Tom Garrett

Faculty Mentor: Tom Garrett, Associate Professor
in the Department of Mass Communication

Student Team Members:
Matthew (Monty) Sloan & Nguyen (Khoi) Nguyen

Faculty Report

Student Reflections

Khoi Nguyen 

Monty Sloan 

The documentary our students researched, and worked on the production of, is an examination of the Oscar winning director who brought to life some of cinema’s most beloved motion pictures- John G. Advildsen. The documentary was inspired by a book written about director John Avildsen and his films, published in 2014 by McFarland Press - "The Films of John G. Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid, and Other Underdogs". The book was co-authored by Tom Garrett, an associate professor in the Mass Communication department at Sam Houston State University, and Larry Powell, a professor of communication studies at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

With Avildsen’s participation the filmmakers were able to work with a very modest budget and have world-class access. With Avildsen’s assistance the filmmakers were able to interview high profile celebrities and Hollywood hit makers such as Sylvester Stallone, Ralph Macchio, and Jerry Weintraub, and gain access to photos, home movies, behind the scenes footage and clips from his personal library of films and archives. 

The documentary, which is in post-production, explores the life and career of a filmmaker who has had as many hits as misses, and rediscovers the legendary director through interviews with the people he has worked with and from the man himself. After so many successes, strangely, many filmgoers don’t even know his name. This documentary sets out to change that. 

Monty Sloan and Khoi Nguyen working on a documentary

The film was shot over a period of 6 months with various crews including SHSU undergraduate students Monty Sloan and Khoi Nguyen, and will be edited and prepared for delivery to festivals and film markets, such as the Cannes Film Festival -Marche du Film, in Spring 2015. Upon completion of the project our FAST team will present the work at either the Undergraduate Research Symposium, hosted by the Elliott T. Bowers Honors College or The Woodlands Center Student Research Conference, also in spring 2015.