From the Screen to Social Work - Thomas Beecher
Thomas Beecher is somebody who is passionate about what he is doing. Not only has he been a Hollywood screenwriter and producer for the last 16 years, Thomas is going back to school to get his social work degree at California State University, Long Beach.
“I thought it would be even more rewarding not just helping people write a fictional story to be shown on television or film, but actually to help people who are struggling through real life circumstances, by assisting them in navigating their own story.”
Thomas received his undergraduate degree at Whittier College in Political Science, and then received his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in Screenwriting from University of Southern California. He has been a screenwriter and producer ever since.
“For a long time, that was my career. It is a very hustle-oriented career, and I had a wife and child to support.”
Thomas also taught screenwriting on the east coast for institutions like Syracuse University and Boston University, in order to make ends meet. He came back to the west coast to teach screenwriting at the Orange County School of the Arts (OSHA).
“Many of my students were going through these crises, and I would always turn to my friends who were social workers in order to help them.”
That’s when it clicked for Thomas that he would join the Master of Social Work program at CSULB.
“The thing I really love about being in the School of Social Work at CSULB is just the acceptance of everyone in the program. Nobody made a big deal about the fact that I was returning to school in a completely different field. At first, I was intimidated to go into the mental health field from the entertainment industry, because it’s totally different stakes when helping people to solve their real-life circumstances.”
In just a short time, Thomas has taken the skills and experiences he’s gained in the social work program at CSULB to making a difference out in the field. As part of his internship at the American Indian Counseling Center in Cerritos, Thomas is helping create mental health assessments for struggling youth, facilitating foster care placements, and helping create a safety plan for patients, which includes assigning them to therapists, and assisting them with any other mental health related support.
“It’s the most serious thing you could possibly experience, and that’s been a lot different than being told as part of my screenwriting duties, ‘Hey, we need more jokes put in this scene to make it play better.’”
“It’s awesome because when I think about starting in the School of Social Work program here at CSULB with no experience, to what I’m getting to do now, where there is a legitimate clinic that depends on me to be there to help others – it’s mind-blowing.”
Thomas credits his professors for their passion and dedication as being a major source of encouragement throughout his academic journey.
“It’s a lot easier to concentrate in class when you have professors like Jessica Polk and Janaki Santhiveeran, who are so passionate about what they’re doing. They’re able to bridge the gap between the text and the theory, and its practical application in the [social work] field. All my professors in the School of Social Work have such an amazing energy, and they build you up in such a supportive way.”
Thomas says that kind of support from his teachers plays a big part in giving him the confidence to help people from the clinical side, at his internship. Thomas has also found a newfound role in the entertainment industry -- working in literary management. Many of his students he once taught in screenwriting, are now budding screenwriters themselves, who Thomas is helping by trying to get their work optioned for development into films.
As far as what he wishes to convey to anyone who aspires to change careers, or who wish to return to school to attain new skills, Thomas has this advice:
“Inexperience is a strength. Coming to something with fresh eyes, but a lifetime of perspective, is a real advantage in the struggle of learning new skills, and in entering a new career. It was important for me to discover how I could really help other people, and that has been a rewarding journey.”
