Published April 15, 2020
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High senior Bryan Mallett’s filmmaking has gained a dedicated fan base in town and beyond.
Mallett started developing a passion for filmmaking during his freshman year, using a GoPro camera to document his family’s vacation.
“I thought it would be cool to use it to capture all of the memories during our vacation to Mexico that year,” said Mallett. “I started becoming more familiar with professional cameras during my sophomore year. I felt that my camera skills were solid going into my junior year, and that was when my good friend, Clayton Marengi, wanted me to test those skills for the upcoming football season. I listened, and then I made videos for winter sports teams such as basketball and hockey. My name was out there, which is all that I wanted at the time. This year was when it finally all came together. Everyone in Lynnfield, and even surrounding towns, knew who I was and what I did. I performed my talents for every Lynnfield sport imaginable for all to see on Instagram and occasionally on YouTube.”
With schools closed due to the COVID-19 virus, Mallett has created a variety of uplifting videos that have blown up on social media the last several weeks. He created a one-minute tribute video to the LHS Class of 2020 that has been watched by over 3,600 people on Instagram.
“The Class of 2020 video was one that I felt was very necessary,” said Mallett. “It was a quick one-minute montage of the best athletic moments from the Lynnfield seniors. I became worried about whether there was still a realistic chance that the Class of 2020 would ever be able to return to high school. I felt it was only right to go out on a high note.”
Mallett created videos called “LHStrong,” which featured clips of seniors wishing each other well while practicing social distancing. He made an “LMStrong” video, which included “a collage of the teachers’ sincere messages to their students during this time of uncertainty.” He also created videos documenting Summer Street School’s and Huckleberry Hill School’s recent parades. Before the pandemic brought life to a standstill, Mallett filmed and edited Huckleberry Hill’s Variety Show.
While Mallett has recently been recognized for his school-related videos, his specialty is filming sports.
“I created a one-hour documentary about New England Patriots legend Tom Brady that was posted very recently,” said Mallett. “Back in June, I created a hype video for Game 7 between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues, which gained over 115,000 views on Instagram and also increased my follower total by over 1,000.”
A number of athletes and sports writers have commended Mallett’s work. He recalled that New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman “liked” a one-minute Instagram video he made last August.
“Jared Carrabis, a Barstool Sports Red Sox blogger who has over 200,000 followers on Twitter, has re-tweeted many of my Red Sox-themed videos just enough for one of them to end up on Barstool Sports’ main Twitter account,” said Mallett. “The video has gained over 980,000 views in total. Former Boston College running back and future NFL stud AJ Dillon re-posted one of my videos I made for him. At the end of the day, these rewards are what motivates me to be great.”
Mallett said he has filmed “pretty much every Lynnfield High sport this year.”
“I would say my favorite place to film was Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins’ practice arena, where Lynnfield and Masco met in a regular season hockey game,” said Mallett.
Mallett’s work covering LHS teams led to Amesbury, Newburyport and Weston’s basketball teams recruiting him to film those teams’ respective state tournament runs. He also filmed the Triton boys’ hockey team’s dash to the Division 3 North semifinals.
“Triton made it far enough for me to go the Tsongas Center,” said Mallett. “That was a great experience.”
While the spring sports season remains in limbo, Mallett is still holding out hope that he will be able to film the spring teams this year.
Mallett said being a filmmaker is very rewarding and enjoyable.
“The most enjoyable part is easily just seeing the reactions and feedback from my audience,” said Mallett. “Seeing satisfaction out of everyone makes my day. I have also had many opportunities to film in many famous arenas such as Warrior Ice Arena and the Tsongas Center.”
Mallett has been actively involved with the community over the years. He competed on the LHS golf team last fall and is a member of the National Honor Society. He has also volunteered at Huckleberry Hill School during free periods, where he has been working with struggling first and second grade students.
Looking ahead to brighter days, Mallett will be attending Endicott College next year. He will be majoring in Film and Media Studies.
“My decision will allow me to remain close to home while also giving me access to one of the best Division 3 athletic programs in the nation,” said Mallett. “I will be joining my close friend, Clayton Marengi, at Endicott. My hope is that we can share the spotlight there as previously done in Lynnfield. I have already been in contact with some of the separate sports teams already to gain insight on how I could perform my services for them. A couple are really impressed with my work and are on board with having me a part of the team.”