Honoring Alex

Somewhere amidst the mélange of sights is the vision.

 

Somewhere amidst the cacophony of sounds is the story.

 

Somewhere amidst the emotion of the subject matter is the humanity.

 

Somewhere amidst the amorphousness of the vision, story, and humanity is the masterpiece.

 

Jess Speight, Collegiate Class of 2017, has that masterpiece, or what he hopes will be, in his sights. He hasn’t found it yet. He may never find it, he acknowledges. If he doesn’t, it won’t be for lack of trying. Trying, in its own right, is fulfilling and meaningful and a labor of love.

 

After leaving North Mooreland Road, where he starred in football and track and field, he played football at the University of Michigan, where he majored in economics and earned a graduate degree in business management, credentials which he felt would serve him well in his future professional endeavors.

 

Along the way, he became involved as president and chief operating officer with The Uniform Funding Foundation (TUFF), a non-profit whose mission is to provide athletic equipment for teams in underserved communities.

 

That joy-inducing connection, coupled with his long-held interest in film making, led him to step back from a promising corporate position in August 2023 to devote his time and energy to sharing stories of inspiration and hope.

 

“Here’s the overview,” he said one day recently during a visit to Collegiate. “Through the non-profit, I was exposed to many moving stories. We had pro athletes come to donation events and share their stories. The athletes were in the young athletes’ shoes 15 years ago.

 

“My parents had always encouraged me to find my passion and my purpose. I talked to a lot of people trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life after football. My freshman year of college, I had wanted to study film, but my academic advisor told me I wouldn’t see the field if I did because I’d miss two practices a week.”

 

His world was moving quickly. One thing led to another, and he met with Drew Kirsch, a noted music video director. His advice was to go all-in on one or two projects and see what evolved.

 

“After that hour-long conversation, I was really motivated,” Speight said. “I reflected on what spoke to me: a passion project. It clicked. I’d do two projects on TUFF. I’d follow two different athletes, traveling back to their hometowns.”

 

The first was Michael Leon, a University of Michigan soccer player, who returned to Accra, the capital of Ghana, after spearheading the donation of uniforms to four soccer teams. The other was Shaun Nua, Speight’s position coach at Michigan and now an assistant at Southern California, who spearheaded the donation of football uniforms to six teams in his native American Samoa. Speight and his team documented both journeys.

 

“They’re beautiful stories of giving back,” he said. “The picture is there. I just piece it together. It’s not my story. I didn’t paint it. They did. I try to figure out how to best present it. I was fortunate enough to do that twice for two different people, both of whom I really admire and enjoyed my time with.”

 

Speight had found his true passion. Along the way, he created his own production company, which he called Raindance Productions.

 

“The common thread,” he said, “is someone who faces adversity with resilience and joy and dances in the rain.”

 

Which brings us to The Peavey Project Documentary, Speight’s current work in progress and, he hopes, his masterpiece.

 

Peavey, of course, is the former Collegiate boys varsity basketball coach, Upper School counselor, and mindfulness guru who for the past seven years has battled Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer.

 

He was the inspiration for The Peavey Project, a non-profit co-founded by Jake McDonald and Collin McConaghy whose mission it is to provide mindfulness training that will enable people of all ages to successfully navigate the demands, stresses, and anxieties of their lives.

 

For Speight, the documentary is intensely personal. Peavey gave him the mindfulness tools that carried him through his stellar athletic career at Collegiate and allowed him to compete and achieve at the highest level of college football. And Peavey’s wife Sarah was his advisor during two of his high school years.

 

“Jake and Collin had approached me wondering if I could help them build their video library: something accessible with their meditations, their lessons, their curriculum,” Speight said. “It’s still in the works.”

 

He envisioned a larger, more in-depth project. He envisioned an Alex Peavey-centered documentary.

 

“I read somewhere that when Michelangelo [created] David, he saw David in the block of marble, and he had to free David,” Speight said. “So I’ve been tasked with what David looks like in this marble.

 

“What that’s looked like is talking to dozens and dozens of people who Alex has profoundly impacted. He says they’ve profoundly impacted him, but it’s vice versa.

 

“It’s obviously chatting with Alex and understanding him. He’s recommended books. I’ve read the books. I’m trying to understand the source material as closely as possible. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

 

“It’s been super powerful seeing the impact that Alex has had across the community over the years. The preparation has helped me understand what tools to use to chisel this marble.”

 

Blake Horn, who worked with Speight on the Michael Leon documentary, serves as cinematographer. Caitlin Allocca, Collegiate Class of 2018, serves as production assistant.

 

The experience has been humbling and transformative.

 

“At the very least, it’s been a blessing to spend time with Alex and Sarah and their kids (Bodhi and Jane) and spend most of the time not talking about the documentary,” Speight said.

 

“In our calls before and revisiting the lessons I learned long ago, it’s challenged me to live a more mindful life. I don’t want to make people feel a certain way. I want them to feel convicted to do something. I want this piece to equip and inspire people to use those people to lead a mindful life.”

 

Where is the project now? In early March, they shot hours upon hours of film including interviews and, in Speight’s words, “really wholesome moments with them as a family.” There will be other shoots in April and May.

 

They hope to release a trailer in the next few weeks. A short version, 15 minutes or so, could be available later in the spring and a longer version, possibly an hour and 15 minutes, by mid-July.

 

The marble, then, is taking shape.

 

“Exactly,” Speight said. “The way the story is forming right now, it’s about Alex, but it’s not about the cancer. It’s about his resilience, it’s about family, and it’s about community.”

~Weldon Bradshaw