Reflections Magazine Issue #77 - Fall 2012 | Page 19

Feature Article

Hooray for Holloway(wood)
Randy Holloway ’10 knew he had what it takes to
have a career in the entertainment business. Now, he
has the degree to prove it.
Holloway, a former auto plant assembly line worker
who walked away from a comfortable job and a degree
in mechanical engineering, is now pursuing his passion as a filmmaker, screen writer and TV producer. In fact, he recently
received a prestigious grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts’
Artspire program that is allowing him to produce his first feature film,
“Making Money.” The movie is expected to debut early in 2013.
The 38-year-old first developed his love of film by watching the
“classics” like “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Singing in the Rain” and “The
Lost Weekend” as a child every Saturday morning with his mother.
“I had the opportunity to see those kinds of movies, and that drove
me to the grandeur of Hollywood,” Holloway said. “I was just enamored
with everything I saw on the screen.”
That love of movies persisted to adulthood. A line worker at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant, Holloway would often see three
or four movies a week, and then provide detailed critiques to his coworkers during breaks and lunch hours. He decided one day to actually
write a movie review, and had two fellow employees—one a retired
English teacher—edit his work.
“There was red ink everywhere,” Holloway said of the editing process. “I was a little dejected and wanted to quit. But I made the corrections and went back and there was less and less red ink. Then finally
they both said ‘perfect.’”
He decided to print the review and distribute it around the plant.
The plant manager and union president liked it so much they asked him
to be the editor of the plant newspaper. At the time a student in Wayne
State University’s mechanical engineering program, Holloway’s review
found its way to campus – and a woman who worked for a magazine
owned by Warner Brothers Entertainment. That eventually led Holloway
to a job as a screen representative for Columbia Pictures in 1999.

Randy Holloway—2010 Graduate, Metro Detroit Campus
Major: Professional Communication
Career: Filmmaker, screenwriter, movie critic
Out of the Ordinary Factoid: The former auto plant line worker was a few classes away
from a mechanical engineering degree when he walked away to pursue a career in the
entertainment industry.

“I was six classes away from graduating (with a mechanical engineering degree), but my heart wasn’t in it at all,” Holloway said. “Once
I got a taste of flying around the country interviewing celebrities
and being around what was my childhood dream, it just wasn’t going
to happen.”
For several years he helped set up reviews around the country,
and interviewed celebrities like Brad Pitt and met some of the biggest
names in the entertainment industry. However, when his mother became ill, Holloway had to step away from the entertainment industry
for a while. Still maintaining his job at Chrysler, Holloway decided to
take another bold step after his mother passed away in 2007.
“It just felt as if something was telling me, ‘it was your time,’” Holloway said of returning to the entertainment industry. “But I didn’t know
the business. To make movies I needed to know exactly what goes on
behind the camera.”
He enrolled in Specs Howard School of Media Arts to learn how to
work a camera. He graduated at the top of his class and took an internship with a Detroit television station. In less than a month, Holloway
was hired as a producer at the station, and it was there he said he
honed his skills as a producer.
In 2009 he accepted a buyout from his position at Chrysler, and decided to take his education to another level. He enrolled in the Professional Communication program at SHU’s Metro Detroit Program while
continuing to work as a producer. Holloway earned a perfect 4.0 grade
point average when he graduated.
“I was still making good money, but my heart was just burning and
aching for something else,” Holloway said of his decision to leave Chrysler. “I knew that this was not it.”
Holloway continued to learn the movie-making and television
production trade, helping friends with local productions involved with
commercials, videos and film festivals. He worked on several reality
television programs, including one with Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino
from MTV’s hit series “Jersey Shore.” He also directed a pilot for CBS starring Cindy Crawford in 2011 (left).
But he wanted his own production, and “Making Money” is his opportunity to do it. Holloway said he did not initially receive the grant to
make the movie, but he received an email from the foundation’s vice
president asking him to reapply, and he did, he got his funding. The
foundation helped launch the careers of producers like Julie Taymor,
Terry McMillan and Spike Lee.
continued on the next page . . .
Reflections Fall ’12

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