Student to try his hand at Hollywood success

By KATHRYN GRAHAM
Collegian Staff Writer

Steven Spielberg did it at 13. Martin Scorsese did it at 17. Stanley Kubrick was 22 his first time.

Matt Kadish, at age 20, is still waiting for his chance to score success with one of his films.

Kadish (sophomore-film) is one of many Penn State students who have goals centering on Hollywood. And he will be off to the City of Angels immediately after graduation to pursue his dream of directing.

"I'm going to Los Angeles because it's more about the business side of film than New York. It's all about selling yourself," Kadish said. "I want to do the power lunches. I thrive on the uncertainty of it all."

Though fear is common in a city of thousands of actor and director wannabes, Kadish believes it's all about luck.

"It's such a crapshoot. When you win, you win big," he said.

Because there are so many Tom Hanks and Spielberg hopefuls out there, it's extremely difficult to get a lucky foot in the door. Getting famous doesn't have a high success rate, so many people try anything and everything to get attention.

But there's really no better way. Hollywood is still the only game in town.

Kadish, like most Hollywood dreamers, started having directorial aspirations in high school, writing scripts when he could. Turning to science fiction, Kadish's first script was a sequel to The Evil Dead trilogy of movies. Filled with hope, Kadish did something simple.

He sent his Evil Dead script to the director, Sam Raimi, and star Bruce Campbell. Campbell, who recently appeared in an episode of The X-Files, called the shocked Kadish, offering advice on the film industry.

"He told me that any monkey can work a camera," Kadish said.

But Kadish definitely won't be hanging out eating bananas. He will be off to Tinseltown, seeking his dreams.