Browsing Tag

Los Angeles

Film, Hipstercrite Life, Music, Pop Culture

Songs About Los Angeles

Last night I saw the movie Drive starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman and Los Angeles. A lot of buzz has been going around about this simple, yet visually and auditorily delicious film. The Michael Mann-esque qualities, Ryan Gosling’s subtle performance, the 80’s font, and moody electronic music make for a wonderful, nostalgic ride. Besides the ridiculously long shots on Ryan Gosling’s beautiful face, what made this film particularly engaging is the ominous soundtrack composed by Cliff Martinez and featuring music by Kavinsky, Lovefoxxx, Desire, College, Riz Ortolani, and Chromatics.

“Drive” is an appropriate verb for songs reminiscent of Los Angeles. Any song that reminds me of that city, also reminds me of late nights driving through Hollywood towards the beach, the blur of lights in the background, the windows down and the warm wind holding me firmly into the passenger seat. It reminds me of trips through the city to nowhere in particular, (more…)

October 19, 2011 by
Hipstercrite Life

When the Car Speeds Out of Control

11:34PM 10/10/11 I think?

I spoke with my father earlier this evening. Dad is a part-time actor and part-time chauffeur in Los Angeles (aren’t they all?). He works for a well-known car service and because of his super flyness and charm, he often drives some of their largest clients. Most of his clients are kind or completely aloof, but never mean. Dad told me about one of the few cranky clients he had the other night, an older actor who had his heyday 40 years ago but is still milking it for all it’s worth. To make a long story short, the actor handed my dad a tip, but then decided he didn’t want to give the tip and pulled the money out of my dad’s hand and left. Dad thought it was hysterical.

But this wasn’t the story that struck me during our conversation. No, it was the part about getting hit head-on by a drunk driver on Friday night. “Now, I don’t want you to worry,” he said, “I’m fine.” My Dad knows I worry a lot. However, I think he thinks I worry more than I do. I’m not (more…)

October 11, 2011 by
Film, Hipstercrite Life

Coming of Age in Hollywood

my first year in Hollywood

On my blog, I’ve only mentioned a few times that in a previous life I was a personal assistant in Hollywood.
And as I also stated in that post, I don’t talk about that time often because of the a.) WMD-sized confidentiality agreements that loom over my head and b.) because I value a person’s right to privacy. I worked for people who trusted me and I will never break that trust.

I often forget that I was a personal assistant in Hollywood. Occasionally people will ask me my story- where I came from before Austin- and I’m reminded that the Hollywood part of my life was a very big part for 5 years. 5 years in 28 years of a life is, well, I’m terrible at math, let’s see here, a little over a fifth of my life? One day it will be an eighth, then a sixteenth, and then I’ll be dead.

I’m sad that I’m slowly forgetting this important time in my life. Or rather, forgetting the emotions I felt at the time. Like the day that I was asked to work for (more…)

August 3, 2011 by
Film, Hipstercrite Life

The Los Angeles You Will Come to Know

It’s easy to love Los Angeles. It’s sunny and warm and exciting and big.

What is hard, is loving the Hollywood you experienced. It’s so much more enjoyable to revel in the Hollywood from movies, books, and media. The Hollywood you thought you were going into when you first decided to move to Los Angeles. The industry you thought you were going to conquer, or at the very least, never give up on.

Having worked in the film business off and on in Austin and my boyfriend being a local director and film professor, I meet a steady stream of people who are en route to Los Angeles. When you’ve experienced LA for yourself, and you’re talking to a young person who has limited concept of what the film industry in LA is actually like, it’s hard not to give your two cents. It’s hard not to sound jaded, regardless if your time there was good or bad. I can separate the joyous moments from the terrible that I experienced in LA and I can sum up that ultimately my time there was worthwhile. That still (more…)

July 11, 2011 by
Film, Hipstercrite Life

Swimming with Sharks: The Life of a Personal Assistant in Hollywood

The style of an assistant- bags under the eyes, frizzy hair, bewildered look on face

There is a time in my life that I rarely discuss on my blog, yet it constituted a significant part of my story. It was the five years I was a personal assistant in Hollywood. I don’t talk about this chapter for a few reasons- 1.) I respect the privacy of my former employers 2.) I consider my former employers friends 3.) I signed confidentiality agreements that would threaten the soul of my first born. Truthfully, the first two are more important to me then the latter. Though there are a lot of fun and crazy stories I’m itching to tell, I would never share them on a public forum.

Last evening I watched the film I was first told to watch when I moved to LA in 2004. That movie is Swimming with Sharks. This indie gem chronicles the complicated relationship between straight-off-the-bus assistant Guy (Frank Whaley) and his heartless, demonic producer boss Buddy (Kevin Spacey). After a year of enduring (more…)

March 2, 2011 by
Austin

The Hollywood of Texas: Relocating from LA to Austin


“Hi, I’m an editor from LA and I’m moving to Austin. Is there work for me?”

“Hi, I’m a camera operator from LA and I’m thinking of moving to Austin. Is that a smart idea?”

“Hi, I’m a writer from LA and got totally burnt out. Do you think Austin will be a good place for me to write?”

Hi, my name is Lauren and I moved to Austin from Los Angeles.
Yes, it’s true.
I’m one of them.
One of the people you make the above bumper sticker about and place them all over town.

Since moving to Austin, the aforementioned sentences are all questions I’ve heard repeatedly over the past two years. In fact, during the beginning of the 2010, I was fielding at least 2-3 phone calls a week at the production company I worked for, in addition to the frequent inquiries from friends and blogger buddies.

This year’s South by Southwest Interactive even held a panel for creatives, titled, “Making the Move from California to Austin“.

So why are Angelenos moving to Austin?

In generalizing fashion: (more…)

August 25, 2010 by