We wanted to give all of you a chance to get to know some of the leadership team members and volunteers at The Greenhouse. The following is an interview with Logan Huggins, who is a Coordinator at Relativity Television and a member of The Greenhouse Leadership Team:
Q: So, Logan… why Hollywood?
A: For me, it all started in my childhood. As a child, I grew up watching Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and the many entries of the now recognized “Disney Renaissance.” It was a unique time when so many studios and networks were really finding their stride with kids’ programming. This was the same decade that saw so many kid-centered properties become full-on pop culture phenomenons — Pokemon, Beanie Babies, Power Rangers, Nick Toons, the reruns of Looney Toons, and so on. As I got older, I began to recognize the power and influence of the media upon me and my generation — for better and for worse.
As time passed, the impact media has on children has certainly not waned. Today, kids have access to ridiculous amounts of shows, games, and films. And now the screen lives right in their pocket. It really is amazing what technology has created. However, with each step of technology I feel a heightened responsibility to produce worth-while material that this generation’s kids will be growing up with — along with the rest of us.
How has your perspective of Hollywood changed since you’ve starting working here?
When you think of Hollywood, at least this is what it seemed like back home in Alabama, the first things to come to mind were the Oscars, red carpets, glamorous stars… all that Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and E! Network nonsense. While there are in fact a small population of people who occasionally live like that, I’ve come to realize that 98.5% of all production work is done by “regular people” with “regular lives.” Currently I work as a post-production coordinator at a unscripted television production company. Every day, we all work in a non-spectacular office building here in Hollywood doing very non-spectacular office-like things… emails, meetings, memos… we even have a water cooler.
But seriously, actually doing work in the industry has busted any and all images of industry professionals being different than say, any other industry. We’re all working toward the same things: providing for our families, extending our careers, and preparing for the future. Plus, my experience working with production people has been absolutely wonderful. I’ve been blessed to work with so many kind, compassionate, down-to-earth people. It’s unfortunate that our culture gives so much screen-time and significance to that very small portion who aren’t totally great to work with; but honestly, those people are everywhere in every industry. Overall, I’ve learned that whether you’re working with a personal assistance or an executive vice president, the Golden Rule still applies. People want to be treated with respect, integrity, and gratitude; if you can do that, you’ll always have job security, regardless of your field.
Q: What are you reading, listening to, and watching?
A: Well, admittedly, I’m not a huge reader. I did recently finish both Perelandra and Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. They were incredible. I highly recommend them to any fans of classic sci-fi such as War of The Worlds. To anyone is interested in a career in the entertainment industry, I must suggest How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It’s an old classic, but it again and again proves itself as a relevant source of invaluable advice and wisdom.
I subscribe to several podcasts — Zig Ziglar, Andy Stanley, Ravi Zacharias, to name a few. My music library is eclectic to say the least: Boston, Dave Matthews Band, Bryan Adams, Daft Punk, and so on. There is also an unusually high amount of film scores in my library too. Thomas Newman, Alan Silvestri, Hans Zimmer, show up frequently. Here, recently, I’ve been going back and forth between the scores of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Avengers: Age of Ultron. What can I say? It makes the commute to work every morning much more interesting.
It’s a bit of irony that although I work in television production, I watch absolutely zero TV. Although I hear TV is going through a new “golden age,” I’m a film guy, through and through. There’s just something magical about the theater experience. I’ll be the last person you’ll see watching a movie on a phone. Fortunately, there has been plenty for me to enjoy so far this year — Age of Ultron, Mad Max, Ant-Man. I thought Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation was excellent. Inside Out was also spectacular.