Opening this thread for any and all AFI fellows who want to get to know each other before the school year begins.

A big "Hello" from Austria, Vienna!

My name is Patryk, I'm coming from Poland, but I grew up
in Austria, Vienna, where I recently finished my studies at the Acadamy of fine Arts. I'm a Directing Student as well.

It's great to have the opportunity to get to know you before the program starts.

I'm also interested in hints regarding accommodation. My visa procedure is kind of an advanture and probably I'll come in the middle of July to L.A.

Great idea from Meng about the Pre-AFI networking party, that's a chance to meet everybody and get more relaxed for the program.

Meanwhile you'll find some exerpts from my projects and some more information about me on: http://www.myspace.com/ichnabod


Best regards to all of you!

Patryk

Welcome! I look forward to meeting you. So far we have a whole bunch of directors...bold and take charge personalities...makes sense. I'm in the screenwriting program and I'm hoping some other screenwriters will speak up. For those of you moving here, there is already another discussion with helpful info about finding places to live. This is it -

http://forums.studentfilms.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/86610...111073454#5111073454

I posted the following list of housing websites -

http://www.artdecoapts.com/
http://www.artisteapartments.com/index.htm
http://www.swelgroup.com/index http://www.uniquelarentals.com/.htm
http://www.ba-management.com/
http://glb-properties.com/index.html
http://www.rpmla.com/
http://www.gillmanapartments.com/orange_002.htm
http://www.pacificrem.com/
http://www.hermoyne.8m.net/
http://www.shlmanagementcompany.com/property4.html
http://www.hollywoodhillsapts.com/
http://www.therentalgirl.com/index.html
http://www.ellynesis.com/index.asp
http://www.westsiderentals.com

The best resources really are Craigslist, West Side Rentals and just walking around the neighborhood. When you go to craigslist, these are some of the streets near AFI to search for -
Gower, Bronson, Tamarind, Beachwood, Cheremoya, St. Andrews, Van Ness, Wilton, Gramercy, Garfield, Canyon, Kingsley, Western, Oxford, Serrano, Harvard, Winona, and Normandie.

Look for something in the 1600-1900 blocks, anything south get's sketchy. Franklin is also a great street with the 5000-6000 blocks being the closest to AFI.

If you want to live in this area, I warn you it is can be expensive and the street parking is HORRIBLE. So by all means, if you can find a place with parking, you're life will be much easier. Parking at AFI is pretty bad too, so if you can be in walking distance, that's even better. I just found my place a few days ago walking up and down the streets. This is after scouring the area for weeks. I've lived in LA for four years now and am a local Real Estate agent on the side, so if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LATexan,

Hello! My name is Christy and I'm in the Directing program. Thanks for getting this forum started, this will be a valuable tool to communicate with each other over the summer. Are you from Texas? If so, where? I'm from the Lonestar state as well, and it'd be great to meet a fellow Texan!

Corpus Christi here. How about you? I think you'll find that there are more Texans in LA than any other state outside of CA. Good things Texans are good people.

Hi everybody. I need help finding a place in LA. I can't wait to meet you all. Where are my fellow producers?

I don't mean to hog the board, but I've been so focused setting up this forum, I haven't said much about who I am. My name is Clark Childers, I'm 28, and have lived in Los Angeles for the past four years. I graduated from Brown University in 2003 and moved directly to Los Angeles to begin a career as a screenwriter. Have worked a lot in the industry gaining production, agency and development experience, but I am excited to get a chance to focus on my craft and actually see some of my stuff on screen...even if it is just our own. When I graduated from college I was sure I never wanted to go to school again, but now I can't wait. Everyone post when you plan on arriving in the concrete jungle so we can start planning get togethers. Also, starting June 23rd, I have around thirty cheap seat tickets to the Hollywood Bowl and would love to introduce some LA newbies to my favorite LA experience. Talk to you later.

Clark

Clark,

Glad to hear from another screenwriting fellow. We're much in same boat: paying the bills, keeping the dreams alive. And now, those dreams will live. Looking forward to working together.

Best,

Ethan

Hey everyone,

My name's Chris Hamilton and I'm a cinematography fellow. I live out here in L.A. and would love to hang out with any of you as soon as you arrive. Send me an e-mail at cucaloris@gmail.com or check out my site www.myspace.com/cucaloris. It needs to be updated, but it's got some of my work posted. Can't wait to work with all of you really soon.

-Chris

Love the forum guys. Im Ryan Scholz, a Producing fellow from Canada...Vancouver to be exact. Brenda, I'm here for you, although the rest of the producers must be busy raising money somewhere. looking forward to seeing you guys soon

Short Term Housing -

The place I found is a two bedroom about a half block from AFI on the corner of Garfield and Franklin. I'm not really looking for a roommate, but it's something I'd consider. The place needs a little work...I'm replacing the carpet with cork tiles and painting the rooms. I would exchange a short term stay for part of the rent and/or help moving in and fixing up the place. Who knows, if it works out, maybe it will be long term. If you're interested, let me know and I'll fill you in on the details.


P.S. I just found out Scott Hardman either left or was fired from admissions at AFI.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LATexan,

Hey guys!

I just got into AFI off the waitlist for screenwriting!

Yay!!

Yay for Texans in LA! I've lived in Austin, Dallas, and most recently Houston. So we're not too far!

Hi everyone,

My name is Stephen. I recently got accepted as a screenwriting fellow. And by "recently," I mean I just found this out yesterday and am still pretty shell-shocked. Right now I'm deciding where the right fit for me will be and am also considering the film school at FSU (which I found really great upon visiting there,) as well as a couple others. I'm 23 and from Boston, MA, so I'm pretty sure I'm one of the youngest of the prospective fellows (they even brought up my age during my interview.) I graduated from the Univeristy of Connecticut a year ago, where I worked with faculty and administration to create an individualized film program. Also, as I'm sure is the case with all of you, it has been my dream to make movies for as long as I can remember (I probably have kept the lights on at a few Blockbusters simply through late fees.)

Anyway, being from the east coast, the only knowledge I have of AFI stems from internet research and my phone interview. I'm really excited about the opportunity to study there and be out in LA, but was hoping to gain more insight into the program. Being that a bunch of you are from the area, I was wondering whether you had already made a visit to the conservatory, knew anyone that had or was already studying there, and what your overall impressions are of the program?

I'm really excited about my acceptance, but this will be a big next step for me and I just want to be prepared for it, so any insight will be greatly appeciated. I look forward to getting to know everyone and working with you come fall.

Hello! It's great to hear from everyone. What an amazing email response!

My name is Bryan Croes. I'm a producing fellow from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I'll be moving out to LA around the second week in August, and I'm making a trip out at the end of June to try and find an apartment. I've signed up with Westside rentals, scoured Rent.com and other sites, and have been checking craigslist.

Where do all you locals live and what is your commute like to the AFI campus?

I originally wanted to live somewhere in the swath between Santa Monica and Los Feliz, or in the valley between Studio City and Glendale.

On my last trip, however, I decided anything west of Beverly Hills was too far from AFI. It took me over an hour to drive from AFI to Santa Monica, and I wouldn't be able to handle a daily commute that long.

Now I'm thinking BH/WeHo/Los Feliz/Burbank/Glendale.

Any thoughts?

Stephen- They brought up my age too.. I'm 24 but Bob Mandel joked that I look 12 and was trying to scam them.

I went to the school for the first time 2 weeks ago and took a tour with the admissions director. The campus is very pretty. The facilities seemed more dated than Chapman's, but still very good.

I leased an apartment in West Hollywood and move in next week. It seemed to be a 15 minute or so drive to campus in light traffic.

Hope this helps a bit.

Hey, Melseas--did you know Keegan Wilcox? He's a Chapman grad friend of mine . . .

Ethan- Nope don't know him. I don't know anyone on the west coast yet.

So Melsea, does this mean you've chosen AFI over Chapman?

Winter-
Yes, I've canceled Chapman... so someone on their waitlist can get in now.