Filmmaker David Rountree ’93 Shares His Origin Story

The Zoom call is answered by a stylish guy with a punk-rock haircut, wearing a T-shirt with the numbers “108” stitched on the front. He is backlit by the bright Los Angeles sunshine that streams over a pond, a small bridge and a trickling waterfall. Two ducks quack happily off- screen. A dog barks.

It’s a cinematic introduction to Ravenscroft’s newest Fine Arts Hall of Fame inductee, David Rountree ’93. In fact, Rountree tells his own story with the same deft narration and twists and turns as one might expect from the writer/director/producer of award-winning films and developer of a new series for television, “Serios.”

While he hasn’t made a movie about it, the tale of how he found his footing as a writer at Ravenscroft, pursued his athletic dreams in college before pivoting to an acting career and now makes his living as president of LA-based Psycho Rock Productions feels a lot like life imitating art.

Roundtree directs on the set of “400 to Oahu,” an award-winning short film that was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Athletics — and academics

In 1991, Rountree was a high school senior and a football kicker. The Raleigh Durham Skyhawks were playing their one season in the World League of American Football and practicing on the fields at Ravenscroft, where Rountree and his brother, Benji ’95, had just enrolled.

“The Skyhawks had a professional upright [field goal] delivered, and I wanted to kick on that,” he remembered.

No one turned Rountree away, and he was thrilled to connect with both the Skyhawks kickers and the NC State football coach, Henry Trevathan Jr. At one point, he recalled, Ravenscroft’s then-assistant varsity football coach Scott DeShields approached him, and he thought he was going to ask him to leave. Instead, DeShields asked if he needed help with anything and ended up giving him pointers. Rountree would play for the varsity Ravens for two seasons, including as a co-captain in the 1992 season.

As Rountree tells it, this theme runs through all of his Ravenscroft experiences — much like a classic underdog movie in which the protagonist rallies through challenges, forges new paths, realizes his true calling and returns to his roots to give back. But if football was his ticket to entry, it was Ravenscroft’s committed teachers and coaches who ultimately provided the foundation for his success story in school.

This photo from the 1993 Corvus yearbook shows Rountree, at center, with head football coach Ned Gonet, kneeling, and fellow 1992 varsity captains Trent Wadford ’93 and Brad Creel ’93; Rountree, wearing an East Carolina football jersey, is pictured with his father, sporting a ball cap for ECU Swimming — two of the three sports the younger Rountree earned letters for in college.

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“When I transferred to Ravenscroft, I put in more work because I wanted to impress them. And right away I learned that I was not ready to be a student at Ravenscroft!” he recalled.

After a near-failing grade on an assignment in AP English for teacher Angela Connor, Rountree moved to a college-prep-level course with teacher Warren Gould, where he made a commitment to improving his writing skills.

“Every day after school, before I went to football practice, I had to meet with Mr. Gould for 30 minutes to an hour to learn how to write,” Rountree remembered. “I rewrote that paper 14 times, until it was finally an ‘A’ paper. But then I understood how to do it. So Mr. Gould and Mrs. Connor ultimately were responsible for crafting me as an academic.”

A shift in career priorities

After graduation, Rountree headed to Elon College (now Elon University), where he started a swim team, competed in football and baseball, and earned a 4.0 GPA, discovering along the way a passion for creative writing. After transferring to East Carolina University, where he continued his football and swim career but didn’t quite click with the program, he was thrilled to land at NC State. Although he went there hoping for another year of college football eligibility, he swam and played water polo for the university’s club teams. He discovered a passion for theater.

It was the beginning of a shift in his career priorities. While Rountree played for the short-lived Regional Football League and as the fourth of four backup kickers for the former Washington Redskins, he found himself working with a talent agent for athletes. He soon moved to Los Angeles and did a series of television commercials until he started getting calls for acting work — as an athlete.

As part of his acting work in Hollywood, Rountree portrays Trucker Hat Guy in a 2004 episode of the Fox drama “The O.C.”; Rountree directs star Josh Blue in the 2014 baseball comedy “108 Stitches.”

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“I started my career doing a lot of sports commercials. … One was a Bank of America commercial but on the baseball field. I was a catcher in baseball, so I got booked as the catcher,” he explained. “There was a spot for Sealy mattresses in the Olympics. Well, I was a swimmer, so I booked the commercial.”

It was at this time that Rountree took a job coaching swimming at the Brentwood School in Los Angeles. The school hosted children of numerous high-profile celebrities but did not have a film program. Rountree started one, using his own equipment and energy — connecting along the way with many people in the film industry, including the producer who would read his first script.

In the years since, Rountree has contributed to six feature films as a writer, producer and/or director. His films “108 Stitches” and “CUT!” were released in theaters nationally in 2014, and his work on short films has been recognized by numerous film festivals, including the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. He has also directed national television commercials and music videos and works with aspiring actors through the LA Acting Studios in California.

Rountree, shown here with co-star David Banks, both performs in and directs “CUT!,” which was picked by MRankings as one of the Top 5 Horror Movies of 2014 and earned him Best Director awards at two major festivals.

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Staying connected to Ravenscroft

Even with his busy schedule, Rountree has remained connected to the school that helped give him the solid writing skills that helped advance his career as a filmmaker. He serves as a Class Agent for Ravenscroft’s Alumni Council, and, when he returned to Raleigh for his induction into the Hall of Fame, he made sure to find time to speak with current students about his career.

Reflecting on the impact of his teachers’ and coaches’ willingness to invest in him, he expressed how important it is for him to do the same today.

“When I see kids who are interested [in the film industry], I want to help them, because somebody helped me along the way when they didn't have to do it, right? When I went back to Ravenscroft and talked to the students, I said, ‘I was in the same boat as you are; I never considered acting or filmmaking as a viable option as a career choice. Coming out of North Carolina, [it was as if] Hollywood didn’t exist — it’s a magical place on the other side of the world, it doesn’t really exist.’ I let them know it does exist, and it is a possibility. … If it’s something you’re passionate about, do it.

Rountree talks with Middle School students in the young peoples’ theatre during his visit to campus in May, when he received Ravenscroft’s Fine Arts Hall of Fame Award.

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“The biggest thing I could give my younger self is the knowledge I have now, that you’re on the right path. It’s building life lessons. It’s building strength. It’s building character. It’s building all of these things in you. I don't know if my younger self would believe it, but I would tell myself that, right?”

While Rountree can’t conjure up a way to actually deliver those words of encouragement to his high school self, he believes the medium he’s devoted his career to offers something of a substitute for audiences.

“We watch movies and TV shows to give us inspiration. They give us hope. We want to see the underdog overcome,” he said. “I think that’s why we gravitate to movies and why I became a storyteller. That’s my goal as a filmmaker, to inspire others.”

At top, David Rountree ’93 works on the set of one of his feature films.