Kung Fu Panda
so i got to do something really really cool today. but first... the dramatic build-up. so i was at work and everything was going normally, not to mention a little bit boring. the past few days they've been running out of things for me to do. but i would hear random talk about going to see kung fu panda later on. i didn't really get the whole story of it, except later i learned that it was about going to see the premier. around 4:00 my boss stacy said someone's not going to be able to go and asked if i wanted to. i still didn't really know what was going on, so i kinda backed out of it, thanking her for the offer. besides, russia was playing spain tonite and they needed me to cheer them on. but i heard stacy telling someone else about it being a big deal and they have an extra ticket but people are turning it down bc of something else they had to do. all of a sudden, i felt this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing, so i asked if i could have the ticket. i've already watched the movie online so it's not like i would go just for the sake of watching the movie again. so we all go there and this is like a really huge thing. like this is the kung fu panda london premiere! the red carpet was there and there were reporters with cameras and mikes lining the carpet!! and then i heard the celebrities were coming!!! we stopped at a bar to kill time before we went in. everyone was sipping their champaign (sp?) and i had to decline several times. i did eventually agree to a coke though. i don't think i ever realized how much drinking is a part of social interaction in the business world. i didn't even want the coke bc i'd been drinking water all day and peeing all day and i didn't want to have to pee during the movie (do i sound like mom?). but i felt rude even refusing a coke from like the head head boss person. so anyways, back to the story... so i'm following the crowd from my work with my ticket in hand. we walk past the guys at the gate into the entrance of the red carpet. i walked on the red carpet! and it was decorated with a chinese kung fu theme and there were a few chinese people doing kung fu poses in little boxes along the path. then i notice someone point next to me. i look over and there's lucy liu about 5 feet away from me signing autographs. then i turn to my left bc i saw movement out of the corner of my eye and there is jack black doing some crazy little dance thing 2 feet away from me. seriously! he was talking with reporters so i know i got in the background of some tv stations. i sat there staring in disbelief until the guards told us to keep moving. we got to our seats like 45 min before it started and there was a goody bag in each seat with a few snacks to eat - unkown brand names trying to get their name out. before the movie started, the producer came out in front to welcome us to the show. then he introduced people as they came around the corner one by one. first he introduced the 2 directors. then he introduced jack black. this guy is like a ball of energy. he was non-stop moving and goofing off. then he introduced dustin hoffman. seriously... dustin hoffman! i got to see dustin hoffman in front of me with my own eyes! i never would've expected that. i didn't even realize he was a voice in the show. then lucy liu. then the guy who plays the villain who's british and all the british people knew him well. marianne and i didn't know who he was. they all said a few words each and sat down. i was pretty much sitting there with my jaw dropped. interesting note... they're all very short. then we all watched the movie which was much more enjoyable than it was online. but i really regreted accepting that coke. about 1/3 into it i had to pee really bad. and there were a lot of people to pass to get to the aisle so i held it. so the last 2/3 of the movie i couldn't think of anything except how great it would be to be in a bathroom. that kinda spoiled the wonder of the moment. but even still, what an experience!!! i can't believe i almost turned that down! heck, i can't even believe i got invited! it was only bc like 3 other people had other stuff going on and weren't able to accept the ticket. :) i also got to meet and chat with some dreamworks people. that might come in handy later...
oh, and of course i wouldn't bring a camera on a day when i'm 2 feet away from jack black and looking directly at dustin hoffman. someone once told me, "if you want an exciting life don't bring a camera. when you don't have a camera, big foot jumps out of the bushes." i've learned tonite this is very much the case.
Compliment
i have to take some time to brag a little bit... bc really that's what blogs are for. so last week i spent a lot of time looking at land before time children's books and coloring books. i would look each page over really carefully and compare it to the images we have on the styleguide and make sure they only used authorized images and such. it really reminds me of doing a puzzle. you look at the original image to find what it's supposed to look like. then you're looking all over the product concept very meticulously making sure the design is exactly the same. but anyway i enjoyed it. and i found a few very detailed things that i noted. that information got passed on to the licensor (paramount, i think) to double-check and make sure those things were okay. so anyway, i got to sit in on a meeting with the PD dept (where i work) and the head PD person at paramount. the first comment she made was to stacy on how she did a really great job checking the coloring book. and these are things they do every day so the fact that she made a comment about it is saying she did a REALLY good job on it. stacy told her the credit actually goes to her intern. so i felt all warm and glowy inside all day after that. so that's the compliment that i got.
so i got to do something really really cool today. but first... the dramatic build-up. so i was at work and everything was going normally, not to mention a little bit boring. the past few days they've been running out of things for me to do. but i would hear random talk about going to see kung fu panda later on. i didn't really get the whole story of it, except later i learned that it was about going to see the premier. around 4:00 my boss stacy said someone's not going to be able to go and asked if i wanted to. i still didn't really know what was going on, so i kinda backed out of it, thanking her for the offer. besides, russia was playing spain tonite and they needed me to cheer them on. but i heard stacy telling someone else about it being a big deal and they have an extra ticket but people are turning it down bc of something else they had to do. all of a sudden, i felt this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing, so i asked if i could have the ticket. i've already watched the movie online so it's not like i would go just for the sake of watching the movie again. so we all go there and this is like a really huge thing. like this is the kung fu panda london premiere! the red carpet was there and there were reporters with cameras and mikes lining the carpet!! and then i heard the celebrities were coming!!! we stopped at a bar to kill time before we went in. everyone was sipping their champaign (sp?) and i had to decline several times. i did eventually agree to a coke though. i don't think i ever realized how much drinking is a part of social interaction in the business world. i didn't even want the coke bc i'd been drinking water all day and peeing all day and i didn't want to have to pee during the movie (do i sound like mom?). but i felt rude even refusing a coke from like the head head boss person. so anyways, back to the story... so i'm following the crowd from my work with my ticket in hand. we walk past the guys at the gate into the entrance of the red carpet. i walked on the red carpet! and it was decorated with a chinese kung fu theme and there were a few chinese people doing kung fu poses in little boxes along the path. then i notice someone point next to me. i look over and there's lucy liu about 5 feet away from me signing autographs. then i turn to my left bc i saw movement out of the corner of my eye and there is jack black doing some crazy little dance thing 2 feet away from me. seriously! he was talking with reporters so i know i got in the background of some tv stations. i sat there staring in disbelief until the guards told us to keep moving. we got to our seats like 45 min before it started and there was a goody bag in each seat with a few snacks to eat - unkown brand names trying to get their name out. before the movie started, the producer came out in front to welcome us to the show. then he introduced people as they came around the corner one by one. first he introduced the 2 directors. then he introduced jack black. this guy is like a ball of energy. he was non-stop moving and goofing off. then he introduced dustin hoffman. seriously... dustin hoffman! i got to see dustin hoffman in front of me with my own eyes! i never would've expected that. i didn't even realize he was a voice in the show. then lucy liu. then the guy who plays the villain who's british and all the british people knew him well. marianne and i didn't know who he was. they all said a few words each and sat down. i was pretty much sitting there with my jaw dropped. interesting note... they're all very short. then we all watched the movie which was much more enjoyable than it was online. but i really regreted accepting that coke. about 1/3 into it i had to pee really bad. and there were a lot of people to pass to get to the aisle so i held it. so the last 2/3 of the movie i couldn't think of anything except how great it would be to be in a bathroom. that kinda spoiled the wonder of the moment. but even still, what an experience!!! i can't believe i almost turned that down! heck, i can't even believe i got invited! it was only bc like 3 other people had other stuff going on and weren't able to accept the ticket. :) i also got to meet and chat with some dreamworks people. that might come in handy later...
oh, and of course i wouldn't bring a camera on a day when i'm 2 feet away from jack black and looking directly at dustin hoffman. someone once told me, "if you want an exciting life don't bring a camera. when you don't have a camera, big foot jumps out of the bushes." i've learned tonite this is very much the case.
Compliment
i have to take some time to brag a little bit... bc really that's what blogs are for. so last week i spent a lot of time looking at land before time children's books and coloring books. i would look each page over really carefully and compare it to the images we have on the styleguide and make sure they only used authorized images and such. it really reminds me of doing a puzzle. you look at the original image to find what it's supposed to look like. then you're looking all over the product concept very meticulously making sure the design is exactly the same. but anyway i enjoyed it. and i found a few very detailed things that i noted. that information got passed on to the licensor (paramount, i think) to double-check and make sure those things were okay. so anyway, i got to sit in on a meeting with the PD dept (where i work) and the head PD person at paramount. the first comment she made was to stacy on how she did a really great job checking the coloring book. and these are things they do every day so the fact that she made a comment about it is saying she did a REALLY good job on it. stacy told her the credit actually goes to her intern. so i felt all warm and glowy inside all day after that. so that's the compliment that i got.
the real magna carta! - then i found out i wasn't supposed to take pictures. :)
they set up a platform 9 3/4 at the king's cross train station, i.e. the train station where 9 3/4 is at in the harry potter book.
6 comments:
Dang, what a once in a lifetime experience!! Very cool! I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity in real life!
Man Tom...you are having the most fabulous life over there with all your new adventures. You seem to luck out a lot. You may never want to come home :)! Congrats on your compliment that was well earned :).
I'm laughing at your disappearing hand picture!
Kudos on your compliment!
What an experience. What did you wear? I actually fell asleep in that movie, not my favorite, but Julie and I just went out togther and saw it. Maybe if we had Ryan with us it would've been more entertaining.
I know about that bathroom thing. I can't make it through a movie...ever!
Now why did this song keep running through my head while I was reading about your agony?
"Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
Skip to my Lou, my darlin'."
Stephan here. Tisk,tisk, Tom. Watching movies online hurts everyone. I took some of my young men to see Kung Fu Panda today, and one of them had seen it online. He watches lots of movies online before they're out in theaters. I won't go into the lecture I gave him about stealing and ruining the industry. Where was I?..... Oh yeah, Kudos on the big time life experience, though. I 've never met any actors, just lots of musicians and NFL players. It's always kind of weird when you first see them.
I love the Harry Potter pic. Did you get one of you running into the wall with the cart?
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