I didn’t choose Storytelling, Storytelling chose me.
I was brought over to play American Football for LU and to complete my MA was the package. Having led the storied life I have lived, and as an actor and filmmaker, Storytelling is a requisite for career progression.
The most useful thing I learnt from the course is this: don’t take your own perspective for granted, and as you learn from your cohorts, experiences will vary. Worldview will vary. Only you have lived your life, and in the same regard only they have lived their lives. Respect each accordingly. When you get a moment to reflect and sort through the emotions, facts, and events, the processes you discover allow you a solid foundation to attack future production problems with answers you’ll be able to bring your team in on.
The LU faculty has embraced the Teach, Coach, Mentor mentality. As a dedicated resource in pursuit of my goals, academic support is invaluable. A face-to-face conversation is lost in this day and age of Zoom, Skype, and Facetime technology where micro-expressions can tell a deeper story when learning about someone and their journey. This foundation is instrumental when life turns most meaningful conversations into an email.
As for LU's facilities, the library is top notch: research of your stories for worldbuilding, character arch, plot development, and message is essential to engage and keep your audience. As an older student, I find more texture in reading from a book than off the internet, speed is not the benefit one may initially believe it is. The process of the “old school” techniques allow a more dedicated effort of activity and that helps ferment the knowledge into usable nuggets.
As I mentioned earlier, I arrived at LU to play American Football. We went undefeated, promoted to the prem, and won the Div 1 National Championship.
In and of itself an incredible story, add to the fact that I was 48 years old and was a starting defensive lineman and the story almost teeters on legendary status. It’s unbelievable and I lived it.
The relationships I made with my teammates, I hold dearly to my heart and keep in touch with them often.
After graduation, I went back to America where I continue to act and make movies. I write more now. I spend more time researching better stories and adaptations to make better movies that will resonate with an audience. The lessons I learned at LU continue to help me every day; whether it’s finding a new way to tell an old story or researching a different angle for a character's choices.
If you're thinking of studying Applied Storytelling, I advise you to find new ways to interact with people and learn about them. Each person has a universe of stories within them; finding out how to reach them, learn about them and use those nuggets in new ways in your own stories will give you pieces that your audience will identify with and will pay off dividends in your career.
