Prospect House - Universal Pictures international headquarters in London, where I interned
As I’ve mentioned in past blogs, one of the first major films I worked on international marketing guidelines for at my Universal Pictures internship in London last spring was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I started doing research way before any teaser trailer was out and most of the pictures I came across from the film were director Edgar Wright’s personal shots during production of the film, which he posted on his blog. I pulled obscure information from endless Google-ing and stuff written by people who were lucky enough to see unfinished versions during audience testing. I thought I would be able to see it before I left London in April, which was way before the release this past weekend, but Universal Pictures didn’t screen it in time so I had to wait like everyone else for the theatrical release. My anticipation at this point was through the roof, to say it lamely. Learning about all the different 20-something-year-old actors in this film and the graphic novels it’s based on that are chock full of pop culture & old-school video game references made it sound like the coolest party Canada could possibly host.
And the movie does just that by making even Canadians seem cool from the world of Scott Pilgrim (no offense, Canada…I grew up around South Park’s “Blame Canada” rants). I know there are cool Canadians that exist and that a lot of the funniest and most talented comedians have come from there (Lorne Michaels, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Will Arnett, Samantha Bee, Jim Carrey, Phil Hartman, Eugene Levy, Norm Macdonald, Mike Meyers, Catherine O’Hara, Seth Rogen…the list is endless), not to mention Michael Cera who plays Scott Pilgrim (judge as you may, but he did the role justice in my opinion). To sum up my sheer joy from seeing this film last night, it had sick fight scenes, unique effects (all of the video game/comic book images that appeared on screen with the actors), great music (Brie Larson as Envy Adams of Clash at Demonhead holds her own in an awesome version of Metric’s song “Black Sheep”), and some of the funniest one-liners by the supporting actors (Kieran Culkin as snarktastic gay roommate Wallace Wells, Alison Pill as deadpan drummer Kim Pine, Aubrey Plaza as always-pissed-off Julie Powers, etc.) I highly recommend this party-in-your-brain movie and you can check out some of my favorite video game references in the film on the blog post I wrote for TelevisionWithoutPity.com.
Main stage in SNL's Studio 8H
Today (technically yesterday) was my last day interning at 30 Rock for TelevisionWithoutPity and although it was a short month and a half, I had a really great time doing the coolest type of work I’ve ever been able to do. Despite the stress I went through in the few months when I was applying for different positions at NBC and not knowing whether I’d have a summer internship or not, the end result of it all landed me a way more interesting internship and let me do something that I genuinely enjoy. Some highlights were getting some of my ideas approved to write up pieces I thought of myself, daily TWoP meetings that could go off on the most random and hilarious tangents, finally seeing SNL‘s Studio 8H on a tour for interns, riding the elevator with Matt Lauer, and being chosen as an NBC Campus Ambassador to BU (I’m not ashamed to say I’m an NBC nerd).
To conclude this random blog post, I’ll mention that I probably won’t get a chance to blog for another week and a half or so because I am shipping up to Boston (lame phrase us BU kids will never stop using) for FYSOP staff training and FYSOP week, which is when freshmen move in early to do community service led by us upperclassmen. Also, one of the most fun and hilarious week and a half of our college careers. I’ll explain why in a later blog, but for now, I need my 2 hours of sleep that I’ve been barely getting this week before I get up early for even more last-minute errands.
P.S. holy shit, when did I become a senior in college?! ahhhhhhh
