Artist of the Issue: Skyler Sugar

However, for Skyler Sugar ’18, the clear choice was videography. Since tenth grade, Sugar has been writing, producing, and directing videos with the goal of entertaining people and putting smiles on their faces. Sugar, now a senior at Hopkins, has a passion for screenwriting that he shares with his friends and the Hopkins community.

After his interest in videography sparked, Sugar decided to take Video Production I and II along with American Film, at Hopkins, while at the same time teaching himself how to edit and film videos at home. Sugar’s passion for videography has carried into his final year at Hopkins: he chose to write a screenplay for his senior project. Sugar’s inspiration for the screenplay came from his love of writing comedic films. “I wrote the first act and treatment of an absurdist, period drama, called ‘Tragic Prelude: The Plainsman or A Short Break From Pasture Work.’ It’s about an art forger in Kansas in the 1930s,” said Sugar.

Sugar uses videography as a way to bond with friends, family, and his community by making them smile. His favorite kind of screenplay to write is absurd comedy, as he likes to see his friends’ reactions of laughter and joy. “I like to make my friends and family watch my videos. We share laughs,” said Sugar. Sugar  has made a diverse assortment of videos for both clients and friends, such as a video about an art gallery in Hudson, New York, and a short video for Hopkins Varsity Field Hockey. He even made a video about anthrax for his friend’s science class. Sugar and his friends bond over videography, often getting together and filming videos in his basement for fun and for school. “Sometimes they come over to my house and we’ll spend a couple hours in my basement filming,” said Sugar on making music videos with friends for his Chinese class. Sugar enjoys making videos that have a positive impact on his classes and his friends.
 
Sugar, who will be attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in the fall, said the main reason he enjoys making videos is because he likes “watching people laugh and say ‘Oh man, Sugar!’” Sugar plans to continue screenwriting in the future, but also noted that “directing and producing is more of a casual, fun thing.”