HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION IN ... HOLLYWOOD TRAINING IN TINSELTOWN ENGINEERS, REALTORS TAKE JOBS FOR TEST DRIVES.

Byline: BARBARA CORREA

Staff Writer

Most people vacationing in Los Angeles want to relax, work on their tan and do a little stargazing.

And then there's Teri Smith.

For the past few years, this civil engineer from Missouri with a keen interest in the entertainment industry has spent part of her vacation at the Beverly Hills Hotel. But she hasn't been lounging by the pool. She's too busy networking and plotting her career move from Midwest engineer to Hollywood mover-and-shaker.

"I have a hard time wasting time," said Smith. "I just want to not miss anything."

Working vacations

Through a three-year-old company called VocationVacations that pairs business owners with people looking to change careers, Smith has taken mini internships with a film producer and film festival organizer in New York. In May she spent two days at the offices of Clear Talent Group, a small talent agency in Studio City, observing actor readings and learning the difference between commercial and theatrical representation. Like her,

many VocationVacationers who come to L.A. are seeking an entree to Hollywood.

Smith's friend, Doug Witherspoon, traveled with her to Los Angeles to spend several days with actor Jack Plotnick ("Ugly Betty," "Down With Love"). Ariana da Frota, an aspiring singer and Realtor in Naples, Florida, will use some of her vacation time this month with Sherman Oaks record producer Jeff Weber. "I prefer vacations where I'm learning something," said da Frota. "I really want to get an idea of what the music industry is like. I would like to own a music label."

Instant connections

The siren song of Hollywood has long attracted the star-struck from every corner of the country. But instead of starting in the mailroom, people who hook up with a service like VocationVacations are instantly connected to an entertainment professional working in some aspect of the business.

"Seventy-five percent of these people are truly looking for new careers," said Brian Kurth, founder of the company, which is based in Portland, Ore. "About 25 percent are signing up for brew master or sports announcer or something like that that's usually a gift from women to men. But most are serious job seekers."

Travel agencies offer programs for travelers seeking to spend a vacation doing some volunteer work or exploring a new culture, and groups like Internships For America connect people with short-term positions in everything from hotel management to culinary training.

But VocationVacations' two- or three-day internship model is unique. It offers dozens of "dream job" holidays across the country, including white-water rafting outfitter, chocolatier, sword maker, raceway manager and dog day-care owner.

Of the 15 or so opportunities to test drive a career in greater Los Angeles, more than half are entertainment-related. Vocationers focused on The Biz can hook up with a comedian, a television production designer, a makeup artist or a hair stylist. The working holidays cost between $399 and $1,999 and are usually taken later in the workweek so clients can stay the weekend.

The company doesn't make the travel arrangements, but it can provide some guidance with hotels and restaurants, said Kurth.

The mentors like it because, besides getting a cut of the trip cost, it gives them a chance to share their knowledge with a very enthusiastic audience, and sometimes they end up hiring vocationers themselves.

Exceptions and rules

Venice-based makeup artist Cathryn VanBreene has hosted several aspiring trainees over the last few years, two from the Midwest and one from San Diego. But Stephanie Barnes, a young woman from Murrieta, in Riverside County, stood out from the others.

"She was really motivated," said VanBreene. "I hired her as my assistant a year and half ago, and now she's the agency director."

But that's probably the exception, and not the rule. In fact, one thing all of the trainees have in common, whether they are coming from another county or another state, is that they often have an unrealistic view of the business side of entertainment.

"They tend to glamorize it a lot," said VanBreene, who does makeup for clients attending the Grammys, Emmys and Academy Awards. "A lot of the people who come in are creative, free-spirited types, and they don't make it."

Indeed, a big part of the mentors' job is dispelling the myths about working in Tinseltown and revealing the realities of running a business.

"I want to make sure she understands the euphoric parts of the business but also the hardships," said Jeff Weber, a music producer who will spend two days with aspiring singer Ariana da Frota this month.

Weber also teaches at UCLA, USC and the University of Texas.

"The (music industry) is going through extraordinary upheaval. The levels of success are very limited and the levels of failure are horrible. I want to encourage their dreams, but I'm not going to sugarcoat it."

Marketing yourself

Beverly Hills hair stylist Billy Lowe, whose clients include Ellen de Generes and the cast of "Desperate Housewives," said he plans to educate his vocationer about the importance of marketing first and foremost when she comes for a few days this October.

"In Beverly Hills alone there are more than 1,000 hair stylists. Competing here on the local level is all marketing all the time," he said.

He said he plans to bring in some salon distributors to meet his vacationer and discuss product placement and lighting in the salon and other practical matters of doing business.

Despite the emphasis on practicality, the business owners hosting vocationers say there's nothing wrong with people wanting to be part of L.A.'s movie industry. And some of the clients seem to have a natural talent for networking here.

Teri Smith, the engineer, actually lives on a working farm outside Columbia. But she seems to feel right at home in Hollywood and can drop names with the best of them. She said she met with the late Jack Valenti when he was president of the Motion Picture Association of America. Through her various trips to L.A., she has gotten to know Warner Bros. Entertainment President Alan Horn, talked herself into the Grammys and Sky Bar and made friends with talk-show host Leeza Gibbons.

During her recent trip to L.A., Smith met up with film and TV people she knew from before. "Chip Bragg from (production company) Tollin/Robbins is a friend, so he came over and had lunch, and then when I went to Disney to see the taping of a new show for Nickelodeon, and Dan Schneider (co-creator of the TV series "What I Like About You") was there. And I said, 'Hi, I've met you before.' So, for me it's fun to run into the same people."

Smith said she has to stay at her current job in El Dorado Springs, Mo., for another four years to get her maximum retirement. But after that, she may make the move to Los Angeles to pursue a new career.

Until then, she said she plans to continue going on VocationVacations. "It's a great escape for me from what I do," she said. "It's nice to think I don't always have to be an engineer and bale hay."

barbara.correa(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (HOLLYWOOD sign)

(2 -- color) Ariana da Frota, center, an aspiring singer and Realtor from Naples, Fla., learns about the music business during a songwriting session with musician Dapo Torimiro, left, and producer Jeff Weber.

(3) Ariana da Frota, a singer and Realtor from Naples, Fla., second from right, learns about the music business during a songwriting session with musician Dapo Torimiro, far left, and singer Debra Arlyn as producer Jeff Weber makes a point.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer