As far as extra curricular activities, I am a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity here at OU. My hobbies include movies, television, outdoor activities, traveling, meeting new people, and anything enjoyable with friends. I really enjoy traveling. I have taken random road trips with friends around the United States and those experiences have been awesome. Back in South Carolina, a few of us didn't have to work for the weekend so we flipped a coin and it landed on Dallas. So we just took off and went to Dallas. I have been outside the United States once. I volunteered for a month in Africa two summers ago. Our group was in the Southern part of Africa. That experience was amazing and I miss it everyday.
After graduation I hope to enter the film industry in the direction of screenwriting or producing. I absolutely love screenwriting and I can sit and work on a screenplay project for hours in one sitting. Producing is a recent thought of mine. This year I got a job working with ESPN and FOX Sports for sporting events within the Big 12. I have enjoyed working with both companies and have mostly worked alongside the producers. Producing has recently grabbed my interest. I don't have a set plan after graduation as I plan to just move to a city and work my way into the business.
Personal Photo Taken in South Africa (Summer 2013)
Screenwriting and producing are both really exciting, Matt: I hope you will have some great adventures in both of those after graduating! The son of a friend of mine does free-lance television production in LA and every time I see him, he is always working on some new project, and it always sounds so interesting. He says he likes the way you get totally into a project for a while (like you said about screenwriting, you just lose yourself in it)... but at the same time, you know it will end and you'll move on to some new thing, so it never gets old. And listen, are you thinking about maybe looking at South African folktales as a project for this class? There are some fantastic resources online for Africa in general and South Africa in particular at Sacred Texts - you can check it out here: Sacred Texts: Africa. So much good stuff!
ReplyDeleteMatt: I know someone who goes to College of Charleston! It sounds like a great place, but I'm glad you've found OU to be suited to your interests. The comment about your spontaneous and coin-flip-determined road-tripping is, well…spectacular. I've not been to Africa, but the picture you've included has the essence of a peaceful place. Good luck with your screenwriting and producing endeavors; that's definitely a career in which you can let your creativity run free!
ReplyDeleteMatt, film and media sounds like such an exciting major! It definitely sounds like the opportunities to work in the film industry are endless. What kind of work did you get to do with ESPN and Fox? That sounds like an incredible experience! Also, your trip to Africa sounds wonderful. What kind of group did you go with, and what kind of work did you guys perform? Best of luck to you and your creative endeavors! It sounds like California would be a wonderful place to end up for the line of work you are interested in!
ReplyDeleteAs a film & media studies major and movie buff, what sort of movies are your favorites? What sort of media would you want to create later in life (documentaries, politically-motivated films, comedy, horror, etc)? It sounds like you are a pretty exciting and spontaneous person which I can imagine would relate in a really fun way into media work. Congratulations on being hooked up with ESPN and FOX Sports! That's huge! What do you do for them?
ReplyDeleteI know I ask a bunch of questions, but your introduction is really interesting! I want to do some volunteering in Africa but just haven't had the chance. I bet you got to do and see so many interesting things there. What sort of work did you do there?
Film and media studies sounds pretty awesome, and you must be pretty good at what you love if you worked for ESPN and Fox sports. You picked the best school to transfer to for football atmosphere (non-biased opinion of course). Your road trips sound really cool, and I like how you guys picked at random. That might be something I start doing with my friends.
ReplyDeleteMatt- What a great photo! It’s wonderful that you were able to travel to South Africa. What volunteer work were you doing while there? I have a friend from around your parts. She actually goes to Clemson. It’s a great part of the country. How surprising that you chose Oklahoma, Its nothing like California OR South Carolina and yes, people do love their football here….
ReplyDeleteCan’t wait to read more of your stories. Have a great senior year!
Hey, Matt! Congrats on making it to your senior year – that’s awesome! That’s really exciting that you’re going to move to a cool city and then work your way up. There’s so much adventure in that which is really neat! I also thought it was so cool that you spent a month in Africa volunteering – that must have been so rewarding and I hope to be able to do that one day as well. I don’t know how you managed to leave South Carolina, though – it’s so pretty there!!
ReplyDeleteHey Matt! You sound like a really great guy! You like to have fun and travel, which is great. My freshman year I took a course called Intro to Film And Video...It was the worst class ever. The professor acted like we were majoring in the course. I passed the class though. I am happy that you have found something that really interests you. You say that you don't have plans for after graduation but you've found something that you could possibly do, which is a start. Good luck with everything.
ReplyDeleteHey Matt nice to meet you. Film studies is a great field to be in, and congrats on your senior year. You said you wanted to go to California when you graduate is that so you can further your education? At any rate good luck on the rest of the semester and it was nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteHi Matt! My grandmother's family is from Aiken, SC and I was born and raised in Macon, GA. I bet S Africa is an amazing place! I've been to Mexico and Canada, but not over seas and would love to go one day. How cool about the Fox Sports and ESPN gig. I bet you are thrilled to have the opportunity. Good luck to you and hopefully one day soon we will be watching your work!
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you! I'm in Delta Tau Delta fraternity and definitely get real jealous driving by that house you all have coming up, it looks great! I've been to Africa too, but it was back when I was in elementary school and only for about two weeks. It's really cool that you've gotten to work with ESPN and FOX Sports. I'd love to do sports analytics later in my life so being able to do that with one of those companies would be incredible.
Hello, Matt! Firstly, may I just say you made a good choice in coming to OU! Haha, who needs to attend college along the beaches of California, anyway? In any case, it seems like Film and Media Studies is really your passion, so I hope you get to continue on with that! I feel like screenwriting must be a very challenging yet extremely rewarding career, so good luck! (Also, perhaps some of that skill/style will play into your stories, so I cannot wait to read them!)
ReplyDeleteHey Matt! It is so awesome that you are doing Film and Media studies. My boyfriend did Film and Media Studies here at OU and loved it. He is now down in Dallas working for a film equipment rental company. It is a great field to get into, because there are so many people who are passionate about what they do. Going and volunteering in Africa sounds amazing! I went to Nicaragua on a mission trip last spring break which was awesome, but Africa sounds even better!
ReplyDeleteHi Matt! I have noticed there are a lot of seniors in this class – I’m right there with you. Also, I have always wanted to live in one of the Carolinas. The East coast is a part of the U.S. I have traveled the least too, which I guess is why it fascinates me enough to want to move there, haha.
ReplyDeleteI am an outdoor fanatic as well!
Hey Matt!
ReplyDeleteI noticed that you mentioned that you enjoy traveling. I enjoy traveling as well. I think that is so cool that you go to volunteer in Africa. What did you do there? I have never been to Africa but I have been to Europe. Last summer, I had the privileged to study abroad in Ireland for a month. While, I was there I got to travel to London and Belgium as well. I had the time of my life!
Hey Matt! It's really cool that you're originally from South Carolina! I really liked spending pretty much twenty four hours on the beach when I was younger. Your trip to southern part Africa sounds really awesome! I think California will be a really cool to be and start your career. I have a friend that moved out there in December and really likes!
ReplyDeleteHi Matt. I love the big game atmosphere here at OU too and I think it’s one of the coolest and most enjoyable things about this school. Film and video studies sounds like a really interesting major and working with ESPN and FOX sounds like it was a blast. Being a producer for a big network like that would be a great job. Good luck with everything.
ReplyDeleteHi Matt, it is nice to meet you. That is so exciting that you are a senior this year. That is cool that you got to experience two different colleges. Not many people get to say they have done that. I agree that traveling is so much fun, especially spontaneous trips with your friends. That is awesome that you have a job with ESPN and FOX. I bet that it is fun. Good luck after graduation!
ReplyDeleteHit Matt! Congrats on also being a senior. It is crazy to think how close the semester is to being over now. The next chapter is very close to unfolding now. I really like how you and your friends decided to go on road trips. I am definitely going to have to steal that sometime. Good luck on the rest of your semester!
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteI feel like seniors have almost completely taken over this class! I love that you have an adventurous spirit and are just planning on moving to a random city after graduation. You are an excellent writer, so writing screenplays and such seems to be "write" up your alley! Good luck to you in the film/producing industry- you'll rock it!
I have never been a spontaneous person so I find it fascinating that you managed to do a road trip with virtually no planning. That is pretty adventurous. I am a planner, so I don't think I could ever do anything like that. I also think that it is awesome that you are a senior and so close to graduation. I graduate in December and I am so ready to be done with school. Good luck with everything.
ReplyDeleteBonjour fellow film student! It's great that you've found professional connections in the industry so early in your academic career: this is the best place to do it after all! If you haven't already, I suggest maybe contacting Sunrise Tippiconi, a professor in the Film Department. He's an extraordinary resource of film knowledge and he offers great experiences to students.
ReplyDeleteHi! I can completely understand why you’d want to move to a school where sports is a bigger deal. That was one of the things that really enticed me about OU. I love how spontaneous your road trips are! I’m the kind of person who really likes to plan a trip out, so I can’t even imagine just deciding to go to Dallas on a whim, but it sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteHi Matt, since Oklahoma is halfway from South Carolina to California, will you be moving there after you graduate? Especially with a Film & Media Studies degree, it seems like a good place to be, but you probably know that already and don't need me to tell you... Anyway, good luck with the remaining little bit of your senior year!
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you, Matt! Is there a reason you didn't want to go to USC? That's cool you want to get into producing or screenwriting. I haven't done any producer work (in the TV sense of producing) but I have produced quite a few news stories for Nightly! I share your love for traveling, I hope to make it over to Europe eventually. Good luck with everything moving forward!
ReplyDeleteHey Matt,
ReplyDeleteI am a senior also, but I graduate in December. Just one more semester left. Congrats on graduation. All you have to do is get through these next two weeks and then you are off. I wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors in the film industry. I have always thought that a career in that industry would be interesting and exciting. Maybe I'll see your name beside a big blockbuster one day.
Hi Matt, nice to meet you. Congratulations on graduating! I graduate this semester as well and it will definitely be bittersweet. That is really cool how you have come so far. I too wanted to go to a big football school. There is nothing like game day in the fall and is probably my most favorite part about my time here. The film industry sounds very exciting and it sounds like you have great experience having worked with Fox Sports and ESPN.
ReplyDelete