Hollywood Director Pays Visit to Alma Mater

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:28:16 GMT

By Willow Maloney

Johnson Beasley

On November 5 th , the Broughton library played host to one of Hollywood’s up-and-comers, Peyton Reed. Reed is quickly gaining recognition for his work directing movies such as “The Break Up”, “Bring It On”, and “Yes Man”. However, before he walked the red carpet, he walked the halls of Broughton High School, in roughly the same position as many of the IB film students he was addressing. “I’m having an intense flashback” Reed said. After having lived in L.A. for 23 years, Reed recalls his time at Broughton fondly. He was enrolled in a film class, and could only dream of turning his high school hi-jinks into an actual profession. “A lot of us had this vague idea of ‘oh wouldn’t it be nice to write movies and all that sort of stuff…but it all still seemed so far off.” Reed said. After high school, Reed attended UNC Chapel Hill, and got a degree that would now be equated with communications, along with one in English literature, which he said really helped him in learning to tell stories. “It’s harder if you’re trying to get into film…because there are so many paths to that. It’s not like when you’re becoming a doctor or a lawyer and your path is very clear cut,” Reed said. After college, Reed moved on to doing small jobs, such as “production assistant”, which is basically a fancy name for someone who gets the crew coffee and drives the actors the set. Then he moved on to bigger projects, such as “The Making Of” videos for the “Back to the Future Franchise”, and even a short film of his own shot in North Carolina. The short film received some recognition, and eventually led to his first major project, “Bring it On”. When students asked for advice, Reed said that the best thing to do is just be confident in your work, but at the same time, “being creative and being able to tell stories like that, you do have to learn to make yourself vulnerable.” Reed also talked about the importance of the phase the IB film students are in now, and encouraged them to keep working and not get discouraged. “A big part of high school is making mistakes and then learning from those mistakes.” Reed said.