I've been wasting too much time during the day seeking Couch Surfing hosts. Since my last host, Hal, had a new couch surfer arriving, I had to find new digs... He suggested I try airbnb.com and I listened. That's where I found the very place I type from now... Seemed pretty cool online.
(Airbnb listing)
"Beautiful brand new two store single house occupied with film students.
It's furnished with new ikea bunk beds and kmart mattresses.
We are chill and easy going"
It was cheap enough for me to afford so I went for it (comes out to about $14 a day). I waited for "Mike" to arrive for about 2 hours, but eventually his partner Demitri arrived. Now this isn't exactly the warm fuzzy student house I was expecting. When I was sitting in the garage waiting, I got to meet some of the tenants. Jeremy - an aspiring actor, singer, comedian studying dance - told me about the 2 managers of the place - "Mike" & "Tom" (Not their real names). He xplained that they are two Russians who come and go from time to time. No one really knows anything about them, but they are really strict about their rules. When I told Jeremy that what he had just said was the shadiest thing I ever heard, he looked at me as if it was standard behavior (Jeremy has been living here a month).
Before I met Jeremy I thought about the type of people that I'm about to meet. And it dawned on me that I was probably going to meet actors, screenwriters, directors, all sorts of people trying to make it in Holywood! You know the "I want to be a BIG STAR" type. And I can't believe it... I was RIGHT!
Jeremy, Tony, Jen, and Shiela are the actors I have met so far. Jessie, David, Jose I think are vacationing. Mara, Sam, Liza, and Philip are graphic designers from Europe. And there are several more people I'm just starting to talk to.
Ian is an animator. On my first night in the house we spoke about his project and it sounded really nice. He's writing a cartoon series for preteens that takes place in space. He used to work for some Israeli - Meytal Dohani. Apparently not the nicest Israeli in the world... (lightly said) He's been here for 3 months.
I thought of all these people as clichés. The innocents coming to Hollywood to make a big name. Those who live in cheap housing with 30 people just like them. You know what, maybe one of those 30 will even make it. Who knows? But they are definitely fighting the chances. It was only when I woke up the next morning, I was brushing my teeth next to a stranger and it dawned on me... These people are not too different from me. And just like that I accepted my fate in a classic Hollywood cliché. Starting from the bottom and scratching my way to the top.
The next day, I came home from a long day in Santa Monica. I was at a Innovative Artists, a talent agency, visiting a senior agent I had met on the celebrity trip to Israel. She treats me like family and will do what she can to help. More on this later. I was actually excited to come home to see the friends I had made. It was nice to come back to familiar faces, and new ones. It was interesting that at first I was a bit turned off by the idea of coming to a house with 30 strangers from god knows where. Now, I'm glad I did it.
(Airbnb listing)
"Beautiful brand new two store single house occupied with film students.
It's furnished with new ikea bunk beds and kmart mattresses.
We are chill and easy going"
It was cheap enough for me to afford so I went for it (comes out to about $14 a day). I waited for "Mike" to arrive for about 2 hours, but eventually his partner Demitri arrived. Now this isn't exactly the warm fuzzy student house I was expecting. When I was sitting in the garage waiting, I got to meet some of the tenants. Jeremy - an aspiring actor, singer, comedian studying dance - told me about the 2 managers of the place - "Mike" & "Tom" (Not their real names). He xplained that they are two Russians who come and go from time to time. No one really knows anything about them, but they are really strict about their rules. When I told Jeremy that what he had just said was the shadiest thing I ever heard, he looked at me as if it was standard behavior (Jeremy has been living here a month).
Before I met Jeremy I thought about the type of people that I'm about to meet. And it dawned on me that I was probably going to meet actors, screenwriters, directors, all sorts of people trying to make it in Holywood! You know the "I want to be a BIG STAR" type. And I can't believe it... I was RIGHT!
Jeremy, Tony, Jen, and Shiela are the actors I have met so far. Jessie, David, Jose I think are vacationing. Mara, Sam, Liza, and Philip are graphic designers from Europe. And there are several more people I'm just starting to talk to.
Ian is an animator. On my first night in the house we spoke about his project and it sounded really nice. He's writing a cartoon series for preteens that takes place in space. He used to work for some Israeli - Meytal Dohani. Apparently not the nicest Israeli in the world... (lightly said) He's been here for 3 months.
I thought of all these people as clichés. The innocents coming to Hollywood to make a big name. Those who live in cheap housing with 30 people just like them. You know what, maybe one of those 30 will even make it. Who knows? But they are definitely fighting the chances. It was only when I woke up the next morning, I was brushing my teeth next to a stranger and it dawned on me... These people are not too different from me. And just like that I accepted my fate in a classic Hollywood cliché. Starting from the bottom and scratching my way to the top.
(Edited on IMovie)
The next day, I came home from a long day in Santa Monica. I was at a Innovative Artists, a talent agency, visiting a senior agent I had met on the celebrity trip to Israel. She treats me like family and will do what she can to help. More on this later. I was actually excited to come home to see the friends I had made. It was nice to come back to familiar faces, and new ones. It was interesting that at first I was a bit turned off by the idea of coming to a house with 30 strangers from god knows where. Now, I'm glad I did it.
new use for kikoi: make bunk home-y.
ReplyDeletekeep the stories coming!