DaileyB

Coloneltigh "A week is only going to give a taste but better than stargawking to help your son decide"

That is all I expect.

PTravel

It's insular in the sense that film people hang out with film people. You get work in the industry based on knowing people who work in the industry. Coloneltigh listed some websites where, evidently, crew is recruited for student films and the like. I've been out of the industry for nearly a quarter of a century and only worked front of camera, so it's worth checking out. He's also clarified that he's talking about student films and the like. Again, I can't speak to the production side, but I can tell you that, when I was acting, having student films on your reel was, for all intents and purposes, barely better than not having a reel at all (and I never did a student film -- from the acting side, it would have been a waste of time and, if SAG found out, could have cost me my Guild membership). My point remains: on a one-week vacation in LA between Christmas and New Years, the likelihood of your son and daughter experiencing what they hope to is very close to zero.

coloneltigh

The association part is true - if you know someone it definitely helps. But at least on the below-the-line production side you can break in the way I described. I knew no one when I started. I'd say on the crew side it's insular in that if you are lazy, can't conduct yourself on set, cannot take direction, aren't a gold soldier - you're not going to be get any more work. But if you are a good worker, it doesn't matter that you don't know anyone when you start. People will know you sooner rather than later. No one is going to (after observing someone work well and hard) say "well you do good work but since X doesn't know you too bad." Now are there cases of someone knowing someone and despite them being a lousy worker, lazy, etc still get work. Sadly that does happen.

I think the Christmas and New Year's is the tough part for production. I'd still check, likely it's easier for specs, etc to get CSC or Panavision to part with a free rental which could drive some production to happen during that week. But for the whole concept of getting something out of a week there is possible. Before I took the plunge into film, I flew out to LA, stayed with a friend (not in the industry), and worked on a couple of specs as a grip/electric swing. Definitely gave me a taste of business (which is what you are expecting) no one is suggesting that spend a week in LA, get a film career.

chrisl137

I'm not in the industry, but my experience in LA is that if you want to meet film people, go on a group bike ride. There are a lot of film & TV people in the cycling community, and a lot of them have work patterns that make it easy to go for long rides - they work extremely long days for weeks at a time, then have weeks at a time when they just hang out and enjoy life while waiting for the next gig to start.

bzcat

If your son and daughter wants a real sneak peak at the real television and film industry, take them to Paley Center for a visit. Follow the website for live events with real actors, directors, writers etc. A lot of events are free but you have to request (free) tickets ahead of time. The only potential problem I see if the whole industry shuts down between Christmas and New Years so ironically, not the best time to visit.

https://media.paleycenter.org/

The Warner studio tour is a good idea. They will take you to some behind the scene places that may be of interest to your kids - like Foley stage, wardrobe, editing room etc.

And I highly recommend visiting both USC and UCLA with your kids. Your son will soon be applying for college anyway so take the opportunity to visit film school at both campus. It will be very quite because of the holidays but you can still walk around get the "feel" of the campus. You can register a student tour... Basically, the school will assign a student volunteer to walk your thru campus and answer any question about campus life that your kids may have. It may inspire him to focus his energy and attention on academics and his film making. USC and UCLA are both top ranked film school so this is the place to be if he wants to pursuit this as a career.

Here is the link to the USC tour: https://admission.usc.edu/firstyear/...mpustours.html

(edit: I used to give this tour when I was a student at USC... the campus is twice as big now from when I did the tour )

And while at USC, don't forget to go across the street to visit the Science Center and see the Space Shuttle. It's not "hollywood" but still very cool. Your son will enjoy it.

https://californiasciencecenter.org/...MaAiNoEALw_wcB

OTD

I can't help with your son's needs, but maybe your daughter's. I went through this a few years ago when I worked in LA and an out-of-town friend had to meet movie stars. I asked some friends in the Calendar section of the LA Times. They suggested we go hang around the Whole Foods on Doheny. Lots of stars shop there. We didn't see anyone when we went (looked more like a bunch of directors' widows) but it's worth a try.
The other thing you can do if you have time is to drive around LA, particularly downtown, and look for yellow temporary signs with black lettering. Those are put up to direct cast and crews to shoots. The verbiage on the signs doesn't give you a good idea of what's being filmed (they do not, for instance, say "Brad Pitt, turn left here for your closeup!") so it might just be a commercial or something else. But you can find shoots that way.

Hope that helps a fellow former Santa Barbara-area guy (SBHS--Go Dons!)

Eastbay1K

You didn't' see anyone you recognized. It is possible that no one was "famous" but almost equally as possible that you didn't recognize them in during their daily routine. While some people look exactly as you might expect, others you could trip over and not recognize.

OTD

That's certainly possible, and there are plenty of stars I wouldn't recognize anyway because I'm far behind the curve as far as popular culture goes. My friend though, would have. She lives for that stuff.

LongingForORD

A few years ago we took my then 12 year old niece to Hollywood, not a great idea (fairly sleazy).

The couple of things she really did like was the Max Factor Hollywood Museum (lots of movie make up and costumes/props, ect) http://thehollywoodmuseum.com/, the City Walk at Universal Studio (they often have live promotional music/dance events) and a shopping visit to The Grove/Farmers Market (even celebrities have to Christmas shop). We had a late lunch in an empty restaurant in The Grove and the only other person eating was a guy from Dancing with the Stars, we also saw him later as we were both shopping at Nordstroms and Barneys. We also met a women from a soap opera, but only because she knows my childhood friend (who we met for lunch) and she introduced us (I would never have noticed her myself). Just a few thoughts for your daughter. Enjoy!

Uncle Been

that is seriously very interesting video

DaileyB

Thanks a lot for all of the very good suggestions. They are really appreciated.

BeachRat

FYI, Bouchon just recently announced that they will be closing by the end of the year, so have a backup plan if that is high on your list.