aTVfest’s SCAD grads on television
As the name suggests, SCAD graduates currently starring in T.V. shows and award-winning movies came to pay homage to their alma mater at this year’s SCAD aTVfest. Working on countless hit television shows and films in Hollywood, thousands of SCAD alumni make their mark in the entertainment industry daily and this year’s aTVfest “SCAD Grads on Television” panel was honored by alumni Kayli Carter (B.F.A., performing arts, 2015), “Mrs. America”, “Godless”; Caroline Huey (BFA., performing arts, 2016), “Truth Be Told”; Rebecca Huey (BFA., performing arts, 2016), “Truth Be Told”; Deron Horton (BFA., performing arts 2015), “Dear White People”, “American Horror Story” and Kiandra Richardson (BFA., performing arts, 2013), “Empire”. The panel was chaired by SCAD’s performing arts department chair professor Mark Tymchyshyn.
The panel was nothing short of amazing, enlightening and educational. In attendance were numerous current performing arts students and guests alike, who had many questions for the panelists ranging from where to seek advice when it came to signing with an agent to what inspires them to keep going.
When asked “What quality do you have inside of you that you believe has contributed the most to your success” by professor Tymchyshyn, Kiandra Richardson answered with “… I would say …, my spirit, knowing my spirit and getting in tune with my spirit … once I got in tune with my spirit it was like everything was falling into place … knowing your spirit and knowing yourself and your value centers you so when you’re in tune with your spirit it keeps you calm and focused … And If you put all your value into external things, you’ll fall apart … But if you’re in tune with your spirit, even if things fall apart, you’re still good”.
Kayli Carter answering the same question said “… channel the very thing that people in high school told you was over ambitious or ‘too much’… All the things that people kept telling me … like I was too loud or too much or too ambitious, that is what I’ve channeled and that’s what has contributed greatly to my success and it has not been too much … It has been exactly enough”
Ashanti Simms, an MFA performing arts student from SCAD Savannah asked the panelists “What was the biggest hurdle you faced once you entered the entertainment industry after graduation and what at SCAD helped you overcome that?” Caroline Huey responded with “… for me my biggest hurdle which I’m still getting over is comparing myself to other people and … like … everyone up here is amazing and I had to come to the realization that … *eff it it’s my journey and I don’t need to compare myself to other actors let alone my peers … It’s a daily reminder … and I’m still working to completely get over this mindset … ”
Deron Horton replied the question “What tools do you still carry with you from certain classes at SCAD?”, asked by another performing arts MFA student M Kay, by saying that “… professor Sharon one day told me after a long day to go home and try and find an animal I identify with because I wasn’t getting it and I was not doing it the way it was supposed to be done or so … and she was getting frustrated I guess … haha … and that clicked my brain and I deeply realized that I impersonate things very well so ever since then, whenever I have a script, I base characters that I play off animals … ”
Overall, it was an engagingly informative panel discussion. SCAD’s president Paula Wallace joined in at the tail end of the event and took some lovely pictures with the alumni.
