Summer — 2006

Justin Dickey

Art

“The teachers here will tell you—on the very first day—‘Talk to me or email me or call me. We’ll be there for you.’”

His cellphone still rang to a Missouri prefix, but this native of the ‘Show Me State’ was firmly on California ground at SMC. “I moved out here to get into the film industry,” reported Justin Dickey. “I was doing construction back home, but that wasn’t going anywhere. And I’ve got an uncle in the business who started a college fund for me, so I wanted to take advantage of that. I honestly couldn’t do this without him. As it turns out, there are a lot of people—including Mike Myers—who couldn’t do without Justin’s uncle. “His name is Jay Roach and he directed all the Austin Powers movies, among others,” says Justin proudly. “He hasn’t taught me that goofy accent yet, but I’ll have to look into it!”

What Justin is exploring now at SMC is the world of Art, which any filmmaker will tell you is the beginning of any project. “I really like drawing, so I’m thinking of going into storyboarding for films. That means I’ll have to transfer to UCLA or an art college when I’m finished here.” And when told about SMC’s Academy of Entertainment & Technology, Justin’s reaction was ecstatic. “Oh, wow! You mean I can get all that kind of training right here at SMC?” he said. “I am definitely heading over there to check the place out.”

Justin admits that “it gets pretty lonely at times being in this big new city because I don’t have any friends yet. But I do love the way this whole college works. I mean, they don’t just offer you a Sociology class. They give you a Sociology class on issues of gender and race. The variety of classes to choose from here is incredible!” He adds, “Ten years from now I hope to have my name up on the screen when they roll the credits.” And with the help of SMC—and his favorite uncle—he may just get to watch those credits roll. Yeah, baby!

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