Day Twelve: July 17th, 2018
Today was a very eventful day. First, I read and did coverage for draft two of the season finale for EEP's podcast. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the last coverage I'll do for the rest of my internship.
After this, Adam gave me two books to skim through, New York: Then and Now by Marcia Reiss and Evan Joseph, and New York City: A Short History by George J. Lankevich. The former was a picture book, and the latter was a novel.
While I was skimming through the second book, Adam called Laura and I into a private room. He scheduled a conference call with Shawn Kiddleton specifically for me, as Adam wants me to help him as a writer's assistant.
Shawn explained how he spun his experience from a Rushkoff assistant to a writing career. His expectations were nowhere near what he thought was going to happen. He graduated from NYU with a Bachelor in Playwriting, and got a job at HBO in the legal department. However, what he really wanted to do was write comics and screenplays at DC Comics.
One night, his girlfriend pushed him to write a letter to Rushkoff, and two weeks later, he received a letter back asking for help because they saw honesty and appreciation in him. He met head writer Douglas Rushkoff himself and became his helper. From proofreading comics book scripts at work to helping him move into a new house, Shawn did everything for Doug. He was his "jack of all trades." This earned Doug's trust even more, and he allowed Shawn to work with him at his house. However, Shawn still yearned to work for DC Comics, so Doug offered a recommendation to Paul Levitz (then President of the company). He got a job as a writer and has been there ever since. A few of his writing projects include Batman: Arkham City, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, and Injustice 2.
Shawn learned several life lessons during his time at Rushkoff. These include...
After this, Adam gave me two books to skim through, New York: Then and Now by Marcia Reiss and Evan Joseph, and New York City: A Short History by George J. Lankevich. The former was a picture book, and the latter was a novel.
While I was skimming through the second book, Adam called Laura and I into a private room. He scheduled a conference call with Shawn Kiddleton specifically for me, as Adam wants me to help him as a writer's assistant.
Shawn explained how he spun his experience from a Rushkoff assistant to a writing career. His expectations were nowhere near what he thought was going to happen. He graduated from NYU with a Bachelor in Playwriting, and got a job at HBO in the legal department. However, what he really wanted to do was write comics and screenplays at DC Comics.
One night, his girlfriend pushed him to write a letter to Rushkoff, and two weeks later, he received a letter back asking for help because they saw honesty and appreciation in him. He met head writer Douglas Rushkoff himself and became his helper. From proofreading comics book scripts at work to helping him move into a new house, Shawn did everything for Doug. He was his "jack of all trades." This earned Doug's trust even more, and he allowed Shawn to work with him at his house. However, Shawn still yearned to work for DC Comics, so Doug offered a recommendation to Paul Levitz (then President of the company). He got a job as a writer and has been there ever since. A few of his writing projects include Batman: Arkham City, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, and Injustice 2.
Shawn learned several life lessons during his time at Rushkoff. These include...
- Don't be standoffish, but don't get your hopes up either.
- Everyone deserves more credit/rewards for the work than they do, but be willing to "eat shit."
- Go to conventions; that is where you can make connections.
- Know what your superior needs to know before they do.
- Don't expect association with someone to translate to success.
- If you work with the right person, the best outcome is they'll step up behind you/give you a recommendation.
- Creative jobs require double duty; they look for someone to synchronize their own process with to get things done faster.
- They also look for someone who is a fan, but not a fan that sees nothing wrong.
- Give input, but not criticism. There's a difference.
- Don't work for people who want yes-men.
- Some just want you to be there and be convenient
- Others want you to be their friend too, not just their "bitch"
- Not just looking for someone to be professional
- If you're going to be friends with your superior, you won't know until you're not working for him/her anymore.
- The more a creative person trusts you, the more information you'll get on his/her projects.
- Don't model for anyone expect yourself.
- When working closely with someone, you get exposed to that person's flaws and their failures.
- This means even your heroes are only human (he sees Dan Harmon playing Minecraft all the time).
Shawn also told me there are plenty of independent artists who want people to help them pack and sell their stuff. Beyond artists, there are animation studios that need people because they are always in a production cycle (I already knew this actually). There are also storyboard artist jobs. These are harder to find, but they are more rewarding.
After the conference call, Adam went into great detail about two projects he wants me to help him do historical research on. He started working on them around 2011-12, but they haven't been touched in years, until now. This is what I will be focusing on for the rest of the internship.
Adam also told me that I have to work on my pitch outside of work. Things get legally dicey if I create anything under EEP's headquarters, and they want this pitch to be mine. However, they are more than willing to look over my drafts and give me feedback up until the day of the actual pitch. This is the last time I will see Adam (and Heather) until the week of August 6th because they will be at San Diego Comic Con from July 19th to the 22nd, and they are taking a vacation immediately afterward.
After the conference call, Adam went into great detail about two projects he wants me to help him do historical research on. He started working on them around 2011-12, but they haven't been touched in years, until now. This is what I will be focusing on for the rest of the internship.
Adam also told me that I have to work on my pitch outside of work. Things get legally dicey if I create anything under EEP's headquarters, and they want this pitch to be mine. However, they are more than willing to look over my drafts and give me feedback up until the day of the actual pitch. This is the last time I will see Adam (and Heather) until the week of August 6th because they will be at San Diego Comic Con from July 19th to the 22nd, and they are taking a vacation immediately afterward.
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