Another One Bites the Dust

You may have seen those ubiquitous LTN signs on everything from buses to bus shelters in L.A. -- pretty much anything bus-related. Well, now LTN is no longer, and frankly I'm pissed!

I had been freelancing as an Associate Producer on LTN's action sports show "Dialed In." While I knew even less about action sports than other (non-action?) sports, my years of writing screenplays and working at "Blind Date" had given me a fantastic sense of story. a skill I brought to the table when piling through hours of footage of tattooed, EXTREME, Mountain Dew swilling athletes skating, surfing, and motorcrossing. I could find the drama and conflict in between their constant use of such words as "sick" and "gnarly." I was often commended for a job well done. I cannot say it was my dream job, but it paid more than what I was used to (which is still a pittance compared to what most folks my age are getting paid), and I was especially excited to begin work as an Associate Producer on their local travel show "Local Explorer."

My then-future bosses at "Local Explorer" wanted me to start right away, but compromised with a Jan. 3rd start date, so the folks at "Dialed In" could replace me.

It was going to be grand! Instead of logging non-Steadicam footage of guys from the Inland Empire riding various vehicles, I was going to be setting up locations and activities to be explored -- all within a 5 hour or so drive from L.A. Having lived in San Francisco for 2 years, I was very excited to expose Angelenos to its hidden treasures, and of course to Frank Chu!

It would be a challenge. It was a weekly show, and I was afraid I would run out of places to explore. But I was also excited about the freedom and relatively generous salary. And my two bosses seemed very sweet (and were easy on the eyes!).

I spent New Year's Eve in Mammoth for my first ever snowboarding expedition (to be blogged about later). For my few readers who are not Weather Channel afficionadoes, the Sierras got dumped on during that time. Not emotionally, but with snow. Lots of it.

We were supposed to drive back on Jan 2nd, but the 395 was closed due to a couple avalanches. I e-mailed my new bosses that I was stranded in Mammoth, so I would have to start a day late. It was beyond my control, so I figured they couldn't be too mad.

I got a phone call from my new boss the evening I got back into L.A. She was very sweet and said she hoped I had a good time in Mammoth. She then said that I was going to be starting on Friday, since the CEO told all senior producers that he didn't want any new employees to start quite yet. I was a little taken aback, but she assured me that she was very excited to have me start and that she would call me on Thursday to confirm my start date on Friday.

Thursday. 5:17 pm. No phone call.

So I called her on the cell.

There was something slightly different in her voice (fear and loathing?). She said the CEO was going to give a speech to the entire company on Friday morning, and that I could attend that, but I probably wouldn't be starting that day.

Hmmm... something's rotten in Denmark.

Later that night I spoke to my boss from "Dialed In." He broke the news:

One of LTN's investors pulled out, and unless some miraculous cash infusion occurred, we would all be out of work.

I went into the office the next day, wondering why so many people were acting so happy. I remembered my DI boss told me that not many people knew the news yet. They all knew there was a company-wide monologue about to occur, but were too naive to realize that's generally not a good thing.

After the CEO dropped the bomb, there were plenty of tears in the audience. LTN was a young company. Not only was it only 6 months old, but the median employee age was 26. Many were straight out of college and thought they had long careers ahead of them at LTN. I'm 31 and have been cynical since my Bar Mitzvah, so I knew better.

After a few heartfelt speeches by employees, it was decided that everyone would get drinks at Velvet Margarita, which is right around the corner from the office.

I cleaned up my area, then hauled ass to get some drinkies.

I was the first one there.

And margaritas were 10 dollars each!

10 fucking dollars!

They were good margaritas and all, but 10 dollars for a margarita when you just got laid off is not so good.

So I left after one mango margarita, since no one showed up.

I had to meet a friend for a coffee meeting at the Karma Coffeehouse. The meeting went well and as I walked outside I saw a few former LTNers smoking outside of Big Wangs.

I ventured closer and realized that the entire LTN staff was inside. I guess Velvet Margarita was fillibustered, since everyone seemed to be getting their drink on in Wangs. I joined the party and was much more pleased with my bill this time around. Only $12.15 for 2 stellas on tap and a turkey sandwich.

I did some comiserating with my fellow LTN-ers. Although I was not there since its inception, I was still part of the family and was sorry to see it go.

After only a day of perusing the UTA job list, Craig's List, and all the other usual suspects, I realize how lucky I really was to work at a company that allowed a lot of freedom and paid more than slave wages.

LTN -- it was fun while it lasted.