Student Experience
Matthew Prescott’s path from Porter College to Hollywood
From student media at Porter College to editing television and films in Hollywood, Matthew Prescott (Porter ’12, film and digital media) built his career through creative experimentation and connections that began at UC Santa Cruz.
Matthew Prescott (Porter ’12, film and digital media)
Carolyn Lagattuta
Matthew Prescott (Porter ’12, film and digital media) has edited five seasons of the TV drama All American and worked in post-production at Blumhouse on films including the Oscar-winning Get Out. He traces nearly every step of that path back to fellow Slugs, including the alum whose Facebook post led to his first job out of college.
Now he’s returning the favor, mentoring students through the Find Your Path program and, this fall, welcoming Porter’s Class of 2030 at the opening plenary. His lesson for them comes from his own career: the people you meet here may be the people you work with for years to come.
From Los Angeles to Santa Cruz and back again
Prescott was born and raised in Los Angeles, where his church’s youth media group taught him to shoot and edit short films long before he knew film could be a college major.
That changed at a CalArts summer program. A fellow student and friend there, who later headed to UC Santa Cruz, pointed him toward Porter College, saying it’s “where all the art kids go.” One campus visit sealed it. “I just kind of fell in love with the campus and the vibe and the natural beauty of the redwood forest,” he said. “I knew this was the place for me.”
At Porter, his freshman roommates were two film majors from the Bay Area, and they still hang out today. Together they made a rap music video for their Porter Core final project. In his first year, he joined Student Cable Television (SCTV), which produced short films and content for local broadcast, and he helped his roommates with projects through the Film Production Coalition.
Older students who knew him through SCTV told him about an opening at the Student Media Press Center. As equipment manager his senior year, he checked out cameras, lights, and full live-broadcast setups to student organizations and kept careful logs of who had what.
Back in Los Angeles after graduation, he saw a fellow alum post an internship at Blumhouse in a Facebook group for UCSC film grads. Prescott applied, got it, and found another Santa Cruz student already interning there.
The internship turned into a paid job. At the then-small horror studio, he managed the post-production team’s equipment and hard drives, and his press center logging habits suddenly mattered. “It was an invaluable little skill in my pocket,” he said.
He’s still in touch with the alum who posted the listing. “If I didn’t have that internship, I don’t know if I’d be where I’m at right now,” he said.
Prescott is now a picture editor, the person who turns raw footage into the story audiences see. “My job is to take all the pieces of what they have, and do what I can to elevate it and add my artistic touch,” he said. He calls the work a dream come true. “You gotta love it, and just have fun with it.”
Growing the Slug network
These days, Prescott makes a point of sharing his story with students. Even his invitation to speak at this year’s opening plenary came through a fellow alum.
His advice for the Class of 2030 is to find a community. “Whatever it is that you’re into, there’s some kind of group where you can find like-minded people,” he said. “Once you find it, hold on to those connections long after graduation.”
And remember, “Take the time to go for a walk in the forest, appreciate the nature and the beach,” he said. “Santa Cruz is super magical. The time is going to go by quickly.”