I can’t believe it’s already fourth week. Didn’t we all just fly into LAX and settle into the Oakwood screening room for the first day of class like, yesterday? That’s one thing about the block plan, if you blink you’ll probably be in fourth week in the mist of writing a final essay before you know it.
The past weekend was spent wrapping up some loose ends in the class, visiting the Griffith Park Observatory between rain showers, and eating a delicious dim sum celebratory dinner at NBC Seafood Restaurant in Monterey Park with Esther’s father, Gideon. On Friday, we were fortunate enough to visit Doug Pray, a fellow CC alum and previous CC visiting professor, at the HBO editing suites. He was nice enough to speak to the group about his experience in the industry and what it was like to make documentary features while being surrounded by the world of make believe (aka Hollywood). He and two of the people he works with explained how they found themselves in the documentary business, and all of them spoke to the idea of documentary filmmaking as a service industry, serving the people and communities they are filming. Some previous features Doug and his team have worked on include TransFatty Lives, Hype!, and Levitated Mass.
Doug and his team all spoke to the challenge in presenting nonfiction subject matter in a way that also provides entertainment for the viewer. They also spoke to the large reward they all feel when they are able to do this successfully. Documentaries are an editors’ medium. There are directors, producers, sound mixers, and researchers that work on a single doc, but the story plays out in the editing lab. It was a very interesting contrast to the handful of other people that we have met with over the past three weeks.
This visit created a nice balance to the class. Honestly, it was a bit humbling to meet with some people that are successful in Hollywood but for different reasons than the executives and businessmen we have been meeting with over the past three weeks. It really goes to show that only a small percentage of LA is people in the business of make believe. For the next few days, we’ll all be giving our best shot at creating some make believe as we finish our final creative projects to wrap up the end of the block.
Did I mention this block went by faster than any block I’ve ever been in? I know we’re all feeling a bit nostalgic, already.
