Episode 15: Los Angeles

Rozhovor s Kaliforňanem Davidem o La La Landu neboli městě hvězd. O Hollywoodu a o tom, jak si v něm najít práci; o losangeleských zákoutích a tajných místech; nebo třeba o tom, co je to "valley girl" slang. 

Chapters

• 0:02 Entertainment Industry in Los Angeles
• 7:22 Discovering Los Angeles

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the English team at this hall. My name is Pavlina and every week I will talk to my parents from all over the English language world about different interesting topics, and that's all from me from the beginning. Thank you very much for watching this channel and we can start. And if you like the podcast and would like to support it, you can go to my Patreon page. Hi everybody and welcome to today's episode. I'm super thrilled to be welcoming my guest for today, david Bui.

Speaker 2: 0:31

Hi, david, Hello, how you doing? I'm doing just fine. How are you? I'm doing well, pav, it's been a while. Yes, absolutely, so we have to say goodbye.

Speaker 3: 0:44

I hope you enjoyed the video David is in LA right now and he's originally from Orange County, so today's topic is actually Los Angeles. Are you excited?

Speaker 2: 0:56

Very, I'm on the edge of my seat right now, perfect. So I have plenty of questions for you.

Speaker 3: 1:04

So the first one is I'm wondering, because LA is obviously for us. You know film and music and everything that's connected to the entertainment industry.

Speaker 2: 1:23

So I'm wondering for a young American, is it essential to be in LA if you want to work in this business, and do you now work in a video game publisher company and before you worked in advertising?

Speaker 3: 1:39

I would say it is essential. It is, you know, pretty much like the hub for everything. We may not film everything here, but like all the studios and offices are still based in Los Angeles, and also with networking, since everyone's still coming in droves like it's this important that you make your way to Los Angeles. You know, if you choose to move to like, let's say, atlanta, still I would say, move to LA first, get a feel for it, but this will work out for you. Then move to someplace else. You know You've got to keep it fluid, I guess, but LA is a must.

Speaker 2: 2:15

And how does that happen? For you know, a young American, because let's say that you're from I don't know the Midwest and like you want to work in film. So like do you just come to LA and then what? What do you do Like, do you look for internships, or how do you start?

Speaker 3: 2:32

That's a very good question and I'm very fortunate that I live about an hour away from LA. So for me, like I've never had that experience of packing up and you know that's a big sacrifice, you know a big risk to like pack your stuff up if you're from the Midwest to LA. It's scary. You know Los Angeles is massive and if you're not careful you could, you know you have to keep up with the city, like any other giant town, you know. But it's highly competitive and so I think in most cases the best thing to do is most of the people that I've spoken to who are not from California, they would, you know, interview for a job and once they get it, then move.

Speaker 3: 3:19

Okay, yes, there's a handful of people who just moved to LA on the whim and I think it's not the smartest move. You know it does, it does make you, it does put you into a survival mode, right, so you're gonna work harder to find a job. So people had to live in cars but, like you know, that's not for everyone, you know for sure.

Speaker 2: 3:41

Well, I have to say that when I came to LA as a tourist, you know, it just seemed to me that every Starbucks Burista, every Uber driver, when, like, we started talking because you Americans like to talk a lot, Maybe, no, I'm like when I'm in an Uber and the guy is silent the whole time, I do five stars, no, anyways I wanted to ask you, like everyone, they'd be like yeah, I'm actually an actor or a producer or a screenwriter, and to me, you know, it just seemed quite confusing because in my head I was like okay, but why are you driving my Uber? So is that what you say? That you know it's so hard to get a job in the entertainment industry that, basically, people just need to have these kind of like side jobs?

Speaker 3: 4:27

Yes, it's highly competitive and you know, in my case this might mean living nearby. Like you know, I come from a middle class family. You know I don't come from wealth and I realize, you know, trying to find a job, you have to, you know, promote yourself. You are a brand and you have to not hustle, but you really have to almost develop those skills. And those skills you may not learn from from school right or from university, and I wish, I wish they were in work classes that could help you out with that, for that sort of training, because it's like a lot of tough love, a lot of like getting hurt, and then you start to realize, you know, yeah, Los Angeles is very expensive, so you're going to have to pay the bills.

Speaker 3: 5:12

So in the meantime, if you're trying to find a job, you're going to have to take these side gigs that could, that are flexible, you know, like, for example, the Uber driver, right, yeah, yeah, and in between his him driving around town trying to find a job to full time in the industry. It's not easy.

Speaker 2: 5:34

So do you think the city is very individualistic?

Speaker 3: 5:37

Yes, and then I mentioned that there is a lack of community. So often people are not helping each other out, you know, which is if you call that selfish, but like, because, like, the industry was built on that, you know it's hard to change it, right? Because, like you know, I feel like if I ever found major success, I would try to help out as many people. But then then there's like thousands of people who need help, right, who are looking for jobs, so it's like, and people are so hungry for work, so it's sort of like you have to keep everything close to the best, right, you can't help out everyone, so it's very I'm making this sound very scary, by the way- Now it's.

Speaker 2: 6:20

It's interesting because I feel like the entertainment industry is just so attractive to so many people.

Speaker 3: 6:26

Yes, it is. You know, okay, here's a good example, like I. There's another podcast that the host is an actor from a small town and he, in growing up people will tell him oh, you're so talented, you're so charismatic, you know you're going to be a become a big star or whatever right, you're going to find success, no matter what and what she did eventually. So he moved to LA. Then he realized, oh my god, there's like I'm just a small fish in a big pond because everyone else is just like me. Like you know, he knows how to play the guitar, but then then someone else knows how to play the guitar and piano, the violin, you know, and he felt really lost. And if everyone has that same goal, it's just like, oh my god, like you start to reflect a little bit.

Speaker 3: 7:12

I think you know, at least he did, he. I think in his case he realizes maybe I shouldn't follow the trend and just maybe I should just be myself. By becoming yourself, you find more success. Yeah, very smart, yeah, but that that takes a lot of time and energy to really you feel like not unprotective, but, like you know, to think about stuff like that when you have a goal of I want to be famous. I want to be like this person or that person. They don't really focus on their own positive skill.

Speaker 3: 7:44

Sets you know they just end up being generic. I think it's. You know, everyone has a unique trait and if you can harness that, it makes you stand out even further and you can find more success.

Speaker 2: 7:56

Yeah, absolutely. And now that we talked about celebrities and stars, so have you ever randomly bumped into a celebrity in the city, or is that just something that happens every day in LA?

Speaker 3: 8:09

Yeah, I just hung out with George Clooney. You wish? Yes, I did. No, I joined at Hill a few years ago. I was at the Comic Con, which is you know. I don't need to explain what Comic Con is. It's pretty big right. So we're now on. But, like I remember, I saw a joint at a bar in downtown San Diego and he was staring at me. Did you talk to him? No, he just kept on staring at me and I stared back and I just walked away and that was it. Oh wow, I met during like a commercial shoot. I met Bella Thorne.

Speaker 2: 8:49

Who's that? I don't know her.

Speaker 3: 8:52

She's a younger actress. She was like late for her costume test by two, like a good two hours. Oh, she does this Hollywood thing. It's like the moment she comes into the studio she is so nonchalant about everything. So people should be mad at her for being late and being not. She was nonresponsive, but then she's so charismatic and charming that you're like you know what. It's. Okay, I forgive you. You're Bella Thorne. I have to look her up now.

Speaker 2: 9:26

I feel bad, and so what was the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to you in the city?

Speaker 3: 9:32

Well, I'm going to scare your audience. So when and not to get too political, and this is not a political thing when Trump was elected as our leader, you know, I went to the bank and just wanted to get some money so I could pay for because I was hungry. I wanted to go to my favorite restaurant that only accepts cash and I almost got mugged. There was a man with a weapon on him and he was yelling at me. He wasn't, he was slurring his speech, he was. I think he was very high. So you got this man on drugs with a weapon, with a crowbar, yelling at me as I'm like, running back to my car.

Speaker 2: 10:14

So that was the connection with Trump.

Speaker 3: 10:18

It all happened on election night, so that was one of the worst nights I've ever experienced, so yes, that's very scary, very, very scary.

Speaker 2: 10:27

And so what are the things that you love and hate most about the city?

Speaker 3: 10:31

I love that Los Angeles is. It's not just one big city, it's like imagine 30 different cities in the clutter right, so you will find hidden beauty within that urban landscape. So like there's a lot of like hidden monuments, venues that I may not get a lot of attention. That is like unique to Los Angeles. For example, like, I think, the hotel in which they filmed a Blade Runner in the Bradbury building. I think the way the building is laid out is like there's a giant open space and it looks really beautiful, very art deco, and this hotel was just iconic. It's in this random neighborhood. You would never. It's very unassuming, so it's stuff like that that's very magical. You're like, oh my god, this really cool looking building, this is in this industrial part of downtown LA I easily miss.

Speaker 3: 11:24

You know that happens a lot. You know, in Los Angeles. It's not an obviously beautiful city like New York, chicago or where it's just like instantly. You know, okay, this is like there's a lot of history, like Los Angeles tends to tear apart its history, which is the negative part of LA, but yeah, there was a lot of like history. That gets lost in LA as well, because we keep on tearing down everything and rebuilding it, and I think that creates a disconnect as well too, because we drive cars and there's heavy traffic. I guess that's to our advantage now during the pandemic, not to make a joke about it, but like you know, like in New York when you had to take the subway system you sure you're connected to people, but then now you are at disadvantage.

Speaker 2: 12:07

Yeah, so, and now that you spoke about cars, like I read that there are more cars than people in LA actually, so there's no public transport at all.

Speaker 3: 12:18

You are absolutely correct. It's drives me crazy. But you know, like, if you know LA history, have you seen who Framed Roger Rabbit? Nope, no, you never seen who Framed Roger Rabbit to your audience out there. Yeah, I should watch who Framed Roger Rabbit. It's on Disney Plus. There's a point in the movie in which they made a joke about it because it takes place in mid century Los Angeles, right around the 40s, and it made villain. This is a spoiler for a 30 year old movie. He was in charge of creating the freeway system because he struck a deal with the car industry. So I thought that was funny. But you haven't seen the movie, so you're not laughing right now. As a child I didn't get it, but as an adult I was on the floor laughing. That's so funny, I think. Public transportation system they're trying to improve it. When you were in LA, were you able to take advantage of our lovely system?

Speaker 2: 13:16

I did take the bus quite a few times because I didn't have a car, but then I was mostly using Uber.

Speaker 3: 13:24

Oh, I see.

Speaker 2: 13:25

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 13:26

Okay, I'm sure you didn't see any train stations, right?

Speaker 2: 13:31

No, not that I recall.

Speaker 3: 13:33

But give it time. Give it another 50 years and then you'll see at least three more train stations. Okay, I mean like metro stations. Correct, a metro station, yes.

Speaker 2: 13:47

Yeah, and so I wanted to ask is there ever bad weather in LA? Because when I went, actually, like you know, maybe like five drops of rain fell from the sky and people were like, oh no, it's raining today.

Speaker 3: 14:03

So three drops of rain is considered a storm in Los Angeles. The weather right now there's an overcast, but you know it's. I can go out wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Normally our weather is fairly toasty, but there's a drawback, you know uh yes, and then like, even with um, with uh, let's say the autumn, like the very idea of, like that leaves on the streets, you know that's beautiful, you know the orange and yellow, we don't get that.

Speaker 3: 14:37

So we're stuck in summer mode all year long and I kind of look long for some change. It's nice to have some variety.

Speaker 2: 14:47

Hi Anders, yeah, I love you know, I have to say I do love spring, I do love summer, I do love autumn, I do love winter. So next question I wanted to ask about is if there's any like special LA slang that we wouldn't really hear anywhere else in the US.

Speaker 3: 15:04

Because LA has a lot of transplants, it's kind of hard to decipher what is, you know, organically grown in the Southern California, in terms of slang, I would say. At least LA is famous for surfer talk in Valley Girl lingo, if you're familiar with that, like saying like a lot, like oh, yeah or um. What we do is that with the highway system we usually add an article in front of the number, so like the one on one, the four or five, whereas other parts of the country they would just say four or five, one on one. So yeah, I would say like the Valley Girl, like you know, which has expanded throughout the country, so it's no longer unique to Los Angeles. But think clueless in how they talk. Not everyone talks like that.

Speaker 2: 15:53

So no, that's interesting. And which part of the city is your favorite?

Speaker 3: 15:58

That's a tough one. I would say hmm, that's a very okay Seal Beach. So there's um in between Los Angeles and Orange County there's a sleepy beach town, right that. I always tell myself I should go more often, but I don't, it's out of the way. But it's like this hidden beach community where it's very sleepy. You know everyone's just eating, drinking, having a good time. It almost feels. You know, you're so away from the bustling city that, like it's very welcoming to to embrace this. Like you know, the stakes aren't high, people aren't running around, they have nowhere to go, but just to have a good time. And I think that's my favorite part of the town, like maybe not just Seal Beach but, like you know, manhattan Beach, redondo Beach there's a different quality.

Speaker 2: 16:48

And is that an official name, sleepy beach, or is it just how you call it?

Speaker 3: 16:53

I think it's a term that I probably am misusing sleepy beach town. Back in Orange County they were. When the TV show Orange OC was becoming big like Laguna Beach, newport Beach, huntington Beach. They were trying to market themselves as oh, you know, come to our community, you know it's really cool. And that changed the landscape of those towns. So now it's heavily populated, right, and it's no longer, you know, sleepy and having a good time. You know it's about being now, it's about being cool. But the Seal Beach hasn't gone through that change Now until now, since I brought it up on your show. Now everyone's going to go.

Speaker 2: 17:34

Yeah, for sure. Well, David, it's been a great pleasure and fun. Thank you so much for sitting down with me and telling us everything about your city.

Speaker 3: 17:46

Thank you for inviting me and I apologize if I was just a chatterbox. I was so excited to be on your show. Yeah, this one, this episode, would get one star. Good night, guys, shut up. But no, it was a pleasure and it was nice to really talk about. A lot of people don't talk about Los Angeles in this way, you know, and I think your show provides a nice platform for that.

Speaker 2: 18:09

Oh, thank you, and thank you to everyone who's listened to this episode as well, and I hope to see you next week. Bye.