Alum
Tom Fry
Voice actor, writer, musician; Fry on the Fly Productions, LLC
Tom Fry, BA'92, began his career in TV and radio before becoming an independent voice actor. While at IU, he was involved in the production of Simon and Garfunkel's music video for "America."
“My mom went to IU and my grandparents went to IU. So as a kid, I would get gifts. I've got a picture of me as a kid with this IU Indiana Hoosiers t-shirt on. And then I came down to visit and I just fell in love with Bloomington, and I wanted to go into TV and radio.
I was able to shoot a music video and do some projects there (at IU) that I'll never forget. My professor Ron Osgood, who retired recently, said ‘I still show that music video to my students like 25 years later.’ I remember every shoot, and I would say my fondest memories were like, actually being able to pull your car up, load your equipment on, and go out and do something that felt like you were doing something real. You felt like it was a professional job.
I don't think it's always just what you learn. It's not like I want to become an accountant, so therefore, I have to learn how to do these math problems and use this Excel software. It's your whole experience of being on a campus and meeting people from different nationalities, different faiths, different sexual orientations.
I think that to be successful as a human being, you've got to experience different things. I said everyone should have to do an exchange program to Europe for like a month or two months or a year or whatever, just to experience living in a different culture because you find things that are more important.
It's all about communication, and communication is what you're doing in media. I developed those skills in college, and I think that it really made me who I am today.”
Written By McKenna Cardona
Photos By Olivia Smith