The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Catching up with former Longhorn and Oscar winner
03.19.2013 | Baseball
March 19, 2013
As competitive pursuits and creative outlets, baseball and filmmaking persist as significant arcs in the Ryan A. Brooks life story. But it's a commitment to teamwork that has lifted Brooks from a two-time Texas Baseball letterwinner on the Forty Acres to an Oscar-winning producer.
Brooks recently served as executive producer for Inocente, personal and vibrant coming of age documentary about a young artist's fierce determination to never surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings. The film recently garnered the Academy Award for Best Documentary - Short Subject.
Brooks started 62 games during his three seasons with the Longhorns (1999-2001) and batted .336 during conference action while tallying 40 runs scored and 24 RBI overall. He also garnered honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades as Texas' starting third baseman during his senior campaign of 2001 after being recognized by his fellow Longhorns as the program's Teammate of the Year in 2000.
Currently the founder and president of Gold Glove Productions, a Los Angeles based film production company focused on producing compelling, character-driven content with depth and integrity, Brooks has produced a number of award-winning films, including an audience award winner at the SXSW Film Festival. Inocente is currently available for download on iTunes.
Brooks recently visited with TexasSports.com about his life since leaving the Forty Acres.
How did you become involved with the film Inocente?I've been involved with the film since its inception in 2008. It's been a journey and an uphill battle, which culminated with us winning the Oscar a few weeks ago. It's truly the perfect example of the little film that could. There were a lot of obstacles to overcome, and it really has been a labor of love for me.
The idea was initially discussed in January 2008 during a meeting at the Sundance Film Festival. It was about the resilient spirit in women, and Inocente came out of that idea down the road. Her ability to remain positive through extraordinary circumstances is one of her biggest strengths. She's able to find light and beauty in almost everything. It is incredibly inspiring for all generations.
How did you get interesting in filmmaking?I've always been fascinated with movies and film. I believe I got that from my grandmother, Dorothy Neuhaus Walters. As a little boy, I would go down to her house, and she had just the largest library of movies. She would always encourage me to watch or we would watch together. Most of them were old classics. It was great because I got to learn about old films at a young age. She was a huge influence.
How did you transition from playing baseball to making movies?I got my start in the Austin independent film scene, which was different than just coming straight out to Hollywood and trying to figure out how to make it in the movie business. In many ways, the Austin culture is very special, and by me really scraping my knees on some projects there I was able to make the transition to L.A. It was a pretty steep learning curve, which included a lot of discovery. Los Angeles is like no other city. The only way to really do it is just jump in head first, learning the ropes. That includes a lot of trial and error. My first office out here was on the old Warner Hollywood lot, and at the time I was fortunate to be producing two feature films in my mid-20's.
When I got out to L.A. I wasn't interested in partying or the nightlife. I wanted to succeed, and I didn't really know how to get there. But from past life experiences, especially in baseball, I knew that if I remained focused and committed something good would happen and I would get lucky. What I came to realize is that film is comparable to baseball and life. Hard work pays off, and I got lucky. What I mean by that, on many of my old baseball teams, we would notice that the harder we worked the luckier we got. The balls would bounce our way or we'd get a hit when nobody was expecting it. That's the way life goes.
What are some of your favorite memories from playing at UT?The 2000 team was a really special one. I can't stress enough how important each and every player was to our success that year. It purely was a team effort. With us making it to Omaha, it really helped pave the way for the next decade of Texas Baseball in Omaha. That 2000 team was resilient, and the odds were definitely not in our favor. but the team was hungry.
For me personally, being acknowledged as "Teammate of the Year" was unexpected and to be honest my most proud baseball accolade.
Another fond memory was hitting the home run against OU at Disch-Falk. It was a dream come true, because when I was 10 years old my grandmother won me 'batboy for a day' at a silent auction. She picked me up in Houston, and we drove to Austin together. She dropped me off, and I got to go down into the locker room and meet the team.
On that specific day, Brooks Kieschnick was pitching, and as you know, he also hit for himself. In the seventh inning, he hit a towering shot over the right field fence. The whole team went and greeted him at home plate, and I was able to get my little hand in there for a high-five, which I thought was the coolest thing in the world. What I didn't expect was the curtain call, and the sold-out crowd started chanting, 'Brooks, Brooks, Brooks' and the next thing I knew he came out, raised his helmet to the crowd and everybody cheered. From then on, a dream of mine was to hit a home run at Disch-Falk Field and get a curtain.
Another thing is something that is sacred - and that is "The Eyes of Texas." There's nothing like raising your horns, hearing the song and singing with your teammates and connecting with the fans. It really gives me goosebumps to think about it. It's a special thing within Longhorn nation.
Are you still in touch with any of your teammates? I do keep in touch with some of my teammates -- Mike Pumo, Tommy Nicholson, Sam Anderson -- and I must say I'm really excited for hitting coach Tommy Nicholsonwho was not only a great teammate and great player, but also a real student of the game. I was lucky to have some great teammates ... hopefully next year I'll be able to go the alumni game and see everyone.
What type of expectations did you have on Oscar night?The fact that we got nominated was such a big deal. Winning the Oscar was really the cherry on top, and the truth of the matter is that all of the films were so powerful from a content standpoint. Any one of them could have garnered the award. We just feel extremely fortunate.
