Having spent his whole life loving film, it seemed only natural that Thomas Steventon ’16 might also try writing screenplays.
His freshman year at Dartmouth, Steventon wrote a play called “Friday Night” for the student-produced 10-Minute Play Festival and took his first screenwriting classes with film professor Bill Phillips. As a sophomore, Steventon, a double major in economics and film and media studies, began writing screenplays and submitted an entry to this year’s Ivy Film Festival screenplay competition.
His screenplay, “Gaijin and Samson,” was recently selected as a finalist. The screenplay is an action-thriller about a samurai and hardboiled American detective who come together to investigate a mystery.
The screenplay was inspired by movies he enjoyed during his adolescence, Steventon said.
“Films written by Quentin Tarantino, ‘The Usual Suspects’ [(1995)] by Christopher McQuarrie and the ‘Lethal Weapon’ series by Shane Black made me want to write an original story that would be both gripping and comedic,” Steventon said.
Less formally, Steventon has written skits and plays all his life. His parents provided feedback and encouraged his passion, he said.
He emphasized the importance of using research to create a sense of authenticity in screenplays.
“There’s an intricacy to the characters in a script that you don’t really get unless you go through intensive research to set the piece and the cultural background,” he said
At Dartmouth, Steventon hosts a morning show called “Straddling the Line” for Dartmouth College Radio. During the winter, he produced and hosted the Dartmouth Idol overflow show. His freshman year, Steventon also played on the men’s rugby team.
Before Dartmouth, Steventon traveled around the world to study film. Whether visiting Los Angeles, Paris or Oxford, he seized any chance to pursue his passion.
Steventon’s future career, however, may not be in the arts at all. Over the summer, Steventon was playing rugby at home in New Zealand when a coach for one of the country’s top club teams spotted him. He said he would like to try to play professionally in the future and has spent the last few terms playing rugby in New Zealand.
Phillips called Steventon a thoughtful, engaged student who always had “very cogent things to say about everyone else’s work.” Steventon also has an extensive knowledge of film, Phillips said.
“We would joke about how he seemed to know everything about everything,” Phillips said. “Clearly, he’s well-read, he’s seen a lot of movies and he does a lot of research.”
Fellow screenwriter Jaquille Jones ’16 described Steventon’s scripts as exhibiting creativity and skill while remaining fun to read.
“His characters are crazy, and his plots are even crazier, but that never detracts from the quality of his work,” Jones said. “When I’m in the mood for a cohesive story that’ll take me on a wild ride, I’ll read some of his stuff.”
As busy as Steventon has been with rugby, he spends much of his free time writing scripts. Most recently, he finished a historical script, inspired by a class, about Otto Skorzeny, a Nazi SS officer who led a mission during World War II to track down and rescue Benito Mussolini.
Steventon said he has taken advantage of Dartmouth’s range of film and media studies offerings, including playwriting and screenwriting classes, and plans to continue to do so in the future.
“Dartmouth has a wealth of opportunities from playwriting to screenwriting that you can take advantage of,” he said. “If you are passionate about something, just stick with it.”
THE FINAL WORD with Thomas Steventon ’16
My favorite place at Dartmouth is: the Black Family Visual Arts Center.
My favorite food on campus is: the barbecue tender queso at the Courtyard Café.
