dealing with failure – fall down, get back up

september has been a crazy month. i started off the month thinking i didn’t even get into the semifinals of the nickelodeon writing fellowship, only to have them call me a few days later saying i did make it in, and that they were just running behind. then i had a phone interview and an in person interview, and found out i made it to the last round as a finalist. then after 3 crazy days of speed interviews, i found out yesterday that i didn’t make it in.

today, i feel pretty good. of course i’m sad that i was sooooo close and yet didn’t make it in, but i’m not as depressed as i thought i’d be. it’s not the inverse of how happy i would have been if i had made it in. so even though i was upset yesterday, i immediately went into planning mode to figure out what i needed to do to get in next year.

nickelodeon writing fellowship: not this year :(

i got the call from nickelodeon, and unfortunately, i didn’t make it in this year. i did ok in the 1 on 1 interviews, but not as well in the group interviews, and there are obviously more people in the groups so those scores cost me the fellowship.

the good thing is that my writing was good enough to get that far, and those are the first 2 tv scripts i’ve ever written.

even though i didn’t get in, getting all the way to the last round was a very helpful experience. i’m going to need to be able to deal with interviews and sell myself if i want to make it in the industry. competence and skill aren’t enough.

i’m definitely going to apply again next year, but i’m not going to just sit around and wait, because like homer said, the waiting game sucks. maybe i’ll get the disney fellowship first. or maybe i can try to become a staff writer on a nick show and bypass the fellowship. or maybe i can try to get meetings at cartoon network.

good luck to those finalists that became fellows!

nickelodeon writing fellowship: speed interviews

i got a call from nickelodeon last tues telling me the speed interviews were scheduled for wed – fri, and they needed me there for 3 full days. there were to be 10 or 11 interviews; one on one interviews with writers and creators, and also group interviews with executives in charge (eic’s), line producers, writers, and other people.  each interview was to last 10 minutes. the interviewers will be given a sheet of paper where they’ll score us 1 – 5 in different categories. this is the final step! after these interviews, you either become a fellow, or you’re right back where you started from.

my office spec script joke

i wrote a spec of The Office back in feb. it was written and set early in season 5 before michael quit and started his own paper company with pam and ryan, and before erin the new receptionist started. it also was before the season finale where we found out pam was pregnant.

in my script, i had a joke where kevin says he thinks pam is pregnant because he noticed her boobs were getting bigger. if you saw the season premiere for season 6 last thursday, they had the same joke!

the bad thing is now when people read my script, they might not know i wrote it before the episode aired. the good thing, i guess, is maybe that means my sensibilities are close to the writers of the show.

luckily it’s just that one joke that’s the same. i am worried whenever i see a new episode, though, that they might do a story similar to my spec. if they did, i’m assuming it would make my spec useless, but i’ll have to double check that.

nickelodeon writing fellowship: in-person interview

on wednesday, i arrived at the nickelodeon studio in burbank, and met with the director of the fellowship. their office actually looks like what’s on their website, with fun shapes and bright colors everywhere. i don’t want to divulge exactly what was asked and how i answered, but i can say whereas the phone interview was mostly focused on the topic of writing, this one was more general and more personal. i was told for this round of interviews, they already know i can write. now it comes down to personality. am i someone she feels she can work with for a year? can i sell myself? do i have a good attitude? a good sense of humor?

nickelodeon writing fellowship: round 2!

i had my phone interview with the director of the writing fellowship program last wednesday. she wanted to read another script, and i had until monday to get it to her. i revised my spec for How I Met Your Mother over the weekend and sent it fedex overnight to get there today, monday. i checked the fedex website and it was signed for at 12:56pm.

i got a call from nickelodeon at 3:43pm. i made it to the next round! i have a face to face interview this wednesday. i’m one step closer!

what to work on next

while waiting to see if i make it into the nickelodeon fellowship, i was trying to figure out what to work on next. my plan is if i don’t make it in, i will definitely work on a spec of 30 rock and use that to apply for the fellowship next year. but if i do get in, would it be better to work on a spec or a pilot? or a feature script? or a web series?

i wasn’t sure so i asked alex epstein, and he was kind enough to reply on his blog.

i decided whether or not i get in, i’ll write the 30 rock spec, and then write the pilot idea i’ve been brainstorming recently. the web series would be fun to make, and would also be good practice for directing, but i don’t want to spread myself too thin.

writers programs notifications

while i’m hoping i get chosen for the nickelodeon writing fellowship, i also applied to the disney/abc writing fellowship, the cbs writers mentoring program, and the nbc writers on the verge program.

disney doesn’t notify until early 2010, but cbs and nbc should start notifiying if they haven’t already.

from the cbs website:

All applicants will be notified, via e-mail, of their status in September. Semi-finalists will be invited for a personal interview at that time. Finalists will be chosen and notified by the end of September.

and the nbc website:

September 2 – 11, 2009 – Finalists interviews
September 15, 2009 – Participants selected
September 23, 2009 – Program begins
December 4, 2009 – Program ends

please let me know if you’ve heard back from them. good luck!

animation mentor 210:butterfly kick (final)

here is the final animation of the butterfly kick. it took a while to get those arcs nice and smooth. i tracked the hips, then the feet, arms, and head. i also made sure the pivot foot was planted during the rotations. in previous versions, the feet were kind of sliding around a bit.

this is the last animation of the term, with a possible revision next week.

call from nickelodeon!

i applied to the nickelodeon writing fellowship in february, was hoping to hear back by the end of august to see if i made it to the next round, and when i didn’t, gave up and accepted that i didn’t make it. i was devastated,  but was making plans to write another spec script and apply again next february.

but then… i got a call today. the area code was 818. it was nickelodeon.

i am a semi finalist! i told the lady i had completely given up when i hadn’t heard by the end of august. she said they’re running a bit behind. the next step is a phone interview next week. i asked what the interview is going to cover. she said, it’s a surprise.

there’s still a long way to go before they choose the final fellows, but i’m so excited to have made it to the next round, and to have a chance at getting in!