After graduating from Nottingham High School and NYU he made the decision to head to L.A. Watch video
Moving to Hollywood to write, direct and star in your own movie is the actor's equivalent of launching a tech business in your parents garage -- minus the safety net of living at home rent free of course.
That's exactly what one Hamilton native is doing.
After graduating from Nottingham High School and NYU's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, Matt Steele made the life-altering decision to head to Los Angeles.
"After living in New York for a while..., I just up and decided to move," said Steele. "I made the decision in September and by January I was living in L.A."
Steele has taken not only his East Coast theatrical training with him, but a lifetime of experiences growing up in Hamilton. Now he wants to use those experiences as inspiration for the big screen.
His days at Nottingham High School are the muse for a movie he's written and is waiting to film.
Hamilton native Matt Steele. DIVOS! is a comedic tale about an egotistical and self-styled Broadway legend in the making who is forced to share the spotlight of a high school musical with the school's star athlete.
Steele describes the film as "Mean Girls" meets "High School Musical" -- a gender-bending remake of "All About Eve."
He first wrote the script back in 2011. "This is when Glee was really popular," Steele said.
After a few years of letting the script sit, he was ready to give it a rewrite and a new plot.
"Instead of just being about boys and their antics, I made it about a rivalry," Steele said. "I was inspired by a lot of people I went to school with."
Nottingham High School teachers Bonnie Cusack, Kelly Dunn, Jan Wilson, and Andrew Sinkleris were especially influential, he says. "I... want to thank them for always making our school plays a wonderful and positive experience -- very unlike the crazy, dramatic scenario I've written in the movie."
To begin filming of DIVOS!, Steele is using a method called crowdfunding where a project raises money through many small donations. The funds will be used to shoot the film and fulfill his dream of seeing his movie on screen.
"I would like to see it on the film festival circuit," Steele said. "That's the route I really want to go -- that's not to say I'd turn down Netflix."
To support Steele's project go to indiegogo.com
Greg Wright may be reached at gwright@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregTheWright. Find NJ.com on Facebook.