USC Moment #1 - MANGINA (or the Most Important Thing I Took Away from Film School)

So it has come to this. It has taken me nearly a year since graduating to finish this thing I originally said in Feb 2011 I'd have done "before graduation."

But I think it may have taken 365 days-ish to be able to at least get a sense of what the most important thing I have taken away from USC film school is. And now I can truly say I know what that is, and can sum it up in one word:

MANGINA

Now, you can head to the Urban Dictionary if you don't know what a "mangina" is, but to get the gravitas behind this seemingly crude term you have got to know the story behind my #1 USC Film School Moment.

It was second semester, fall of 2008, and we were finishing our 508 films. This was back when each of us thought our 5 minute shorts shot by complete amateurs was going to be our one-way ticket to Sundance (granted, it kinda was for some, but mostly everyone ends up with a five minute kinda-blurry movie that just screams "first film").

This had been a long semester and an even longer year. Take the fun stress of moving to a new city and add it to a ridiculous production schedule and mountains of pressure heaped upon yourself to make the next "Songbird," and by the time the semester is over all you want to do is bathe in river of whiskey and cigarettes and never hear about the 180 degree line as long as you live.

That was my mental state when it finally came time for the class to screen our films in a big, fun, blow-out screening at USC's Norris Theater. It was a great feeling, to be DONE. And to all be done together. Everyone made their own individual films, but we had all accomplished something.

That night we did what we'd been doing all semster: we DRANK.

Like.....a lot.

Norris has hosted some of the biggest names in cinema, from Hitchcock to Spielberg, and is a pretty classy spot. But that night the back row looked like New Orleans after Mardi Gras. We had gotten a little boozy at the screening earlier in the semester, but this was a total party. Everyone was excited and thrilled to be done.

Like this.... x50

Yeah, it was great. Some folks had films that really impressed and showed the promise of future projects. Some.....didn't. And one film terrified and confused the hell out of people. After each film, each director gave a little speech where they either totally embarrassed themselves or whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and somebody was always screaming "NEWMAN."

Because that's just what we did.


I gave my speech and all I remember is that I had quite a bit to drink and don't remember anything else. I think I was either funny or well above the legal limit to be speaking in public. Either way, people laughed.

Totally shitfaced here. Now an MFA graduate.

After the films screened, we took the reception outside and the party continued. But after the hands were gladded and compliments bandied about, it was mostly classmates who were left. At this point, we engaged in a tradition that had started when the first half of students screening in October.

The tradition....was Mangina.

See, there's this statue in the area around the Norris Theater. There are actually many statues, but there is one in particular that is officially called "Reclining Male Nude" (I looked it up).

But as you view the picture below, you'll see this "Male Nude" doesn't seem to be much of a man at all- at least not by Michelangelo's "David" standards.

"Reclining Male Nude"

And so we called it Mangina.

But we didn't just call it Mangina...where is the dignity or respect in that?

It was christened "Mangina" in a ceremony of the utmost grandeur and solemnity.

Or, to be me more accurate, somebody smashed an empty liquor on the statue's crotch while we all hoot and hollered like Brits at a mongoose fight.

It was fucking hilarious. And if you fail to see the humor, let me explain it again: we smashed an empty liquor bottle onto the groin of a nude statue.


The act really speaks for itself.


And what was special is this was the second time it was done, so it wasn't just petty vandalism anymore. Now, it was tradition.

TRADITION! TRADITION! 

For years to come, for documentary shorts and narrative films, when enough of the class comes together.... Mangina gets hit like chicken wire at Bob's Country Bunker.


Now, yes: hitting works of art in their vaginal areas with whiskey bottles is a great story and an amazing moment in anybody's life. But, the #1 moment from all of USC film school?

Better than Favreau? Better than Coca-Cola?

Better....than Spielberg?




Yes.


When we smashed the shit out of that Jameson bottle on Mangina, we did it as a collective class. Or, some of our braver, more inebriated members did it while everyone else watched and laughed.

I'll forever remember Mangina because it reminds me that the greatest takeaway from film school wasn't  learning how to set up a shot or hearing advice from a working Hollywood director or getting a degree that could (supposedly) open doors.

The greatest asset of film school was people.

Specifically: classmates.

Classmates who held boom poles on your set or gave you notes on a script. Classmates and--really: friends--who helped you blow off steam on the worst days and told you, honestly, that something worked on a good day.

My classmates and friends fostered my creativity and ambition more than any single teacher ever could. They help you out, you pitch in for them, and you all come up together.

USC was and is amazing because it does an especially good job (in the grad school) of bringing together all kinds of creative types from all over the world and gives them an opportunity to work and make movies with one another.

Not everything always works out, but having to work with people you don't agree with is part of the process as well. I learned just as much from my bad film school relationships as I have with the good ones.

Not that I had too many bad ones, especially with my incoming class, the class of winter 2008, which may come out looking like the 1927 Yankees of film school classes. Seriously, not to #humblebrag, but my class is out in the real world kicking ass right now.

We've got a Nichols Fellowship Finalist, successful independent producers, some exceptional thesis film directors, a TV associate producer, a struggling blogger, and a rock star guy and director who is about to shoot his first feature with an Oscar-winning actress.

That's about as impressive as it gets post-film school.

Could there be some kind of mystique to the Mangina?

Something is definitely going on with that group of fifty or so students who awkwardly met one another in the old Lucas Building lobby some half-decade ago. Now, I know of plenty of good folks and success outside of our class, but there's always something unique about those people you first got to know.

So as different classmates pursue individual career and life goals and separate and move away more over time, and as some reach dizzying highs of success and validated parking while others sink into a well of despair and broken meters, it is nice to know that there is a unifying figure that stands out as a monument to how fresh and nervous and stupid we all once were.

Something that reminds us of our one-time confidence and uncertainty.

Something that binds us as having all started at roughly the same place.

Something that is really just an over-elaborate dick joke.

I'll always have the classmates.

And we'll always have Mangina.

Inside Hollywood's Most Powerful Agency

***NOTE: THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST IS IN STRICT ADHERENCE TO CAA'S CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT AND SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY***

 
So, I have been crazy busy the past few weeks, but glad I've finally found some time to share how my internship at CAA has been going.

Well, let me say it has been ****! The ***** are ***** and I have been *********************. It's been ******* being able to ********** every day in the ********* of Hollywood. I mean, the amount of *********** I've seen has been ***** ****! I've ****** into all kinds of ****** ****** like ********, **** ********, and *** "********" *****. The **** was being in the same elevator with ***** ********. *** is just as ********* and ******** in person as you'd hope and expect.

I've mostly been **** ****** and ***** **** of ********** ****. I **** in the ** *** Department, which has ******** ****** who I really *** ***** ****. I spend so much time ******* ***** ******* and *** ***** *******- it really makes you feel like you're ******* *** the *******, or "******* ** *********" as they say. 

There are so many more ****** ******* I'd love to share but I'm ****** **** from a ********* of ******** **** and ******* in time ******* of *** to meet ****** and ****** ********** ***** ******.

Luckily, I'm heading back to Chicago this week for Turkey Day and I'll be able to ********** a bit more on the ******* ******, ******, and ******** I've had the past few weeks.

It's been **** ************! 


-mjk

In 'Code' We Trust

Well, the Packers are Superbowl Champions and I'm not too broken up about it...unlike the Packers themselves, most of whom are physically broken, injured, or waiting at death's door.

Actually, that's just Brett Favre.

No, I'm not too bummed about those Green and Yellow, Lambau-leaping Cheesebrains to the north winning it all because tonight is an event I've eagerly anticipated for months--the premiere of "The Chicago Code" on FOX.

Many who know me are aware that I've been pimping this show like a 1950's cigarette advertiser for the last couple of months, but I just want to lay down again why I'm more excited than Ben Roethlisberger after hearing the words "dropping the charges" about the debut tonight. It's a change of pace for me, because I usually run away from any show that is about doctors, cops, lawyers or Jim Belushi.

I'd actually heard about it a while ago when some friends at USC had seen the pilot in a class back when it was called "Ride-Along". They said A) that it was pretty good and B) that I'd like it because "its about Chicago cops and there's this one scene when this cop gives a guy shit for being a White Sox fan".

$OLD.

Then, I found out that it was written/show-run by Shawn Ryan, creator of "The Shield", who is also a native of the lovely town of ROCKFORD, IL.

Back when the fam used to take trips to Galena like it was going out of style, the Rockford oasis McDonald's was just that--the ultimate oasis of greasy food and a bleach-blasted bathroom--that helped split up the 2 1/2 hour drive.

Not to mention, the guy is a huge Chicago sports fan and obviously has passion for the city of Big Shoulders....so, yeah, we'd get along. Plus, he is one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter, especially during big Chi-town sports events (my favorite was his keeping a close eye on the Miami Heat's "Race to 72 wins" long after ESPN mysteriously dropped the story).

So, good show, good showrunner- but now the best and most obvious reason I'm excited about this show:

It's filmed entirely in Chicago.


It's filmed entirely in Chicago! 


It's filmed entirely in Chicago!!! 


Now, why is this so great? Well, its more than me just getting my own John Hancock every time I see a shot of said tower on TV...no, this is great because its a quality show that is shot on location in CHI.

After trying to get interested and excited for years on mediocre comedies set in in the Windy City but shot in weatherless Burbank (here's looking at you, My Boys, According to Jim, and newcomer Mike and Molly), there's finally a show I can actually be proud of.

(Oh, and lets not forget the absolute abortion of a Chicago-set sitcom known as CURSED.)

But, better still, "The Chicago Code" spurns the blank slate of Hollywood backlots and green screens and actually shoots on location in Chi-town...in its neighborhoods and 3-flats and decades-old L tracks that you really can't get anywhere else....sorry WB Lot.

And its ABOUT the city. They're not just setting something here because it'd fit the "feeling" of the show then slapping a postcard image of the city at the top of each scene and putting a Bears poster on the bar set (Again: here's looking at you, My Boys, According to Jim..etc),

Its about the City of Chicago and its biggest problem: corruption. Its about the cops who work in a gritty, violent city that is also their hometown. Its about real pride about where you're from and who you root for. Its about "he pulls a knife; you pull a gun. He puts one of yours in the hospital; you put one of his in the morgue. THAT's the CHICAGO way."

Whoops, got a little excited and slipped into Jimmy Malone for a sec. But you get the idea.

Anyway, I'm just saying that it speaks to one of the things I've really come to realize recently, which is that despite the relative wealth of production that has come to the Second City, there are very few--none, really--that do a good job capturing what Chicago is really about. Its people, its attitude, its undefinable qualities that only come from standing at the corner of Washington and Dearborn and feeling a cold breeze from the Lake.

I mean, very few have ever captured the soul of our city the way Woody Allen and Scorcese got NYC or Michael Mann taps into L.A. or even now how Affleck just masterBostonates all over the screen.

Tapping into the sweet home Chgicago-ness in film is definitely something I hope to do one day, once I finish USC and start convincing people to give me money to make things.

But, in the meantime, I think "Chicago Code" has the chance to be the best insight into the true character of this city that we've seen on any screen in a long time.

At least I hope so.

PLUS, if the show's a hit, that means the entire film industry in Chicago will have a consistent job going that can grow our production capabilities even more, perhaps getting some new shows...

DOUBLE PLUS, if the shows' a hit, and I can somehow weasel my way into the writers' room as an assistant and -- gasp! --maybe even write for the show someday....I may actually be able to live out my dream of making movies by day and drinking 312s and Old Styles with friends and family by night.

But that might just be getting ahead of myself a LITTLE bit. Show's not even on the air yet.

It will be tonight though! So watch it! Monday nights are now officially clear of Bears' primetime failures for at LEAST 8 months (not counting pre-season) so you don't have anything else planned!

THE CHICAGO CODE on FOX: 8pm CST/ 9pm in Venice and the rest of PST.

I'll be watching.




*Oh, and here's the PROMO if you've lived in a shame-cave next to John Edwards and Christine O'Donell the past 5 months.

BEST PART - "You think you can change how things get done in CHI-CAH-GO?!"


From a film position....yeah; hopefully.



-MK

Mark's Top 5 USC Film School Experiences

Now that da Bears are de-funct, can get back to film school and stuff.

Its funny (not the above joke, of course: that was terrible), but you may have noticed a bit of nostalgia and retrospectiveness permeating the blog recently. Okay, I may have even been crazy enough to be wanting to replay parts of the last three years in my head like a TV show. Well, its been a wild ride and this chapter is coming to a close, so of course I'm going to look back.

And I'm not the only one. The past month has been riddled with phrases like "Can you believe its been three years?", "Man, that was fast" and "Mark, you can't drink beer in class!"

Now, I'm 100% looking forward and focused on building myself a career for the future. Except, well, I'm like 99% looking forward and at least 1% looking back. Maybe 1.5%....

Film school is a pretty crazy, intense time. The stakes are higher than high school or college. A lot of my classmates gave up lucrative careers in something else, moved across the country or the world, and we've all gone into to nice bit of debt. So it has been a real hurricane of events, people and emotions. And it deserves at least a bit of retrospecticus.

So, I've decided--in the grand HIGH FIDELITY tradition--to look back and determine my TOP 5 moments from USC film school.

Now, two "rules": 1) A lot has happened in the last 3 years of me just moving out and living in L.A. and I'm focused on listing things that are specifically tied to my attendance at USC. Granted MOST of my life in L.A. is specifically tied to USC but whatever. Seeing Hurley from LOST at Best Buy doesn't count for that reason. 2) Looking at Top 5 moments, meaning a specific moment in time. There are tons of great things, classes... traditions.. general experiences..., that were awesome but happened over a few weeks or months. So, things like my class at CAA or producing a film were great but I'm trying to lock into very specific moments/events.

As you can see, I take my ridiculous and time-wasting unnecessary lists very seriously.

So that's it. The plan is to roll out my top five moments during the next few months, interspersed with regular bullsh*t posts about traffic, smog and my love/hate relationship with the ridiculous weather here, all while counting down 5-1 and finishing right around graduation. Gotta build suspense, right?

See, I've learned a thing or two at this money pit of an institution!

Hopefully roll out #5 pretty soon and go from there. Its going to be interesting, I don't even know what the top 5 moments would be...or do I?

Or, more importantly, does anybody care?


All these questions will be answered.....in due time.


-MK

BEAR DOWNER

I certainly have no intention of breaking down or reliving what happened at Soldier Field today. I'm done - I just want to be finished with it and not pick apart everything.

Until tomorrow, when I'll listen to my ESPN1000 app on my way to USC and read the Trib and Suntimes online and talk to all my friends and Facebook and Twitter.....

THEN, I'll be really done.

Anyway, there really isn't much I could put into words right now.

And since Lovie Smith has all the personality of a tree stump in December, I figured it'd be better to watch my own fictional post-game press conference cobbled together from other more..."expressive" coaches.....

Let the healing begin....

Sigh...wouldn't it be great if Lovie was like this?

"Talk to the trainer! Next question!"

DITKA

At least I can throw myself back to work, looking with hope and promise to my future in the entertainment industry, which is a wonderful recession-proof business that offers big income and returns for years to come!

What's that?

 

LA TIMES: "For Hollywood, it was a tough 2010"



Awwwwwwwww crap.