California Dreamin’

I have to take a bullshit class that is supposed to prepare me for college. It is four years too late, but it is a requirement of my degree that I take it. It is just another way the school sucks money out of us. Anyway, we watched this TED Talk video about goals. The presenter tells us the best thing we can do when we have goals is keep it to ourselves. He said a lot of people get congratulated when they tell others their goals. They end up feeling the sense of accomplishment before they actually accomplish the goal… and thus never accomplish said goal.

I don’t know if I agree with that.

For me, I like to tell people my goals. You never know who might be able to help you achieve that goal.

I have a new goal in life. It isn’t a drastic change to the goal I had before, but a change nonetheless. My goal up until a few weeks ago was to graduate from college, pack up my bags and head to San Diego, CA to try my hand at working for a video game company.

I felt that the universe will send signs to guide you in the right path. A few Fridays ago, I went out to dinner with a friend. I planned to just have dinner and go back home, but we somehow convinced each other to go out for a drink or two. I ended up running into a friend at the bar and meeting his friend. She was from out of town. We were chatting and the subject of school came up. She asked what I was studying and I told her Film & Media and that I want to be a screenwriter or work in the video game industry. I believe I had already mentioned to her that I wanted to move to San Diego. She asks me, “Well, why don’t you move to LA?”

I told her I was scared of LA.

It turns out she lived in LA and she said it is a good city if you keep to yourself and don’t get involved in shady stuff. She also told me if I want to work in the film industry, Los Angeles is the best place to be.

I run into another friend at this bar (which is not unusual for me). He is someone I haven’t seen in well over a year. We were chatting and I told him how my new friend just tried to convince me to move to LA. He agreed with her and said the best thing I can do, especially if I want to be a screenwriter, is go to LA. He told me he writes screenplays with his brother and the best thing about writing is if you are good, there is nothing that can get in your way. Models and actors doesn’t have the same benefit. They have to look the part as well.

I then contacted a friend of mine via Facebook who recently moved to LA. He said the same thing. If I want to be a screenwriter, the best place to be is LA. He told me I will have the opportunity to make connections I wouldn’t be able to make if I were living in San Diego.

I believe in signs, especially when I receive them in sets of three’s (I have an OCD obsession with sets of three’s). So, I’ve decided, I’m going to get my degree and move to LA ASAP.

Eventually, I would like to still work in the video game industry, and I can still do that in LA, if I want to do so. The problem is the only difference between a screenwriter and a video game writer is the pay (screenwriters are paid more). I’m going to go where the money is to start myself off. Either way, I’ll be doing what I love.

I love all these film classes I’ve been taking. I love watching and critiquing films. I love watching the commentary and the behind the scenes stuff for films. It has always been fascinating to me.

When I was a kid and I first started writing I used to have the same dream quite often. It was the beginning of a movie and it was something I wrote. As a child, I thought it meant I would write a book that would be adapted to film, but maybe it just meant I was supposed to write for film?

I don’t feel a sense of accomplishment telling people this is my dream and goal. I know that Los Angeles is all about who you know and the connections you make. By starting now and starting to network with friends of mine who are in LA and the LA area now, some who already have strong connections in LA, I’m only making things better for myself.

So, sorry TED Talks guy, I’m going to tell as many people as I can to help me get to where I want to be.