Widman '14 and Hilferty '14 in Hollywood

JH: I wanted to do a service year in a different city than I had lived in before, so I worked in an inner-city high school with City Year Los Angeles for a year. I had always loved film and television and realized I could work in the industry when I was living out there.

JW: By my senior year at the Prep, I knew for sure I wanted to get into the film industry. At the time, it seemed like LA and New York were the only places to be for that. I preferred LA, so I enrolled at Loyola Marymount University and kind of never looked back. I found a sense of familiarity in LMU’s Jesuit tradition (largely in the emphasis on critical thinking and service), which was important to me. Other than that, it was a different world, and I didn’t mind. I will say, people still mistake the Philly in me for “standoffishness,” but they get over it.

JW: I double-majored in Screenwriting and Psychology. Aside from a couple courses on the entertainment industry more broadly, those majors had little to do with my current job as a Business Affairs Coordinator at HBO. But, LMU’s Screenwriting program is very practice-focused. You start writing on your first day. So, I still have scripts that I wrote at LMU which are being shopped around right now, and my continued growth as a writer has its roots in what I learned at LMU (and before that in Mr. Whelan’s Film and Lit class). As for the Psychology major, I don’t intend to pursue a career there. But, I am currently helping a retired NFL player produce a documentary on CTE that leans heavily on Psychological research, so that’s a bit of my worlds colliding.

JH: I love my job! I lucked out with my boss, because I’ve heard horror stories from other friends who have been or are assistants now. My goal moving forward is to transition either into the talent management space or government affairs within the entertainment world. What we watch on screen has an impact on us both consciously and unconsciously, and I appreciate the fact that people are really promoting diverse voices and increasing the amount of content we see from people with different experiences and backgrounds than us. I’ve also been able to do some Advance work with the Joe Biden Presidential Campaign because of my boss’s previous security experience, and driving around the VP Biden, Dr. Biden, and senior staffers during the LA Debate and on Super Tuesday are definitely highlights of the work I’ve been fortunate to do.

JW: While my intention has always been to focus more on the creative side than I do right now, my current job provides me with a more holistic understanding of the industry than I would have had otherwise. I anticipate I’ll always value that.

JH: Mike Conaboy, who had spent a lot of time working in entertainment ,became a mentor to me and helped me land on my feet when I finished my service year and wanted to work in TV. He introduced me to a ton of people, and a couple of the first people I met in the industry were two Prep guys, Gianluca Keeler and John Pickhaver. I hope there are other guys looking to move out there who I can help as much as he helped me!

JW: Aside from running into John at a deli, not having realized he was even out here, one story sticks out in particular. While I was still in college, Mr. Hart (who was Dean while I was at the Prep) found out that I was trying to get into comedy writing, so he set me up to meet with Rob McElhenney. Rob gave me a lot of valuable advice, but one bit, in particular, was burned into my brain. He said, “If you want to be a person who’s making things in this industry, just do it. Too many people who want to end up just getting into the proximity of people making things, and never actually make something.” When you think about how much more technological capability is available to the average person today than when he started making Sunny, you realize he’s absolutely right. Since then, I’ve focused on writing mainly things that I can shoot with the equipment, actors, and locations I have access to, and then going ahead and making them.

JH: Shortly I will be wrapping up my job to start my MBA at Wharton, so I’ll be moving back to Philly soon. I hope to move back to LA once I’m finished.

JW: I’m pretty excited about this CTE documentary. It’s getting into the later stages of editing, so it should be ready fairly soon. I would mention some of my scripts, but I’m afraid I might get JUG for the subject matter of them.