nickelodeon writing fellowship (year 2) speed interviews day 1

DAY 1

i got a good night’s sleep and drove into burbank in the morning. i couldn’t believe a whole year had already gone by. last year there were 4 finalists. this year, there were 5, including a classmate from a tv writing class i took earlier in the year at io west. i assumed there would be 3 fellows chosen like last year, so that probably meant 2 of us wouldn’t make it.

karen and staff came out to greet us. she told us the order we would be interviewing for the next 3 days. i was to go 2nd, same as last year. we were given the schedule for the 10 interviews, including bios of the writers and creators. for the group interviews, we weren’t told beforehand who was going to be in the room, or even how many people there would be.

1) the first interview was a group interview with 5 people. last year i feel i did well in all my 1 on 1 interviews, but i got nervous in the group interviews. this year, i was hoping i’d do better. when i walked into the room, i recognized some of them from last year. i was nervous sitting outside the room, but once i sat down, i felt very comfortable and the 10 minute interview flew by.

2) the next interview was with some head writers. they remembered me from last year, plus there were 2 new guys in there that i hadn’t met last year. that one went really well. they were impressed i made it through again.

last year, karen took each one of us aside individually in the middle of the 2nd day and gave us notes on how we were doing. this year, she spoke with us halfway through the 1st day. last year, she told me i was too quiet, my personality wasn’t coming through. don’t be so nervous. this year when it was my turn, she said she didn’t have many notes for me. she said, keep doing what you’re doing. hey that’s good news!

3) had a group meeting with 4 guys. again, i recognized them from last. i got them to laugh. that’s something that i didn’t really focus on last year.

4) interview with a creator, who i interviewed with last year. it went much better than it did last year.

i drove home feeling pretty good compared to how i felt after the the first day last year. there were still 2 days left though.