Newspaper Page Text
Chance encounter yields job offer
Network hires
alum as writer
By ELAINE KELCH
The Red & Black
On Aug. 31, ABC’s “Modem
*"nily" garnered an Emmy for
outstanding Comedy Series
the result of the staff behind the
camera, of course.
Anthony Lombardo, a
University alumnus who gradu
ated in May, is the production
assistant assigned to the writer’s
office of the hit show.
“They sent me a graduation
card in May, congratulating me
and saying they looked forward
to having me for season two,”
Lombardo said.
But the job, and the card,
didn’t come out of the blue.
“I interned [my] last semes
ter; from January to March,”
Lombardo said. “The internship
itself was the interview.”
A telecommunication arts
major from Duluth, Lombardo
credits a chance encounter in
2007 in leading to the position he
holds.
“I randomly met [executive
producer and writer] Steven
Levitan and his wife for two min
utes,” Lombardo said. “I
e-mailed them every few months
I think I just kind of wore
them down.”
Lombardo’s internship last
winter was earned through per
sistence.
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American Glory
There’s something
incredibly safe and polite
about “American Glory,”
which creates an awkward
melting pot of “almost.”
A1 Torchia can almost
sing. There’s no doubt the
man puts his all into each
verse, but he just doesn’t
have the range he tries
consistently to pull off.
The instrumentation is
almost impressive. Ten
seconds into each song
and you are almost con
vinced this is an album
you’d leave in your CD
player.
The genre is almost
country. Sort of folky. A lit
tle bit jazz. However, once
the eight tracks have
played through, the whole
effort just sounds like
something you’d tap your
foot to in a bar.
The songs simply don’t
build or lead the listener
anywhere. It’s not terrible
music by any means, which
makes the whole conun
drum that much more dif
ficult.
But shouldn’t you be
able to at least hum the
melody of the song you
just heard? I couldn’t.
I Think I Heard Something
The buzz surrounding
Manray’s inception into
the Athens mathrock
scene less than a year ago
can finally be justified by
more than just the quar
tet’s jaw-dropping live per
formances.
"I Think I Heard
Something,” the debut EP
from the Olivera trio
Ryan, Jordan and Derek
and guitarist Oene
Woolfolk, highlights the
very essence of the band’s
intricate nature, com
prised of equal parts pro
gressive, hauntingly-har
monic rock.
The self-titled first track
builds upon itself for near
ly five minutes, seemingly
floating between delicate
guitar and spastic, driving
drums.
“Blue Lights On” Is
quick and edgy, featuring
raw and dissonant vocals
that compliment the lay
ered guitars that pull in
opposite directions.
Closing it all out is
“Burning Bridges,” which
is the poster-child of
Manray’s musical schizo
phrenia fast, slow, pains
takingly beautiful and
equally tortured.
Joe Williams
“[A comment was made that
they] had never seen anyone
more persistent. I was never
rude they didn’t owe me any
thing —but they were gracious
enough to respond to my
e-mails,” Lombardo said.
Well aware of his good for
tune, Lombardo made the most
of his internship.
“I never was just, ‘l’m going
to hang out on set all day.’ I
tried to do as much as I could,”
Lombardo said. “I’d go to the
daily production meetings, I’d
do all they daily work. I wanted
to prove to them that I wanted
to be there. I wanted to do the
grunt work.”
At 23, Lombardo is exception
ally young for his position. Even
with his prior experience on the
show as an intern, the intimida
tion-factor of being around the
movers and shakers of the indus
try can be daunting —but work
ing with the writers of “Modem
Family,” it’s already a bit like
home.
“They’re actually really great.
I play Words With Friends with
one of them,” Lombardo said.
“They’re really open and friendly.
We have a very [acclaimed] writ
ing room. Our writers have done
a lot of things —some have had
their own shows before.”
Working as a PA, Lombardo
does the work that viewers “take
completely for granted.”
These things include doing
purchase orders, faxes and cop
ies for the writer’s office itself;
sitting in on content meetings
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that handle the details for each
show; and looking into such
mundane items as what a char
acter should hold or the continu
ity of what they’re eating.
Although far from the class
rooms of the University, the les
sons learned in Athens are
invaluable to Lombardo.
“We had great professors and
awesome production classes,”
Lombardo said. “For someone
who wants to write there are
plenty of classes you can take
with Dr. [Nate] Kohn and Dr.
[Horace] Newcomb there are
plenty of things to try to figure
out what you like.”
What he liked was writing.
“I did DGK, I volunteered at
NewSource. I did the Peabody
Awards my junior year. I went to
Cannes,” Lombardo said. “I took
advantage of the things that
were unique to Georgia.”
Adjusting to Los Angeles has
been less of a hassle than
Lombardo prepared himself for.
“The traffic has not been a
huge issue. Atlanta has a lot of
traffic, and I live close to the stu
dio,” Lombardo said.
And though the life of coffee
and meetings is not glamorous
in and of itself, Lombardo sees
this as a necessary step.
“I want to be a TV writer
some day. I bounce ideas around
in my head and work on specs,”
Lombardo said. “[But] I am very
lucky and happy where I am
[just to] jump out of college and
be a PA on an Emmy-winning
show.”
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Thb Rbd & Black | Wednesday, December 8, aoio
Finals Edition
One big (straight, gay, multi-cultural, traditional) happy family.
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modern family
COMEDY
Wednesday
Courtesy ABC Press
▲ Anthony Lombardo made the most of his time at the
University to work toward his position as a production
assistant on ‘Modern Family’ straight out of college.
7