IN OUR COMMUNITY : ALUMNI
Awakening Lifelong Dreams
Class of 1982 alumnus discovered a passion for cinematography through his Minimester internship .
PHOTOS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT : William " Bunt " Young ' 82 in 2013 ; Mr . Young filmed for the Great TV Auction at WCVE PBS in 1981 ; Working as a camera operator on “ Mercy Street ” in 2016 ; Shooting a TV commercial for American Family Fitness Center in 2011
When William “ Bunt ” Young ’ 82 reflects on his preteen years , he remembers a young man who was lost . He wasn ’ t succeeding academically or socially . He felt he didn ’ t fit in with most children his age , so his self-confidence was low . But that all changed when he came to The Steward School in eighth grade .
“ It was a shock at first to come to a school where there were maybe a dozen people in the entire grade ,” he said . “ But after a while , I started to feel like I could fit in . I made lots of friends and I started to feel comfortable with myself , and I think it was largely due to those small class sizes .”
If it weren ’ t for Steward , Mr . Young may have never discovered his passion for cinematography . He now has more than 35 years of experience in the television and film industry as a director of photography and camera operator for dozens of commercials , TV series documentaries , and TV films . Notable projects include photographing the Indianapolis 500 for ESPN , capturing the unearthing of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus for Fox News ’ “ Opening the Tombs of Golden Mummies Live ,” and shooting 36 episodes of the crime series Wicked Attraction on Investigation Discovery .
It all started when Mr . Young was preparing for Minimester ( previously known as “ Alternate Program ”) during his sophomore year at Steward . Former Steward art teacher Paul Osborne knew about his interest in television and film , so he helped Mr . Young acquire an internship at WCVE PBS . During that time , he learned the basics of TV lighting and how to operate studio camera equipment .
His interest in communications spilled over into his extracurricular involvement at Steward , where he participated in the creation of the yearbook and made several short films for class projects . In addition , his love of film was solidified when his English class read Joseph Conrad ’ s classic novel Heart of Darkness followed by a viewing of Francis Ford Coppola ’ s famous war drama Apocalypse Now starring Marlon Brando .
“ Seeing that film on the big screen made me say , ‘ yeah , that ’ s what I want to do ,’” he said . “ I felt encouraged by the faculty and empowered to pursue what I knew I really enjoyed , so I had the confidence to go after my dreams .”
After his Minimester internship was completed , Mr . Young ended up working for WCVE PBS part time after school . He later worked at the station full time for two years before leaving to pursue an opportunity at a commercial production company called BES Teleproductions ( now BES Studios ), where he took on his first position as director of photography .
He went on to work for a traveling production company owned by Canadian comedian and producer Norm Macdonald before becoming a full-time freelance cinematographer , which he still is today . Currently , Mr . Young is working with a friend to get a new TV series off the ground , in addition to shooting commercials in his spare time .
“ I have the confidence and drive to keep moving forward because of Steward , where no one ever said to me , ‘ you can ’ t do that ’ or ‘ that ’ s never going to happen ,’” he said .
22 | The Colonnade
Check out the trailer for the 2006 documentary "God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan," which Mr. Young worked on.