Tuesday, July 6, 2010

2nd Month at Cosmic Toast

| by Allan Stackhouse |

It's amazing how much a difference a month can make. In my first month here, I was struggling just to wake up at 8:00. If you wake up earlier, I'm sorry. But you can't hate me because I used to wake up at 3:00 to work at Home Depot. So there. For my second month at Cosmic Toast Studios, I've gotten right into the swing of a 9-5. I know everyone's name and everyone knows mine... at least I think they do.

Cosmic Toast has given me a lot of freedom as a writer. Instead of watching Blockbuster movies and just rating them on the Movies app on Facebook, I've expanded my thoughts into posts for the blog. Developing as a writer, or at least dusting off two years worth of post-graduate cob webs, has also been a really great experience. As much as I appreciated the opportunity to work in an office environment at my last internship, manning the positions of an editor, writer, and social networking guru suits me better.

As hard as the Cosmic Toasters work, we play just as hard too. One Saturday, a group of the Cosmic Toast crew went down to Disney California Adventure for World of Color's opening weekend. The show was nothing short of amazing and I can't wait to see it again. Going on Mickey's Fun Wheel in a free-mounted gondola with six fully grown adults was terrifying and thrilling at the same time. There's this sort of bonding experience that happens when you're screaming in fear of plummeting to the earth with your coworkers. The trip was a return to the parks for Marina, one of our prized animators, who hadn't been since junior high. It was Marissa's, one of our animation interns, first time at DCA and her first in a long while at Disneyland. For me, it was my tenth visit this year. Monthly Disneyland visits are pretty much a requirement for me to maintain my sanity in Los Angeles.

Those of the Cosmic Toast crew that went to E3 had great things to say about some of the latest and greatest developments in the gaming world. I'm ultra excited about Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. There's a chance that I might be somewhat biased since I used to work for some of the people who created it. ;) I'm not a big gamer but I've been consistently pleased with the franchise. Check out intern Jesse Scully's recap on E3 at Break the Fourth Wall.

The shoot in Glendale for a commercial we're producing was an interesting one. Everyone got up bright and early to run madly across a sidewalk with people (and police) wondering what we were doing. I'm not an actor by any means but it's fun to not have lines and goof around. If the commercial makes it to air, yours truly will be the ridiculous looking one in a white jacket. :D The finished product looks chocolicious.

There seem to be new faces all the time. When I first started, I was the second of two interns and now it's ballooned to a whopping eight. It's been great getting a feel for their craft and sharing mine with them. Jen, the producing intern, is teaching me a lot about budgets. Miguel and Marissa have been showing me some of the animation program ropes so their world isn't completely foreign to me.

My third month here is already shaping up to be even busier with the last two and I'm definitely up for more. Everyone here is working on some great content that they can't wait to share with the world and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

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