wait(ing)

as a ucla student, susan gets perks such as receptions and free movie screenings. last wednesday, they had a welcoming event for the entering grad students. the reception had a nice spread including carving stations, many appetizers, and free wine and beer (good beer such as sol & corona). we felt sort of out of place at the reception as most students seemed to be younger and already connected to each other. still the food was good.

as it's been a while since we've gone to see a movie in a honest to goodness theater, last night we got to check out one for free. as part of a series where they screen movies at melintz hall, they showed waiting followed by a q&a with the director/writer, rob mckittrick.

Waiting Movie Synopsis: A waiter for four years since high school, Dean has never questioned his job at Shenanigan’s. But when he learns that Chett, a high school classmate, now has a lucrative career in electrical engineering, he’s thrown into turmoil about his dead-end life. Dean’s friend Monty is in exactly the same boat, but he couldn’t care less.

the movie has its moments, which primarily revolve around a game where employees of a bennigan's type restaurant show each other their genitalia. so as you can imagine it's pretty crude. there's not a lot of heart in the movie- we didnt wonder much about where each character ends up. there are a few memorable moments though- like the goat. that being said, we did both think about our friend who works at a bennigans and how he's doing in his degree progress. otherwise the movie was average with some very funny moments.

what was unique about the experience was what was asked post screening. many of the audience members, being ucla film students, were curious about how they were to go about getting their movie made. essentially it took rob eight years, multiple fast-food jobs, three million dollars to make the movie - and no schooling. his advice was to be persistent and patient- not very inspiring for the ambitious, high-tuition paying student audience. he tells the story of how his script was discovered, basically by a freak series of coincidences and the friend of a friend effect. apparently the movie making industry is more about who you know than what you know.

this is as close to the movie making part of hollywood as we've been since living in la.