Hey guys,
Last week,I worked on an article that focuses around programs here at Ryerson that require students to create on demand, which results in lack of sleep and increased stress levels. The article focused mainly on Interior Design and Architecture. Check out the article I helped out with!
http://theeyeopener.com/2010/09/working-%e2%80%98till-dawn/
-Christinaaa :)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ben Lyons from E! Part 2
Here is the rest of the interview that I had with Ben Lyons!
7. Who has been your favourite person to interview?
I got to do him last night, Matt Damon. Matt’s a really interesting guy. He’s very forthcoming with stuff about his career; he’s one of my favourite actors. Yeah, Matt Damon’s probably my favourite person to interview. I loved interviewing Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter. That kid’s awesome. He’s really nice and self-deprecating. He’s lived a really interesting life, I mean; he’s this iconic movie character for the most of it. And Charlize Theron I liked to interview. Those are probably my three favourites that I get most excited for.
8. Have you done print journalism?
Yeah, I write for LA Confidential Magazine. I did profiles on different people from Zoe Saldana to Adam Shankman. I recently did Kristen Bell and Malin Akerman. And I write for E! online here and there. But I do enjoy more doing it on air. I have more fun on TV.
9. What’s the hardest part of your job?
The hardest part of my job is constantly remembering that there is an audience at home that’s living vicariously through you. Sometimes certain actors would come up and my time with them might be limited and I might want to ask them certain things that I’m interested in but maybe our audience at home isn’t interested in. So it’s finding that balance of “okay what are the people who are watching this going to really enjoy” and what do I really enjoy. It’s my one chance to talk to somebody so am I going to ask them something so inside...or say people watching our network aren’t the biggest sports fans so I don’t want to talk to Matt Damon about the Patriots game yesterday, but I kind of do, you know what I mean? So I just have to balance. It’s tough to constantly remember who you’re doing these interviews for, in a way.
10. So you’re here for TIFF. How would you describe the experience on the Red Carpet?
Well TIFF red carpets are intense. The space is limited and there are journalists from around the world. Sometimes it’s the world premiere, the first time the movie’s ever been shown, so you don’t have the chance to see it before. But they’re fun. You never know who is going to show up. They’re exciting, they happen so quickly. It’s a big rush of energy. Every carpet is different, depending on who the talent is. I was just in Spain this summer for the premiere of Knight and Day and Tom Cruise spends 3 hours at the red carpet. He signs every autograph for the fans, takes every picture and talks to every journalist along the line. But then like last year, George Clooney, I did him twice up here. For Up in the Air and Men Who Stare at Goats and he doesn’t really stop. He kind of just does a fly by; a quick little question and moves on. So everybody’s different. And you kind of have to feel out the scenario and manage your expectations that way, if that makes sense. I know if I’m doing a George Clooney premiere, I’ll be lucky to get 1 or 2 questions, let alone 10. But then you do Blake Lively the other night, and I talked to her as long as I wanted to talk to her. So everyone’s kind of different.
11. So do you get to travel a lot?
Yeah, that’s been such a surprise. When I first got the job, I just moved to LA. I’ve been living in LA about 3 or 4 months before I met E! And then I’ve been living in LA for a year when I got the job full time. And I didn’t know I was going to travel as much as I have. And I’ve been to Egypt and Italy and London a dozen times and Hong Kong and Australia. Travelling for work is one of the great pleasures of my life. I love being able to go on a business trip - I’m on a business trip right now, eating pancakes with you. So yeah I’ve come to Toronto like 5 times, Sundance 5 times, Comic-Con and all these great industry events in cool cities and places around the world. Travelling for work is awesome. I also see the power of film and how celebrity is a universal language. People around the world love these movies, they love these actors and directors, and really when you go and travel and see it first-hand, it gives you a new appreciation for it. It’s cool.
12. So where is your favourite place you’ve travelled to?
Australia is incredible. Australia is very awesome. I would love to live there. The people are really friendly, the women are beautiful, the food is delicious, it’s outdoorsy, Sydney’s a wonderful city...Australia’s probably my favourite.
13. What advice do you have for up and coming journalists?
Ben (laughs): You mean for you?
Me: Yes...
B: I don’t think you need any advice. You’re doing just fine. I think it’s being open and surrounding yourself with good people. And it’s treating whether you’re interviewing a huge star or somebody who’s just starting their career, to approach the interview the same way, in terms of your research and in terms of just keeping that genuine curiousity. But surrounding yourself with good people is the key. There are a lot of weird people in media, in journalism, in Hollywood. And you can deal with them, but you have to have that inner circle of good people in your life. Will Smith has a good quote, he says, “You can tell a lot about a person by the 5 people they spend the most amount of time with.” So take a look in your life and look who you spend the most amount of time with. You know, family, friends, but just in your everyday life, who are you talking to, emailing with. And that can give you a good sense of yourself and where you’re going in your career.
14. Where do you hope to see yourself in 10 years?
I want to be really fat on a golf course, chilling. I hope to be as excited about my career in 10 years as I am now. I don’t know if I’ll be on E! I hope I am. I want to be producing movies. I want to be producing television shows. I started executive producing a series for E! right now for our international markets, which is really fun to do. I just want to be excited to go to work every day because then it doesn’t feel like work. Yeah that’s hopefully where I’ll see myself in 10 years. And a wife and kids would be cool too.
Thanks again Ben, it was great to meet you!
-Christinaaa
7. Who has been your favourite person to interview?
I got to do him last night, Matt Damon. Matt’s a really interesting guy. He’s very forthcoming with stuff about his career; he’s one of my favourite actors. Yeah, Matt Damon’s probably my favourite person to interview. I loved interviewing Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter. That kid’s awesome. He’s really nice and self-deprecating. He’s lived a really interesting life, I mean; he’s this iconic movie character for the most of it. And Charlize Theron I liked to interview. Those are probably my three favourites that I get most excited for.
8. Have you done print journalism?
Yeah, I write for LA Confidential Magazine. I did profiles on different people from Zoe Saldana to Adam Shankman. I recently did Kristen Bell and Malin Akerman. And I write for E! online here and there. But I do enjoy more doing it on air. I have more fun on TV.
9. What’s the hardest part of your job?
The hardest part of my job is constantly remembering that there is an audience at home that’s living vicariously through you. Sometimes certain actors would come up and my time with them might be limited and I might want to ask them certain things that I’m interested in but maybe our audience at home isn’t interested in. So it’s finding that balance of “okay what are the people who are watching this going to really enjoy” and what do I really enjoy. It’s my one chance to talk to somebody so am I going to ask them something so inside...or say people watching our network aren’t the biggest sports fans so I don’t want to talk to Matt Damon about the Patriots game yesterday, but I kind of do, you know what I mean? So I just have to balance. It’s tough to constantly remember who you’re doing these interviews for, in a way.
10. So you’re here for TIFF. How would you describe the experience on the Red Carpet?
Well TIFF red carpets are intense. The space is limited and there are journalists from around the world. Sometimes it’s the world premiere, the first time the movie’s ever been shown, so you don’t have the chance to see it before. But they’re fun. You never know who is going to show up. They’re exciting, they happen so quickly. It’s a big rush of energy. Every carpet is different, depending on who the talent is. I was just in Spain this summer for the premiere of Knight and Day and Tom Cruise spends 3 hours at the red carpet. He signs every autograph for the fans, takes every picture and talks to every journalist along the line. But then like last year, George Clooney, I did him twice up here. For Up in the Air and Men Who Stare at Goats and he doesn’t really stop. He kind of just does a fly by; a quick little question and moves on. So everybody’s different. And you kind of have to feel out the scenario and manage your expectations that way, if that makes sense. I know if I’m doing a George Clooney premiere, I’ll be lucky to get 1 or 2 questions, let alone 10. But then you do Blake Lively the other night, and I talked to her as long as I wanted to talk to her. So everyone’s kind of different.
11. So do you get to travel a lot?
Yeah, that’s been such a surprise. When I first got the job, I just moved to LA. I’ve been living in LA about 3 or 4 months before I met E! And then I’ve been living in LA for a year when I got the job full time. And I didn’t know I was going to travel as much as I have. And I’ve been to Egypt and Italy and London a dozen times and Hong Kong and Australia. Travelling for work is one of the great pleasures of my life. I love being able to go on a business trip - I’m on a business trip right now, eating pancakes with you. So yeah I’ve come to Toronto like 5 times, Sundance 5 times, Comic-Con and all these great industry events in cool cities and places around the world. Travelling for work is awesome. I also see the power of film and how celebrity is a universal language. People around the world love these movies, they love these actors and directors, and really when you go and travel and see it first-hand, it gives you a new appreciation for it. It’s cool.
12. So where is your favourite place you’ve travelled to?
Australia is incredible. Australia is very awesome. I would love to live there. The people are really friendly, the women are beautiful, the food is delicious, it’s outdoorsy, Sydney’s a wonderful city...Australia’s probably my favourite.
13. What advice do you have for up and coming journalists?
Ben (laughs): You mean for you?
Me: Yes...
B: I don’t think you need any advice. You’re doing just fine. I think it’s being open and surrounding yourself with good people. And it’s treating whether you’re interviewing a huge star or somebody who’s just starting their career, to approach the interview the same way, in terms of your research and in terms of just keeping that genuine curiousity. But surrounding yourself with good people is the key. There are a lot of weird people in media, in journalism, in Hollywood. And you can deal with them, but you have to have that inner circle of good people in your life. Will Smith has a good quote, he says, “You can tell a lot about a person by the 5 people they spend the most amount of time with.” So take a look in your life and look who you spend the most amount of time with. You know, family, friends, but just in your everyday life, who are you talking to, emailing with. And that can give you a good sense of yourself and where you’re going in your career.
14. Where do you hope to see yourself in 10 years?
I want to be really fat on a golf course, chilling. I hope to be as excited about my career in 10 years as I am now. I don’t know if I’ll be on E! I hope I am. I want to be producing movies. I want to be producing television shows. I started executive producing a series for E! right now for our international markets, which is really fun to do. I just want to be excited to go to work every day because then it doesn’t feel like work. Yeah that’s hopefully where I’ll see myself in 10 years. And a wife and kids would be cool too.
Thanks again Ben, it was great to meet you!
-Christinaaa
Ben Lyons from E! Part 1
Hey everyone
A couple weeks ago, during the fantastic TIFF event in Toronto, I was fortunate enough to meet up with E!News Now reporter Ben Lyons from LA. He is honestly one of the nicest people I've ever interviewed and he's hilarious. So, on a Monday morning (September 13), over pancakes (that were seriously the size of his face) and crepes, we had a great interview. He gave insight into how he got into the industry, his TIFF experiences, and he also gave some great advice.
Check out his bio on the E! website: http://ca.eonline.com/on/personalities/bio/ben.jsp
1. How did you get started in this industry?
I got started in this industry working for an independent hip hop label in New York. My cousin grew up with a guy named Dru-Ha who runs Duck Down Records out of New York and I’m a big hip hop fan growing up in the city. And I’d always wanted to work in the music business. So I ended up working for him for a little while and producing music videos for some of his artists and interned at his record label and did all this weird hip hop stuff. This was like the year 2000, 2001 or so. And then from that, I just made a little hosting reel since I was on these music video sets and I was with all these artists. So i made a little hosting reel and we were trying to give our videos to MTV at the time. And I showed them my hosting reel just for some advice and said “Hey I’m thinking of maybe being on camera and doing interviews” and they gave me a job. I had never been on TV before and my first assignment was to go to LA and interview Jack Black, Will Smith and Angelina Jolie and I was like woah. So I learned kind of on the job. And then from there I worked at MSN BC and NBC in New York and then moved to LA about 5 years ago and got really lucky and found a home with E! But I never really thought I was actually going to be on TV, it just sort of happened. And I ran with it and learned while I was doing it, which I think is the best way to learn about whatever it is you’re doing, to learn on the job.
2. So growing up, did you ever think you’d end up here?
Well my father is in the business, he’s a film critic; that’s essentially the same thing that I’m doing now. So I grew up around the entertainment industry and I’ve always been conscious of movies, and TV shows and music and all these things, and pop culture. So I knew I’d be in the business somehow, I didn’t know I’d be doing this. And I don’t think I’ll be doing this forever but I’m doing it right now and loving it.
3. Did you go to school for this type of career path?
I was an English major in college. I always figured if you can read and write then you can do whatever. But I did 2 years at the University of Michigan and then bounced and wanted to just pursue my dreams. This is my 5th time here at the Toronto International Film Festival for E! and I get to interview so many different and interesting people. A lot of them I’ve crossed paths with many times over the years. And it’s still surreal and fun and it feels like the first day on the job.
4. What is your favourite part about being a journalist?
I remember when I was 12 or 13 years old, I saw the movie Saving Private Ryan. And the next day my dad was playing in a charity softball game and Ed Burns was there, who is in Saving Private Ryan. And I was 12 and I remember I saw the movie on Friday night and Saturday morning I sat in the dugout and talked with him about the movie for 2 hours; the whole game we were just talking about the movie. And I was like wow that is so cool: to be able to see a film and then just sit down with the creative people behind the movie and ask them whatever I want about anything. That’s what I really enjoy, just meeting so many new, interesting, talented people. Not just the people in front of the camera, not just the stars themselves, but there’s so many interesting people who work in this business in other capacities. Producers, writers, costume designers, and special effects people, I get to cross paths with a lot of them. So the thing I love about it is just being able to meet new people. Like meeting you right now - I have a cool new friend from Vancouver. That’s the coolest thing for me, is being able to get to meet all these interesting people.
5. You’ve been a film critic for quite some time, what would you say is your favourite movie of all time?
There’s a difference between my favourite movie and what’s the best movie of all time. And for me personally, the movie that means a lot to me is Good Will Hunting. It’s the first DVD I ever bought. I used to dress up with my friends in tracksuits and talk with Boston accents and go to the batting cages. Yeah that movie, it won Matt and Ben the Academy Award, won Robert Williams the Academy Award. It’s a film that’s funny, it’s a romantic film, it’s about friendship, it’s about maximizing your potential. It’s a lot of things we can all relate to and I think about that movie often. That’s probably my favourite movie if I had to pick just one.
6. How did you get involved with E!
I wish I had a better story, it’s kind of just a Hollywood story. My agent set me up for a meeting. I went in a met with them. This was December 2005. You know on E! where they have those talking head shows, where it’ll be like “101 Sexy Bikini Models” so I did a bunch of those here and there. I did some of their Oscar coverage in 2006. And then the Daily 10 started in March of 2006 and they gave me slot every Friday to review whatever new movies came out. And then from there I started doing interviews and slowly but surely I just started doing more stuff with them. And then finally, in like October of ’06, they offered me my first deal there so it took like 8 months, almost like 10 months, of just being around, hanging around and doing stuff. Comic-Con in 2006 I did a bunch of interviews, and that was when they were like Wow we really want to work with you. So that was great. But yeah it took a while, just kind of hanging out and being around and meeting as many people in the company. It’s a big company, there’s like 1000 people in our LA office and another thousand people around the world. So you kind of have to graciate yourself to everybody there. But that’s how I do it.
Part 2 of the interview will be up soon!
Check out a couple of these videos of Ben from E!
-Christinaaa
A couple weeks ago, during the fantastic TIFF event in Toronto, I was fortunate enough to meet up with E!News Now reporter Ben Lyons from LA. He is honestly one of the nicest people I've ever interviewed and he's hilarious. So, on a Monday morning (September 13), over pancakes (that were seriously the size of his face) and crepes, we had a great interview. He gave insight into how he got into the industry, his TIFF experiences, and he also gave some great advice.
Check out his bio on the E! website: http://ca.eonline.com/on/personalities/bio/ben.jsp
1. How did you get started in this industry?
I got started in this industry working for an independent hip hop label in New York. My cousin grew up with a guy named Dru-Ha who runs Duck Down Records out of New York and I’m a big hip hop fan growing up in the city. And I’d always wanted to work in the music business. So I ended up working for him for a little while and producing music videos for some of his artists and interned at his record label and did all this weird hip hop stuff. This was like the year 2000, 2001 or so. And then from that, I just made a little hosting reel since I was on these music video sets and I was with all these artists. So i made a little hosting reel and we were trying to give our videos to MTV at the time. And I showed them my hosting reel just for some advice and said “Hey I’m thinking of maybe being on camera and doing interviews” and they gave me a job. I had never been on TV before and my first assignment was to go to LA and interview Jack Black, Will Smith and Angelina Jolie and I was like woah. So I learned kind of on the job. And then from there I worked at MSN BC and NBC in New York and then moved to LA about 5 years ago and got really lucky and found a home with E! But I never really thought I was actually going to be on TV, it just sort of happened. And I ran with it and learned while I was doing it, which I think is the best way to learn about whatever it is you’re doing, to learn on the job.
2. So growing up, did you ever think you’d end up here?
Well my father is in the business, he’s a film critic; that’s essentially the same thing that I’m doing now. So I grew up around the entertainment industry and I’ve always been conscious of movies, and TV shows and music and all these things, and pop culture. So I knew I’d be in the business somehow, I didn’t know I’d be doing this. And I don’t think I’ll be doing this forever but I’m doing it right now and loving it.
3. Did you go to school for this type of career path?
I was an English major in college. I always figured if you can read and write then you can do whatever. But I did 2 years at the University of Michigan and then bounced and wanted to just pursue my dreams. This is my 5th time here at the Toronto International Film Festival for E! and I get to interview so many different and interesting people. A lot of them I’ve crossed paths with many times over the years. And it’s still surreal and fun and it feels like the first day on the job.
4. What is your favourite part about being a journalist?
I remember when I was 12 or 13 years old, I saw the movie Saving Private Ryan. And the next day my dad was playing in a charity softball game and Ed Burns was there, who is in Saving Private Ryan. And I was 12 and I remember I saw the movie on Friday night and Saturday morning I sat in the dugout and talked with him about the movie for 2 hours; the whole game we were just talking about the movie. And I was like wow that is so cool: to be able to see a film and then just sit down with the creative people behind the movie and ask them whatever I want about anything. That’s what I really enjoy, just meeting so many new, interesting, talented people. Not just the people in front of the camera, not just the stars themselves, but there’s so many interesting people who work in this business in other capacities. Producers, writers, costume designers, and special effects people, I get to cross paths with a lot of them. So the thing I love about it is just being able to meet new people. Like meeting you right now - I have a cool new friend from Vancouver. That’s the coolest thing for me, is being able to get to meet all these interesting people.
5. You’ve been a film critic for quite some time, what would you say is your favourite movie of all time?
There’s a difference between my favourite movie and what’s the best movie of all time. And for me personally, the movie that means a lot to me is Good Will Hunting. It’s the first DVD I ever bought. I used to dress up with my friends in tracksuits and talk with Boston accents and go to the batting cages. Yeah that movie, it won Matt and Ben the Academy Award, won Robert Williams the Academy Award. It’s a film that’s funny, it’s a romantic film, it’s about friendship, it’s about maximizing your potential. It’s a lot of things we can all relate to and I think about that movie often. That’s probably my favourite movie if I had to pick just one.
6. How did you get involved with E!
I wish I had a better story, it’s kind of just a Hollywood story. My agent set me up for a meeting. I went in a met with them. This was December 2005. You know on E! where they have those talking head shows, where it’ll be like “101 Sexy Bikini Models” so I did a bunch of those here and there. I did some of their Oscar coverage in 2006. And then the Daily 10 started in March of 2006 and they gave me slot every Friday to review whatever new movies came out. And then from there I started doing interviews and slowly but surely I just started doing more stuff with them. And then finally, in like October of ’06, they offered me my first deal there so it took like 8 months, almost like 10 months, of just being around, hanging around and doing stuff. Comic-Con in 2006 I did a bunch of interviews, and that was when they were like Wow we really want to work with you. So that was great. But yeah it took a while, just kind of hanging out and being around and meeting as many people in the company. It’s a big company, there’s like 1000 people in our LA office and another thousand people around the world. So you kind of have to graciate yourself to everybody there. But that’s how I do it.
Part 2 of the interview will be up soon!
Check out a couple of these videos of Ben from E!
-Christinaaa
Friday, September 17, 2010
First Article for Ryerson's newspaper The Eyeopener!
Hey everyone!
This past Wednesday, I auditioned for Ryerson's Urban Hip Hop Union (UHHU) dance team and The Eyeopener asked me to write an article based on my experience. So, here is a link to my post on their website! Check it out! :)
http://theeyeopener.com/2010/09/dancing-through-life/
...And just so you know the results....
I made it onto the dance team!! :)
We'll be competing in November at McMaster University. Woohoo!
-Christinaaa
This past Wednesday, I auditioned for Ryerson's Urban Hip Hop Union (UHHU) dance team and The Eyeopener asked me to write an article based on my experience. So, here is a link to my post on their website! Check it out! :)
http://theeyeopener.com/2010/09/dancing-through-life/
...And just so you know the results....
I made it onto the dance team!! :)
We'll be competing in November at McMaster University. Woohoo!
-Christinaaa
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Final Youthink article!
Hey everyone,
Here's a link to the Youthink website, where you can read my final article with Youthink Magazine! I did a career profile on a locations manager from Vancouver named Paul Russell, who has worked on movies such as Another Cinderella Story (ft. Selena Gomez & Drew Seeley) and Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins. So be sure to check it out!
http://www.youthink.ca/yt/careers/career-profile-film-locations-manager
Thank you Youthink Magazine for everything over these past years!!
-Christinaaa
Here's a link to the Youthink website, where you can read my final article with Youthink Magazine! I did a career profile on a locations manager from Vancouver named Paul Russell, who has worked on movies such as Another Cinderella Story (ft. Selena Gomez & Drew Seeley) and Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins. So be sure to check it out!
http://www.youthink.ca/yt/careers/career-profile-film-locations-manager
Thank you Youthink Magazine for everything over these past years!!
-Christinaaa
Sunday, September 12, 2010
What a Wonderful Day
Celebrity sightings from Saturday, Sept.11
Much Music VJs Liz & Sarah and my friend Terrance!
Boys of Degrassi!
Stephen Stohn: Producer of Degrassi!
Rachelle Lefevre from Twilight!
Ben Affleck!
Blake Lively, absolutely gorgeous
Also spotted: Jennier Garner, but I wasn't able to get a good photo :(-Christinaaa
Saturday, September 11, 2010
The Beginnings of TIFF
Hey everyone!As most of you probably know, the Toronto International Film Festival has begun and the city is in full swing with celebrities being spotted at every which way. I'll keep you posted on the stars that I catch a glimpse of!
Megan Fox: Passion Play premiere @ Ryerson Theatre Sept.10
Rainn Wilson from The Office: SUPER premiere @ Ryerson Theatre Sept.10
Liv Tyler: SUPER premiere @ Ryerson Theatre Sept.10
I'll keep you posted!
-Christinaaa
*All photos are taken by me!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
From Clippings to Cyberspace: 2nd article with FutuReale!
Hey guys! Be sure to check out the September issue of FutuReale Magazine that is up online right now!
Here are some pictures of my article! :)
Check it out!
-Christinaaa
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