When filmmaker and musician Scott Berry moved from Australia to Traverse City, one of the first things that caught his attention wasn’t the snow. It was the basement. It’s the first one he has ever had, and he’s made it his creative refuge: a small, blue-insulated space centered around a bright drum kit. Down there, he’s preparing for his biggest performance yet, a six-hour livestream concert.
“When I was learning music and I got to play drums for the first time, it was this beautiful moment,” Berry said. “I was expressing myself and achieving something.”
For Berry, drums aren’t just an instrument. They are a tool for expression, focus, and confidence, all things that once felt out of reach. Growing up, school was a place of fear. Words on a page seemed to twist and morph into something unrecognizable. At 12, he was diagnosed with dyslexia.
His mother helped him learn through creative play, even using shaving cream to write the alphabet across the kitchen counter. Still, he often kept his struggles private. That changed when he discovered filmmaking. A short surf documentary he made as a teen sold out a local theater and gave him a sense of pride he hadn’t felt in the classroom.
After studying film and launching a community film school, Berry met a student who introduced himself to the class by saying he had dyslexia. The moment was transformative.
“It was the first time I saw someone just own it. No embarrassment, just fact,” he said.
That encounter inspired Berry’s latest short film, Jitters, the story of a dyslexic boy who faces a monster during a spelling bee. The project draws from his own experiences battling fear and self-doubt in school.
Now, he’s using music to bring Jitters to life. October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, and Berry will livestream a six-hour drum performance on YouTube on October 21 at 6 p.m. Each hour will feature messages and videos from others with dyslexia. Proceeds will help fund the film’s production and raise awareness for the dyslexic community.
“Good food, good mates, let’s just jam,” he said.
This story was produced as part of the Transom Story Workshop hosted by Interlochen Public Radio in August of 2025.
