Author: imichellemorte

That’s A Wrap CSULB!

So yesterday was a pretty exciting day. Care to guess why?

Well if you follow me on Instagram you’d know. But if you don’t for the past thirty days I have been counting down to this day. And what day is that? GRADUATION DAY!

After 19 years of being in school, I can finally say I am done. Your girl has finished and received a BA in Film and Electronic Arts.

Oh yes, yesterday was quite the exciting day. My five years at California State University, Long Beach were probably going to be my more memorable years of my life. I went in as Computer Science then undeclared for a bit to focus on my general education then went on to Marketing until I finally got to settle on Film. You can say that my degree transitions were probably as colorful as that lei in the picture above.

I owe quite a bit to this school, more so than my primary, middle and high school combined. This was where I most likely made the friends that I’m going to be and they’re going to be stuck with (me) for the rest of my natural life.Not only did this place teach me how to excel in my career but this is also where I learned more about myself and grew into the (hopefully) adult woman that I am now.

I owe so much to my friends, my family and my partner for supporting me through my highs, my lows and everything in between. I could not have done this without you. With that being said, my degree is for you.

(I wish I had a group picture with friends, but unfortunately they took too long and my stomach (as well as the rest of my family) were getting hungry)

As Darryl Philbin once said,

“Everyday when I came to school, all I wanted to do was leave. So why in the world does it feel so hard to leave?”

(The Office, 2013 – “Finale” edit: changed “office” to “school” for all you sticklers out there)

But as with all great adventures, they must come to an end. So as I say good bye and essentially close this chapter of my life, I flip to a new page with hopeful eyes and begin a new one.

Good bye California State University, Long Beach you were good to me and I will always be grateful for the lessons you taught me.

And now, onwards to my next adventure!

…whatever that may be 😀

May 28, 2017
LA Cine Fest Semi Finalist Woo!

Hello all!

I know it’s been a while since I last posted anything, but I’m excited to announce that Because I Love You (2016) is a Semi Finalist at LA Cine Fest!

Exciting stuff right!? So I had the privilege to work on this amazing short film a little over a year ago. This project is one of my more meaningful projects because of the message behind the film.

The film itself is about Audrey (Diana Diaz) who after escaping her abusive ex boyfriend (Derrick Dover) falls into a spiral of depression and paranoia. Her mother (Paula Lauzon) pushes her farther by conveying a message from Derrick asking for another chance. Audrey’s cousin, Charlotte (Stephanie Mills), wants to help her out of this vicious cycle, but only she can help herself when her nightmare comes to visit.

We will learn if we’re finalist by hopefully the end of next week. So keep an eye out for more announcements regarding this beautiful short film 🙂

May 14, 2017
WTF!? – Nessa Knows (S01E01)

Hi all,

Sorry I haven’t been posting lately. If you’ve been keeping up with my via social media, you can see that I’m (currently as I write this post) 13 days away from graduation! Woo! Exciting stuff guys!

Well during this semester, I’ve been keeping very busy. I produced a pilot on youtube (for a class), coordinated a PSA for the Orange County D.A’s office, producing a short to be filming at the end of July, all while juggling exams, papers and projects. So, yeah – been staying pretty busy.

Anywho, there is one project that I had wrapped back in the beginning of April that I never got a chance to write about. So I’m going to write about it now.

Over the semester, I had the chance of co-showrunning a pilot for YouTube called Nessa Knows. The show itself is about a Vanessa (played by Alexandria Lewis), a senior in high school, who learns that she has a unique gift of reading minds, but her insight becomes both a gift and curse. She soon realizes the world is full of stereotypes, and learns the true nature of the people she interacts with everyday.

Long story short, this show was fairly difficult to run because, unfortunately we had a difficult personality on the crew that kept holding us back. However, she did pull through with production. Not so much during wrap and post. But what are you going to do? You deal with it, work around it, and move on.

On the upside, the final product turned out to be pretty good. I’ve attached a link below 🙂 And for our final we’ll be making an indiegogo campaign for the show. So if you like the pilot, you can keep an eye out for that!

Well, enough of my rambling. On to my next piece of good news! Post to follow shortly after! 🙂

May 14, 2017
Central Coast Getaway

After an intense two months of juggling back to back jobs and school, spring break was more than welcoming. Unfortunately, even with spring break I was still working. Except for this past weekend. This past weekend, I was able to get some much needed R&R. And where did I go? Central coast. And let me tell you it was exactly what I needed. There’s definitely something about small towns and of course the sea breeze.

I know a good majority of the posts that I put on my blog are usually work related, but the moral of this post is this: I know it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle, but you need to take a break every now and then to recharge. That way you can get back into it without feeling so burnt out.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! 🙂

April 2, 2017
Random Act of Caffeinated Kindness

I know this may not look like much. To be honest it just looks like a regular cup of coffee. Nothing special. But that’s to most, most times to me too. But not today.

Today a random woman paid for my coffee. She didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know who she was. Hence the term “random” being used as this human’s adjective.

Anyways, I had just settled a rather unpleasant matter not even 30 min earlier. Along with the fact that I was tired considering I didn’t gett off work until 5 this morning. So you can see just how tired I really was. Well after I had settled the unpleasantness, I figured that it was about time I needed coffee, since I hadn’t had any yet for the day. So I drive to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf close to my place and order my coffee. Then I wait until it’s my turn to pull up to the window ready to pay when the cashier said that the lady in front of me paid for my coffee.

Needless to say it was a pleasant surprise. And if just goes to show you that even though we live in political climate full of turmoil we shouldn’t ever lose hope. Want to know why? Because random act of kindness like this, shows that there is a glimmer of hope for humanity.

Well I just wanted to share a pleasant happening today. And I hope you all have a great day full of positive vibes.

February 24, 2017
Set Daze

Just wrapped up another shoot. And as always I loved every minute of it. I know that I work in the Production Office the whole time and pretty much handle paperwork for most of my day during production, but I’m not complaining. To be honest I really love it. I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking, “if you love paperwork so much why don’t you just work a 9-5 like most people?” And my answer is because I will most likely not have the same amount of love for that job, that I have for this. I know that if I did that, I would have hated coming into work. I would have always just dreaded the day until I got off. Yes the hours on set are long, but it doesn’t feel that way. Well not to me at least.

I also think I’m getting a better handle on being an Office PA too. And I’m hoping that within the next few months I might be able to move up to Production Secretary or APOC (Asst Prod Office Coord) and then eventually become a Line Producer/UPM.

What I love most about film production jobs is that they’re not all the same. The job’s never the same. There’s always something new to learn. AND I’m not stuck in the same location every time. Maybe that’s what scares a lot of people from not pursuing a career in the arts. Because there’s not stability in it. And most people out there, want the stability you know?

Well that’s all I have to say. I hope you enjoyed reading this as well as looking at my lovely pictures too. I try to keep it interesting for you, don’t want to let it all just be boring text you know? 😉

Until the next job, this is Michelle signing off…

February 24, 2017
One Semester Down, One More To Go

Obligatory “Last First Day” selfie

I can’t believe that after this semester it’s good bye school forever and hello adulting. What I find interesting is that I’m not that scared about the future. Sure it’s going to be daunting because it’s going to take me a while to get work but I’m not scared. I’m going to continue to look for work while I’m in school, like how I did this semester.

Last semester however did kick my ass. I had to write a 30 page script, produce a lecture series and a horror trailer, and then focus on academics. Granted the first three are also for school too. So let’s break it down.

To start off writing is not one of my strongest suits. Last semester I even had trouble writing a five page script, well that was more so to cut down my original seven to five. Hence why I went to my professor’s office hours almost every time he had them last semester. However, this semester I know I should have gone to my professor’s office hours, but I didn’t. I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel like he would give me the same criticism as the one I had last semester. Anyways, writing that 30-pager was a mission.

30pg mission

I have some high hopes though for this semester. Not just because I’ll be finishing up with school (maybe forver…?) but because I have a lot of things going for me this semester. First off, if you haven’t noticed one of the projects that I was developing fell through. Which wasn’t that surprising to me. But after I realized that it really wasn’t going to go anywhere, I suddenly felt like I was in a rut in terms of my film career. I wasn’t producing anything any time soon and I wasn’t necessarily looking for work. So I was in a rut. That was until I was talking to a friend of mine and we just decided, “You know what f*ck it. Let’s gather up the crew and make something this semester. Doesn’t matter what it is, as long as we shoot something.” That thought gave me the boost I needed to get out of my rut. And soon following that, I was offered the job to work for the University as a Student Assistant for one of the film classes.

Just goes to show you, that if things look bleak now does not mean that they’ll look bleak forever. Just for the time being. So pretty much moral of the story: when life gets you down, get back up and kick some major ass and take names.

February 1, 2017
Girls Don’t Cry

I am beyond humble to have been given the opportunity to work on this amazing project. In a time of hate and “carnage”, we as human beings need to stand together and not against each other.

Congratulations once again to this beautiful film and thank you to everyone who helped make and supported this project! Without you guys, we would not have made it this far. We did it everyone!

Morte Film Co.

Just wanted to give the Because I Love You team a huge congratulations on getting their second Official Selection laurel for Girl Don’t Cry Film Festival! We are beyond humble at the response we have gotten for our film and can not thank you all enough for your help and support throughout our passion project.

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February 1, 2017
Champagne is up for Summer 2016

This entire summer has been one hell of a ride. Definitely got more hands on learning with the industry. I got to intern on two features and a digital series. PA on a commercial and a feature. And produce (well in the process of producing) a short film. All while interning at a small production company out in Studio City. Yeah… one hell of a ride and many hours of sitting in that infamous Los Angeles traffic.

I have definitely been blessed to be given all of these opportunities that have helped me learn and guide me through the belly of this beast we call show business. What I love most about entertainment is that nothing will ever truly be the same job. It’s constantly changing and evolving and well you have to learn to adapt or get eaten alive.

This past project that I got to Office PA for was definitely the job that kicked my ass in terms of learning experiences. This was my first real taste of being an Office PA. And to be completely honest, I loved every minute of it. Sure the job is tough and it royally kicked my ass but I’ll be coming out of it with more knowledge that I can bring to other jobs.

I feel that when it comes to learning or preparing for the jobs that you want in entertainment it’s all based on experience. Sure you can buy all the books and go to all the classes, but really there is nothing like being thrown into the ring and getting down.

I remember when I stepped onto the set of my first feature I was shadowing the UPM (Unit Production Manager) and I asked her, “Is there anything you can tell me that I should know to prepare to be a UPM, Line, Coordinator, etc.” And she told me that there’s nothing she could really tell me except that you just learn from the different shows you get on. Each show is different. And you just learn to adapt and go from there. Another discouraged me from going down that road because all you do is paperwork. And I told him that as strange as this is going to sound I actually like paperwork. There’s a strange solace for me just knowing that I understand everything that I read. I like dealing with logistics more than creative. I think it’s mainly because I’m having a hard time creating so I’d rather help with the process of creating something. That and I also feel that there’s just too much pressure to be creative now. Everyone is creating something. But no one is truly going out there and creating anything.

From that first feature I had landed my first industry internship where I got to see what it was like to work for a small production company. My experience here was and will truly be invaluable. I learned so much of what goes into creating a show, from prep to production. As well as what it takes to run a small independent production company.

While working there I had managed to get onto a commercial which then led to my second feature, both of which I had Set PA’d for, and then finally hopping on to my third feature while developing my fourth short film.

Views from the third.

I learned so much over the summer and I will never forget what I’ve learned and who I’ve met in the process and what they taught me.

And just like every “champagne” shot called, there is always this bittersweet feeling of knowing that something has come to a close. But with every new end is the start of a wonderfully unknown beginning. Fall 2016 I’m ready to see what you have in store for me.

August 26, 2016
I do many things “Because I Love You” and abuse is not one of them.

As of 15 June 2016 at 11:00AM, my chapter entitled the above title has officially come to a close.

It has been quite a journey and a little bittersweet to say the least on closing this chapter of my life. Throughout the process I could see that I have truly grown into my skill set as a short film producer. But it is not only that, I feel as if I have grown as a person working on this film. I have grown sympathetic and more compassionate towards women who have gone through abusive relationships. Trauma like that never truly leaves the victim, or survivor, but with some time and reflection they learn to cope and move on as best as they can.

The film itself is about a woman on her journey towards self healing after an abusive relationship. She is haunted by the past of her abusive ex boyfriend and must finally confront what has happened to her in order to regain control of her life.

Being able to see all of the hard work that the cast and crew put into this film and finally being able to see it on the big screen was definitely something else.

And now we’re onto the 2016-2017 film festival circuit! Will keep you all posted! Wish us luck!

June 17, 2016