![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/jasonliggettweb.jpg\" "\\"jasonliggettweb\\"")
<\/a>Jason Liggett<\/p><\/div>\n
Enrolling in a creative writing class was enough to nudge Liggett in the right direction. Taking the class opened up a whole new world of storytelling that both excited and frustrated him. \u201cI hated reading, and we were required to read several stories that really touched me. They weren\u2019t what I was used to but it expanded my thinking,\u201d said Liggett.<\/p>\n
With encouragement from his roommate, Matthew Bartholomew \u201999, Liggett unearthed an interest in film and cinematic storytelling. \u201cMy roommate is the one who opened my eyes to film,\u201d he said. After leaving Tusculum (when?), Liggett enrolled briefly at Pellissippi State Technical Community College and took acting classes. He dropped out after completing his freshman year to begin his journey as an actor. Later he would learn the art of feature writing and screenwriting, and then he wrote content for several online webisodes and A-list music video directors.<\/p>\n
It was a long and strenuous process that eventually led Liggett to the director\u2019s chair. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to love the process as much as the result,\u201d said Ligget. \u201cI\u2019ve been in this process for seventeen years and I\u2019ve loved every part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liggett has worked with big names like Matthew Libatique, Michael Bay, Jeffery Kimbel, James Earl Jones, and Jacob Dylan. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a beginner, you\u2019ve got to surround yourself with pros,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have the heart to play pro baseball; I had the heart to be pro in the film industry. My heart lies in directing and film writing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The things Liggett learned at Tusculum go beyond just what he learned in the classroom, \u201cA lesson I learned from Coach (Doug) Jones was what he liked to call \u2018Intestinal Fortitude.\u2019 He believed that we were all great, but to get to that greatness he had to break us down to the point we thought we couldn\u2019t go any further, then he would push us beyond that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liggett\u2019s experience as a director has improved greatly since he first started the craft, and he still sees where the sport he loved can come into play with his directing. \u201cThis is where my experience as a baseball pitcher became relevant to the choice I was making to be a director.\u201d Liggett said, \u201cAs a pitcher I had to lead my team, I had to be aware of what went on around me, I had to practice over and over to master the skill, and I had to realize that I couldn\u2019t do anything without my team.\u201d The same goes with directing: Liggett is the leader of the film, he has to be aware of every single detail about the film, he has to practice and help his cast and crew to get everything right according to his image, and he has to know that without the team surrounding him, he would be without a job.<\/p>\n
Despite leaving Appalachia to pursue his dreams in the bright lights of Hollywood, Liggett is still inspired by his home region and its literary heritage. In fact, he has several films in the works featuring Appalachian people and themes.<\/p>\n
His most recent film, currently in production, is \u201cThe Mastiff Revolver\u201d. It is about two brothers who slowly become wanted outlaws as they try to prove their father was framed for murder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud and attached to this film. It\u2019s a strong bond between two brothers, and I was an only child who never got to experience that chemistry between two people,\u201d Liggett said. \u201cOn the news and in our lives, we see a lot of families torn apart.\u00a0 My film is about a family struggling to stay together. These characters are strong and good, but they believe in tough love. This feature is me showing the real side of the Appalachian people, and the deep storytelling element found in the region I grew up in.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is something to be said about Liggett’s own toughness in his ambition to dive headlong into film. Although college was not the right choice for him, Liggett recognizes the importance of higher education for students.<\/p>\n
\u201cTusculum is a great place; it was like my home in Bristol. I liked Tusculum a lot, and it pointed me in a new direction,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there had been a film program, I might have stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though it was not his path, he would like to ease the difficulty of breaching the modern film industry for students by encouraging them to stay in higher education. He wants to be able to give every college in the region a film production program if they want it. \u201cMy dream for my company is to come back to that region and give back in the area of film,\u201d he said. \u201cIf any school wanted a film production program, we would want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to reading and writing, Liggett has changed a lot since his days spent in a college dorm room: he reads multiple books to help him with his craft, is always trying to learn new things, and truly enjoys writing every day in order to get more ideas to put on the big screen. \u201cThe stories I create flush out the pains and insecurities I have ever had in myself and are being expressed and released from me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like everything that\u2019s been locked inside of you is able to be released. The stories I have written have shaped me into the loving, compassionate, aware, spiritually connected man I am today. They become a part of you as a writer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason Liggett spent a couple of chapters of the bigger narrative of his life at Tusculum College. There, he was able to find his identity. An identity he already had was replaced because of his time spent on Tusculum\u2019s campus. In the end, it doesn\u2019t matter what path you take to get you on the course of a successful career; as long as you work hard, have the courage to dream, and do what you know you need to do, then you will find the success you seek.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By Jonathon Dennis, junior journalism and professional writing major from Rome, Ga.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In stories of success after Tusculum, \u201cgraduate\u201d and \u201calumni\u201d are often used interchangeably; however, the two terms are not always synonymous. Sometimes a degree is just a piece of paper through which success is not defined, and students do not need graduation to find the traits of success. Such was the case with Jason Liggett.<\/p>\n
In 1996, freshman Jason Liggett stood tall on the pitching mound at Tusculum College. However, he soon realized playing baseball was what he did, but it wasn\u2019t who he was.<\/p>\n
Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTusculum helps Liggett find new life pathway :: Tusculum University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/news\/alumni-news\/2016\/tusculum-helps-liggett-find-new-life-pathway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tusculum helps Liggett find new life pathway :: Tusculum University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In stories of success after Tusculum, \u201cgraduate\u201d and \u201calumni\u201d are often used interchangeably; however, the two terms are not always synonymous. Sometimes a degree is just a piece of paper through which success is not defined, and students do not need graduation to find the traits of success. Such was the case with Jason Liggett. In 1996, freshman Jason Liggett stood tall on the pitching mound at Tusculum College. However, he soon realized playing baseball was what he did, but it wasn\u2019t who he was. 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