Awkward!

I just got back to NYC from Los Angeles yesterday and am blogging from Café Gitane… my favorite downtown café. It’s an insanely beautiful day and even though every day in Los Angeles is insanely beautiful, I feel a great joy for life here in NY that I rarely do on the West Coast. I’ve lived in LA for nearly a decade now (which is freaking crazy) and when I came to Manhattan to shoot “NYC Prep," I decided I’d be open to the possibility of moving back here for good. I’ve worked in NY before (“Growing up Gotti” & “Real Housewives of NYC”), but this was the first time I considered making a permanent move. Well I had so much fun on this show that last week I packed up my Los Angeles apartment, sold my car, and signed a one year lease on a New York apartment. Next chapter of life starts now.

The centerpiece of episode two of “NYC Prep” is Zoe’s party. Zoe is a classmate of Jessie’s and was kind enough to let us shoot her eighteenth birthday party, which was very exciting for us to cover because it was the first private school party we were able to shoot for the show. Now this may be an obvious assertion but shooting a party that has a DJ, dancing, low lighting, takes place in a large space, and is being attended by most of the cast and their friends is what one refers to as a production nightmare! Luckily, we had a truly talented and tireless production team and crew and it was while shooting Zoe’s party that we first realized that we had become an unstoppable well-oiled machine.

A lot happened that night (Camille/Jessie confrontation, Kelli getting upset, Cole showing up, and Sebastian & Taylor’s full on lip-lock) and somehow we captured it all on tape. What we didn’t have time in the episode to show you was Jessie flirting with the DJ (check out their “date” in the bonus clip) and Dan (the long haired guy who Camille is dancing with) asking her out.
Earlier in the show you got to see Sebastian and Taylor’s first date. The full two-hour date was actually a lot more awkward. As it was happening, I remember being at a complete loss on whether it was going really well or really badly. It was kind of impossible to tell. Then I remembered that even though Sebastian and Taylor often act like adults they are sophomores in high school, one of the most awkward stages in life, and even though they seemed uncomfortable with each other to me, they were actually completely comfortable and communicating in a way that made sense to them. Afterward, I realized they both had a great time and were completely into each other.

Finally, I wanted to touch on PC’s therapy session. This is probably my favorite part of the episode because I love getting into a persons head and PC did not hold back. It really touched me when he spoke about quitting ice hockey because he wasn’t the very best. I was glad the therapist called him out on being way too hard on himself because PC is insanely hard on himself. During the full session they spent a lot more time on this topic and it became evident that PC is working hard to assuage his fears of not being the best at something and that the therapist is one of the best in the industry (loved her!). You’ll be able to see PC tackle some of these fears as well as another therapy session in future episodes.

Thank you for reading my second blog (and for watching the show!). Feel free to leave me comments (both positive and negative) or ask me any questions you would like answers to in next weeks blog. Hope you enjoy episode two and keep watching because the episodes only get better!