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MONTHLY NEWSLETTERApril 2024
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2024 Mason Film Festival
The 2024 Mason Film Festival is taking place on April 22, 23, 24, and April 27, 2024. Join us today for Day 1 in the Johnson Center Cinema. Visit our website to view the full schedule and register for each days’ events.
Important Information for the Senior Showcase:
The Senior Directing Showcase on Saturday, April 27 is sold out! Note that registering does not guarantee a seat, so please arrive early on April 27 to check in.
The event begins at 3pm and check-in begins around 2pm. Once you check in, you will receive a wristband that denotes your ability to enter the JC Cinema for the event. Those who do not register or arrive after the event begins will be able to watch a livestream of the screenings and Q&A in JC Gold Room (our overflow space).
Each 499 directing student whose work is screening during the Senior Showcase automatically receives 2 wristbands, one for you and one for another person of your choice. 499 directing students whose work is screening do not need to register on Mason360. You can pick up your wristbands at the Festival check-in table in the JC Cinema lobby on Monday, April 22; Tuesday, April 23; or Wednesday, April 24 during Festival hours (see schedule here). All other crew members, actors, family members, and friends must have registered themselves on Mason360 to have access to the JC Cinema during the event: again, these seats are now sold out.
Parking and Finding the Johnson Center Cinema:
Covered, paid parking is available in the Mason Pond Parking Deck located at 4500 Aquia Creek Ln, Fairfax, VA 22030.
To get to the Johnson Center Cinema:
-Exit the parking garage on the ground level near the Mason statue.
-Enter the Johnson Center to the right of the Mason statue.
-Go down one level to the ground floor.
Click here to view the campus map.
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Visiting Filmmakers Series
Thank you to everyone who attended our Visiting Filmmakers Series this semester.
In March, Writer/Director and Film at Mason Professor Nikyatu Jusu presented her feature film Nanny in the Johnson Center Cinema. Mason Cable News interviewed Professor Jusu, our student host James Bah, and several audience members. Check out the segment, around the 2:50 minute marker:
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You can also watch Nikyatu Jusu’s Q&A on Mason Arts Amplified, here.
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Be on the lookout as we announce future films and visiting artists for Fall 2024.
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Happening in the Classroom
Professor Amanda Kraus’ FAVS 433 Advanced Sound students worked in our new Post-Production Suite to learn about Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR). Film professionals use ADR to improve the sound quality of an actor’s dialogue after filming wraps. It involves re-recording audio in a more controlled, quieter setting.
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Paolo Rivas, Bodhi Roig, Parker Haller, and Aidan Moriarty
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Happening Outside the Classroom
FAVS student Selma Veli and Post-Production Coordinator Evan Bowen watch the Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024.
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Registration Reminder
Fall Registration started for some students on April 18th. Check the academic calendar to see the date that you can begin registering for classes. If you have questions or concerns regarding your schedule or course offerings, reach out to your Academic Advisor, Maddie Portnoy, at mportnoy@gmu.edu
Below, see some of our highlighted classes for Fall.
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Featured Fall 2024 Classes
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FAVS 356 Film Marketing
Monday, 4:30-7:10pm | Online Sync
Professor Monica Bellais
This course provides students with a variety of film and television marketing business strategies and creative skills, including publicity, press kits, advertising, trailers, poster design, film credits, box art, branding, licensing & merchandising, and distribution. As aspiring media entrepreneurs, students learn to professionally manage their careers whether in low-budget independent film or Hollywood blockbuster tracks via self-promotion and publicity.
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FAVS 366 Video Production for Social Change
Monday, 1:30-4:10pm | AB 1007
Professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi
This video production course emulates a professional production environment where student teams, under the instructor’s supervision, produce effective pieces for local community-based non-profit organizations. Students will assess clients’ goals, develop a creative concept and strategy, and a statement of work. Developing professionalism and collaboration, students will see their work reach beyond the classroom, speaking to broad and also specific audiences.
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FAVS 399 Documentary Film Editing
Monday, 1:30-4:10pm | IN 233
Professor Maura Ugarte
This three-credit course focuses on the art and craft of editing a documentary film. We will study editing theory, current trends in documentary, ethical considerations, how to shape documentary stories, and how to approach different modes of documentary storytelling. We will also discuss technical considerations such as workflow, incorporating archival material, and using sound and visual effects. The course primarily uses Adobe software.
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FAVS 399 Elections, Issues, and Films
Thursday, 1:30-4:10 | Planet 224
Professor Samirah Alkassim
In this class, students explore fiction and non-fiction films that reflect major concerns during an American presidential election year. These concerns connect to the foundational mythology of American democracy and are reflected in issues such as health care, lobbies, immigration reform, climate change, surveillance, and civil and human rights. Films include James DeMonaco’s The Purge: Election Year, Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro, Laura Poitras’ Citizen Four, Ava DuVernay’s 13th, and Jose Antonio Vargas’ Documented.
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FAVS 431 Advanced Cinematography
Thursday, 10:30am-1:10pm | AB 1005
Professor Hans Charles
This course builds on the foundation of FAVS 331 and explores advanced techniques in lighting and post-production (color correction). Where cinematography focuses on cinematography from the perspective of film (celluloid), Advanced Cinematography explores digital cinematography, its advantages and limitations.
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Faculty Achievements
Professor Tommy Britt contributed a chapter, "Streets on Locke: The Volition of Atlanta" to the new book Greater Atlanta: Black Satire after Obama, an engaging study of contemporary Black satire through the lens of the critically acclaimed FX television series, Atlanta.
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Professor Lisa Thrasher presented her work as part of the LGBTQ+ Resources Center’s Faculty Fellow Symposium during Pride Week and was featured in a Mason news article. Professor Thrasher discussed working in the film industry, specifically her experience with LGBTQ+ filmmaking. She presented a compilation of her work, edited by Film at Mason student Rachel DePratti.
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Writer/Director Lisa Gornick, Producer Lisa Thrasher, and Writer/Actress Guinevere Turner at the Taipei Pride Parade.
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Professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi’s company, Storycatcher Productions, received a Thrive grant through Fairfax County to receive consulting services valued up to $10,000 to help grow her women-owned production business.
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Alum and Faculty Achievement
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Professor Thrasher produced the queer feature film, I Love You More, written, directed, and produced by 2018 alum Erblin Nushi. Filmed in Kosovo, I Love You More was The began its international festival run in August 2023 and commercial distribution in 2024. it’s now available on DVD and streaming in the U.S. via Prime Video and Apple TV.
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Hannah Looney (Film at Mason Alum, 2018), will be developing “The Sands,” a one-hour drama television pilot co-written by Jason Cortez (Film at Mason Alum 2015), as part of the Narrative Script Development Fellowship. With this Fellowship, Hannah will have access to support and guidance to navigate the process of shopping "The Sands" and preparing for development. “Sending a script out into the world feels daunting,” says Hannah. "I’m excited to develop the tools and learning more about the process that is best for ‘The Sands.’”
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Film at Mason Advisory Board Member Achievement
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Mahrya MacIntire is the producer on An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th, now streaming on MAX. The documentary, which premiered on HBO on April 16, examines the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism against the government in U.S. history. An American Bombing looks at the experiences of the people there, the hunt for the perpetrators, the pivotal moments of the trials, and the event’s lingering effects, still felt today. Arlington’s own Katie Couric is executive producer. See the trailer here.
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Film Opportunities and Resources
Festival Submissions:
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Did you miss our last newsletter?
Check out the archives here.
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We want to hear from you! If you have news you would like to contribute, please send it to film@gmu.edu. We are looking for regional film events and updates from Film at Mason alumni. Keep up-to-date on all the current Film at Mason news at film.gmu.edu.
Film and Video Studies
College of Visual and Performing Arts
4400 University Dr. MSN 5D8
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-993-3287 | film@gmu.edu
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