trevordayschool

two publications. During that time, a lot of what I had learned about running a magazine was devalued by the industry, by the marketplace, and by readers generally—people switched to reading on their phones and were less interested in the bigger project of a magazine. Trevor: Your career had been focused in New York, but eventually you made the jump to Hollywood. How did that come about? Hugo: I'd always been interested in Hollywood, and I had a couple of friends from high school who had become successful there. I ended up getting an opportunity to try out Los Angeles and join The Hollywood Reporter, so I left the Times Magazine, which had felt so established that it was kind of limited in terms of what the culture would permit. The Hollywood Reporter wasn't anything like that; the editor was constantly trying new things and turned it from a dry trade magazine into a fabulous publication. After about six months there, I got a chance to switch to film and TV production with this guy named Mark Boal, who I knew from New York. Mark had worked as a journalist and then wrote a couple of amazing movies—he wrote and produced The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark 30, which are both fantastic—and he was looking for an editorial partner to help make movies and TV shows based on true stories. It was a terrific setup, and Mark and I are still partners and good friends. We made a movie called Detroit in 2017, and we worked on season two of the podcast Serial. It's kind of my dream come true—to be able to take the kind of journalism that I know how to do and apply it in new ways. Eventually, I moved back to New York full time. I had never fully moved to Los Angeles; my wife and daughters were in New York, and my wife's job is here. So I'm based here now. Trevor: That's amazing. It sounds as if writing has exposed you to so many different industries and interests. What are some of the biggest lessons you've taken away when you look at the arc of your career thus far? Hugo: I think that one's passion for something overwrites all the rules. So, if there's something you feel committed to doing, then the state and direction of the industry don't really matter. You might not be instantly successful, but that shouldn't stop you from doing it. Industries change, and people end up seeing the value in things that they didn't see at first. A changing industry might be a challenge, but it's not insurmountable, and there are plenty of people who've been very successful by sticking to their guns. Trevor: And having the tool kit to adapt is a big part of that. Hugo: Yes, and resilience. Those qualities are going to help you no matter what you do—not being permanently wounded by setbacks or slights, but taking them as an opportunity to learn. n ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER Hannah Ashe '08 works as a writer and editor at a consulting firm, where she applies much of what she learned at Trevor, especially Mr. Sternstein's "look at the fish" philosophy—there is always more to observe if you keep looking. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two cats. Go, Dragons. Rapid-fire with Hugo Trevor: Any favorite projects you can recall from The Day School? Hugo: We did Claymation projects in art class, where we made little animated movies. That was the freaking best. It was a small class, and we were all obsessed with it. We would just spend one click at a time moving the little characters. I still think about that. Why didn't I just go into Claymation? Trevor: What are your favorite projects from the various points of your career? Hugo: Making the movie Detroit was the best. It was an idea I had in the '90s when I worked at George, a story that had always stayed with me, and I never really figured out how to do it until working with Mark. So it happened 20 years later, and at a scale that far exceeded my dreams. Trevor: Of the cities you've lived in, New York, D.C., Durham, LA, which feels most like home? Hugo: It's New York, for sure. Trevor: What are you working on now that's exciting you? Hugo: So, I have twin teenage daughters who just started college, and they both play instruments. I told them they had to start a band, and they were like, "How are we going to do that?" So I got together with a high school friend, and we wrote a book called Let's Start a Band. We're talking to a graphic illustrator about how to make a graphic novel out of it. It's grown into something really fun; I think about it all the time. It'll be out in the fall. TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 55 INSIDE TREVOR TREVOR TRANSLATES FEATURE AR TICLES ALUMNI

• Cover