Life at the Office

I've been working at Dr. Phil for two weeks, and... well... Last week was the taping of his 1000th show. It was pretty chaotic, seeing as how I was not entirely sure what my role was, and the episode was already far along enough that it was hard to give me a specific assignment. I thought week 2 would use a little bit more brain power, yet sadly I was mistaken. It's a dark week, meaning we are not taping. The big guy is in New York promoting himself. Most people are working ahead on future episodes, so I still do not have a real direction.

My position as the intern for the Executive Producer on The Dr. Phil show opened up for me as I arrived in LA. Despite the lack of real excitement, since starting work on the Paramount lot I have undertaken a variety of tasks. These duties include transferring phone calls, searching for potential show guests, shredding papers, creating gift baskets, ordering people coffee, and researching what LA restaurants can provide Oprah with real crab meat.

The woman I answer the phone for, Carla Pennington, is one of the most successful "watch-out-for" women in Hollywood. ImdbPro told me all about her success from the age of 20. She reminds me of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, yet not as mean. She is a very powerful, busy woman. As soon as I get formally introduced, I'll ask for 10 minutes of her time. It's an important woman to make a good impression on, and I know with enough hard work and passion, someday I too can be the Executive Producer for a hit television show.

Besides work, I am busy with classes and social activities. Because we all have the same assignments, we do much of the homework together on Sunday night. We're working on a television script in groups of 3 for another class, so again that's more group focused. I also have a good deal of time at the office to do school work.

Last night we attended a networking event hosted at the Beverly Hills Wilshire hotel, taking place simultaneously as the democratic debates. Sweeet. I hung out with Dean Hart, President Powers, and Jordan Levin (ex CEO of the WB). Open bar, 5 star d'oeuvre, and business attire = a good time.

This weekend we are discussing various places to explore. Possible beaching, nightlife, shopping, movies, pool. At last it has stopped raining, so maybe I really will get to take out the rollerblades. Regardless, Fridays mean it is three whole days before coming back to work, which is pretty much fabulous.