Hey all,

I'm an AFI applicant whose been lurking on this forum for months, but now that the final week of waiting is half over, I thought I'd join up, say hello and share briefly my experience.

I applied for Directing and Editing. Last year, during my senior year of college, I got interviews in both disciplines, but ultimately was not selected for either (however, I was selected as an alternate for Editing).

This year, I got an interview for Editing for the end of March, and I flew out to LA with my wife for a potentially life-changing event/mini-vacation. I had my interview the day after we arrived, so we could spend the remaining few days in Hollywood having a good time.

So fine and good: standard experience, right? I get home on the weekend, and go to work on Monday. At about 11am, I get a call on my cell phone:

A woman says: "I'm calling from AFI admissions..."

My heart leaped. It could only be an invitation! But so soon? They wouldn't call to reject me, would they?

"...and we'd like to invite you..."

yess....?

"...to interview for the Directing discipline."

Ffwhaat?!? ...I thought all the Directing interviews were long over. My experience last year as well as the accounts of Directing applicants on this BBS, tells me this.

"That's fantastic," I say, still confused.

"Wait a minute," she says, "I see that you're in Minneapolis... the latest we can schedule an interview is for Thursday, at... 2pm. Will that work for you?"

Was I going to say no?

"Well," I start, "Why don't you go ahead and schedule me, and if I find out that plane tickets are 3 thousand dollars or something, I'll call you and we can change it to a phone interview, is that okay?"

"Sure, I've got you scheduled for 2pm, Thrusday, April 5th."

So... I go online and check for one-day round-trip plane tickets... yowza. So, I have a brainstorm: 'Hell, I don't have much on my plate at work this week (I'm a web and motion graphic designer), so I can take the rest of it off, and just drive the 2100 miles down there...'

My wife wouldn't be able to get off work, I knew, so immediately I call my cousin/best-friend in Duluth.

"Joe, what are you doing this week?" As it turns out, nothing. Perfect.

So, I pack that night. My cousin gets on a Grayhound to Minneapolis the next morning, and we leave at noon on Tuesday.

We pull up to the Days Inn on Hollywood blvd just before Midnight on Wednesday, we made good time, wouldn't you say? :-)

I have the interview on Thursday. Now, everyone always says at least one thing that they regret, and I knew that when that happened, I'd have three days in a car to stew over it, so I was more than a little nervous about everything. But, my mind convinced me that it went flawlessly (whether it did or not was not my concern at that point), and they even seemed quite impressed that I "got off a plane, only to get into a car to come back."

In an attempt to be even more memorable, I mounted my camera in the back of my car and filmed the trip to LA, which I edited down to 4 minutes and presented to the interviewers. I had done a similar thing for my editing interview, having my wife film me in a fictionalized account of getting ready for that interview, starting from home, which we filmed "as as happened." Both videos end with me walking into AFI's main building, and I edited them both and burned them to a DVD on my laptop in the basement study area, minutes before each interview.

So, now I'm back home, and trying to keep my mind off of all of it, but of course, Monday is the day of reckoning for us all, I just hope I don't get a call asking me to interview for screenwriting... :-)

Thank you sooooo much for your story! That's great! I can't believe they actually made you come back. You would have totally impressed me...I love the camera on the car stuff too...I've got my fingers crossed for you to get in! You should be proud of yourself for following your dream. Thanks again for the comic relief and telling a story well.

Great story! Sounds like our a fast editor! hahaha, anyways good luck!

Good story, welcome aboard, and thank you for no longer lurking...

... its funny, this process is so stressful that I always feel a little exposed and violated knowing people are reading my experiences and not so open with theirs. Then again this is the internet....

*crosses her fingers for you* Best of luck-- going back twice, that's got to impress them.

Good story! hehe...

Someone aught to make a film about this entire CRAZY process!

Winter, I was thinking the same exact thing about it kind 'freakin' me out. But you are right, it is the internet. hehe

That was a very well-written tale...and I thought they screwed with me!!

I'm with you all on the "exposed" thing...especially after so many of you found my film...