By CARSON VAUGHAN
J Alumni News staff
“This time we had the hometown advantage,” joked “500 Days of Summer” actor Geoffrey Arend. “My parents were there!”
One by one, the illuminated buttons died as I rose to the 14th floor. The elevator doors pulled open to reveal a glass wall, “Reed Elsevier” etched into the door and Variety Magazine listed on the business roster. Behind the glass, a bearded man in his early 30s waited, elbows on his knees, magazine in hand.
Carson Vaughan
“You must be Carson,” he said. “I’m Sam Thielman. Let me show you around.”
Sam ushered me to my cubicle, and I set down my bags. In the months to come I would defile this cubicle, shamelessly tack my own stories to the corkboard, and litter the desk with old copies of the daily. Today, however, was my first day. My cubicle was still uniform with the corporate atmosphere of the building.
“It looked the same on screen as it did on the paper,” said Arend at the after party. “Two guys wrote it, and it was sentimental. We’re all romantics!”
Before Sam could finish giving me the office tour, David Rooney, my new editor, interrupted.
“Walk with me,” he said, his thick Australian accent at once both charming and intimidating. “Where did you say you were from? Nebraska? I only knew one other person from Nebraska. Omaha, actually. Alexander Payne. He and I used to run into each other quite a bit at film festivals. I always enjoyed him — very warm and easygoing. And funny. Let’s get your access card.”
Arend and screenwriter Michael Weber, both New York natives, attended the Gotham preem of director Marc Webb’s indie pic “500 Days of Summer” at the Tribeca Grand Hotel on July 9. Although Zooey Deschanel, the pic’s leading actress, canceled her appearance early Wednesday afternoon, she did send her apologies in a short video that aired before the 7:30 p.m. screening. Despite Deschanel’s absence, the guests needed little prodding to attend the after party at the Yard of the SoHo Grand Hotel for dinner and cocktails.
HBO Theatre. “The 39 Steps.” Alan Alda. Free press screenings. Open bars. Glenn Close. The World Science Festival. I was used to none of it — and loved all of it. I wrote small film clips and feature stories like the one about “500 Days of Summer,” accumulated box office grosses and formulated the weekly charts accordingly. I covered film premieres for the V-Page and HBO events for the free food (great hors d’œuvres). I sat in on the water cooler conversations and the Monday teleconferences with LA. Consistent during the day and boundless at night, my internship with Variety magazine provided easy networking and educational leadership. I refuse to make a variety pun.
On working with Deschanel, Arend said simply, “She’s totally your dream girl.”
The small staff of just three employees at the Gotham bureau made me feel like a legitimate part of the production. Sam and I worked together daily to send the Broadway charts to the layout team in LA. When Sam took a two-week honeymoon vacation in mid-summer, the responsibility fell squarely on me; although it was a bit frightening, considering my fear of numbers, I felt a sense of accomplishment and sincere purpose in the office when I completed the assignment in his stead.
A summer interning for Variety magazine in New York City is going to be hard to beat.
Weber lavished praise on director Marc Webb, who was unable to attend the event. According to Weber, despite having never shot a feature length film, Webb showed up on set knowing “exactly what we wanted.”
“This film was such a collaborative effort,” Weber said. “We were a team. We all told our stories.”
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