Friday, July 31, 2009

TCAs

On Wednesday I worked the TCAs, or Television Critics Association press tour. It’s basically a big convention where all of the cable networks get together and preview a few shows that they will be premiering in the fall. After they premiere it, there’s a press conference with the network execs, the producers of the show, and any talent that they use. MTV was premiering two shows, one called “Gone Too Far”, and one called “The Buried Life.” Gone Too Far is basically like the show “Intervention,” only with younger drug addicts, which is kind of scary, and hosted by world renowned celebrity DJ and former drug addict, DJ A.M. The Buried Life is a show that asks the question “What do you want to do before you die?” The show follows four guys around the nation as they cross things off of their list of 100 things they want to do, as well as helping strangers achieve some of their dreams. They have been doing this for the last four years, and since one of the things on their list was “getting our own TV show,” it all falls in line with what they’re trying to do. Surprisingly, both shows are really good and I think they both do very well, since each of them carry a positive message.

ANYWAY. The TCAs were in Pasadena, which is about an hour from where I live. I had to be there at 7:30 in the morning, and since I don’t have a car out here with me, MTV sent one, which was really nice of them. So I woke up at 5:30am and the car came at 6:15. I was expecting just a normal Lincoln town car, the kind that everyone gets driven around in, but when I walked outside, the driver was opening the door of a brand new black Mercedes Benz. He also had a legit British accent. The whole thing was just entirely too much for me to handle at 6 in the morning. So I called my mom on the way there. It’s times like these when I just can’t take myself seriously.

I arrived at The Langham Hotel, formerly the Ritz Carlton, a little early, so the other interns and I grabbed coffee before the craziness began. And then, the craziness began. There were three of us interns there, and two of them were told to go with The Buried Life crew, and I was told to go with the Gone Too Far people because they had less help, and were going to be doing more stuff, and my boss wanted me to essentially manage it all, which I was excited and scared shitless about doing. I was happy about working Gone Too Far, I actually wanted to work with that show more than the other one anyway, I was kind of into the subject matter (Rehab. Go figure.). The presentation and press conference was at 9am, so up until then, I was running around the hotel getting press releases in order and confirming interview times with the media and a bunch of other stuff. The presentation couldn’t have gone better, the press really seemed to be intrigued by MTV choosing to do such a graphic and non-glamorous show, and they had a lot of great questions to ask.

After the that, while The Buried Life was presenting, I took DJ A.M. to his one on one interview with AP, and then to a photo shoot in a different part of the hotel. I was working with celebrity photographer Frank Micelotta. Words can’t describe how incredible he is. He has photographed everyone. Absolutely everyone. Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, and yes, even Britney Spears. Oh my god. It was crazy to be on one of his shoots.


Things all happened so fast that I keep forgetting that I bumped into JOAN RIVERS amid the craziness. Cartoon. My life is a cartoon.

After the shoot, it was basically a revolving door of reporters from all different media outlets, one right after another. It was cool to see DJ A.M. do so many interviews all in a row, and to see the different questions he was getting asked. Amidst all of this, my BlackBerry kept blowing up with all of these other tasks that needed to get done, without me leaving the shoot. One of the most valuable things I’m learning this summer is how to actually be in two places at once. Now that’s something they don’t teach you at Monmouth College.

After all of that, the work was done and the entire press department had lunch at the hotel. The whole day was over as quickly as it had begun. I’m very happy to report that it all went off without a hitch, and everything worked seamlessly. I realized that not once throughout the whole day did I have one of those “oh shit” moments, which is really saying something seeing as how crazy the event was.

Below are some photos I was able to sneak throughout the day

The MTV Presentation Set.

Sick, right?

DJ A.M. & The Gone Too Far Panel (blurry, I know)


DJ A.M. Press Photo Shoot
and seriously, check out this photographer:
http://www.frankmicelotta.com/#/client/template.xml?aaa=home&bbb=

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