The Tour of DreamWorks Studios Redwood City
On March 7th, I traveled with a few 4-H Technology Leadership Team members to Redwood City in the bay area. We have been given the chance to visit the DreamWorks Animation Studies facilities of Redwood City. An adult volunteer on the team happened to know a past high school friend who worked there, and gave us this change. She was going to take the interested members, but a month before the trip, she got a job offer in Denver. I took her place in being the adult in charge of getting the team members there. I was excited.
The day started off with a team member, Amanda, and I flying up to San Jose. Once we got to San Jose, two other team members from Santa Cruz were going to meet up with us at the airport to catch a ride with me. First, I had to get the rental car. This would become the stressful time of the trip. I used Enterprise. It seems that they did not accept debit cards at the kiosk. All of my money, of course, was on the debit card and my credit card was near being maxed out. I asked the staff if they would accept a debit card number being typed in manually. I figured I could call the parents to help me out, and I would pay them back. It seems the debit card had to be scanned physically at the kiosk. The second thing I asked was cash. That did not work either. Enterprise was not willing to work with me at all. I was pissed! There was nothing on the website when booking the car, or in the confirmation email that no debit cards were accepted. I would of planned accordingly. Enterprise would not work at all to help me with this situation. I was stuck. My only move was to contact my credit card in hopes they can do an emergency payment or extend my credit limit just for a few days. I called the Capitol One. They were not much help either. They could not process an emergency payment. They did not even seem to care. There was a change my credit limit could be increased, but the person I was talking to could not do it. I had to go through some stupid automated thing. That was my last hope. The person I talked to said it will either happen automatically, or can take up to ten days to approve if I qualified. I called the automatic system, and went through the process. My luck had changed. I was approved right away for a credit increase. I was able to use it to get the rental car. While this was all happening, team member Michaela, arrived. If I was not approved, the three of us would have been stuck in San Jose. It would be a big disaster, because after the tour, we had to drive to Davis.
After this drama, we got in the car and drove on up to Redwood City. The rest of the team members participating on the tour were already there when we arrived. This was the day that DreamWorks new movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, was being released. The movie was made mostly at this facility, so they were holding their version of a premier that day. All staff invited friends and family to see the studio, have a free lunch, and get to do some fun activities. This was how we were able to get into DreamWorks this day. We got to the lobby, and met up with these two DreamWorks employees were going to give us the tour. We first looked around the lobby. The lobby had its very own fireplace, which was exciting. Next to the fire place was the Academy Award that was won for the first Shrek movie. It was real awesome to see. We moved on right to lunch after that. They had a good sized food court that offered a wide range of different foods. We decided to split up and meet outside. It was packed. I had never expected so many people there. I got my food and went on outside. We sat at a large table. I made sure that Michaela sat close to the employees since she is going to major in animation. During lunch, the two employees began answering questions and telling us about details on DreamWorks structure and how they work on their movies. Near the time we were about to head off to look around, a mid aged guy came to our table, placed his food tray down, and began to sit. As he sat, he asked if his friend and he can join us. In my mind, I felt this was weird. I was wondering who was this guy, and why did he pick to sit with us. The DreamWorks employee looked shocked/stunned. He said of course! After his friend and he sat down, they introduced themselves. It just so happened that this guy was the Director of Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Rob Minkoff, and his friend was the Producer. We were in shock and in excitement. The rest of our meal turned into questions for the director and the producer. They were shocked to see 4-H members here. They always believed 4-H was just an club for agriculture. They were extremely excited to learn that 4-H was way more, and animation is a project for 4-H members. This would be the big highlight for the weekend. After they left, I did a google search on him. I got way more excited when I learned he was the Director for The Lion King, which happens to be one of my most favorite childhood movies. I could honestly care less about Peabody and Sherman.
With this most epic lunch over with, the two DreamWorks Studios employees began taking us through the facility and explaining the animation process step by step. Each floor had a lobby area with a TV display that showcased different processes. Each floor also had concept art on the walls from different movies from the past and that are currently in production. We were sadly not allowed to take any photos, which was expected. We would go from floor to floor to see the concept art and watch the TV displays. The employees were hoping to show us around on the fifth floor during the official toasts for Peabody that would be occurring in the cafe. We were on the third floor when an announcement came about saying it was time for the toast, and all visitors had to leave the building. We sat around, and we almost got away with staying in the building, until one employee called us out, saying we had to leave. Due to this, we never got to officially look around past any floor lobby and concept art. We left, and the tour was over. Even though it was not what we expected, having a film director and producer crash our lunch made it all worth it.
All of us got in the car, and we began to drive to Davis. We were going to Davis to spend the night updating our computer lab to Windows 8.1, which lasted all night, and to have our face to face meeting the next day. We ended up being over an hour late due to the lovely Friday afternoon bay area traffic. Of course, I had two members who had never been to San Francisco, so to avoid the terrible traffic of the Bay Bridge, we drove through the city, and took them to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Now one would think that was the real reason why we were late. We ran into nasty traffic after the Golden Gate, which is what caused us to be late. Anyway. Lets just say after a night of updating computers, we get a little crazy. This was the first time I got to be in the new State 4-H Office (it moved in the late fall). I say the new building is such an improvement from the old building. I like it!
The day started off with a team member, Amanda, and I flying up to San Jose. Once we got to San Jose, two other team members from Santa Cruz were going to meet up with us at the airport to catch a ride with me. First, I had to get the rental car. This would become the stressful time of the trip. I used Enterprise. It seems that they did not accept debit cards at the kiosk. All of my money, of course, was on the debit card and my credit card was near being maxed out. I asked the staff if they would accept a debit card number being typed in manually. I figured I could call the parents to help me out, and I would pay them back. It seems the debit card had to be scanned physically at the kiosk. The second thing I asked was cash. That did not work either. Enterprise was not willing to work with me at all. I was pissed! There was nothing on the website when booking the car, or in the confirmation email that no debit cards were accepted. I would of planned accordingly. Enterprise would not work at all to help me with this situation. I was stuck. My only move was to contact my credit card in hopes they can do an emergency payment or extend my credit limit just for a few days. I called the Capitol One. They were not much help either. They could not process an emergency payment. They did not even seem to care. There was a change my credit limit could be increased, but the person I was talking to could not do it. I had to go through some stupid automated thing. That was my last hope. The person I talked to said it will either happen automatically, or can take up to ten days to approve if I qualified. I called the automatic system, and went through the process. My luck had changed. I was approved right away for a credit increase. I was able to use it to get the rental car. While this was all happening, team member Michaela, arrived. If I was not approved, the three of us would have been stuck in San Jose. It would be a big disaster, because after the tour, we had to drive to Davis.
After this drama, we got in the car and drove on up to Redwood City. The rest of the team members participating on the tour were already there when we arrived. This was the day that DreamWorks new movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, was being released. The movie was made mostly at this facility, so they were holding their version of a premier that day. All staff invited friends and family to see the studio, have a free lunch, and get to do some fun activities. This was how we were able to get into DreamWorks this day. We got to the lobby, and met up with these two DreamWorks employees were going to give us the tour. We first looked around the lobby. The lobby had its very own fireplace, which was exciting. Next to the fire place was the Academy Award that was won for the first Shrek movie. It was real awesome to see. We moved on right to lunch after that. They had a good sized food court that offered a wide range of different foods. We decided to split up and meet outside. It was packed. I had never expected so many people there. I got my food and went on outside. We sat at a large table. I made sure that Michaela sat close to the employees since she is going to major in animation. During lunch, the two employees began answering questions and telling us about details on DreamWorks structure and how they work on their movies. Near the time we were about to head off to look around, a mid aged guy came to our table, placed his food tray down, and began to sit. As he sat, he asked if his friend and he can join us. In my mind, I felt this was weird. I was wondering who was this guy, and why did he pick to sit with us. The DreamWorks employee looked shocked/stunned. He said of course! After his friend and he sat down, they introduced themselves. It just so happened that this guy was the Director of Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Rob Minkoff, and his friend was the Producer. We were in shock and in excitement. The rest of our meal turned into questions for the director and the producer. They were shocked to see 4-H members here. They always believed 4-H was just an club for agriculture. They were extremely excited to learn that 4-H was way more, and animation is a project for 4-H members. This would be the big highlight for the weekend. After they left, I did a google search on him. I got way more excited when I learned he was the Director for The Lion King, which happens to be one of my most favorite childhood movies. I could honestly care less about Peabody and Sherman.
With this most epic lunch over with, the two DreamWorks Studios employees began taking us through the facility and explaining the animation process step by step. Each floor had a lobby area with a TV display that showcased different processes. Each floor also had concept art on the walls from different movies from the past and that are currently in production. We were sadly not allowed to take any photos, which was expected. We would go from floor to floor to see the concept art and watch the TV displays. The employees were hoping to show us around on the fifth floor during the official toasts for Peabody that would be occurring in the cafe. We were on the third floor when an announcement came about saying it was time for the toast, and all visitors had to leave the building. We sat around, and we almost got away with staying in the building, until one employee called us out, saying we had to leave. Due to this, we never got to officially look around past any floor lobby and concept art. We left, and the tour was over. Even though it was not what we expected, having a film director and producer crash our lunch made it all worth it.
All of us got in the car, and we began to drive to Davis. We were going to Davis to spend the night updating our computer lab to Windows 8.1, which lasted all night, and to have our face to face meeting the next day. We ended up being over an hour late due to the lovely Friday afternoon bay area traffic. Of course, I had two members who had never been to San Francisco, so to avoid the terrible traffic of the Bay Bridge, we drove through the city, and took them to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Now one would think that was the real reason why we were late. We ran into nasty traffic after the Golden Gate, which is what caused us to be late. Anyway. Lets just say after a night of updating computers, we get a little crazy. This was the first time I got to be in the new State 4-H Office (it moved in the late fall). I say the new building is such an improvement from the old building. I like it!
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