MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2025

Happy Holidays

Film at George Mason wishes everyone a safe, relaxing, and happy holiday season.  
We look forward to welcoming you back in 2026. 

Winter Office Hours

The Film Office, Equipment Cage, and Post-Production Labs (C100 and Cortez) will be closed for the University’s winter break starting on December 22nd. We will reopen on January 5th. The Film Office will operate virtually from January 5-16, 2026. 
The Equipment Cage will open for appointments only from January 7th through January 19th. Contact filmcage@gmu.edu to schedule an appointment. Classes resume on January 20th.

Congratulations Winter 2025 Film Graduates

Congratulations Class of 2025 graduates! We’re proud of your academic and creative accomplishments. As you embark on your post-graduation lives, we encourage you to use your art to explore complex issues, open minds, and help people to understand each other. We look forward to seeing more of your inspiring work in the years to come. We also look forward to staying in touch with you.
Christopher J Bartolotto 
Anirys Colon Castillo 
Sujay D Khona 
Carlea J Maben 
Lance Christian Santiago Maldonado 
Mariah L Maynard 
Broderick D Myers 
Selma Veli

Registration for
Spring 2026


Registration for Spring 2026 is still open. 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, please see some of the courses we’re offering with seats still available.

Spring 2026 Courses Spotlight
FAVS 225 Introduction to World Cinema 
Multiple Sections and Instructors  

This course explores examples of many kinds of movies from around the world, including documentary, fiction, and experimental. Students will share their understandings of film language and structures, with attention to film's many contexts, including economic institutions, historical events, and political and social issues that shape and are shaped by movies. Mason Core Arts. 
FAVS 204 Film Art
Multiple Sections and Instructors

This course explores filmmaking and film watching in relation to other art forms, including audio arts, dance, theater, painting, sculpture, games, digital arts, and comics. It introduces traditional film forms and evolving filmmaking practices. Students learn how to watch, analyze, and research films through writing, visual storytelling, and storyboards. Open to all majors.
FAVS 255 Film Production
Multiple Sections and Instructors

This course is a hands-on methods course in video production for film. Through practice, reading, film viewing, and discussions, students will be introduced to the art and activity of digital filmmaking across film genres. Multiple creative and collaborative assignments provide a range of filmmaking experiences. Open to all majors.
FAVS 250 Business of Film 
Multiple Sections

This course provides an overview of the film and television industry from a business perspective. Students learn basic film entertainment business practices and protocol, including film financing, copyright & trademark, anti-trust, trademark, IP licensing, agents & managers, entertainment unions & guilds, film distribution, and marketing techniques.
FAVS 233 Film Sound 
Multiple Sections and Instructors  

This course instructs students on the theories, techniques, and technologies for recording audio  on location and in the studio, as well as editing  and mixing sound in post-production. 
FAVS 260 - Video Editing for Film  
Multiple Sections | IN 233
Professor Maura Ugarte 

This course instructs on the theories and technical expertise of film and video editing. Students will learn to use video editing software and tell stories. The course combines lectures, discussions, and demonstrations with hands-on projects. 

Film and Video Studies Scholarships 


The Academic Scholarship application for the 2026-2027 school year is now open. Film and Video Studies wants eager, talented students to have the opportunity to hone their craft. We offer financial aid and scholarships to support students as they work toward realizing their goals as filmmakers.

For eligibility and requirements, view our scholarship website. 
Deadline: March 1, 2026

Storyline


The submission period for the next Storyline issue opens on January 1, 2026. 

Deadline: March 2, 2026 

Visit https://filmfreeway.com/StorylineGMU to review the rules and submit your script(s) for consideration. 

Visiting Filmmakers Series 

Please check our VFS website for updates. 
In November, Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker Daniel Junge visited George Mason University for two days. In addition to screening and discussing his feature documentary, I Was Born This Way, Dan joined the FAVS 499: Career Seminar class for an in-depth discussion of crafting a single scene. He shared his experiences in archival research, interviewing subjects (including Lady Gaga), and creating rotoscope animation.

The Daniel Junge Masterclass is available to view on Mason Arts Amplified. 
Watch Now

Save the Date: Mason Film Festival and
20th Anniversary of Film and Video Studies

Save the date for the 2026 Mason Film Festival and the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Film and Video Studies Program, scheduled for May 7, 2026-May 9, 2026, on George Mason University’s Fairfax campus.  

The celebration will feature a variety of alumni events and activities, including an online alumni film showcase, masterclasses, panels, a reception, in addition to our annual Mason Film Festival.  

More information to come.

Local Film Festival: Filmfest DC


Submissions are officially open for the 2026 Washington DC International Film Festival (Filmfest DC). Feature-length or short film entries are welcome.  
 
Filmmakers living and/or working in the DC Metro area may be eligible for a discounted entry fee. To get a local discount of 50% off on entry fees, contact Filmfest (filmfestdc@filmfestdc.org) prior to submission with your name, address, name of film, date of production, run time, and a brief description of your film’s connection to the DC Metro Area. 

Deadline: January 19, 2026

For more information, please visit the website and to submit your film, visit FilmFreeway.

Faculty Spotlight


Professor Susan Kehoe was featured in The George: This Week Around Mason (Dec 4, 2025). In the interview, she talks about her volunteer work training service dogs for Canine Companions for Independence. The article also celebrates her 35 years at George Mason, leading the team at GMU-TV.  

Click here to read the article on the George Mason University News site. 

Student and Alumni Spotlight
Sujay Khona and Natalia Melnikova won a Capital Emmy in the "Fiction - Short Form" category for Kaju Katli.

Nate Henry (‘25) won a Capital Emmy in the “Director” category for In Your Dreams. 
Click here to watch the announcement and view the full list of student production award recipients. 

Congratulations!

Film Opportunities and Resources   


Festival Submissions:
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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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