"According to Jim" & Kyle turned into a Simpson!

Yesterday evening was very enjoyable! I was part of the "According to Jim" live studio audience. For those that are unaware, this show has made it through 6 seasons and is currently filming their 7th.

Jim and the entire cast for the show are all VERY nice people and extremley social with the audience. Our audience host was amazingly funny...he does comedy stand up for a living, so it was fun to watch. The show itself ran extremley smooth, too. I was extremley impressed at how fast they moved on and how well they took care of the audience! Not only did they entertain us, but they fed us! We got soda, water, sandwhiches, and cookies! :) It was a very enjoyable and relaxing evening.

Kyle even scored an "According to Jim" T-shirt. :)

While at the show, I also met a animator for "THE SIMPSONS" - who said he wanted to (just for fun) make an animation of me. I gave him my e-mail address and recieved the final result today. I must say I am impressed!



So beyond that, not much else happened yesterday. Today went rather smoothly and I enjoyed the Nielsen gig.

Tomorrow is orientation at Universal Studios! Looks like I'll be working Friday and Saturdays...and possibly Tuesday/Wednesdays.

I got a job!

Great news, everyone!!!

Universal Studios has hired me for their "Show Crew" for their upcoming Halloween season. The odds of me staying on staff past the peak season are very good, so I am definatley excited for the opportunities that await!!

I have an orientation on Sunday and tomorrow I'll be catching up on odds and ends. I'll be writing more soon about my classes, etc...

Until then, stay in touch!

1 vs 100!

Today was a neat day. I got to participate in the hit TV show - 1 vs 100 on NBC!

This morning, I arrived to Raliegh Studios at 9 AM excited and ready to go. I was classified as a stand by mob member and a VIP audience member. (In other words, if they needed a mob person, I was in - otherwise - it was the audience).

When we walked into the studio, the first thing I realized was that the set had dramatically changed from what I noticed and had remembered on TV. This is because NBC completely redesigned the set for the second season.

By the way…the premiere of the second season was the taping I was present at today. As well as show #2!

Anyways! This new set was SO new - that unfortunately, it had quite a few technical difficulties and took some training and getting used to for the crew. At one point, we left the set for an hour, so that the NBC techies could fix all the problems.

Once the show was on the road, I was in a mob seat for the promo shots that NBC will use throughout the season to highlight different things. After my time of promos was up, they (sadly) had all the mobsters they needed, and I then took a seat in the audience. (When you watch the season premiere, you will most likely find me sitting somewhere in the audience.)

The big gimmick for the season premiere was "Battle of the Sexes" on 1 vs 100. The first game featured 100 male mob members and a female contestant. Sadly, she didn't do very well, and she ended up giving her winnings to the mob. The second half of the show featured the exact opposite - a mob of 100 females and a male contestant. Ironically, the male contestant was a film college student.

The film student, named Jason, did MUCH better than the first lady. In fact, he did so good that he made history on the show. I can't tell you how, so you'll have to tune in to find out...but it was VERY cool!!

Speaking of neat things to witness…Bob Saget was hosting again this season! He was extremely fun to watch on set. Bob is not only funny and entertaining (both on and off camera), but he is a very kind person and definitely doesn't have the ego, etc… that many other people like him (ie: Howie Mandel) do. It was really neat to finally see (and shake hands with!) a person I had watched literally growing up as a kid.

Speaking of watching people as a kid…one of the mob members in the SECOND episode of 1 vs 100 was someone very special. They had a few special people, actually. While most got excited for seeing 3 of the playboy bunny triplets, I was jumping out of my seat when I saw Oscar the Grouch arrive on set. Oscar was playing as a member of the mob - but unfortunately, didn't have such great luck. Locking in answers is tough when you are a puppet. He was the first one eliminated :( and boy…Bob Saget didn't let him forget it!

All together, it was a great day. It was an EXTREMLEY long day….but a good one none the less. I walked away $100 richer, and I also received a T-shirt for dominating "Bob Saget's TV Theme Song Name That Tune" Game. I successfully identified 25 theme songs in a ROW…which was apparently a new record.

Anyways, more updates to come soon. I'll likely be returning to Universal tomorrow to continue the job hunt, and I will let you all know how that goes as soon as I hear something!!

The Job Hunt

Hello Everyone! Thanks for your patience with my postings. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

I’ve been crazy busy lately hunting for jobs, and I am FINALLY breaking through and getting some call backs, etc.

My first offer was at a great theatre downtown – which offered me a position to run a sound board for the upcoming musical, “Evil Keneval: The Rock Opera”. The show sounds amazing and the position sounds great, but the pay isn’t the best and the dates would eat up my weekend. Which I wouldn't mind - but if something like Universal came along, they would likley need weekends more than anybody.


Today, however, my luck increased. I saw that Universal Studios, Hollywood is hiring – so I drove over to their studio HQ at 10 AM and talked to some people about getting a job. I was part of a group interview in the afternoon and I passed with flying colors. Here’s why: the people in the room made me look smart.

The question that was asked during this group interview was: “What is one word you would use to describe an ideal worker at Universal?”
Contestant #1: “Caring” – he felt that being caring was a good thing for employees to be (which is true!)

Contestant #2: “Ecstatic”
Interviewer: “Why?”
Contestant #2: “I don’t really know what that word means.”

Contestant #3: “Concept”
Interviewer: “Why?”
Contestant #3: “Because its important to have hard working people.”

Contestant #4: “Hard Ass” – I had a hard time not choking when he said that

Contestant #5: “Neat” – he felt it was good that employees were well groomed, etc.

Me: “Initiative” – because it’s important to take initiative before someone must tell you what needs to be done :)


So, like I said, I passed the interview. The next step is to get a 1 on 1 interview with the manager of my department of interest. (I applied for a video technician and crew tech person). Unfortunately, none of the managers were available for this position today – so I have to wait for Universal to call me back. Hopefully, this will occur tomorrow while I’m on set of 1 vs. 100 being a ‘mob member’. If not, they told me to call them back and see what the status is. I feel pretty confident that I can handle the interview…it’s just GETTING the interview that is nerve-wracking.

This just in:

As I was writing this blog, a very nice man from Sanford Studios called me. He received my resume, information, and picture samples via e-mail and was extremely interested in hiring me part time. However, when we both learned we were 2 hours apart from each other, that was obviously a major turn off, and he declared that the job would not be a fit. :( Dam. That sucks.

So, basically I am waiting on the edge of my seat for Universal. My sincere hope is that it pulls thru and I might be stepping into an interview on Wednesday. Otherwise, back to the drawing board.

They say this industry is the most difficult to get into. I’m so close I can smell it. I didn’t think it’d be QUITE this difficult, but I’m doing the best I can to pass up the competition and make it to the top.
More to some soon…

Hollywood Pics

Below are some pictures of some of the fun events I've participated in the past few days:


On Location of "John Hancock" - coming to theatres Summer 2008.


The crash on location of "John Hancock".


Will Smith - acting on location of "John Hancock".


Universal Studios (in front of the classic logo)


Check this out...NOBODY on the Red Carpet. THAT IS RARE!!

Road to Hollywood Pictures

Below are some of the pictures that I took on my journey to Hollywood (with my dad).

Enjoy, and let me know what you think :)

Deal or No Deal?

Greetings, Everyone! Wow..long time, no update. :( It’s been super busy around here lately and when I get back, unfortunately, I don’t have internet access...so it’s hard to post blogs.

Anyways, alot of neat things have happened over the past few days. Two of the more exciting things are the following:

1. Sean and I got to see a taping of DEAL OR NO DEAL. It was their November 30th edition - right after their Thanksgiving episode. The shoot was a blast and was very cool to witness. It was an extremely long shoot, too, which is something that was new to me. It took nearly 5 hours to film the hour-long episode. Regardless, it was neat seeing the (super small) set, models, and Howie Mandel. There was even an opportunity to ask Howie a question when he was on the set...so I asked him to do his “Bobby” voice from Bobby’s World and he did! :) It made my day!

2. Sean and I had the chance to visit UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. It was neat to see all the cool, new things at the theme park. We had a great time traveling around the park and there were no lines at ALL...so that was a definite plus. Because of the low crowds, Sean and I also got some VERY neat (and rare) pictures, which I’ll be posting in the near future.

Other Good News! I might have a job opportunity in the near future with Universal! I went to the park’s ‘Guest Relation’ center as we left today, and talked to the gentleman at the front desk for a while. After explaining how I just moved here and was looking for a job to juggle with college, etc etc etc...he gladly gave me the phone number that would directly connect me with someone who would set up an interview. The Halloween Haunting are coming up soon at the park and they are hiring people like crazy...with potential to stay hired beyond the special season. FURTHERMORE, the nice fellow gave me his name so I can tell HQ that he recommended me. He even gave me his cell phone number to contact him if I had any questions, which was great!

Fingers crossed, I might have a job with Universal in the next week or so....
Keep reading the blogs....Posts will continue to come soon! INTERNET IS ALMOST HERE - THANK GOD!

Until then, keep those e-mails comin’!

Oh, and the first person to send me a piece of snail mail (like a fun letter or something), gets a surprise :).

Keep Dreamin'....


“Everybody comes out to California in search of a dream.” --Henry Swan

The quote you just read is from a man named Henry Swan. Henry was a gentleman that I met with a few friends last summer during our stay in Hollywood. Although Henry was drunk, creepy, stalker-ish, and needed a life and/or hobby, the quote stuck out to all of us as something that actually made sense.


So! What is new in California? Lot of things!

It’s not as hot anymore! The crazy hot weather of 120 degree days is finally over and normal California temperatures are starting to resume. Thank GOD!!

Sean is coming on Thursday! This is exciting on a few levels. First and foremost, it will be nice to see a friend from back home. Secondly, it’ll be nice to have some technical assistance with things that I haven’t –QUITE- figured out around here.

My apartment is close to A LOT of neat places. The following places are within about 2 blocks of my apartment: Albertsons (local grocery store), Sprint/Nextel, YumYum Donuts, CitiBank, Sizzler, Denny’s, Target, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and much, much more! Further down the road (just inside of Burbank) are A LOT of really neat places – including Frys, Best Buy, Krispy Kreme, and much more. My personal favorite part is having a Krispy Kreme and a Best Buy only ten minutes from my house AND right across the street from one another!!!

I officially have my new address! For security, safety, and all that good jazz…I’m NOT going to post it on here. (I wouldn’t want to get bombarded with fan mail left and right if my address got out there, ‘ya know…) However, if you are interested in receiving my address so you can send a letter, package, living organism, or anything else, PLEASE send me a quick e-mail (HYPERLINK "mailto:KyleOlson@spikehost.com"KyleOlson@spikehost.com) and I’ll be glad to share it with you.

“WILL WORK FOR FOOD” Actually, I’ll work for food, rent money, college money, and anything else you want to throw at me. While I will be trying my best to do as many paid video jobs as I can, the field of video has kind of been hit by a few people out here already. Therefore, looks like Kyle is stuck getting a ‘real’ job to make money until he makes a name. (If you are interested in having Kyle do a video for you for whatever reason, I would love to do one for you! Please send me an e-mail and we’ll see what we can work out!) More updates will come soon as I attempt to apply for more jobs.

School will be starting in a few weeks…but until then, I have time to continue settling in, find a job, and get ready for the upcoming busy streak. It’s going to be very interesting once school starts I’m sure, but obviously, as we all know, it’s something that must be done. I’ll keep updating over the next few days. Before too long I’ll be able to do it from the luxury of my own apartment! Woohoo!

“That dream, is reality” --Henry Swan, continued from quote above.

I have found WiFi!!!!

September 12th (the day I get internet) cannot come fast enough :) BUT UNTIL THEN...I have discovered that the McDonalds a block from my house has cheap wireless internet. Tonight's post is going to be super fast and short....but here are some highlights:


1. I am alive still
2. It's really hot here....about 120 degrees on average (those of you who know me know how much I LOVE the heat...)
3. We have an amazing two-story and 6-story parking lot Target not far from my apartment that I've spent some quality time at....
4. It's still really hot here.
5. It's so hot there are fires in the mountains.
6. It's so hot that I have to crack windows in my car or they will explode.

Yeah.....it's hot.

Everything else is going great, and I'll be updating on the more exciting stuff soon. Thanks for your patience and if you haven't called or send me an e-mail yet...DO IT!

Settling In

Hello, Everyone!

WOW...what a day it was yesterday! We made a LOT of progress...from signing a lease, to moving ALOT of stuff in....things are definatley going well.

I found a little wireless hotspot in my bathroom today. It has a super weak signal, but it works for sending blogs and quick emails.

Time Warner comes on the 12th to install their magical package, and once that day hits, things will get ALOT better I'm sure. Until then, patience shall remain a virtue.

I'll likley be stopping at a few Starbucks restauraunts along the way to check emails and such to.

Keep in touch and I'll be back in the communication world before we know it!