ORANGE, Calif., May 20, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- For Chapman University's 158th commencement weekend, 2007 alumni Matt and Ross Duffer (The Duffer Brothers) gave the closing convocation speech. The award-winning creators of the wildly-successful Netflix series, "Stranger Things," winner of 49 industry awards, including 6 Emmys and nominated for an additional 155 awards, wowed the record-setting audience of 8,000 with stories of their journey from Chapman undergrad to hitting it big in Hollywood.
"When (Chapman) President Struppa asked to give a speech at the closing convocation, our first reaction was… what the heck is a closing convocation? I say heck because last time we spoke at Chapman we cursed too much and got a phone call about that, so, yeah… what the heck is a closing convocation. With the help of our friend Google, we finally figured out what it was," said Ross Duffer. "We were incredibly honored. But then we spent a few weeks trying to avoid committing to this not because we were too busy, but because we were terrified. And it felt odd to us why are we giving you advice? We're only 35, so we're basically your age, right?
"But then we remembered the wise words of Millie Bobby Brown, who once told us: 'you're so old.'"
The crowd of faculty, graduates, parents, family members and friends cheered and laughed at the Duffer Brothers authentic approach to opening their speech.
"We asked ourselves the question: is there anything we wished we had known before heading out into the terrifying unknown that is the 'real world.' Turns out yeah. There's a lot we wish we had known," said Matt Duffer. "We wish we had known that success takes time, that it's gonna require an unimaginable amount of hard work, that you're going to have to pretend you know what you're doing even when don't, and that as cheesy and cliché as it may sound, following your heart is actually… the key to everything. We wish we had known all of that, we really do."
Other highlights and key lessons they shared, hinged on the things they wish they knew before their graduation:
- The key to everything is following your heart
- To be successful, you have to put in a lot of hard work
- And by hard work, about 10,000 hours on a bunch of failed, mediocre scripts
- But don't panic...even though failure and rejection are inevitable, it's the struggle and getting knocked down that is necessary and good because with every mistake you learn
- No matter the success, no matter how confident you're feeling, stay humble
- Make sure that whatever you do -- you love it. Not the accolades or the attention or money but that you love the actual work
"The first thing our Chapman screenwriting professors taught us was that all stories share one thing in common: there is a protagonist, and that protagonist has a goal that he or she has difficulty achieving," Matt shared of his time at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. "Does Luke Skywalker become Luke Skywalker if he doesn't get pulled into the Death Star, if his best friend isn't turned into carbonite? Does Neo become Neo if Morpheus isn't kidnapped, if Trinity isn't killed? Okay, I got a little nerdy there but my point is, there is no movie without obstacles, and the same is true of your life. If there wasn't struggle you would never grow. You would never become who you're meant to be. And let's be honest. It would also be …. super boring both in movies and in life. So, don't hide from your failures, don't run from obstacles. Confront them head on, learn from them, conquer them."
"Seriously, we hope we were able to help you a bit as you head out into the real world. We hope we didn't scare your poor parents too much. And we hope that you achieve everything you've ever dreamed of," Matt continued. "To borrow my brother's movie metaphor for a second, the first act is over. You're just now moving into the second act. The second act: that's the best part. You're Marty McFly and you just went back in time. You're Indiana Jones and you've just headed out in search of the Lost Ark. Things are about to get really tricky and really cool. I mean, the first act is always fun but this, this is the good sh*t. Sorry, President Struppa, I just cursed. We almost made it. Only one sentence left: Congratulations again on this remarkable accomplishment on this beautiful day in the sunny OC."
This year's commencement caps off an especially remarkable year for Chapman.
"This has been a year of distinction at Chapman University; We were accepted into Phi Beta Kappa; one of our graduating seniors, Vidal Arroyo, was named Chapman's first Rhodes Scholar; and we recently re-classified as a 'high research activity' institution (R-2 Carnegie Classification)," said Glenn M. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Chapman. "All of these events are indicative of the caliber of research, teaching and learning that occurs on this campus."
Digital Assets:
Photo Caption: Chapman University, Orange, Calif. (May 17, 2019) -- Ross (left) and Matt (right) Duffer regale the sold-out crowd of 8,000 with humorous storytelling during their convocation speech at Chapman University's 158th commencement weekend. The Duffer Brothers graduated Chapman's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in 2007 and have gone on to become award-winning directors and writers of the Netflix series, "Stranger Things," with season 3 beginning July 4, 2019.
Photo Credit: Justin Swindle, Chapman University
Video Caption
Chapman University, Orange, Calif. (May 17, 2019) – Matt and Ross Duffer, 2007 graduates from Chapman's film school (2007) and creators of the award-winning Netflix series, "Stranger Things," use humor to share their tales of making big in Hollywood and the impact Chapman had on their lives.
Video Credit: Courtesy of Chapman University
SOURCE Chapman University
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