Transcript:

My name is Anja Ellam from Toronto, and I’m a writer, host, influencer.

I moved from Toronto to L.A. on an internship visa, and then I did a year of school. After that, you get an OPT visa.

So, meeting with Lorraine after that, I knew exactly what I had to do, what targets I had to hit, who I needed to reach out to to ask for letters. Everything was super simple. I had my list.

Before that, I had literally no idea. It’s not even an easy thing to Google, like, “How do I get a visa?” You really need a lawyer who knows the ins and outs of it.

I have the slashes on my O-1, mainly because I worked in digital, so I kind of did all of those three jobs. And that, I was told, makes it a little bit easier. Instead of five writing credits, it could be one or two, and then two of the others, one on the other. It makes it just a little bit easier.

And then it’s beneficial because I didn’t just work one job. I worked those three jobs, so I needed to be able to continue to work those three jobs. So I had the latitude to expand to multiple roles, which in the film industry is so important because, you know, you might have a lot of work in one category, and then it’s the other one next. Or, like, you know, you’re hired as a writer and host on a show. You want to be able to do both.

I never had any problems, which is why I had so many of my friends come to this company. I had at least eight friends, I want to say, move over to this company just because they handle cases the best.

Throughout this process, I always had very individualized attention and care. The attention to detail is insane on this case because the cases can get quite long. They have multiple people reading through them.

I always felt like I was in good hands, trusted hands. And like I said, if there was ever a little panic moment, you can get on a call with them, and they’ll spell it out to you that you have nothing to worry about.

Moving from one country to another is a big change, and they really support you in that, knowing that it’s not just a little job change—it’s a whole lifestyle change.

And in saying that, it’s really important that you have people on your team, in your corner, always there to support you.