CATCHING UP WITH ... Buffy Cautela (COMM '22) catches up with Autumn Olson (COMM '20) - part two of two

Welcome to CATCHING UP WITH ... where Fitchburg State students and recent graduates talk to Fitchburg State alumni, reflecting on their time here on campus, celebrating their accomplishments, and discussing how they got from here to where they are now.

In this special follow-up episode, Buffy Cautela (COMM ‘22) and Autumn Olson (COMM/HIST ‘20) catch up with each other one year after their first interview, which you can find in our previous episode. 

They discuss Autumn’s recent projects in Los Angeles and Buffy’s experiences as a Production Assistant on film and television productions in Massachusetts -- and a gig as a substitute teacher -- and how those experiences led her to continue her education by enrolling in the MFA program at Columbia University in New York City, studying Screenwriting and Directing. 

Buffy and Autumn also delve into the unpredictability of life and the importance of enjoying the human experience, embracing every opportunity you get and every interaction you face.

Episode transcript available here.

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Episode produced, edited, and sound mixed by Adam Fournier, a member of the Perseverantia staff, and a Film/Video Production student in the Communications Media department.

Click here to learn more about Perseverantia. Join us for programming updates on Instagram. Or reach out with ideas or suggestions at podcasts@fitchburgstate.edu.

Transcript

[Catching Up With…theme pops in]

[Opens with Cold Open]

Buffy Cautela (cold open):
But I want to get myself in a position where one day I could be the person working at a studio in development and maybe hopefully one day actually have a proper, stronger development industry. And then hopefully, like I said, open up a studio or something and really make things happen. We'll make a studio. We'll open it together. 

Autumn Olson (cold open):
I'm down, I think that sounds great.

Buffy Cautela (cold open):
You won't have to worry about earthquakes anymore.

Autumn Olson (cold open):
That in itself is like, I'm in. Let's go

There are so many incredible things in this world that we can do. Like, it's so frustrating that we have such little time because there's so much in this big, beautiful world, so many places to go, and so many books to read that, you know, you just, you're never going to have all that time. And I don't mean to get so existential with all of this. 

Adam Fournier (Host):
Welcome to Catching Up With, where Fitchburg State students and recent graduates talk to Fitchburg State alumni, reflecting on their time here on campus, celebrating their accomplishments, and discussing how they got from here to where they are now.

I'm Adam Fournier, and this is a special follow up episode featuring Buffy Cautela and Autumn Olson, one year after their first interview together, which you can find in our previous episode. 

Today's interview was conducted on August 17th, 2024, where Buffy Cautela, a 2022 Fitchburg State graduate, majoring in film and theater, caught up with Autumn Olson, a 2020 graduate, majoring in film with a second major in history.

Rather than just catching up with Autumn about life after Fitchburg State, Buffy and Autumn catch up with each other, discussing their recent experiences and projects, including Autumn's latest horror short film and Buffy's experience as a production assistant on TV shows and feature films. They talk about their plans for the future, like Buffy's pursuit for her Masters of Fine Arts degree at Columbia University, and the overall human experience, embracing every opportunity we get and interaction we face. No matter how significant or insignificant they may seem. 

Thanks for joining me as Buffy Cautela and Autumn Olson catch up one year later.

Buffy Cautela:
Hello everybody, welcome back. Kind of seems a little random that we're coming back to this, but it's actually been over a year since Autumn and I have talked last and I wanted to do a little update. 

Autumn Olson:
Hey, yeah, how's it going? 

Buffy Cautela:
So Autumn, do you have some updates you wanted to share? 

Autumn Olson:
Yeah, definitely.

Lots going on. I know it's been a pretty, like, turbulent time out in LA, especially since last we talked. We've had the writer's strike, an actor's strike, TAG is having a strike right now, so there's been just a lot of turbulence. But it's been, you know, when all said and done, a fantastic learning experience still, just a lot of personal projects going on.

Me and a friend just finished up a, well, we finished shooting an independent short film called Did You Remember the Cat? So it is a creature feature type horror comedy blend where we got to work with this really incredible special effects studio led by Patrick McGee, and he's done all kinds of cool stuff.

And we've been able to finish, like, a feature script of that, working on pitch decks, being able to meet some really incredible people around the industry, and just being able to have a fun time with the entire pipeline on that independent project, being able to, like, really get in there and be like, okay, you know, we get to do an editorial path this morning to try to get to picture lock, And just being able to really, you know, kind of play in the sandbox of every part of the pipeline.

And then just some other stuff, again, I think one of the things we talked about was kind of keeping connections and how different opportunities just lead you to really random, cool places you wouldn't expect. And so with this short film, one of the fun things that's been going on is cause we have friends in the animation industry, is some friends doing an animated ending credit sequence.

And through that, me and the person who's directing it, you know, she's kind of like, Hey, love the script you wrote, loved working with you. Do you want to help write a short film for animation? So going through and writing a short film for animation, I have some experience with that back from the studio I'm at.

We did the short pitch program. So kind of digging back in and being like, okay, how do you tell an animated story as cheaply as possible with, you know, two minutes, you know, we have to center it around a smaller cast. Not only because for sake of the audience's sanity, how do you relate to characters within the span of two minutes, but also just for the production purposes of, okay, like we can only have one environment, two characters, three characters max, just to save on production costs. 

And then additionally, again, just random opportunities that will present themselves, helping out with another friend's film because I just happened to go to a party and happened to meet someone. And we, through conversation, she ended up mentioning like she was a storyboard artist who had some boards for a very popular podcast, The Magnus Archive, kind of went viral on YouTube.

And she was like, yeah, this happened and that was pretty cool. And I was like, Oh, no kidding. I ended up having, like, I'm going to have some of my writing featured on that podcast. So kind of through that connection of like, Oh, we both have this interest. We've both kind of had success within this one collaborative space.

And so we're working on a different short together. And then like just kind of finding time for myself and like working on this, like one novel off to the side so I can have my own little creative space to like, you know, step back and kind of creatively recharge on my own. 

So just finding a lot of different ways to, you know, do what I love and make it happen.

Buffy Cautela:
Honestly, that is so spectacular. It is so great to just see you thrive and I did contribute to the crowdfunding for the film. 

Autumn Olson:
I saw, yeah, thank you so much. 

Buffy Cautela:
I, yeah, I was like, oh, of course I have to give Autumn some of my money because I just, I love what she's doing and I just think you're, you're such a great role model for so many people and I think you are what I strive to be at, I want to be at that level.

Maybe not in LA, probably New York. 

Autumn Olson:
So speaking of New York, I've heard some really good news about what you're going to be up to in New York City. 

Buffy Cautela:
Yeah, so I'm going to be living outside of New York City because I'm going to be attending Columbia University's MFA film program. My concentration is in directing and screenwriting.

I'm really, really excited. It's one of the most competitive programs in the country to get into, and it's been my dream for a long time. When I was at Fitchburg, I worked really hard because I really wanted to pursue an MFA afterwards. And honestly, it was what I did at Fitchburg and the people that helped me along the way that helped me get into Columbia.

If I had not gone to Fitchburg, I don't think I would be there. One of the things that I'll never forget is that when I was accepted, one of my professors, Eric Mendelson, he's a Sundance award winning director. 

And when they told me I got in, they didn't send me a letter. They invited me to a Zoom call. So I hopped on the Zoom call, and I knew I was going to get in because they wouldn't invite me to a Zoom call to say, Oh, you're not getting in. You know what I mean? So I was so excited. I was at work in the middle of this, by the way, I was working on an AMC TV show that was shooting in Massachusetts at the time.

And so I ran into one of the conference rooms. I was like, sorry, I have to take this. And I was accepted and the professor, Eric, he said he just was blown away by my visual sample, which happened to be my advanced film that I made at Fitchburg. Which I just think It was like a full circle moment. Like, okay, Fitchburg really did get me into Columbia.

I have a guy who won Sundance saying he loved my directing from a film that I made at Fitchburg, which I just think is one of the most incredible things that has ever happened to me. And I am so grateful to everything that Fitchburg did for me. And I'm so excited for this next journey. I just felt like an MFA was what I wanted for a long time.

I always wanted to go to kind of an elite school that was going to challenge me. But also I want to eventually teach later down the line in like 10, 15 years. And I didn't want to have to go get my master's when I'm like 40 or 45. 

When it's not going to benefit me, it's really going to benefit me now, especially with the connections I'm going to make at Columbia. I think it's going to set me up to do great things. And I actually made a lot of good connections on the AMC show I worked on. And I was really well respected by like the show runner. And the writers, when they found out, they were like, Oh, okay. That's amazing. And even the showrunner, he was like, Oh, you're going to be going to Columbia.

Like I have connections in New York, so just let me know when you're there and I'll help you out in that type of stuff. So it's, it's amazing how I also got that job on the AMC show because of my friend from Fitchburg. I worked in the production office and they were going to be the secretary on the show.

Their boss was saying, Oh, we need some PAs. Do you know somebody? So I only got onto that job because I also went to Fitchburg too. So it's like, it's all just the web of Fitchburg connecting us all, not to quote Madam Web. I also worked on that as a PA. I can say that now.

Autumn Olson:
[laughter]

Buffy Cautela:
Yeah, no. So I was not able to talk about the fact that I worked on Madam Web because I had signed an NDA, but now I can say because of the movies out that I worked on Madam Web.

So anyways, I've worked on very different stuff. The first thing I worked on as a PA was Madam Web, then I worked on an indie horror film called The Shade, and then I've worked on a big budget TV show. 

Autumn Olson:
That's amazing. 

Buffy Cautela:
Yeah, it's a good range. I'm like, Oh, I've realized I don't love the big stuff. 

I kind of like more indie, smaller productions and, you know, I don't, I don't have a dream of being some big filmmaker that's going to make blockbusters.

That's not really my dream. But anyways, neither, I really want to work in television, really, so, but I don't need to work on a big, big TV show. But anyways. That's all I have to say, I think. That's my update. 

Autumn Olson:
I will say, with what you've said, and just how wonderful it is to find good communities wherever you are, and how much everybody, like, when it really comes down to it, I've never really loved the term networking. Because, I don't know.

I think so much of this industry and the arts in general is like, Oh, I've made a friend and I liked hanging out with them and I want to go do something cool with them.And it's like, you know, whenever someone's like, Oh, you're networking. I'm like, I don't know, man, we're just hanging out. We're gonna like-

I met this cool person and we want to go get coffee and we happen to, you know, know this person who knows this person and I think that's what in my opinion matters most is like if you're passionate about your craft, then you're going to fall in with the right people who are also passionate. It's so funny because with the short film that I worked on, we met the guy who built our amazing kind of creature for our creature feature. We met him because at the animation studio that me and my friend who made the film with me worked at, we both met through the shorts competition program.

Our shorts were selected to move on to development, so we kind of worked on them over the next year, and he ended up As his film kind of moved on to the next stage, met this editor who, fantastic guy to hang out with. And the editor was like, oh, you guys are working on a creature feature script. My son is actually a creature actor for Universal Horror Nights and in horror films.

We were like, oh, that's so cool. Let's meet with him. And so we met with him and he went, oh, I know this guy who has an effects shop, why don't I give him the script and like, kind of introduce you guys. So he handed off the script. We got on a call with that guy later. And he was like, I love the script.

And we hadn't been expecting like anything, like, not anything, but like, you know, we were like, yeah, it's a cool opportunity to meet this guy who's just so, so versatile and it's done so much within kind of the modern horror industry. And we got on a call with him really not knowing what to expect.

And he kind of was like, yeah, and this is the monster I designed. And he like pulled up the piece of paper after reading our script. And it was like, this is what I'm like envisioning for like how it ties in with your themes. And we were just on the call, like, oh, oh, cool. Like this guy who is so influential and so amazing at what he does was inspired by what we did and wanted to work with us.

And I think that's what's so cool about this industry, both like, you know, whether it's animation, whether it's live action film, documentary, video games, any other sort of collaborative art form is just that idea of like-

All of these people who are seasoned veterans, who, you know, you hold them in such high regard in your mind, and then when you finally meet them, they're kind of just another person who likes doing cool stuff, and I understand there's that quote like, oh, never meet your heroes, and to a certain degree I think that can be true, whether it's, you know, you built this idea of who they would be in your mind, or they don't live up to that expectation, or they're completely different, and But I think that what is incredible is when you meet people who are your heroes.

Maybe you don't even know they're your heroes. I, the, one of the guys who worked on the animated show I was PA ing for, my favorite movie as a kid was Monsters, Inc. And he was an animator on Monsters, Inc. and was like, yeah, I animated that 2319 scene with the sock. And I was like, no way. Like that was my favorite scene as a kid.

And here I am basically being like, this man is my hero. And I didn't even know it because I had no idea he animated that scene. And I think that's what's really cool about this industry is that there's heroes everywhere that just don't all wear capes. 

Buffy Cautela:
I think that is a great quote. There, there are heroes everywhere, for sure.

Autumn Olson:
I saw that on the side of a truck, you can't, I didn't like, that's, that's really not me. I saw that on the side of a truck with advertising wearing masks for COVID. So it's not me being original, but it is great for this specific moment. 

Buffy Cautela:
So Autumn, why did you decide to, I guess, Go down the path that you're currently on. Why did you decide to move to LA? 

Well, I guess not, we know why you moved to LA, but why, why have you stayed there? And how are you feeling about your current path? 

Autumn Olson:
You know, it's so hard to answer that. Because it's so, in my opinion, like at a certain point, as much as you can be the master of your own destiny and you have control over what decisions you make before you, I do feel like...

You know, I never, as a kid growing up, I didn't want to move out to LA. Like I just had no interest in moving across the country. I really liked New England. I still really like New England. I kind of came out here on a whim. I really didn't have any interest or history in the animation industry. And I just happened to get a job in it and I needed a paycheck.

And which is, you know, like the truth in a lot of cases is like, you know, oh, there's necessity to it to some degree, but also it was a steady job working with people who I thought were really cool. And just at the time doing pretty innovative things and, you know, meeting other young people. And through that, I ended up meeting a friend who happened to kind of end up there too, who loves live action, who loves specifically horror.

I love horror books and I love horror video games, but horror film was kind of something that always eluded me to a certain degree. Because there just weren't a lot of horror films I resonated with until I kind of actually had friends introduce me to ones that resonated with me more.

Specifically because I always think of like slasher films where it's like, oh yeah, this person's been brutally pulled apart and, and that never really kind of spoke to me in terms of like, you know, the thematic ways in which you can deploy horror.

But then, you know, you watch, like, Edgar Wright films like Shaun of the Dead and I love that guy. I think he is so fantastic. He's such an inspiration when it comes to, you know, writing and making sure your page translates to screen in, in my opinion. But I think what I guess I'm, in a very long winded way saying is I think that, you just gotta like do what you feels right at the time and kind of have that balancing act of this is where I want to be.

This is where I feel like I'm supposed to be at the moment and then also not getting complacent in it and, you know, making it like applying to Columbia, moving to new places, trying new things. And again, just finding the balancing act of enjoying where you're at. But if you're not going out and figuring out what you can do differently and just making the most of the opportunities in front of you and making more if they're not there.

Buffy Cautela:
I completely agree with you, and I think that's why I decided to do an MFA. I just, I PA'd for two years and I saw what the industry was like in Massachusetts. And I think it's fine, if you want to be a grip, if you want to be a camera person, if you want to be a gaffer, okay. Like you can make a living here, but I really want to write and I want to write for TV and I want to work in development.

I cannot do that where I am in Massachusetts currently. It's just very hard, unless you have a lot of money, and I do not have a lot of money. And I chose to do an MFA at this time in my life, because I knew that I could get stuck here. Like, I was working in the production office, I don't want to work in a production, I don't want to be a production coordinator.

It's not a waste of my time because, like I said, I made great connections that are very, very helpful to me. Especially with all the people that were flown in from all over the country. Like, these are good people to know. But it's also I know if I want to get my career moving in the way, in the direction, like your direction, I need to put myself into the right position to do that.

And I think attending like a top MFA program like Columbia will help me with that. I also think creatively, I think I've been, I've plateaued not to say I peaked at, I think I've reached my creative potential here because I need to meet new people. I need new perspectives. You know, I love Fitchburg, but it is a lot of the same, like we're all kind of all mostly New England people, mostly white.

It's not a lot of diversity and I think Columbia is going to be great. It's 50 percent international students. I'm going to learn so much from all these other people about not only filmmaking, but about life. 

And I just, I also wanted to be placed in a new environment where I can have new critique because I've hit the point now where I write something, I send it to the same people, and then they don't really know what else to say.

You know, they're like, this is the great- the best thing you've written. And I'm like, okay. But what do I do? How do I make it better? And they don't really know what to say. So now I'm going to be in a place where I know there's going to be so many different people that are going to read my stuff and they're gonna, I might have people say, well, I don't like that, you know, and I want to be challenged a little bit, but like, why am I making these choices?

Why am I doing what I'm doing? So that's ultimately why I decided to do an MFA program. And I always really loved New York and I am excited to be in a different film hub. Because I, the downfall of the Massachusetts industry is, truthfully, it's the people in New York and LA that make the choices of if they're going to film in Massachusetts.

And I don't want to be at the whim of the New York and LA people. I want to be the person saying, we're going to film there, or we're going to film here. I don't want everything to be decided on, on forces that are above me. You know, and well, things will be decided by forces above me for a long time, but let's be honest here. But I want to get myself in a position where one day I could be the person working at a studio in development and saying, you know, let's go film in now I want to film in Massachusetts and maybe hopefully one day like I would love to come back in like actually have a proper stronger development industry there.

We'll make a studio. We'll open it together. 

Autumn Olson:
I'm down. I think that sounds great. 

Buffy Cautela:
You won't have to worry about earthquakes anymore. 

Autumn Olson:
That in itself is like, I'm in. Let's go. 

Buffy Cautela:
Yeah, so anyways, I guess that's why I'm doing this. And also I realized another reason why I wanted an MFA and I want to teach eventually is because honestly, the film industry is very hard.

It's hard to have a family. I see these people away from their families for six months. And with young children, and that's very tough. And I think going into academia when I have young kids is going to be a very smart choice and I can, you know, build connections that way and be supported by a university, and then hopefully, like I said, open up a studio or something and really make things happen. But who knows? I say that now, 15 years from now, I might be working at NBC and I'm like, why am I going to take a step back now? 

Autumn Olson:
I mean, like next week, anything could happen, you know, like, I feel like that's what it comes down to. This week you say like, Oh, I'm working on this thing.

And then next week it's like, oh, it's different. Or, oh, this random other opportunity like came up. I always am so amazed by that when like, you'll send an email out five months ago and then all of a sudden a year later, I don't know, time, you get a response, you're like, oh my God, I forgot I sent that and suddenly this person read this and wants to meet and do this and it's just, you know, it's life, man.

It's a fun little rollercoaster, sometimes a frustrating little rollercoaster, but, you know, it's stuff, you know, it takes you by surprise and it's, it's just gotta roll with it. 

Buffy Cautela:
In the middle of all that, I did substitute teach for a year, high school. And when I started doing that, I was like, is this really what my life has become?

I'm a substitute teacher. And by the end, I loved it. I realized I had to look at it and I changed my whole- it changed my perspective cause I had such a neg- I was like, so negative at the start of it. I was like, I have a film degree, this was during the strikes. And I'm in Massachusetts, so the film industry is very slow right now here.

But it's like, the substitute teaching, I really I took it and I was like, wow. I learned so much and I took so many notes of all the things the kids said. And that will be- that's a TV show. It's like every opportunity that I have taken, I'm like okay, that wasn't really what I thought I needed, but it was exactly what I needed because first off, it was flexible hours, I was able to complete all my master's applications, like my MFA applications while I was subbing.

If I was working on The Walking Dead, And trying to do all that I would have never have completed it all. So everything happens for a reason. 

Autumn Olson:
Obviously, I wholeheartedly agree. Like, I think that so many things, whether you think it's a bad experience at the time, or like a useless experience at the time, I think can sometimes be the most useful for, in one degree or another and my very nerdy plug here at the end of the podcast has to be you know If you- I was like so prepared to come in like, oh if someone asks me how i'm doing I'm probably going to respond well i'm back in my russian literature phase.

So that's about as much indication as you need and I gotta say though, one of the things I find most fascinating is I love Dostoyevsky. If you ever have a chance to read like a ton of Dostoyevsky, he's one of my favorite writers. And something I find so fascinating about him in particular is his best work that he created was after he spent 10 years in jail.

I think 10 years. And I think that that's something that like, whenever I'm out here and people are like, you have to be watching, you know, you have to constantly be watching television. You have to constantly be watching movies. You have to constantly be intaking and consuming media so that you can always understand what is happening within the industry and that you're always up to date.

And I, I feel like I always end up thinking of Dostoyevsky's career. He's a fantastic novelist and, you know, 10 years in, you know, a Russian labor camp. And, like, here's a guy who was not permitted to read books in prison. Like, that's a decade without intaking media, as it were, and just spending time with people, and having to understand people, and having to understand, you know, okay, criminals, what is the punishment they are serving? Is it actually equal to the crime? Is it, you know, who are they as human beings? 

And then he went on and wrote like some of the best books in western canon because of that experience where he was deprived the privilege of having any literature to read at all. And I don't know, I feel like that's something I'm always kind of reminding myself is like, when you're a storyteller, your whole craft is about meeting other people.

You're not writing a reflection of other media, as much as you can have other forms of media influence what you're doing. Like I love Dostoevsky and he influences what I do. So of course that is something that will show up in stuff I create. But he's writing about people who he spent time with and societal issues that he experienced and saw firsthand.

And that is something that you only get through, through substituting a classroom, you know, like as much as that is not the same as being in prison, that is you being with other human beings and experiencing things. And I think sometimes, especially in Los Angeles, everyone is so ingrained within the film industry that it becomes this echo chamber of, we have to like, you know, we're combining these two movies.

We're combining this movie and this book and this is the vision we have. And it becomes this echo chamber of reflecting reflections and you lose what that image is. And that's like, honestly, what we're seeing with AI art right now is because there's so much AI art, AI art is pulling from AI images and distorting images more and more and becoming more and more like divorced from reality.

And I feel like that's like, if we're not careful, that's what you as a human creator can do. Because if you're not looking at the world around you, if you're not taking the time to think about it and step away from books and step, which makes me sad. I like, you know, books are great, but stepping away from books, stepping away from television, stepping away from video games and going out and living in the world and looking around you, that's what matters most.

Buffy Cautela:
I think substitute teaching was the best thing I ever did because when will I ever be able to say that I would just sit in a classroom day after day and kids would just talk to me about their lives. They're not just kids, they're people. People would sit and talk to me every day about their lives. And they all are so insightful.

And I think we have a perception of, oh, high schoolers, they don't know anything. They're so naive and they are in some sense, but like naive, but they have so much to offer. And I think that goes to the whole thing that people have so much to offer. And I think I agree. Like, I don't, I'm not somebody that needs to be consuming media all the time.

I'd much prefer, if I can go talk to somebody, if I can go hang out with somebody for an hour or two hours instead of watching a movie, I'm going to do that. The human experience is more important to me. I do watch stuff, don't get me wrong. 

Autumn Olson:
Yeah, no, it's the balancing act, you know, of like, you have to stay updated with the industry, but also like, I don't know, I feel like this is blasphemy living in LA, but there's so many people who go to the movies, like, I saw three movies in theaters this week.

I saw, you know, like, I saw two, like, I have a friend who sees two movies in theaters every Saturday, and I find that exhausting, I could not do that, like, that's something, like, I'm happy to watch, like, a movie, maybe two movies on a Saturday at home.

But, like, the monster, for example, in our creature feature, that came up through a tabletop game I was DMing. I made up this monster for my friends to fight in a tabletop game. And their reactions and everything were just so engaged, and they were like, oh my god. And they were freaking out, and it's like, basically, a tabletop game that's similar to, like, if you've seen Supernatural, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or any of those monster hunting stories.

So they're like fighting this monster. And my friend pulled me aside after he's like, you made up that monster. I was like, yeah. And he's like, we have to do something with it. We have to do like, and so many, and I remember thinking like the same thing, like, Terry Pratchett, again, fantastic author, highly recommend, but he was kind of changing the game of fantasy in the nineties, eighties, early two thousands is specifically by combining comedy with fantasy. Like, finding out, reading a biography about him that he was a DM for Dungeons and Dragons for his friends in a local library.

And so many of these kind of jokes from his earlier books are things that his friends found funny in his DM sessions. And I think that's like, so much comedy and ideas. Like, they're just found in the world around you and found by just having fun with other people, and or not having fun with other people, and then, and then that's where Dostoevsky comes back into the conversation.

I think that there are so many incredible things in this world that we can do, like, it's so frustrating that we have such little time because there's so much in this big, beautiful world, so many places to go and so many books to read that, you know, you just, you're never going to have all that time. And in some ways that's fantastic because it means you have to be really appreciative and really decisive about what you are going to do with that time.

And I don't mean to get so existential with all of this, but yeah, so that's, that's my, that's my two literary plugs there for you. 

Buffy Cautela:
You're, you're someone that has so much wisdom, even though you're not that much older than me. I feel like you know the industry very well. 

[Catching Up With…theme fades in]

I'm going to keep in touch with you for sure, and I'm so glad we were able to have this nice, like, updated conversation.

Autumn Olson:
Yeah, no, and yeah, absolutely. Send me an email whenever, that goes out to your Fitchburg podcast listeners. I'm always happy to catch up with people. I think it's, it's just nice. And thank you for all your kind words too. It's always such a pleasure to catch up with you and check in. 

Adam Fournier (Host):
Thank you everyone for tuning in for another episode of Catching Up With.

And thank you again to Buffy and Autumn for taking the time to share their experiences with each other and with us. As always from all of us here at Fitchburg State, we wish you guys nothing but the best. 

Best of luck to you Autumn, hoping you continue to make fun and strong connections with more awesome people in the industry, and that all of your future projects are successful, but more importantly, are fun and amazing experiences.

And best of luck to you Buffy, in your new educational journey at Columbia University. We hope you find the experiences and make the connections you're looking for, and we can't wait to see you make your great ambitions a reality. 

Once again, I'm Adam Fournier, and I hope you join us again for the next episode.

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Matt Mandrella:
This is Matt Mandrella, and I'm a junior and a psych major at Fitchburg State University, and you're listening to Perseverantia, the Fitchburg State Podcast Network.

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