Why Film, Media & Theatre

What do you tell your parents if they say, “I’m not paying tuition for you to be a starving filmmaker/actor/etc.?”

Many Film and Media students are looking to enter the rapidly growing film, television, and new media industries in Georgia and around the world, and our curriculum is designed to offer opportunities in hands-on mediamaking instruction while also grounding students in a solid understanding of media history, industry, technology, culture, theory, and criticism.

We are not simply training our students for their first entry-level job in media. We believe that a balanced, broad understanding of film and media will serve our graduates long beyond their first job. Media technologies will change over time; the fundamentals of good media do not.

We are interested in our production students becoming total filmmakers, familiar with all aspects of production instead of simply being button-pushing technicians.

In our studies classes, we rectify the imbalance of most education, which spends years teaching people how to think about the words they read and almost no time teaching them to think about what we see and hear. Critical thinking about film and media is a crucial life skill for being a citizen in our world.

So what is the value of a Film and Media degree if you don’t end up working for a film/media company? Everyone makes media nowadays. The question is, “Are you a GOOD mediamaker?”

Much professional employment in the 21^st century is involved at some level in the production and consumption of media. Participation in contemporary society means communicating your perspective through well-crafted media messages. The Film and Media program is dedicated to broadening the range of voices heard in American culture (including perspectives that are often marginalized because of race, gender, age, class, rural status, gender identity, ethnicity, body image, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or political orientation) and to critically examining the functions of mainstream images in our culture. Those are lifelong pursuits that are desperately needed in today’s society and today’s marketplace.

Like Film and Media majors, Theatre students are following their passion, which is something that all professional employers desire. The School is committed to live performance as a centerpiece of our culture, and we recognize that most media begin with capturing performance. Theatre graduates lend their voices to a broad range of arts organizations. Even if their eventual career doesn’t directly involve theatre, the theatre program gives them exactly the right skills that contemporary employers are looking for. Theatre majors are good at organization, creativity, and teamwork. They are poised when they present orally. They know how to write clearly to reach an audience. A degree in Theatre demonstrates that you have the both the discipline and the creativity needed to work in today’s flexible job market.