Northwestern University Athletics
Final Bow: Dominick Malone
6/7/2016 12:12:00 PM | General, Wrestling
By Martina Barrera-Hernandez, Northwestern Correspondent
What do wrestling and screenwriting have in common?
For senior wrestler Dominick Malone: passion, dedication and empathy.
To most of us screenwriting and wrestling may seem worlds apart, but for Malone that distance is easily covered with a little empathy and a lot of grit.
"When you're writing a script for TV or film, you have to put yourself in a mindset of the characters--their motives and what they're going through," Malone said. "And when you're wrestling you have to put yourself in a certain mindset as well. When you wrestle an opponent you have to kind of get out of your head and put yourself in different shoes."
Last summer Malone interned at Disney in Burbank, Calif. where he worked with departments like Disney Junior, Disney Channel and Disney XD in multi-platform teams promoting Disney content through social media channels and websites. The connections he was able to make and the people he met, made the internship at Disney meaningful for Malone.
"I met so many awesome people there--I even said hi to Robert Iger one day!" Malone said. "I had another internship that was still really great experience, but it actually made me miss Disney and I kept wondering why. It was 100% the people I worked with. [The people] were so nice and supportive and really took me under their wings."
Looking ahead, Malone hopes to ultimately write for television shows, as that's where he sees the future of entertainment: "the dream you could say." Although Malone likes to live drama-free in daily life, the shows he chooses to both watch and write are dramas. These days, his favorites are Friday Night Lights and Fargo.
"I like writing [dramas] because you can have a little bit of everything in there," he said. "It can be funny at times--you have twists and surprises and suspense, so it challenges me to be good at a lot of different things."
In his own writing Malone looks to his personal experiences and those of his family to build stories people can relate to.
"Most of the things I've written have been based on true stories," Malone said. "I wrote a feature length film this past fall about my grandfather as a child growing up in a military town... I think the more connected to a story I am the better it will be, and also learning about my family history is awesome."
For Malone, the skills and mentality he has developed through his college wrestling career at Northwestern will help him succeed after graduation in ways that are unique to Wildcat athletes.
"Wrestling is a very demanding and [individual] sport," he said. "It's very one-on-one which is unique and takes a lot of mental fortitude. I think that's going to translate in the working world for me."
Fear not, when Malone wins an Emmy for his hit TV show, he will still have a special place in his heart for NU, his coaches and all of the people who guided him and helped him grow throughout his college career.
"I will be a Wildcat for the rest of my life. It's who I am. I've really grown a lot here and I'll carry it with me forever."
What do wrestling and screenwriting have in common?
For senior wrestler Dominick Malone: passion, dedication and empathy.
To most of us screenwriting and wrestling may seem worlds apart, but for Malone that distance is easily covered with a little empathy and a lot of grit.
"When you're writing a script for TV or film, you have to put yourself in a mindset of the characters--their motives and what they're going through," Malone said. "And when you're wrestling you have to put yourself in a certain mindset as well. When you wrestle an opponent you have to kind of get out of your head and put yourself in different shoes."
Last summer Malone interned at Disney in Burbank, Calif. where he worked with departments like Disney Junior, Disney Channel and Disney XD in multi-platform teams promoting Disney content through social media channels and websites. The connections he was able to make and the people he met, made the internship at Disney meaningful for Malone.
"I met so many awesome people there--I even said hi to Robert Iger one day!" Malone said. "I had another internship that was still really great experience, but it actually made me miss Disney and I kept wondering why. It was 100% the people I worked with. [The people] were so nice and supportive and really took me under their wings."
Looking ahead, Malone hopes to ultimately write for television shows, as that's where he sees the future of entertainment: "the dream you could say." Although Malone likes to live drama-free in daily life, the shows he chooses to both watch and write are dramas. These days, his favorites are Friday Night Lights and Fargo.
"I like writing [dramas] because you can have a little bit of everything in there," he said. "It can be funny at times--you have twists and surprises and suspense, so it challenges me to be good at a lot of different things."
In his own writing Malone looks to his personal experiences and those of his family to build stories people can relate to.
"Most of the things I've written have been based on true stories," Malone said. "I wrote a feature length film this past fall about my grandfather as a child growing up in a military town... I think the more connected to a story I am the better it will be, and also learning about my family history is awesome."
For Malone, the skills and mentality he has developed through his college wrestling career at Northwestern will help him succeed after graduation in ways that are unique to Wildcat athletes.
"Wrestling is a very demanding and [individual] sport," he said. "It's very one-on-one which is unique and takes a lot of mental fortitude. I think that's going to translate in the working world for me."
Fear not, when Malone wins an Emmy for his hit TV show, he will still have a special place in his heart for NU, his coaches and all of the people who guided him and helped him grow throughout his college career.
"I will be a Wildcat for the rest of my life. It's who I am. I've really grown a lot here and I'll carry it with me forever."
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