He scooted instead of crawled, then ran before he walked. More than 40 years later, that energy cannot be created nor destroyed; rather, it transforms from tennis to writing scripts and directing films, before cycling back to tennis again.
Sean Reid, 46, returned to college as a new media in screenwriting major after a more than 20- year absence from formal education. In addition to working full-time and pursuing his creative crafts in Hollywood, Sean Reid also joined the Pierce College tennis team to continue a passion that has been with him since childhood.
“I say he ran because he always seemed to be trying to go too fast for his legs,” his father Bob Reid said. “That is the energy that he has always had and still has, and the enthusiasm and commitment, particularly where tennis is concerned.”
His father gave him his first racket when he was 7 or 8 years old. Sean Reid said he would walk five miles in Ohio to the bus so he could go play.
“He was tenacious about pursuing lessons whenever and however he could, because he had a passion for the game that was very clear early on,” Bob Reid said. “He never lost his zeal through all these years.”
Sean Reid worked as a production assistant on America’s Funniest Homie Video’s in 1989 and left Pierce for a life of Hollywood production. In the time since he has held jobs with E! News Daily, The TV Guide Channel and has worked as a producer, director, writer and supervising producer.
In 2003 Sean Reid wrote, directed and produced his own feature film “Redemption,” which is based on his life as an athlete trying to make it in Hollywood.
“I’m certainly very proud of Redemption, just because it is an individual piece of work,” Sean Reid said. “That certainly was an accomplishment, but the whole body of work is something that I am very proud of.”
Nicolas Roye auditioned for Redemption. He did not get the part but has remained close friends with Sean Reid ever since. Roye said Sean Reid can disappear for weeks and then learn he has been holed up writing and that is why nobody has heard from him.
“When he decides he is going to do something, he goes full tilt boogie for it,” Roye said.
Sean Reid said he felt like he never left school because he is always reading, writing, and exploring himself intellectually. He always knew he would return to school, just did not know it would take this long.
“Really it is a student for life idea for me anyway, and this [returning to school] is just kind of an extension of that,” Sean Reid said. “It’s definitely never too late and you shouldn’t let your age hold you back from whatever it is you want to do.”
Bob Reid said he was “surprised but pleased” by his son’s decision to go back to school, especially due to how busy he is.
“I thought it represented a great deal of maturity, and his joining the tennis team, taking on that responsibility, because it does take time to work the jobs he has, try to be creative with all his different projects, and still to pursue tennis is an indication of the passion that he has for it,“ Bob Reid said. “He has achieved a great deal of success without a college degree. I think his decision to go back to school is a very courageous, important and right decision for him, for anybody.”
Sean Reid has no problem staying busy. Next week he is directing 16 webisodes for the Oprah Winfrey Network, coinciding with working on several personal projects and playing tennis. He designed and developed his life around his “twin passions” of writing and tennis, according to his father.
Roye believes the future is bright and we will see the finest from Sean Reid in two to five years.
“Sean’s best work is yet to come,” Roye said. “I think he is arriving to a point in his life where he is going to be in his sweet spot as a creative entity. I think the next 2-5 years are going to be Sean’s sweet spot” “He is just arriving to his creative potential”
Sean Reid is just happy he gets to do what he is passionate about every day.
“I fell in love with two things that I can do forever, for as long as I live, so that is a great thing,” Sean Reid said.
