Picking up from yesterday –
I’d lamented about how great it would be to be a must-hire, just to realize I was one.
It was silly to be jealous at the good fortune of some other people. I’d had some good fortune of my own.
The job hadn’t been posted anywhere. No one who wasn’t somehow in the loop even got a chance.
Of course, that wasn’t all that surprising. That’s how Hollywood is.
But I guess just the fact that it was quite so hard for me as someone who’d already worked with these people, to break into just the very bottom rung of the ladder (after 2(!) seasons) – that was surprising to me.
As I mentioned, while this is the general (and honest) account of me time there, I didn’t want to belabor the point of the struggles too much. But I do want you to know that if the story sounded like, “Eh, it wasn’t that hard. It wasn’t so bad -” there was more than meets the ear.
And if you’re seriously considering going into television, let’s get a coffee, and I will give you a realer perspective than one I can give you on the internet.
Now, as much as I want to make it clear that I didn’t make it sound as stuggle-y as I could’ve, I don’t want to swing too far in that direction of the pendulum either.
Because, in reality – yes, there were people who weren’t necessarily on your side. Yes, there were rough logistics to figure out when you had to travel yourself to show how much you wanted to work or whatever. However, I got to see a lot of great cities and work enough overtime to pay for my trips.
Speaking of overtime, yes we actually got it! The show was not stingy with overtime on the road. You’d have to stay ’til every contestant had been seen, and you’d be paid accordingly. We also got smorgasbords of free food (as people often do on television shows).
And even though there may have been people who weren’t on your side, the majority of people were. Of those, not only were they on your side. But they were your allies, and they were kind and helpful.
So, looking as objectively as I can. Yes, there were struggle-rich moments (some quite super rich with frustrating situations), but more often than not it was actually sort of a luxurious experience when I think about it. Because how many people get to experience working on a television show, really?
To me it seems like every person ever, because this is what I do for a living. So, my circle of friends and I talk about it as though it’s basically nothing, ’cause these are just our normal jobs.
But my dad still brags about me back in Ohio, and even though I’ve been doing this for years now, he thinks it’s cool every time. “What show are you working on now, sweetheart? Which network is that on?” He has to know all the deets so he can tell everyone he knows. (It’s kind of adorable, really.)
Anyway, back to AGT, I’d finally made it to the coveted summer shoot! I was a real working person in Los Angeles – where people go to get television jobs. I was at least becoming kind of, sort of the real deal. (And yes, I do realize it sounds silly to have been so excited about that because it’s reality TV. But still. Working for NBC seemed like a big enough deal to me.)
This is where we’ll pick up tomorrow.