Life in LA-LA-Land
My first exposure to Los Angeles was in 1983 when my family did a cross-country trip from Florida to California. I barely have any memories about that trip except that I got really sick in the middle of the Universal Studios tour and I got my first exposure to "The New $25,000 Pyramid" and "Child's Play."
I got a better sense of life in Los Angeles when I spent the summer of 1998 here on an Academy of Television Arts and Sciences internship with the show "Home Improvement." It was then that I met many of the people whom I had talked with through the alt.tv.game-shows of days gone by. It was also then that I got a chance to be a game show contestant when I made my appearance on the 1998 version of Match Game. I won $5,000 and that pretty much helped in making my decision to move out to L.A. Thanks, Vicki! (And to think, to this day, I still haven't seen the movie "Raging Bull" all the way through!)
In late June of 1999, I made the big move out here. I moved out here with my friend Murad from college and we roomed together in an apartment in North Hollywood. My first job out here was as a page at CBS (they're those people in the red coats you see in audience of "The Price is Right"). However, barely over a month into my job, I got a call from Bob Boden (whom I met the previous summer) asking if I could take some time off to help him out with a project he was doing for FOX. At the time, I thought he was referring to Fox Family. But before I knew it, I was reporting to dick clark productions, meeting Dick Clark, and working on what was to be FOX's answer to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"..."GREED."
Within a month-and-a-half, we were up and running. Chuck Woolery was named our host and we were headed for prime-time. It was a true baptism by fire. We had million dollar moments, special episodes, fans and not-so-much fans, all over the span of less than a year. Within months of starting at "Greed," I went from production assistant to researcher to writer. It was there that I met producer Jeff Mirkin, who like Bob Boden, would be a key figure in my television career. Unfortunately, all things must come to an end. After forty-four episodes, FOX pulled the plug on us in the summer of 2000. For the first time since moving out to L.A., I was out of a job.
I was unemployed for about a month or so when I got a call from Jeff Mirkin. He said, "Do you have a job yet?" I said, "No." He said, "Good. I have a job for you which I think you'll like." That job was segment producing on the pilot for a new version of "Card Sharks" with Pearson. As some of you may know, Pearson eventually changed its name to FremantleMedia. After the "Card Sharks" pilot, I was hired full-time by the comapny and became their manager of development.
As manager of development, Ie worked on a number of projects from a new version of "Beat the Clock" to the project I still consider to be the nearest and dearest to my heart: "Whammy!" I also did something I never thought I would do...create a game for "The Price is Right" (called "1/2 Off"). A lot of people have asked what my job entails. Well, it's involved a number of things from overseeing the productions of shows, creating and developing show formats, preparing sizzle reels and presentations for our pitches, and helping with casting as I've done on a number of our non-game shows like "How Clean is Your House?" I pretty much gained the title of the "game show guy" at the company. All those years watching game shows did pay off, mom!
On April 4th, my run at FremantleMedia came to an end. It was a tough decision, but 4 1/2 years is quite a long run to be in one place...especially in the TV biz. The very next day, I started my current job...Director of Programming and Production at the new FOX Reality cable channel. It's a bit of a departure for me, but I've loving the new challenges and opportunities this new road in my career is presenting!
But life in Los Angeles hasn't been all about work. What has really been key to making L.A. feel like home are my friends. I was never a big club or bar person so meeting people in a big setting hasn't been my strongest suit.
To put it simple, ME + DANCE FLOOR = MAJOR problems!
Seriously, though, I've met my closest friends in recent years through Internet sites like Planetout, gay.com, and Friendster.
Two of my best friends out here in Los Angeles are my roommates: Ted and Larry. I first met Ted through Planetout in February 2000. We instantly clicked. He truly became the big brother I never had, always there for a laugh and more importantly always there to point out when I'm being a tool! Soon after, Ted met Larry through Planetout and officially became "the cutest couple that I know." By 2001, we all moved in together. With Ted meeting Larry through Planetout, me meeting Ted through the same site, and the three of us finding the house we live in on the 'net, Ted really is right when he says that our house is "the house that the Internet built!"
So it's been almost six years now in Los Angeles, and I really have no intention of leaving. I think it's safe to say with the friends and "second family" I've made out here, Los Angeles is home to me. What lies ahead in the next year, or five years? Who knows? What you can be sure is you'll hear about it all on Mandelweb.com!
My first exposure to Los Angeles was in 1983 when my family did a cross-country trip from Florida to California. I barely have any memories about that trip except that I got really sick in the middle of the Universal Studios tour and I got my first exposure to "The New $25,000 Pyramid" and "Child's Play."
I got a better sense of life in Los Angeles when I spent the summer of 1998 here on an Academy of Television Arts and Sciences internship with the show "Home Improvement." It was then that I met many of the people whom I had talked with through the alt.tv.game-shows of days gone by. It was also then that I got a chance to be a game show contestant when I made my appearance on the 1998 version of Match Game. I won $5,000 and that pretty much helped in making my decision to move out to L.A. Thanks, Vicki! (And to think, to this day, I still haven't seen the movie "Raging Bull" all the way through!)
In late June of 1999, I made the big move out here. I moved out here with my friend Murad from college and we roomed together in an apartment in North Hollywood. My first job out here was as a page at CBS (they're those people in the red coats you see in audience of "The Price is Right"). However, barely over a month into my job, I got a call from Bob Boden (whom I met the previous summer) asking if I could take some time off to help him out with a project he was doing for FOX. At the time, I thought he was referring to Fox Family. But before I knew it, I was reporting to dick clark productions, meeting Dick Clark, and working on what was to be FOX's answer to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"..."GREED."
Within a month-and-a-half, we were up and running. Chuck Woolery was named our host and we were headed for prime-time. It was a true baptism by fire. We had million dollar moments, special episodes, fans and not-so-much fans, all over the span of less than a year. Within months of starting at "Greed," I went from production assistant to researcher to writer. It was there that I met producer Jeff Mirkin, who like Bob Boden, would be a key figure in my television career. Unfortunately, all things must come to an end. After forty-four episodes, FOX pulled the plug on us in the summer of 2000. For the first time since moving out to L.A., I was out of a job.
I was unemployed for about a month or so when I got a call from Jeff Mirkin. He said, "Do you have a job yet?" I said, "No." He said, "Good. I have a job for you which I think you'll like." That job was segment producing on the pilot for a new version of "Card Sharks" with Pearson. As some of you may know, Pearson eventually changed its name to FremantleMedia. After the "Card Sharks" pilot, I was hired full-time by the comapny and became their manager of development.
As manager of development, Ie worked on a number of projects from a new version of "Beat the Clock" to the project I still consider to be the nearest and dearest to my heart: "Whammy!" I also did something I never thought I would do...create a game for "The Price is Right" (called "1/2 Off"). A lot of people have asked what my job entails. Well, it's involved a number of things from overseeing the productions of shows, creating and developing show formats, preparing sizzle reels and presentations for our pitches, and helping with casting as I've done on a number of our non-game shows like "How Clean is Your House?" I pretty much gained the title of the "game show guy" at the company. All those years watching game shows did pay off, mom!
On April 4th, my run at FremantleMedia came to an end. It was a tough decision, but 4 1/2 years is quite a long run to be in one place...especially in the TV biz. The very next day, I started my current job...Director of Programming and Production at the new FOX Reality cable channel. It's a bit of a departure for me, but I've loving the new challenges and opportunities this new road in my career is presenting!
But life in Los Angeles hasn't been all about work. What has really been key to making L.A. feel like home are my friends. I was never a big club or bar person so meeting people in a big setting hasn't been my strongest suit.
To put it simple, ME + DANCE FLOOR = MAJOR problems!
Seriously, though, I've met my closest friends in recent years through Internet sites like Planetout, gay.com, and Friendster.
Two of my best friends out here in Los Angeles are my roommates: Ted and Larry. I first met Ted through Planetout in February 2000. We instantly clicked. He truly became the big brother I never had, always there for a laugh and more importantly always there to point out when I'm being a tool! Soon after, Ted met Larry through Planetout and officially became "the cutest couple that I know." By 2001, we all moved in together. With Ted meeting Larry through Planetout, me meeting Ted through the same site, and the three of us finding the house we live in on the 'net, Ted really is right when he says that our house is "the house that the Internet built!"
So it's been almost six years now in Los Angeles, and I really have no intention of leaving. I think it's safe to say with the friends and "second family" I've made out here, Los Angeles is home to me. What lies ahead in the next year, or five years? Who knows? What you can be sure is you'll hear about it all on Mandelweb.com!