Finally Moving to LA (Santa Monica)!!!

diego1235467

diego1235467

Well-known member
A while back, I'd posted I was moving to LA. Well, some stuff happened, and it's not until now that I'm doing it. Then some other stuff came up, and apparently I'm moving in about a month (much earlier than I expected).

I'll be near Santa Monica, which seem to be really cool. I also don't have a car, and from what I hear Santa Monica (and West LA) has better public transportation than the rest of the city.

This is the first time in 19 years that I'll be living by myself. Well, with housemates, but you know what I mean. I'll be living off student loans for a while, though hopefully I can find some jobs to pay for at least some of the rent, and of course video equipment, fun money, etc.

I'm EXTREMELY excited about this. I moved from Mexico City (20 + million people) to a city in Colorado with about 100,000 people. It'll be nice to go back to city life, even if it is different from Mexico. Needless to say, I'm also scared shitless. I don't know anybody in California, and I won't even be starting school until August/September, so I'll be alone for a few months. The worst thing about that is that I may have to watch Inception by myself :(

Anyone have experiences in LA? I'd love to hear what people actually think of the place!
 
I moved from Maryland->New York->Los Angeles back in 1990. I've come to love LA, although really what that means is loving certain parts and areas of Los Angeles, since a city (cities, really) sprawled over that kind of area is going to be deeply heterogenous...

Santa Monica/West Side is a good choice if you are car-free. It's generally very pedestrian-friendly in terms of amenities, night spots, etc. and public transit can get you most anywhere you need to go (at the usual cost of extra time, to get there). But if you want to be able to get around the larger LA metro area (which you will likely need to be able to do for work since studios etc are scattered from Glendale to Burbank to Valencia to Downtown to Century City to Playa del Rey) you will probably find the need for a car or motorcycle.

Being on DVXUser.com means never having to watch Inception by yourself.
 
Thanks for the link! It was a fun, encouraging, and informative read.

I'll get a car eventually, but I doubt I'll start to work anywhere in the industry anytime soon. I'll most likely try to find some crappy part time job somewhere, and make videos for clients on the side. My main focus will be my studies, though.
 
i moved to LA almost exactly one year ago and I've been very lucky to find great work and really cool people. I think no matter where you move, whether or not you like it has more to do with the work you're doing and the people you're around then anything else.

I expected LA to be very competitive, cold, and unfriendly. but i've been surprised to find it's been very much the opposite for me. I expected to have a hard time finding work that i enjoyed but i've found that as long as you know what you're doing, take pride in your work, and you're not an asshole, you'll have a pretty good shot.

As far as not having a car, good luck with that... I was car-less for my first 9 months here and it was do-able, but i don't recommend it. My daily commute, which is about 7 miles and takes me a half hour driving, took 2 hours on the bus - including almost 2 miles of walking between buses.
 
I'm in Michigan but my sister lives in Santa Clarita. She has told me many times to sell my house and move out there. If I did, the first thing I would buy is a motorcycle. You can drive in between the cars in rush hour traffic!! (that's still true, right Max?)

That alone is worth the trip. I HATE being stuck in traffic here where no one respects the fast lane.
 
Yes, lane-splitting is legal in California (technically, lane-sharing is, but hey...)

Santa Clarita is so far from metro LA as to be...well, really, really far from metro LA. I mean, sure, people commute to and from (some television is shot up there) but unless you are looking for a deal on real estate, I would not recommend Santa Clarita to anyone who wants to be working in production. Although that's not what Diego's going to be after, right away.

And, no one respects the fast lane in Los Angeles, either.
 
I'll be going to Santa Monica College for 2 years, and then I'll transfer somewhere else (hopefully UCLA, USC, or some other good film school). My commute to school won't be too bad, the room I'm planning to rent is just a bus ride away. I may have to look into a motorcycle :D

You need to get a specific license, right?
 
Yes, California requires either a CM2 endorsement for smaller-displacement bikes, or a CM1 endorsement for the bigger-displacement ones.
 
I went to Santa Monica College too before I transferred. I think SMC has the best transfer rates to schools like UCLA, USC etc. :) Are you planing on taking any film classes?
 
All the ones that I can. Do you know if you can choose specific professors? Because one of the biggest reasons I chose SMC is because I want to take classes with Salvador Carrasco.
BTW, Your "Killed Alive" short was pretty cool!
 
Diego - you'll love Santa Monica. When not in school check out and where they issue filming permits (escapes me now) and you'll get to see more film action
than you can imagine. They film news events at 3rd street, you'll see movie/tv stars walking about and very friendly.

There's also a lot of activities at the beach in which you can join up: beach volleyball, co-ed football, soccer, etc.

Es un buen lugar para vivir!

Charli
 
There's an area on the beach south of the pier with climbing ropes, bars, rings, etc that's a great place to work out when it's warm. My trainer and I used to spend about half the year working out there.
 
Sounds like a great place. I'm not much of a beach person, but I also haven't been to the beach in like 6 years. Plus, who doesn't like pretty ladies in skimpy bathing suits? Well, gay guys I'm sure, but whatever. :)

Creo que si me va a gustar!
 
There's buff guys in speedos, for the enjoyment of the gay section, too.

Los Angeles is a very inclusive place.
 
diego1235467 said:
Sounds like a great place. I'm not much of a beach person, but I also haven't been to the beach in like 6 years. Plus, who doesn't like pretty ladies in skimpy bathing suits? Well, gay guys I'm sure, but whatever. :)

Creo que si me va a gustar!
Click to expand...

be sure to make a lot of gay jokes while you're here. it's the secret to making it in Hollywood.
 
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