Imoved here just over six months ago. I grew up in a very small town on the Central Coast, Paso Robles. I was anxious about moving to L.A. for work in the film industry because I’m not used to big cities. Toluca Lake has been a pleasant surprise. Not only are all my neighbors friendly, but it still has the communal small-town feeling I was used to. On top of that, you can feel the history of the film industry, being a stone’s throw from Universal Studios and Warner Bros.
I run a production company, and with all of this going on there’s not really a chance for me to produce any content, so I’ve been filling my time writing my first feature film. It’s set in Hollywood in the 1940s and some of it takes place in our own backyard. The difficult thing is that being a writer, or any type of artist for that matter, requires you to go out into the world to come back and be able to make it into art.
On top of that, I’ve been watching a lot of movies. My girlfriend and I pick two movies each night to make a double feature. In terms of staying healthy, I’ve been taking my daily walks around the neighborhood and keeping connected with friends and family via FaceTime.
I am happy that we have all come together and have taken this seriously as we should. Everyone is respecting space. I’ve been reading a lot of posts on Nextdoor and people are sharing different ways to help small businesses. It is really comforting to know that there is a community around to support each other.
We will make it out of this stronger and kinder than we thought. It will be a different and better world, but our work isn’t done the second things go back to normal, which they may never do. We must be vigilant to support each other and find ways to be more efficient as humans; this also goes for climate action and our health-care system. This time is showing us glaring holes in our society, and it is our job to identify them, take responsibility and fix them. It won’t be easy, but we will do it together.
Return to The State of the Village.