Student Success Story, Derick Mayes

May 05, 2015

Derick Mayes envisioned being a broadcaster. Then he visited Tri-C and learned he wanted a different career in front of the camera.

Mayes discovered the College’s film program while doing an internship at the Greater Cleveland Film Commission after earning a degree from the Ohio Center for Broadcasting. He now hopes to make it in Hollywood.

“Forget news,” Mayes said. “I want to act.”

Mayes enrolled at Tri-C in fall 2012 and found a home at the Center for Creative Arts, taking film and acting classes to build his skills. He expects to graduate from the College with an Associate of Arts in spring 2015.

He intends to continue his education at the New York Film Academy. Mayes traveled to Chicago last fall to audition for the NYFA and earned a $10,000 scholarship.

It’s not the first time he impressed at a tryout.

Mayes used the skills he learned at Tri-C to land parts in films such as Kevin Costner’s “Draft Day,” where he played a Seattle Seahawks recruiter in the team’s draft room. (That part is one of seven listed online in his IMDb profile.)

He also has learned how to do non-acting roles, whether it be setting up lights, running cameras or doing any other task. 

“Tri-C prepared me to go on a set,” Mayes said. “It gave me the foundation to make it in the business.”

He performed in two plays while at the College and used a monologue from one of them while auditioning for the NYFA scholarship. He also served as a student ambassador and student senator at Metro Campus.

Mayes hopes to one day become a regular in films, shining in character roles.

“I’m in love with acting,” Mayes said, “and if you want something bad enough, you do whatever it takes to get there.”