Todd Philips “My experience at Brewster truly shaped what was
In the spring of 2011, I had
to come for me.”
reached total creative burnout – the toll from working 9 a.m.
I beat it out of Wolfeboro in the spring of 1988 and promptly rented a
to midnight every day. Having
beautiful but tiny closet of an apartment on the corner of Commonwealth and
worked on everything from Avatar
Mass Avenue in Boston. John Linde ‘86 moved in with me that summer, and
(the good) to Magic Mike (the
we planned to write some music before I began my freshman year at Emerson College – but that was two blocks and four months away. We ended up not accomplishing much, but we saw the sights and partied a lot. I think I went to see Midnight Run with Mike Geffers at some point.
I did a full year at Emerson before my Indi-rock band, Bullet LaVolta, got signed to RCA Records. I told my mom that I was leaving school to pursue my music dreams, and she was supportive. Within days of my second semester ending, I was whisked away to Europe on tour. We performed in Holland, Germany, Austria,
bad) to Big Momma’s House 3 (the ugly), I decided to take a break. I lived in New York for a month, Todd Philips
then Martha’s Vineyard for the month of August, and ventured to Dubai for a spell. In the spring of
2012, Universal Pictures hired me to spearhead the campaign for the new Oliver Stone movie, Savages. I parlayed that into a freelance gig at Motive Creative for
Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and the UK. Having just turned 19, I felt damned
the last eight months, overseeing the campaigns for Argo, Silver Linings Playbook,
fortunate. Several U.S. tours followed with Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney.
and Lincoln.
We released our major label debut on September 21, 1991, the same day as Nirvana’s “Nevermind.” They won. We broke up eights months later. Confused
I have decided to mini-retire again for a while with my dog, Henry, a gorgeous
and depressed, I formed the Juliana Hatfield Three with my roommate at the
Shiba Inu. Trips that I have planned this year include Spain, Argentina, Brazil,
time, Juliana Hatfield. We released three gold records for Atlantic and toured
and perhaps the Class of 1988’s 25th reunion (if Tony Hall agrees to go). After
the globe numerous times. In 1998 I decided to get a real life and moved to Los
putting my hand in a kangaroos’ pouch, partying with Kurt Cobain, meditating
Angeles with my girlfriend, Janet, and a van loaded with all our junk.
at a Buddhist retreat in Kyoto, and producing the advertising campaign for the biggest movie of all time, I realize that none of this would have ever happened
I bumped into my old best friend and Brewster classmate Tony Hall there. He told me he was editing TV commercials and making a killing. I immediately enrolled at Moviola to learn the Avid editing machine. My first job was at a motion picture advertising company called TKO Pictures. I mostly fetched sandwiches for the trailer editors but soon was up and running, cutting big Hollywood movie promos. My first was for Zoolander. I won several editing
without the influence that Matt Hoopes, Mary Fallon, Glen Depine, and Peter Friend had on me. My experience at Brewster truly shaped what was to come for me. Glen Depine’s music program nurtured my drumming, leading up to performing in the New Hampshire All State Jazz Ensemble. The English curriculum opened my mind to a world that led to my career in film. From
awards (Key Arts) and made the jump to senior editor at BLT and Associates
Hoopes teaching Salinger early on to Peter Friend exploring Dostoevsky, I found
in 2003. Three years later, I made a big jump to vice president and creative
these classes indispensable in shaping my future.
director at In Sync Advertising. I built my dream house in Echo Park, an artistic neighborhood in L.A.
I have never married, love my life, and have no idea what’s to come next.
www.brewsteracademy.org
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