Distinguished Young Alumni Award 2014
Alum Follows His Dream and Gives Back As an outstanding young film student at Head-Royce, Rajiv Smith-Mahabir ’04 helped shape the Upper School film department. His talent earned him a coveted spot in the University of Southern California’s cinematic arts in the production field program. After graduation in 2007, he stayed in Los Angeles, worked on one of the pioneering reality TV shows and then moved on to a digital marketing agency. But he was drawn back to the Bay to shed light on a troubled city. “When you graduate from college you need to make money so you take a job that pays fairly well, but once you hit 25, 26 you realize you want to do something else,” said Smith-Mahabir, who quit his job in August of 2012 to move back to the Bay Area for four months to film a documentary about how youth in Richmond are coping with violence in their community. “A few years ago Richmond was the fourth most dangerous city in the U.S.; I had no idea … when I heard the statistics I was surprised. Going to this school sometimes you lose sight of what’s going on in other places.” As a child growing up in Berkeley, Smith-Mahabir developed an affinity for his grandmother’s old 8mm video camera, which he often broke out to direct, shoot and star in his own
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films. Having no way of actually editing the footage, he learned how to edit in-camera. His love for photography and storytelling continued to blossom as his father took him to the movies each weekend. He attended after-school programs in video production and animation and was the first person to sign up for photography class when it was offered in the HeadRoyce Middle School. From there, he helped former HRS teacher Jeff Key build the Upper School film department and produced a feature film that, while shot in the film noir style, contained social justice commentary. Winning awards as a young filmmaker in the Berkeley Film Festival helped Smith-Mahabir decide to turn his passion into a career. “One of the things that is really gratifying for teachers is that we get up every day and wonder how the kids in your classes are processing information. There are always a few in whom you can see the light bulb go on — they get it. Not only do they get it, they turn out projects beyond anything I thought a kid could do,” said Key, now the director of the Media Enterprise Alliance. “Rajiv was one of those kids; I could tell right away he had a very sophisticated eye in terms of composition, understanding lighting and how to integrate sound with film. He just put it all together and his work always stood out.”