Were it not for Adelphi theater department chair and professor, Nicholas Petron, M.A. '71, Randall Emmett may not have gone to college.
Were it not for Nicholas Petron, M.A. 鈥�71, Randall Emmett may not have gone to college. Petron, professor and chair of , saw Emmett鈥檚 promise early on. Emmett has since established himself in Hollywood as the producer of more than 90 films and shows, including Lone Survivor, End of Watch, Rambo and Martin Scorsese鈥檚 . He credits Adelphi鈥攁nd Petron in particular鈥攚ith giving him his start.
In December 2016, on the cusp of the release of Silence, Emmett returned to Adelphi to give a master class with Petron. Theater students packed Adelphi鈥檚 Black Box Theatre for the lively class, which ran more like an episode of Inside the Actor鈥檚 Studio, with Petron serving as both interviewer and moderator.
Emmett elicited laughs with stories about his lean Hollywood start鈥攆our years of being mostly broke and sleeping on friends鈥� couches.
鈥淚 was obsessed and I knew that I wasn鈥檛 going to go home without doing what I wanted to do,鈥� Emmett recalled. 鈥淔or the most part, I was so passionate about never quitting and about getting to that end goal.鈥� 听听听听
Gradually, he created a network of influential co-workers and friends, including actor Mark Wahlberg, who hired him as a personal assistant, and his current producing partner George Furla,听who funded his first feature film.
Emmett described producing Scorsese鈥檚 Silence as the opportunity of a lifetime. Critics have praised the film鈥攁 star-laden depiction of Shusaku Endo鈥檚 novel about two 17th-century Portuguese priests who face persecution in Japan in their quest to find their mentor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my proudest moment in my career,鈥� Emmett said, referring to his work on the film.
By his own admission, he was a lackluster student in high school with a talent for the stage. Petron admitted him to the theater department on the strength of his audition, and Adelphi gave him a scholarship. After a year, Emmett realized that his true passion was to be behind the camera, and he left Adelphi to pursue a B.F.A. in Film and Video.
Still, Adelphi had a profound effect on his career. So much so that his final performance at Adelphi in the David Mamet play, Speed-the-Plow, inspired him to produce an upcoming film adaptation of the play.
鈥淭ake advantage of being here because this is a really special place for me,鈥� Emmett advised the assembled students. 鈥淭his is a version of the real world because it sets you up to have the discipline to go on.鈥�
For further information, please contact:
Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications Director听
p 鈥� 516.237.8634
e 鈥� twilson@adelphi.edu