Joshua Reed
On Your Radar is a weekly Grad Film News Segment that features a student picked at Random.
Where do you consider home and what is it like there?
The question of home is an interesting one for me; I have been examining it ever since the pandemic began. When the pandemic began, I took a leave of absence from NYU Grad Film and returned back to my hometown of Alexandria, Virginia, in Northern Virginia near Washington D.C. Returning home, I saw that a lot of my childhood friends had left. Additionally, most of my extended family lives in Ohio and southern Virginia. I began to view home, less as a physical place and more as where I feel the love of family and friends. So at any time, New York can be home, or Ohio, or Virginia.
As to what Alexandria, Virginia was like growing up: it was a nice place to live, very suburban. I have a lot of fun memories of running around the cul-de-sac with the kids in the neighborhood. Riding bikes and playing with Beyblades. Beyblades were a type of spinning top toy that was big in the mid-2000s. All the rage.
What is currently inspiring you as a filmmaker?
I have a lot of ideas swirling around in my head for scripts and films inspired by a grab bag of things.
I think what is currently inspiring me right now are the unsung heroes of Black American history, the representation of the African diaspora on screen, the upcoming WGA strike, the burst of the streaming bubble, neocolonialism, the failures of modern capitalism to address a plethora of crises, the formation of BRICS, my memories of growing up in the suburbs, gentrification, the oversaturation of superhero movies, and professional wrestling. (When I mean professional wrestling I mean WWE).
I always am inspired to have an uplifting or thought-provoking and uplifting message in my work. That is the through line between all these ideas.
What has been your most rewarding experience at NYU Tisch Grad Film so far?
The bonds I have made with my classmates and peers have been the most rewarding experience. The friendships that have been made throughout these few years of making films and being in class together will last a lifetime and I am eternally grateful to have been blessed with these relationships.