closely with Ryan Seacrest in writing scripts for the live shows. With it being the last season, she was recently offered a position to remain with Fox Studios.

She moved to Los Angeles from Utah. I asked her how she went about finding a place to live and she mentioned ldshousing.net and checking into Facebook groups.

I added her as a friend on Facebook and sent her a One Direction gif on Twitter. She was very down to earth and it was fun to finally meet her. It’s been a long day. We are nearing 1 a.m. and are going to Universal Studios tomorrow. Good night!

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