Department of Theatre and Media Arts

BYU TMA Dept. Recognized among Nation's Top Film Programs by ICG Magazine

by Leah Hill

The BYU Theatre and Media Arts program was recently recognized in International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) Magazine as being the "whole package."

The ICG Magazine, a prestigious film and video techniques journal, featured an article in its March issue by Chris Wolski that highlighted BYU as one of six exemplar film schools that “extend the boundary of cinema education.”

“Each offers the opportunity to hone creative skills and acquire – through rigorous production and demanding classroom experiences – the knowledge to set the world alight and capture the imaginations of future audiences,” Wolski wrote.

“Brigham Young University may not be the first school would-be filmmakers think of for cutting-edge techniques,” Wolski said. “But what students may miss out in name recognition, they more than make up for in real-world experience.”

Wolski explained that educators worry that media arts classes are focusing too much on technology and not enough on storytelling. However, BYU and the other five schools arm students with tools beyond cutting-edge equipment, incorporating the importance of storytelling through film history and theory.

Tom Russell, award winning associate film professor said BYU’s Media Arts program effectively balances theory, history and production—along with providing peer and professionally mentored environments for students.

“The program has been generously supported with equipment and resources; and BYU is one of the only universities in the country to provide students both short and feature film opportunities,” Russell said.

Wolski emphasized this opportunity in his article by detailing how BYU students produced the soon to be released feature For Robbing the Dead, directed by Russell in 2010. It was just one of the many real-world projects students have worked on while pursuing their degree.

“ICG feels that a university media arts program can and should provide technical training,” Russell said. “But the training is empty without an academic underpinning.”

Brad Barber, an Emmy–nominated filmmaker and BYU assistant film professor, said during his MFA program at the University of Southern California, his classmates could hardly believe what resources he had access to as a BYU film undergraduate.

“That divide may be slightly smaller now that digital filmmaking is so much cheaper and accessible to more people in or out of film schools, but I still think we have a great opportunity here, especially given our emphasis on history, theory, and – above all – storytelling,” Barber said.

Other schools mentioned in the article were Howard College, Ithaca College, Savannah College of Art and Design, the University of Kansas and Valencia Community College.