It’s a tough of fact of life for most toddlers to discover that Disney movies are not quite an accurate reflection of existence. More likely than not, the stepmother probably isn’t evil, and Prince Charming could use a few more tips on talking to women.
Still, for 2007 Virginia Tech graduate Tim Leaton, Disney was more than a vestige of childhood idealism — it’s the company that had the magic to make his dreams of a career in film come true.
As a student at Tech, Leaton won the 2006 “Film Your Issue” film competition and with it, the grand prize of an eight-week paid internship with Disney. Years after his big break, Leaton now works as an assistant editor for shows such as “The Marriage Ref,” “World’s Strictest Parents” and “It’s Me or the Dog.”
Originally, Leaton got involved with film in middle school when he was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
POTS causes orthostatic intolerance, which occurs when an excessively reduced amount of blood returns to the heart such as when an individual stands up from a lying down position. The end result is lightheadedness, fainting and a rapid increase in heart rate.
Because of this disorder’s detrimental effects, Leaton quit all his sports and activities. He realized that he needed to find a different hobby to have fun. Inevitability, he found it in film; Leaton was given a toy video camera in the seventh grade and began making movies.
“Something that seems like a big obstacle or adversity at the time can kind of turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. For me, looking back, that’s exactly what happened,” Leaton said.
At Midlothian High School in Richmond, Va., Leaton made sports music videos presented at the athletic award ceremonies before he entered college.
Leaton graduated from Tech in spring 2007 with dual honors degrees, receiving both a bachelor’s degree in business management and a bachelor’s in communication. Jerry Scheeler, a TV/Film supervisor and one of Leaton’s former professors, explained that the knowledge and experience Leaton gained during his time Tech got him his big break.
While attending Tech, Leaton created his first film, “Fruitopia,” in the Introduction to Film Production class taught by Scheeler. The class was an introduction to professional film techniques and was designed for someone who had never made a film before. It was in this class that Leaton first started getting instruction in film.
Scheeler described Leaton as a quiet student that asked good questions while soaking up all the information provided to him. He explained that he didn’t know what to expect from Leaton’s first film.
“I knew he had talent when he was in the class,” Scheeler said, “and then when I saw his work, I was absolutely convinced that he had talent.”
Scheeler remembers actually asking Leaton how he executed some techniques.
“At that time, editing on a computer was still relatively new. The software we were using to edit the films was Final Cut Pro. Literally, probably 99 percent of the students hadn’t worked with it before that class. ... He was an experimenter,” Scheeler said. “He found ways to manipulate color and special effects. He did some interesting animation and stop frame photography. In the editing, he sort of enhanced certain things.”
“Fruitopia” won Best in Festival at the Progeny Film Festival in April 2005, beating out 46 other film submissions.
“I was not expecting to win so it was a very pleasant surprise,” Leaton said. “It allowed me to put a solid film award on my resume, so that was really exciting.”
In 2006, Leaton created his second film, “Uganda,” a half hour documentary about how his church Stony Point Presbyterian in Richmond, Va., was supporting children at an orphanage called Canaan Children’s Home in Uganda.
“I made it just for my church to show them how big of a difference their money was making,” he said, “how a small amount of money goes so far in Uganda. It’s amazing.”
Leaton visited the orphanage with a 17-member mission team from his church, as well as his father and sister. There he filmed footage of the orphans and their lifestyle. Leaton feels that the children’s voices really come through in “Uganda.”
“I didn’t coach them on what to say. I just sat them down and asked them the basic question, ‘What brought you to Canaan?’” Leaton said. “They just had these beautiful stories to tell. I was so touched while conducting interviews with them.”
“Uganda” won Best Cinematography at the Progeny Film Festival in April 2006.
The full-length version of “Uganda” was shortened into a one-minute trailer. The trailer is Leaton’s favorite version of this film because he feels that it sums the purpose of the film up quickly.
Rachel Holloway, associate dean of undergraduate affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, was the communication department head when Leaton was a student at Tech. The “Uganda” trailer is her favorite of Leaton’s films.
“He captured so beautifully in video the work that was going on there. The thing that impressed me is he had to take what was a pretty long film and take it down for his competition piece,” Holloway said. “I think he did so much in that minute that it was really inspiring.”
The trailer won the biggest of Leaton’s awards. Leaton became the Grand Prize Winner of “Film Your Issue” in summer 2006. “Film Your Issue” is a national competition inviting all U.S. students ages 14 to 24 to make a one-minute film on any issue. The judges that year included President Barak Obama, George Clooney and the Dalai Lama to name a few.
Leaton then won the internship with Walt Disney Pictures in Los Angeles. It was Leaton’s first job in Hollywood.
“Everything was so new to me, so I was completely in awe with everything,” Leaton said. “My mentors there were some of the top executives. They were so good to me giving me hands on experience.”
Leaton said that it was a total dream come true. Some of his exciting experiences were being introduced to Johnny Depp on the set of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and dining with Roy Disney on board the Queen Mary.
During this internship, Leaton gained both connections and experience that would help him land future jobs after he finished college, because he already had his foot in the door of the film industry.
Scheeler spoke with Leaton after he won this award, telling him to get out to Hollywood and take advantage of the contacts he made while they were fresh.
Now that Leaton is working as an assistant editor for five different reality shows, Holloway is not surprised with what he has been able to accomplish.
“He is very passionate making film, and creating and sharing stories. So, he is doing something he absolutely loves,” Holloway said, “and I think he is a very self-directed, hard-working, ambitious young man.”