Among the myriad of extremely successful alumni North Carolina State University has built, screenwriter and film producer Taylor Adams, who graduated in 2009 with a major in communication media, is certainly an individual who has found success in the film industry.
With humble beginnings in homemade short video and film production, he worked his way up to working on large-scale freelance projects that have been aired on networks such as ESPN and NBC Sports. His first bout of success came after his short film “Bryan,” which centers on a man’s revelation over time as he speaks with a talking chair, was selected to be a part of the 2014 Carolina Film & Video Festival.
“[“Bryan” came] before I earned a single paycheck making anything in video or film,” Adams said. “I wasn’t selling cars, this was while I was being an intern, waiting tables, and tending bar. I felt like I had something to make. Everyone has something important that they need to say and for me it started out as a short story, and I just started writing something.”
James Alchediak, a senior lecturer in the Department of Communication, taught Taylor Adams when he attended NC State. Alchediak teaches digital video production and television production at NC State, and was one of Adam’s favorite teachers. He expressed his pride in his former student’s work.
“It’s beautiful work,” Alchediak said. “The kind of work he’s doing is a great exemplar for other aspiring filmmakers. Not surprisingly, a lot of people who come through our program do have an interest in sports broadcasting or sports media in some way. He’s a nice model for how to get that done.”
Marsha Gordon, the coordinator of the film program at NC State, also remembers Taylor Adams during his time as a student.
“I have been [at NC State] for 16 years, so in that time I have taught thousands of students,” Gordon said. “But I absolutely remember Taylor as a student, and I think a part of what when I remember students over a course of time it’s cause they were very present and they participated in discussions and they were engaged with material and they asked questions and they had an enthusiasm for whatever the subject matter was. So while I may not remember a paper Taylor wrote for one of my classes I still remember him as a student, as a positive attitude and energy. I think when students are really engaged and excited about learning, they always stand out in the room.”
Adams had a long journey before reaching success. After interning at NC State’s weekly coaches television talk show, Adams eventually got a job with the show, and was put in charge of its production. While he enjoyed producing the show, he also desired to work on his own projects.
“I was doing super small stuff too with my buddy, like five episodes of a comedic web series that are about five minutes long just for fun. It never went anywhere, but [it was] just to practice all the filmmaking chops,” Adams said. “I fell in love with the producing part, just putting all the pieces together I really enjoy that. I’d say my first love for filming was probably editing cause I’ve been doing that the longest and I’m pretty good at it. Not to toot my own horn but, I’m successful at it enough. So I did the talk show for awhile but I got burnt out doing the same things over and over again.”
Adams recently returned to work with NC State’s coaches talk show full-time, putting his own spin on things. He shifted the layout of the talk show to resemble that of a docu series, which has received many glowing reviews. Adams runs his own show, “One with Wolfpack Football,” from August to the end of November as well as “Wolfpack Hustle,” the basketball-focused installment of the series, from December to mid-March.
This docu series is produced by Adam’s very own production company, Scrapt Productions. Along with producing the docu series, Scrapt also regularly releases its own entertaining content.
“Scrapt Productions is my company and we are going on our second year of doing that, but we also do small, unfunded, fun little web shows,” Adams said.
Adams is certainly an example of self-built success within NC State’s massive network of alumni. According to Adams, he didn’t quite know what he was going to major in going into college, or where he would eventually end up, but he had the determination to design his own success, and encourages students to also stay determined.
“If you haven’t found out what you want to do right now, that’s okay,” Adams said. “But, once you find out what you want to do, keep trying to do it, or keep doing it.”
