Jeremy Blodgett and Beth Simons feel sorry for a lot of people in Hollywood.
“They haven’t figured out how to work the system,” said Blodgett. “They’re thinking, ‘One day I’m going to send my short or my screenplay to the right people and I’m going to be famous.’”
“I think that we’re pretty rational,” said Simons. “We see that it is an industry and we have to put in our time. We’re not just, ‘Oh, we want to be in the movies.’ … We’re looking at, ultimately, ‘What do we want to be doing in 20 years?’ and working backwards from there.”
“We’re pretty driven,” she adds helpfully.
Among other things, of course, Simons and Blodgett want to be in the movies. Or at least behind them. Simons wants to be a production designer—“the Oscar for that is ‘art design,’” she clarifies—conceiving sets, costumes, and lighting for films and plays. Blodgett wants to write and direct. Or maybe to focus on cinematography. Or possibly to edit. He isn’t sure yet.
What they are both sure about is that they’re moving to Los Angeles. Simons will be living with her family there and taking design classes at a community college. Blodgett hopes to take directing classes at another college, and perhaps work on his writing. Next year, they guess, Simons plans to apply for graduate school in design, and Blodgett to graduate writing programs. Meanwhile, they’ll both be volunteering their time on movie sets around town, building contacts and learning everything they can about the industry.
Though, the two are quick to note, film isn’t necessarily their first love.
“Film pays the bills,” said Blodgett. “You have huge budgets, you make one a year, maybe.” But both of the pair are also interested in live theatre, an activity they’ve each participated in at Grinnell.
Blodgett has acted in a number of plays; this year he directed a Tom Stoppard one-act for Andrew Cole ‘03’s radio theatre program. Simons has put in countless hours of work in the costume lab and assistant costume designed three mainstage shows. She’s also served as production designer for her first show this semester, Emer Griffin ‘03’s independent choreography project “The Long Road.”
Hopefully, they think, they can balance their interest in the smaller medium of theatre with their interest in the massive medium of film. Theatre might even serve as a springboard into the movie industry for a couple of relatively unconnected liberal arts graduates, Blodgett speculates.
Both acknowledge that a Grinnell education may not be the quickest road to a career in film. Simons, who was rejected from several graduate design programs, guesses she would have made it in if she were receiving a B.F.A. on Monday.
Still, they say, they’d prefer to have the humanistic training they’ve gotten from Grinnell than have been squeezed into molds that don’t fit them. One place Blodgett and Simons are sure they aren’t heading is film school.
“A lot of film schools are training you to be a Hollywood player,” said Blodgett. And wherever he’s living in 20 years, Hollywood playerdom is not what he wants. “It’s a difference between creating something that’s artistic and something that’s—”
“Marketable?” suggested Simons.
“Marketable,” said Blodgett.
Simons nodded. She agreed.
—Michael Andersen