Teenage Belper director James Postlethwaite has just returned from Hollywood where he mixed with film executives in the hope of cutting a deal to film a pilot show in America.
AS A kid I dreamt of going to Hollywood, thinking maybe I'd be 30 or 40 when it would come true. But I had no idea I would be only 18 when I would be mixing in the film industry.
As a television director, I'm always on the lookout for inspiring creatives and unusual and awe-inspiring locations. But most of all, the thing I love to discover the most is culture, something America is full of.
On the first day we landed, I took a walk down Hollywood Boulevard and I can't even put into words how it felt. It's a truly incredible place, one that certainly can't be summed up in any way, shape or form.
One minute you're treading on the stars of the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Denzel Washington and Nicolas Cage and before you can take another five steps you're being asked for 75 cents for a cup of coffee.
Something struck me as cruel about the nature of Hollywood. It's the place that's so broadly known for making dreams and being the land of the famous but at the same time it's a rather heartless place if you have very little.
I took on some fantastic filming projects, including a Spanish dub film called Oculto (Hidden), a time-lapse in Beverly Hills and a fantastic film-noir style film called 'Forgotten', starring Darren Stanton.
I was also part of a larger UK group pitching a reality series idea to one of the biggest reality production companies in the US.
I thought I knew what feeling nervous felt like – turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. Walking into that production company meeting and sitting down with executives who have the power to change your life was spectacular.
I went into the meeting thinking "Stay calm, you've rehearsed this a hundred times in front of the bathroom mirror".
My work colleague Darren Stanton and I had sat down the evening before, having a coffee at about 11pm on Sunset Boulevard – an experience in itself. We discussed the best possible outcome from the meeting.
We said that if we could at least gain interest or meet a few contacts that we could utilise in the future, then it would have certainly have been a trip well spent.
In the end, I don't think I could have been any more pleased with the results that we achieved.
A US executive producer, famous for working on the likes of The X Factor USA and Storage Hunters, and two other famous executives said "Hell yeah, I love it" after hearing our ideas.
Since then we've been in deep discussion with US producers and an independent production company with the view of shooting a pilot in 2014. It's hugely uplifting to be told that an idea you've shaped from nothing is now in a position to be invested in.
Towards the end of the first week I got a fantastic chance to have a tour and network with people at all the major studios including Warner Bros, Universal, Sony Pictures and Paramount, while taking time out to enjoy some great studio experiences on shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel Live!
In the second week, I took a drive out to the Mojave Desert, going up through Lancaster, Rosamond and into Mojave.
It was such a beautiful drive and I got a great chance to visit and check out the Mojave Air and Space Port, a beautiful and vast aircraft boneyard that's been used in countless films and television series. It was most famous for being used in Robbie Williams' music video to his 2009 hit "Bodies".
It's the little things that make you smile – paying $20 for six gallons of gas and waiting ten minutes for it to fill up while it's pumped from the desert. Talking to a local who's been a resident of Mojave for 65 years and describes it as a relationship with sand, wind and silence. And standing on the sandy hillsides and seeing no signs of life for miles.
That's when you think to yourself what a special place you've made it to and how lucky you are to be here.
America certainly ticked all the boxes.
It's pretty awesome to say at the age of 18 you've worked and directed films in Hollywood, shot on location in the Mojave Desert and been on practically every single major motion picture set from films spanning over 50 years.
I stood on the sets of internationally renowned films and TV series such as Friends, War of the Worlds, The Wizard of Oz, Batman, Bruce Almighty and Dirty Harry.
And that's when I knew I couldn't do any other career in the world and how grateful I was that someone led me to being here.
Spending five weeks directing and filming on location in Los Angeles was the most amazing experience.
I've come back with a wealth of opportunities, contacts and memories that I will retain forever.
Now it's back into the scripting stage to work on my next 2014 job, a feature called Cerebrum focusing on the memory process and its retentions – never a dull moment.