 Mirkin intended to pursue a career in electrical engineering , which he saw as a more stable employment opportunity than writing or film making . He took a course at Philadelphia 's Drexel University which offered six months of teaching followed by a six @-@ month internship at the National Aeronautics Federal Experimental Center . Mirkin found the experience to be monotonous and unenjoyable and chose to abandon this career path . He decided that " making no money doing something I loved was going to be better than making a good living doing something I didn 't " , so took " an enormous chance on show business " and moved to Los Angeles . He attended film school at Loyola Marymount University , and graduated in 1978 . 
