(LEFT) Carpenter (left) presents the SCAD Rising Director Award to actor and director Kristen Stewart. (RIGHT) The backlot at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which Jordan Carpenter said would be perfect for a production of Singing in the Rain. (Photos provided)
By STU CLAMPITT
news@readtherporter.com
Class of 2020 Noblesville High School Alumna Jordan Carpenter is living the dream in Savannah, Ga. at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). In addition to her film school studies and living in a place that reminds her of her Noblesville home, earlier this month she was selected to present the festival’s Rising Director Award to actor and director Kristen Stewart.
The Reporter spoke to Carpenter about presenting an award to the woman who played Bella in the Twilight series, about her entertainment industry aspirations, and how it all began, in part, thanks to Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre.
“I’m really loving it here,” Carpenter said. “This is my fourth year here. I’m planning on taking five total for my undergrad. Savannah is like the perfect place that I could have gone. I love Noblesville, and so I wanted to make sure that I had another place that felt like it could be home. I’m right next to Forsyth Park, which is the biggest central park we’ve got here, and there are people riding their bikes and walking their dogs, and there’s a coffee shop – it feels like – on every corner. The architecture is beautiful. It feels so homey. I don’t know how else to describe it.”
Carpenter told The Reporter presenting an award to Kristen Stewart felt surreal.
“It all happened so fast, too,” Carpenter said. “She was awesome, though. It was great to get to talk to her. We had a small interview-style conversation following the award presentation. Just getting to hear from her and hear from some of the people that she works with, who were also SCAD grads, was incredible. I wanted to soak up everything like a sponge. She was brilliant. Her vocabulary is one of the most impressive that I’ve heard. It blew me away.”
Carpenter is a production design major at SCAD.
“I came in here choosing to be behind the camera because I fell in love with that on the theater side of things in high school,” Carpenter said. “I have always loved acting, and I got cast in our acting showcase. It was something where SCAD sends all the actor acting showcase students to as many acting master classes as they can, which is a huge honor. So that whole week I was shuttling from place to place to speak with as many of these guests as we could.”
Carpenter told the Reporter she has always loved storytelling in any form.
“I first fell in love with acting when I was like 11 doing theater at school,” Carpenter said. “Then I began behind-the-scenes work when I was a junior in high school. I had Greg Richards teach a couple technical theater classes in high school, and I found it incredibly insightful. The way that every single paint color choice and every single design choice that he made, that we then enacted, were there to serve the story and to serve the characters. I thought that was really, really beautiful.”
Carpenter explained that a production design major is one where she can never get bored because there are so many directions a person can take. With another year to go in her SCAD education, her plans are not set in stone.
“I’m kind of taking it one week at a time, one day at a time,” Carpenter said. “I’ve obviously got goals, but I think being the age that I am and graduating high school in 2020, when the world kind of turned upside down, I’m very aware that life can change in an instant. Following this year in the acting showcase, I’m hoping to get representation of some kind on the acting side of things. And then I want to start writing more things and producing my own work.”
When asked if she had a dream project Carpenter did not hesitate in her response.
“I would love, love, love to be involved in any capacity on a movie musical, whether it’s performing, or doing the costumes, or doing the set, or being a PA on one,” Carpenter said. “Just any kind of movie musical. That’s something that I’ve not done before.We’ve got a beautiful backlot that was built here at SCAD. I remember Professor Jasky had said something about doing Singing in the Rain, and my eyes just lit up. I said that would be such a fantastic use of the backlot. I would love to sink my teeth into that because I’ve done musicals on stage, and I’ve done short films and feature films on camera, but I’ve never combined the two, and I think that there’s so much to learn there.”
Carpenter’s love of musicals began at a very young age just a few hundred yards south of the Hamilton County line.
“I love Beef and Boards,” Carpenter said. “That was the first musical I ever saw. I went to Beef and Boards and I saw Cinderella when I was five. I love that place.”
No matter where her career may take her, Carpenter will always be a Hoosier.
“I am so grateful to have grown up in Hamilton County, and it’s always with me,” Carpenter said. “I remember saying that I wish I could have picked up my neighborhood and taken it with me because it was honestly the perfect place to grow up. I had such a wonderful community of mentors and family members and friends who were also invested in the arts. That gave me the courage to come to SCAD and to pursue my dream. To my community back home: I can’t wait to go home and see everybody here soon. I’m really excited.”
