Emmy Nominations and Morning Shows

July has been a fun month. Since I last wrote you, my parents and I went to Carmel for wine tasting. It was a great celebration trip for Dad's birthday and Mom's completion of her Master's. Carmel was so beautiful! We had a wonderful time. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I had to get back to L.A. I definitely want to go back there again.

My boss put me in charge of the Emmy nominations that were announced earlier this month. My job was to find out who was going to be potentially nominated and create B-roll packages of the shows or the actors/actresses. That way, when the nominations were announced the morning of July 16, we could instantly roll footage of who was nominated. We looked smart for already knowing who was nominated before they were announced.

I began working on the packages one week before the annoucnements. It was my first experience editing on Final Cut Pro since high school, so I was glad I was getting practice. I had a total of about 50 people or shows that I thought were going to be nominated. This does not sound like a lot of separate packages to put together in one week, but when your server goes back and forth from working to not working and another intern downloads illegal software on the computer which completely slows it down, you might have some trouble getting it all done. Luckily, the last night before the Emmy noms were announced, I had lots of help from another intern, Allie, who helped me add any final touches to the packages.

The Emmy nominations were announced at 5:40 a.m., so I came in to work the morning show for the first time. I only slept for two hours the night before, because I was anxious that I might not hear my alarm when it went off at 4 a.m. I fueled up with two cups of very strong coffee and got to work at 5 a.m. - killer! Since all the packages were already put together, my job was easy. We had several phoners call in to talk about being nominated, including John Cryer from Two and a Half Men and Jane Krakowski from 30 Rock. I just looked for more footage of them to use while morning anchor and reporter, Jessica Holmes, interviewed them.

John Cryer, nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Our show looked great! Our preparation really paid off. We had the highest ratings that morning!

Despite just how early I had to get up, I really enjoyed working the morning show. I think that is an area of the news I could really do well in. The morning show is a little more upbeat and faster paced. I also really enjoyed getting off at 1:30 p.m. and being able to have a full day to do whatever I please. I'm more productive in the morning. I like to get all the work done first, then play. I loved that I got to go to the pool, do some shopping and get a little run before settling down for then night.

My last week of work I went in to work the morning show again. My boss, Allan, let me go watch how they filmed a special segment outside. The anchors took turns making ice cream at an outdoor ice cream parlor that you can rent to come to your house or party. They did the segment because July is national ice cream month. It reminded me a lot of national network morning shows: outside, upbeat, light-hearted, showing how to make something. I liked it a lot! They gave me ice cream, which was a little odd since it was 9 a.m., but by that time it felt like lunch since I had been awake for five hours.

My roommate, Amanda, and I went to the Magic Castle on July 17 with some other UTLA kids. The Magic Castle is a private club, and you have to be invited to go by someone who is a member. Phil Nemy, our director, invited us as our prize for winning the UTLA scavenger hunt we completed earlier this summer. I expected the magic castle to be like a Vegas show, but it was actually way cooler. All the magic was close up. You could sit at the table with the magicians and watch as they completely fooled you. I was so blown away, wondering how the heck they could possibly do some of those tricks.

Outside the Magic Castle

That Sunday we went to support our hometown Astros at the Dodgers baseball game. It was hot as Hades, so we didn't stay long. Our frozen lemonades could only do so much to cool us off, and we didn't want to pay $7 for a bottle of water. We were winning when we left, but unfortunately the Dodgers ended up winning the game.

It's my last week in L.A. Today 24 UTLA kids and me are going to a taping of The Price Is Right. I used to watch that show every summer morning after swim practice as a kid, so I'm stoked to have a chance to hear, "Maggie Holmes, come on down!" haha! Next time I write I could be a millionaire!

PS- The New York Times published an article of mine I submitted for their college life series. You can view it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/education/edlife/26pompoms.html?ref=edlife