Troy Peters

From Iowa to Hollywood ... and Back

Troy Peters (BA’94/teaching certification ’07) traveled the world as a Hollywood set decorator. He worked behind the scenes deciding on the furniture, art work, lighting, and props to bring authenticity to movies such as “Seabiscuit,” “Fight Club,” and “Pleasantville.” But after 15 years in the industry, he decided it was time for a change.

“The money was good in Hollywood, and all the glitz and glamour. But at a certain point, those aren’t the most important things,” he said. So Peters, who studied Communications Studies as an undergraduate, returned to the UI to earn his teaching certificate. He now teaches drama, media literature, speech, debate, and sophomore English at City High School in Iowa City. He is also involved with building sets for the school plays.

Peters said even his students sometimes ask him how he could trade in Hollywood for the classroom. "Teaching is so rewarding,” he said. “I love working with the kids, seeing the transformations they go through. I’m really happy where I am right now.”
Peters’ journey started when he worked on a low-budget movie filming in Iowa. The movie, “Zadar! Cow from Hell” didn’t make him rich or famous, but the experience inspired him to leave Iowa City for Los Angeles just a few credits shy of his B.A. degree.

“I moved out there with a group of Iowa friends. We were going to make it big in Hollywood,” he said. The group arrived in Los Angeles in time for a writer’s strike, so work was hard to come by. He got a few lucky breaks working on television shows and made-for-TV movies. A job working on the “The Outsiders,” a Fox TV series based on the novel, opened the door to the major movie studios.

“Everybody wants to do feature films,” he said. Peters worked on “The Bridges of Madison County,” “LA Confidential” and “Punch-Drunk Love.” But he grew weary of traveling to wherever each movie was being filmed. He decided it was time to stop living out of a suitcase and return to Iowa and finish his degree. “Teaching wasn’t something I’d ever thought about doing when I was younger, but it seemed like something I wanted to try and something I might be good at,” he said.

Robin Fields, a fellow City High English teacher, said Peters is a unique educator. “He is very creative in the classroom. He often uses drama to help students understand basic language arts elements,” she said. And his pre-teaching résumé doesn’t hurt.
“His Hollywood experiences earn him a unique kind of credibility with his classes,” Fields said. Peters jokes about surprising his students with stories about the people he interacted with in his former profession. Most are interested in learning little-known details about actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, with whom he worked on the movie, “Catch Me If You Can.”

“I did a movie called ‘8 Mile’ with [rapper] Eminem,” he said. “Some of the kids just couldn’t believe that I was working with him. Here was some old fuddy-duddy teacher telling them stories about Eminem and their jaws dropped.”

Phil Buatti, a sophomore at City High, is a member of Peters’ improv team performing at All-State this year. He also took Peters’ acting class.“His background earns him great respect from the students,” Buatti said. “I’m still in awe that he has met with people like Stephen Spielberg and worked with them to create excellent movies.”

So instead of setting the scene for a Hollywood blockbuster, Peters is spending this spring building a set for City High’s production of “Evita.” But he said he’s happy where he is. “I can’t think of a better place to be,” he said. “To be able to work with kids and use my experiences in teaching is really it for me.”