As the school year comes to a close, relatives, family friends and adult casual acquaintances all ask the same loaded question: "So, Brett, what are you doing after you graduate?"
All the people in my parents' social circles know me as The Biology Major Who Goes To Tufts, so they expect me to name a medical school, mention a graduate program or at least say "working in a lab."
Instead, I respond, "Going to L.A. to work as a production assistant." The result is always a look of shock that quickly transforms into a confused stare. Knowing that during commencement I will hear the what-are-your-plans question several thousand times, I've decided to stop explaining and instead stare blankly ahead and smile as if my response is completely logical.
But for a moment I'll drop the silent defense and clarify why I am going into the entertainment industry. I'm sure my parents are wondering why I made a choice to go into movies. Tufts isn't a school for media and it is even less of a school for film (though it has made great strides in those fields). Why would I go to a school full of economics and international relations majors when I could have applied to NYU or USC?
It's very simple. When I went to college, I gave myself one goal. It is small in words, but large in importance. I set out to find my passion. The wide-eyed freshman Brett didn't really have a clue where he was going to go in life. Tufts allowed me to accomplish exactly what I wanted: to find something that inspires me to work.
When I look back with this career path in mind, I realize that the potential for me to be a filmmaker has always been a part of my personality. As a little kid I would imagine that I was a secret agent and run around the front yard, fully content in my fantasy even when I had no friends to join me. I would also create a massive backyard war between my noble G.I. Joes and the feared Cobra. Unlike the cartoon, Cobra usually won, mostly due to the fact that they had much better costumes.
These imagined ideas and stories stayed with me. As soon as I realized that there were ways to communicate my fictive worlds, I started to think about different visceral media: videogames, comic books and films.
Fast-forward (an outdated term that will soon be replaced by the word "Step") to my second semester of junior year of college. I was sitting at the table in my apartment at three in the morning finishing a lab report. My housemate had just come back from a late night of laying out this fine publication and I took his entrance as an opportunity to procrastinate. I began to complain about my classes and workload. In response, he made a casual remark, almost under his breath, "You seemed much happier when you made short films last semester."
I was happier when I was making movies. After I realized this, schoolwork became a distraction from all my creative endeavors - acting, humor writing, sketch comedy and filmmaking. It took someone else to point out where I should spend my time and what I want to do. Once the picture became clear to me, I decided to do as much as possible creatively and never look back.
When I go to Los Angeles and begin my career by making copies and reading scripts about Vatican-sponsored mercenaries, I will be driven forward by the end goal of sharing my imagination and creativity with anyone who wants it. I love movies because of the potential and possibilities to entertain. At the screening of the short film I made as my senior project, I heard 50 audience members gasp. Seeing something I created have a direct and audible effect on a mass of people showed me the power of the medium.
That's a power I want to use responsibly. When writing and directing, I consider myself an entertainer. I don't have higher pretensions of art, but my definition of entertainment may differ from notable Hollywood producers. What is not entertaining to me is clich?©. Although explosions, fights and lowbrow humor have their place, I am also fascinated by the clever, the stylistic, the fantastic and the complexity of life.
Finding what I loved to do took me my collegiate career, but I've been one of the lucky ones. To those of you that don't have a passion, keep searching, you will find it one day. Don't be afraid to search everywhere and never stop looking. To those of you who know what you want to do, pursue it as best you can, make no excuses for chasing your passion and never look back. See you at the movies.
Brett Weiner is a soon-to-be alumnus majoring in biology and minoring in film studies. He can be reached at Brett.Weiner@tufts.edu.
