Bringing it all together

Beyond my degree, beyond my school, I have spent over two decades now, developing into the person I am today. The hourglass reflects that idea, blending together my experiences and passions into my name, "Amanda."

Sportsmanship

I am, admittedly, a competitive person. I enjoy a challenge and I enjoy success. This particular symbol, a paddler, represents both for me.

Paddling in outrigger canoes is a popular summer sport in Hawaii. It also provided me my first real leadership role when, at age 11, I was selected to become the steersman of a 6-man crew and a priceless koa boat. Once on the water, there are no coaches providing advice, I had to learn to be responsible for my boat and crew, to be supportive and steer a straight course.

We were state champions that year.

Producing: Fun Fact

Like many people, music has broadened my outlook on life. Perhaps unusually though, it has made me learn Hungarian and look into television production.

While I have always dabbled in writing and drawing, it was music that made me first consider producing in the world of television. I enjoy anything with a nice tune and don't find language an obstacle and so, through this very convoluted way, I discovered Endemol in high school, the Dutch company responsible for Big Brother. My admiration for what Joop van den Ende has done was what first opened my eyes to what can be accomplished on the producer side of things (as opposed to physical production).

Emerging Technology

I considered many majors before deciding on Critical Studies in my junior year. This was not because I lacked passion for film and media, but because I was interested in such a wealth of things and wanted to explore them while I had the opportunity. These roads not taken, still inform and inspire me today.

I seriously considered engineering like my father and brother (even going so far as to take the chemistry pre-req). I took economics for business, international relations for politics, sat in on an undergraduate and graduate neuroscience course. I took several courses in animation, several in games, and I think, in all of this, the overarching drive was to be on the forefront of things. To be in fields and learn the skills where history is made and times are changed.

I still want to be on the frontier, and I know FOX would be able to provide that opportunity. Not only is the apprenticeship program revolutionary in and of itself, but their support of Avatar and the cutting edge CGI it employed (with motion capture previews much like video games) is exactly the sort of thing I would love to be involved in.

Entertainment (It's a film strip)

I'll admit it. I may not know precisely what I want to do, but I know where I want to be, and that is in Entertainment. I made that decision when I chose my major, when I realized (after leaving my math/science prep school) that people can major in film.

Best decision I ever made.

I still have a lot to learn, a lot to see, and I think I would really benefit from Opportunity FOX in that regard. My friends talk about landing jobs and "rolling calls." While I'm sure that's a very good skill to know, I want to be able to see and do more. To have a mentor, to be allowed access to FOX, is what I want more than anything now.

Home (It's the state of California and the Hawaiian Islands)

Homes, I've have several now. First Hawaii, then USC. Now it's LA as a whole, but I like family too, a group to root for, with colors to wear and a place to belong to. I would be honored to be a part of FOX.

One last grain...

The mix of experiences flow out and over the bottom of the hourglass, breaking the boundaries, exceeding the limits.

It is with this optimism and ambition that I look toward the future.