Transcribed Interview of Matt Loughery

[00:00:00.00] Tom: alright it's recording now so let me just give it a second to record some silence

[00:00:06.28] Tom: And just let me know when you're ready

[00:00:09.10] Matt: alright

[00:00:10.20] Tom: OK so, uhm... when.. when I ask a question, just give like... wait like a second or two before your answer alright, so what is your name ans tell me a little about yourself.

[00:00:21.08] Matt: My name is Matt Loughery.

[00:00:23.12] Matt: Uhhmm I'm from the Bronx.

[00:00:27.16] Matt: Well not originally, I grew up in Long Beach with my mom, and I moved to the Bronx.. because uhh... to go to school here at hunter it's just a better commute. 

[00:00:37.05] Matt: Uhm, that's really it, I.. I'm studying film, I'm enjoying myself so far, I'm really interested and engaged in what I'm doing and uhm happy to continue to do this.

[00:00:48.08] Tom: alright....alright what was your life like growing up?

[00:00:52.02] Matt: My life was very uhh.. very different because, well not very different, but I had my parents divorced.. and... I kind of lived two separate lives, and you know I had my.. my friends and life in Long Beach which is way different parenting by the way.

[00:01:07.21] Matt: And then my other, my other life, my dual life in the Bronx where uh I lived with my uhh.. Dad and my stepmom and the parenting there was very different from my mom so it definitely.. it was just.. It was like two worlds and then as I got older my two worlds are kind a coming into one slowly, so its..' its very different to see that.

[00:01:27.25] Tom: alright... uhm... Who's bee the biggest influence in your life and what lessons  did this person teach you?

[00:01:33.21] Matt: Uhmm.. biggest influence in my life would probably.. like.. I have a lot of, even celebrities and and all this stuff I look up to and wise people, but...

[00:01:45.06] Matt: (Sigh) uh you know, I'm trying to see because I have... uh I'm rethinking that one again, but you know what? I'm gonna.. I'm still gonna go with my stepfather on that one.. my uh... my stepfather has been great, uh I spent a lot of time with him, I worked for him, I was kind of with him a lot more than any other parent when I was growing up and I just kind of hung out him and got closer and even though there's definitely a few screws loose in his head, he's crazy, but he's uh, he's fun, he's good company.

[00:02:13.15] Tom: OK so... what, what lessons did he teach you?

[00:02:17.25] Matt: uhm he taught me a lot, he taught me... (sigh), he taught me how to save money, he's teached me how to save money because he broke my balls about it, I always loved to spend money and loved to do this, love to have to get nice things like we all do, but he taught, but that's another big thing, another big lesson, but he always taught me how to be kind to people and never, you know never to be mean to them and you know, he was very influenced on uhm.. karma and he taught about the whole lesson of karma and you know, that saying karma is a bitch, well, karma is a bitch so you don't wanna be doing things uh, you don't wanna be doing bad to people because eventually its gonna bite you back in the ass so, I.. I'm a big believer in that.

[00:02:58.29] Tom: Alright so what do you do for work and what is something, well let me ask again, what do you do for work and is this something you fell into or is this something that you wanted to do?

[00:03:09.09] Matt: For work I... well right now I, I work, I still work part-time with my stepfather like a day or two a week, I help him out, you know I'm just doing plumbing and all that stuff like that.

[00:03:20.23] Matt: and I just got a new job recently working at a catering hall, like  a wedding hall, so that I just, I just need the money so I'm just doing anything for money right now I'm just to work, save up and... hopefully save up for a nice film camera, you know putting it towards my major and stuff too for school, school books so that's another priority of mine.

[00:03:40.06] Tom: OK so the next question we're, we're gonna talk about, I'm gonna ask you like why you went back to school and like what motivated you, and you told me that you had like a... funny story the other day, about like the metrocard or you used like the wrong card (Matt: oh yeah) so if you can just tell that again (Matt: sure, yeah yeah) because I think that's something like that happened that might be kind of like a motivating factor about like being more responsible and stuff and like you know, it kind of fits with going back to school so, uhhmmm.. I'm just gonna start off with like why did you decide to go back to school and what motivated you, but then if you can go into that funny story. uhmm So why did you go back to school and what motivated you?

[00:04:12.24] Matt: Uhm.. well.. well I went back to school because I... Hunter College is my third school, so I transferred from community school, and then after comm.. after I took that winter break class in community school that was like my ticket into Hunter, so I kind of missed the deadline for the, you know, for the semester after. So I had to take a semester off, so I worked with my stepfather and, I got the taste of you know the blue collar life and you know kind of the real... man life, you know working out in the cold and, it was tough and it and I, I actually got really sick of it, you know five months in and I was like this shit ain't for me, so I couldn't, I can't do that.

[00:04:52.14] Matt: You know in the beginning he was yelling at me, you know, he's try.. he's like, oh I'm just trying to teach you, you know, trying to teach you how to be, I'm like "listen, I've been yelled at before and you're not gonna teach me anything," but .. Uhmm whatever, It was definitely an experience and it was, it was definitely a life lesson, like anything and... you know it was just ugh, it was... dreadful in the cold and I can't take the cold so I, it really motivated me to go back to school and like really engage and kinda like go on my own, do my own thing and not like do a family business kind of deal, just kinda do my own thing, go to Hunter and meet new people and uh yeah it got, that was another thing that really motivated me, but...

[00:05:30.06] Matt: When I was younger, uhmm, I guess a few years back, I wa...  when I was in my freshman year of college I was going to buffalo state.... uhmm I my... it's a funny story actually, it doesn't start off funny, but my grandmother passed away, na, not a good start to a funny story but, my grandmother passed away and I had to be flown back from buffalo for the, for the wake and the service, so on the way back, I was in the airport security, I had all my bags ready to go back up to school, and my mom calls me and we were just talking about something and and, maybe arguing about something I forgot what it was over. And I as I made my way to the TSA security, I ... I didn't switch my ID's, so I was underage at the time so I had a fake ID, and I gave the TSA my fake ID, and they were looking at it for a while, I didn't realize it, I was like "Geez what's taking them so long, you know they kept analyzing my ID it, you know" and then all of the sudden I look in my wallet and my real ID is in my wallet and the fake ID is in their hands. So I was like "Oh shit, you know, this isn't gonna be good." So I'm all nervous, you know, they all, they call the whole security team to analyze this, real.. real professional these people are because they take an hour to figure out if the ID is fake, question our security in this country, but anyway. Uhmm, so they're, they're analyzing it, they said "You're gonna have to wait with us," so I'm like "Oh Crap." Uhm I call my friend up they're like, you know, I'm Like "Dan" you know my friend, my best friend, I'm like "I don't know what to do, I think I'm gonna get arrested here" he goes "Naaah, don't worry about it, they're, they're pussy don't worry about it" and I'm like OK fine.

[00:07:13.19] Matt: Uhmm, so then eventually the cops come they analyze it, they go "Listen, this is a crime, fraudulent, you know, document at an airport, yadda yadda" so right in front of everyone, in front of (laughing) front of like god knows how many, 80 people, waiting in the security line they arrest me.

[00:07:28.15] Matt: And I'm handcuffed right in front, Like a terrorist, right in front of the airport, I'm like, you, this is the last place you wanna get arrested and they, they, they you know they kind of aggressive with me, and they shoved me out, they put me in the car and I'm in the airport security jail for like a few hours, it was ridiculous.

[00:07:46.26] Matt: And then I took and end up taking the midnight bus back, so it was just, and then, when I was sitting there in the cell it made me realize "OK, well I'm, I'm not responsible, I don't think before I do things" you know it was like a adolescence kind of thing and it kind of like shaped me to think you know, be more responsible or maybe like just pay attention to what I'm doing and not just act, just think before you act and that was a lesson, even one of my teachers told me that in grade school that too, so, definitely a big thing.

[00:08:17.05] Tom: Uhm so what are you studying here at LaGuardia, I mean, uh LaGuardia? What are you studying here at Hunter and why did you choose your major? and with choosing this major what are some of your influences?

[00:08:27.09] Matt: Uhm... I uhhh.. at Hunter, I'm studying film, I... I love movies, like I, like I always say it was one of my biggest influences, I love, you know, the big names in Hollywood, I love watching good performances, I love, I love it all, all aspucks of it, all as... aspects of it.

[00:08:46.18] Matt: And I was just, even since I was younger I just, that.. that was my thing, I wasn't really crazy into sports, you know, I like some sports, but really movies was my thing, TV shows yeah, uhm they're my thing too, but... I always loved it and I was like I'm finally, I want to put that to the test I wanna make my dream come true of make, you know even work in that field or going out to California or doing something, and just kind of doing it when I'm young cause I don't wanna be old and regretting, "Oh, I should have done this, I should have done that"  I wanna just do it know and I don't wanna live.... like, you know, like that, I love movies.

[00:09:22.13] Tom: And where do you see yourself in ten years?

[00:09:25.05] Matt: Uhmm... (sigh) in ten years.... I hope to see myself... as maybe, a possible director, maybe screenwriter, maybe who knows... uh. Somewhere in that field I really wanna be, you know I have high hopes, I have big dreams of doing something and I wanna just do it, I wanna give, give it uh, give it my all, give it my everything.

[00:09:48.06] Tom: And how would like to be remembered?

[00:09:50.26] Matt: Uhm, I wanna be remembered.... just.. by being... maybe besides like my work hopefully like my directing and everything, Hollywood hopefully, Hollywood reputation, my dreams whatever, But I wanna be remembered just by being a great person and being there for my friends and being there for my family and uh, just being an all around great human being because that's what matters, that's what I think.