She read a script with Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford and Sarah Paulson. Her living arrangements were a plush Beverly Hills hotel smacked right in the core of Rodeo Drive. And it was all paid for by a Hollywood heavyweight who has multiple Emmys to his name.

Sure, it’s not Cancun, but Rachel Moulton spent her spring break receiving a head start in Hollywood. Moulton and nine other students from Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts’ drama department and a pair of students from the film program spent the week in Los Angeles for ‘Sorkin Week.’ The trip was endowed by SU graduate and famed writer/producer Aaron Sorkin.

The trip provided the 12 students with a behind-the-scenes look at the entertainment industry – including meetings with producers, actors, directors and agents – and afforded them a chance to audition, display their work and create valuable contacts.

‘It was invaluable learning from people from Syracuse and seeing them succeed in the industry, whether they’re actors, casting producers, directors,’ said senior Joe Tannenbaum. ‘It wasn’t a vacation by any stretch of the imagination. We were busy all day, every day with meetings and auditions.’

Joan Adler, senior director of principal gifts, runs SU Los Angeles and was responsible for coordinating much of the detailed itinerary. The events ranged from sitting in on a table reading for a new sitcom Sorkin is producing – ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,’ featuring Perry, Whitford and Paulson, among other notable actors – to a tour of the Kodak Theater and an acting workshop with a talent agency.

The trip kicked off with a party at Sorkin’s home, where the students were able to network with Hollywood elite. Many of the representatives from the industry whom the students met throughout the week had SU connections.

‘Almost everyone that was a part of the week was an SU alum or parents of students,’ Adler said. ‘My goal was to get them a little taste of everything. Not every actor has a role on television. Television, feature, voiceover, commercial actors, we tried to make it diverse.’

But it was meeting Sorkin that particularly influenced Moulton. She’s a big fan of Sorkin’s work, specifically mentioning acclaimed-television drama ‘The West Wing,’ sitcom ‘Sports Night’ and award-winning movie ‘A Few Good Men.’ Sorkin altered the initial schedule to allow the students a chance to sit in on the table reading of his new sitcom, and the students met him in his office. It was exactly what Moulton expected.

‘One of the doors was from the office from ‘The West Wing,’ one of the doors was from ‘Sports Night,” Moulton said. ‘There was a table along one wall that had six Emmys right next to each other. There was a Golden Globe there, too. To see that in person was really crazy.’

Moulton said the week also opened her eyes to the difference between Hollywood and New York. She explained the two cities are basically the two main places where actors seek work. New York is reserved more for stage acting, though, which Moulton said SU particularly emphasizes. But being on the West Coast – a first for Moulton – and making otherwise hard-to-obtain connections showed her the options available.

‘There were people who fully said, ‘Here’s my card, call me, we’ll have a meeting,’ simply because we were SU students,’ Moulton said. ‘They’re SU alums, and we were brought out for this experience and they took it seriously. We got connections handed on a silver platter.’

Both Moulton and Tannenbaum singled out the table-reading as the highlight of the trip. Moulton was able to read a scene with Perry, Whitford and Paulson. Tannenbaum was impressed watching the actors at work, specifically the first impression of their takes. He said if anything, the week removed ‘the pedestal’ the actors are on.

The students selected for the trip are intending to pursue a career in entertainment and had to complete an application and an essay and earn approval from two committees for admittance. But despite their resumes, Tannenbaum still there’s still an intimidation factor when initially meeting those established in the field.

Sorkin Week helped alleviate that.

‘I learned that essentially, they’re a lot like us,’ Tannenbaum said. ‘They’re nervous to present things to people without a lot of knowledge. They’re just like us, except they’re just people who have made it.’

Published on March 20, 2006 at 12:00 pm