Filmmaker Farrelly Shares Sound Advice – and a Splash of Cash

Filmmaker Farrelly Shares Sound Advice – and a Splash of Cash – With SOA Graduates

During this year's graduation ceremony for the School of the Arts, filmmaker Peter Farrelly, SOA'86, doled out sound advice for young artists as well as a splash of cash for five lucky graduates. Farrelly emphasized that the key to having a successful career is simply not to lie. Telling the truth at all times, Farrelly said, will ensure not only a good home life, but great art. Citing the difficulties of surviving as a young artist, Farrelly shared his own struggles while attending the School of the Arts. Farrelly, while juggling three jobs to support himself, was often late to his classes. At one point he had to explain his predicament, after being confronted by a professor about his tardiness. The sympathetic professor made a deal with him: Columbia would give him a $2,000 interest-free loan if Farrelly quit two of his jobs, focused more on his studies, and showed up on time to his classes. In recognition of that generosity, Farrelly gave out five checks for $3,597.12 -- an adjusted amount of the original 1981 loan -- to five graduates chosen at random.