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Issue #128
by L. Swift and Jeff McQ
When you’re working on breaking into film, you never know what’s going to connect and resonate with someone important. Just ask Film Connection grad Victor Cobb, who recently signed a contract to have his first screenplay optioned!
The script is called “Misguided Behavior,” which covers the subject of bullying. By “first screenplay,” we don’t just mean it’s the first script of Victor’s that will be made into a movie. Victor tells us it also happens to be the first script he ever wrote.
“I wrote [it] about five or six years ago,” he says. “I’ve probably rewritten it about six or seven times. And I thought it was a pretty good script, but I didn’t think it was my best work. I think I’ve gotten better with my other scripts as time moved on.”
Nevertheless, when he met and began working with film producer Sharon Tomlinson of Studio 11 Films in Atlanta, GA… “She asked me to send her some of my scripts,” says Victor, “and I forwarded her two or three. And the one that she ended up picking was the very first script that I wrote…She immediately liked it, she connected with it…We signed the option agreement about two or three weeks ago to finalize the deal.”
Victor’s recent success is also a lesson in patience. He first enrolled in the Film Connection about three years ago, apprenticing under filmmaker Steve Carmichael at Radiant3 Productions in Atlanta, and also studying screenwriting with writer/producer Richard Brandes via Skype. Victor says he drew upon their advice to polish his writing.
“A lot of the things that I learned from Richard [Brandes] and Steve Carmichael aided me when I was going to rewrite the script,” he says. “I rewrote it six or seven times during my time in the program…I had a lot of people just read it and give me their perspective on it, and from there, my creative juices just got going, I just kept rewriting it until I just thought I had given it all I had and I thought it was done.”
After graduating, Victor says he kept working on whatever film gigs he could find (often as a PA) while looking for his break, and continued to write screenplays in the meantime. After working on some projects with Sharon Tomlinson, when she offered to read his work, he was ready with several screenplays to give her. Even so, it took several months before she actually had time to read them. Sharon (who is now a Film Connection mentor herself) tells us she resonated with one in particular—specifically, the first script Victor had written.
“I could not put it down,” says Sharon. “I mean, literally, the script was so good… “It was so refreshing to get a well written script that moved so good and read so well, that hit me, and [I] sent that script to a couple of people, and they all said the exact same thing. The story, it’s a great message about bullying…we wanted a movie with a message. So it has a great message about gun violence, dysfunctional families, bullying, a great story, and it involves youth.”
Now, with his first screenplay officially optioned, Victor continues to look to the future. “I still want to write, direct, and co-produce my own projects,” he says. “As of late, my focus has been on writing. I think I’m getting very good at writing. I’ve recently written a play…I wanted to challenge myself and venture outside of specifically screenplays, so I wrote a play, that I think is a pretty good play. I’m going to see if I can direct it and co-produce it myself within the next year or so.”
In the meantime—be on the lookout for a new film called Misguided Behavior, written by Victor Cobb. Congratulations, Victor!
Even in the field of the culinary arts, there’s something about learning on the job that can open the door to getting hired more quickly. Just ask CASA graduate Francisco Ahn, who got hired by mentor Chef Ken Takayama to work at Mélisse, a world-renowned fine dining restaurant in L.A., within a month of starting his externship!
“I was looking at Le Cordon Bleu,” he says, “and I was looking into the other culinary programs, but the price was pretty high. And then when I fell upon CASA…the price was a lot cheaper, and we got to get real experience in the restaurant. And so what drew me was the experience in the restaurant and I thought that that could help me get a job.”
That expectation definitely paid off.
“Chef Ken saw that I did my tests really fast,” says Francisco, “and so he asked me if I wanted to work at Mélisse a month in…He put me in the morning prep job.”
It gets even better. Before he had even completed his externship on the job at Mélisse, Francisco was approached by Chef Ken again, who offered him a promotion as a chef garde manger, or pantry chef!
“He said that for my experience I was one of the top,” says Francisco. “They needed someone to fill in the garde manger position, and so he said that he could get someone else, but he wanted to go with me.”
Now graduated from the program, Francisco continues to move forward with his career. His work experience at Mélisse continues to serve him well, enabling him to get hired on at Terranea, an oceanfront resort in Palos Verdes, close to where he lives. He credits CASA and his experience with Chef Ken with putting him on the fast track to a career in fine dining.
“They taught me everything I needed,” says Francisco. “It gave me a good first-hand experience of how a top-notch restaurant works…it gave me a certain expectation of how things should be done, and that things should be done in a certain way to bring out the best results…You work with a lot of top-tier chefs, so it helps you, it pushes you to do better.”
Radio Connection student Mary Mau is getting the inside 411 on what it takes to work in radio, straight from her mentor DJ Maleko, digital program director and on-air personality at Star 101.9 (Honolulu, HI): “I’m very excited to be working with Maleko…He has a very calm and clear demeanor while still being lighthearted which made it easy to communicate…He said ‘Unlike others who apply at the radio [station] for a job, I’m going to help you learn how to use the equipment and control and harness your voice so you will have experience which will help you land a job’ which made me feel more confident about my future voice work under his leadership. I’m excited to see how far I can propel myself into the radio community of Honolulu!”
Just weeks into the program, Recording Connection student Khori Brown, apprentice at ACME Recording Company (Rochester, NY) shares a bit of the perspective he’s gained when it comes to setting up and establishing the right tone in the room: “Today I had a sit in at the studio my mentor, he was recording a new song for a group…I watched as my mentor warmly welcomed all of the artists as they came into the studio. I felt that was very valuable for me to see how the engineer sets the mood and gets everyone ready to work…Can’t wait to get back!”