The Millennials: Two Clemson Seniors Help Document a Rising Generation
By Leslie Thornton
Office of Creative Services
As the millennium dawned, America’s newest generation began to come of age. The eldest Millennials — the generation born 1981-2000 — were starting their transition from teenager to twenty-something. But as they did, the world they were entering began to shift dramatically from the world they had grown up expecting.
A decade later, with half the generation’s members now young adults, the recession is hitting the Millennials hard. They face the highest unemployment rates among the nation’s four living generations and are more likely to report a recent job loss. Add to that two wars and the threat of global terrorism. These trends and events no doubt impact all Americans, but the effects can be particularly strong on a generation still developing its core values, according to the Pew Research Center.
Yet, despite their current position, Pew also finds that the Millennials remain an optimistic group, even in the midst of mapping their place in a challenging historical landscape.
Today, a young group of Greenville natives is working to offer the view from the ground, asking: How do Millennials see their generation and how will they tell their own story? They’re shaping their findings into a feature-length documentary entitled The Millennials, and in the midst of this ambitious project are two Clemson University students.
The Pulse of a Generation
The brainchild of Sarah Belknap, The Millennials will offer a window into the minds of this rising generation. The documentary will feature interviews with Millennials throughout western Europe, Canada and the United States, capturing their thoughts on social, economic and political issues of today and the future.
“Our goal with this film is to engage our generation. We want the film to inspire our peers to overcome their circumstances and build a better tomorrow,” explained Austin Schwartz, a Clemson senior who worked on the project during the fall.
The crew’s vision to engage and inspire came early on. “As we interviewed more and more of our peers, what we found was a lot of fear,” Belknap said. “They are worried about their personal lives and how they will be impacted by the economic and social issues.”
Added Schwartz, “We hope the film will help them see that they are not alone and inspire them to face their fears and step up to the task of solving big global problems.”
Stretching Disciplinary Boundaries
Documenting the pulse of a generation is no small task. But with the multidisciplinary and international attitude that seems to come naturally to the crew making The Millennials, it appears well within reach.
The crew boasts a collective background in political science, economics, media arts, international business and psychology. Added to that are the broad perspectives of Schwartz and Clemson junior Stéphane Rey, who illustrate perfectly why Clemson promotes interdisciplinary learning.
Schwartz, a biophysics major and entrepreneurship minor, served as one of the film’s videographers leading up to and during the European tour. He also helped create a business plan and find sponsors, gaining valuable experience in the business startup process. On top of that, his fall semester included serving as president of Hillel, Clemson’s Jewish student organization, and applying to Ph.D. programs.
Schwartz’s academic and extracurricular pursuits seem a little eclectic until you hear him talk about his future. He wants to explore the neuroscience side of biophysics while earning his Ph.D., particularly focusing on how the mind and brain interact to shape human experience. The film’s focus on understanding his peers’ fears and thoughts on the future provides interesting fodder for his intellectual curiosity.
In addition, Schwartz’s experiences with Hillel and the film have helped him hone his communication and leadership skills — skills the budding entrepreneur knows will come in handy for his goal of owning a business. “I’m interested in having a business that somehow relates to the mind-brain relationship. I’m not really sure what type of business that will be yet, but the skills I’m learning now will be helpful no matter what,” he said.
Rey is similarly inclined toward big thinking and discipline spanning. The graphic communications major serves as art director for the campus newspaper, The Tiger, and won Heidelberg Press’ 2010 Fit to Print contest after being nominated by a professor. He brings his design expertise to the film’s visual materials, working on everything from logos to the website.
As with Schwartz, Rey’s role with The Millennials and his future aspirations push traditional boundaries for his chosen profession. “I want to be part of the process, not just the one who sits in a room and makes a design. I love to get into people’s heads and be part of defining and solving problems. I want my designs to do what they’re supposed to do, and the way to do that is to be involved in the whole process,” he explained.
Rey is doing just that with The Millennials, collaborating on ideas and goals as he designs. He brings the ability to connect the work he does for classes and other projects with his work on The Millennials. His knack for taking a more comprehensive perspective gives him “an impressive ability to do small things that have huge impacts on his designs,” notes Fred Vaillant, the film’s editor and director of photography.
Engaging a Global Landscape
With filming taking place across western Europe, Canada and the United States, The Millennials reflects the international nature of the crew and their generation.
“I was really excited to join this project — the international connections really drew me to it. I love working in international contexts,” Rey said.
Self-described “Michelin babies,” Vaillant and Rey are both children of Frenchmen who moved to Greenville for Michelin’s North American headquarters there. Vaillant’s mother is Dutch, and the whole group is well connected with other Millennials across continents.
More importantly, they are part of a generation that has grown up inside the shrinking global community. With this perspective, the idea to include peers in Europe and Canada seemed a necessity in telling the Millennials’ story.
“We wanted to bring in Europe and Canada to show the connections to other countries — to show that we’re all in this together, and together we can overcome our struggles and reshape our future,” Belknap explained.
Belknap, Schwartz and Vaillant traveled through Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland during the European leg. Now back stateside, Belknap and Vaillant are continuing on a road trip across the U.S. and Canada. During the European leg, the crew was invited to film at prestigious institutions including Oxford University and at the European Union regarding legislation on entrepreneurial activities.
For Schwartz, getting to travel across Europe and film was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “I don’t know if I will get another chance to do this, especially before grad school,” he said.
Now back at Clemson, Schwartz is finishing up his senior year and preparing for graduate school. His classmate Rey is currently completing an internship for his major and remains active with the film. He is looking forward to graduating in the fall after completing a second internship and is exploring graduate programs in marketing and advertising.
The crew plans to complete The Millennials in the fall and enter it in film festivals across North America and Europe. And, while their futures might find the crew members on very different career paths after the final edit, today even their process is giving us a glimpse into their generation’s story.
“Our generation is facing a different world,” Schwartz points out. “The idea is to go to college and get a job, but it isn’t that simple anymore. We must be entrepreneurial. We must use our skills and passions to find new ways of solving problems.”
Adds Belknap, “This is evident even in our film — we’re all taking our different passions and are using them to make a better product. In the end, that’s how we’ll make our collective future a better place.”
Have a Clemson story you’d like to see us write about? Contact University writer Crystal Boyles at boyles@clemson.edu.