RYAN CONSOLE

This is a picture of me at 3 years old with a cardboard box on my head. You probably gathered that on your own but I figured I’d make it clear. You’re probably wondering why? The simple answer is because I had an audience. In the home movie that this is taken from, I put this box on my head and pretended to be a TV, putting on a show for my audience (my mom and dad). I would entertain my parents and then would abruptly say “The fun times are over”, removing the box from my head. They would act upset and say “nooo!” only for me to say “the fun times are back on again!” and place the box back on my head to thunderous cheering. Oh yeah. This is the life!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been addicted to this feeling of making people feel something. My love for getting a reaction took me through many hobbies: learning musical instruments, writing stories, and even (for a brief time), being a magician. Pictured here: (Yes, I did in fact do Birthday Parties)

But by far the most fulfilling way for me to get the reaction I wanted was through film.

My first experience with film came in the form of making short movies with my cousins using my Dad’s phone. Very rudimentary iMovie presets and unintelligible audio crafted a grand viewing experience for all. But the quality of these movies didn’t matter, it was the fact that they made our friends laugh. Something that I crafted from nothing was now bringing joy to other people, and to me that was the coolest thing in the world.

I quickly became the designated videographer among my friends and family, filming comedy sketches, family events and everything in between. As I experimented more, I learned more. I became curious and taught myself how to edit, how to use an actual camera, and how to make my movies look better. Any time I had a school project, I asked if I could make a video instead of powerpoint.

At a senior year high school sports banquet, I announced that I would be majoring in Film and Television Production and was literally laughed at by my coach and many of my peers. “That’s a major?!” they said. (I’LL SHOW THEM! I’LL SHOW THEM ALL! *Cue dramatic lightning strike.) Sorry, got a bit carried away there, but the point is this was something I wanted to do all the time and I wasn’t afraid to go for it.

When I started college at Drexel University, I was immediately thrown into film and TV classes and loved every part of it. I picked up new skills and thought about how I could use them to better shape my own stories that I wanted to tell. I also learned that there was a sketch comedy club called “Drexel Night Live”. A spoof of “Saturday Night Live”, it was a student-run live sketch comedy show consisting of live and recorded sketches. These kids were doing what I wanted to do, they wrote comedy, recorded films, and put on a show for an audience. It wasn’t about getting paid, the reaction they got from the crowd is what fueled them to do more. After attending one of their live shows, I worked up the nerve to ask if I could join. Several terms and many shows later, I am now the President of the club and am instilling my love for film and comedy in our new members.

All these years later I still love getting a reaction, and film is the medium that allows me to express my ideas and reach people in a way that is truest to my heart. It’s like that expression “You get more joy out of giving a gift than receiving a gift” (which sounds like a bunch of hooey to anyone who’s gotten a really cool gift before) but I do think there’s truth to it. For me, the greatest gift I can receive is bringing joy to others, and I hope to do a lot of that here at JTWO.