MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
MAY 2025

Congratulations Class of 2025


Congratulations Class of 2025 graduates. We are so proud of your academic and creative achievements. 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 wonderful work in the years to come.  

Ali Abdelaziz Ali 
Marco Arias Anduze 
Olivia Cunningham 
Dominique Shanta Dargan 
Emma E Davenport 
Marko Djordjevic 
Jared Dodge 
Benjamin Donnelly 
Hector Elias Figueroa 
Alexzandar Fullerton 
Parker Scott Haller 
Jackson Harvey 
Emilee Alma Hayward 
Kailee Claudia Hayward 
Nate Henry 
Naomi Tram-Huong Ho 
Nickolas D Horenberger 
Philip James Jr. 
Douglas Xavier Jimenez 
Paul Kalata 
Bailey Christopher Kearns 
Megan Elizabeth Keough 
Gene Su Kim 
Ashlyn Elizabeth King 
Madison Lee Koren 
Maya Lang 
Iana Lee 
Jason G Mabry 
Jonah Manibusan 
Alissa Luann Mckay 
Rosa L Mendez Galicia 
Aidan Xavier Moriarty 
Cecilia Ohanian 
Patrice Dominique Pannell 
Sonja Victoria Phillips-Thomas 
Norma Estela Reyes 
Paolo Rivas 
Michael Anthony Rivera 
Chloe I Salman 
Alexander Salmeron 
Andrew James Shaffer 
Kate “Moth” Sheridan 
Marjaan A Simab 
Gabriel Stone 
Jonathan Strauch 
Liam Riley Tipler 
Miles Tison 
Daniel Vo 
Erica Danielle Worthington 
Nataly Wright 

Registration Reminder

Fall 2025 registration is ongoing. 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.

Featured Fall 2025 Classes

FAVS 250 Business of Film and TV
Multiple Sections Offered 


This course provides an overview of the film and television industry from a business perspective. Students learn basic filmed 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 260 Video Editing for Film
Multiple Sections Offered 

In this course, students practice creative storytelling through video editing. They learn by doing, working with a range of editing software, watching and discussing movies, and engaging in hands-on individual and group projects. 
FAVS 300 Global Horror Film
Multiple Sections Offered 

 
This course is an introduction to the horror film genre. Looking at various national and transnational cinemas, the course traces horror’s development from its literary beginnings through contemporary filmic storytelling. We’ll consider artistic, commercial, and sociopolitical aspects of the horror film and explore themes such as war, terror, and censorship. Students will learn to identify how horror texts both reflect and influence cultural interdependence and inequality across the world.
FAVS 331 Cinematography 
Multiple Sections Offered 

This course aims to recreate a professional camera department environment. By the end of the semester, students should be able to understand and perform the function of first assistant cameraperson or second assistant cameraperson on a camera crew. Students will understand the history, function, art, craft, and science of cinematography.  

Required Prerequisites: FAVS 204 and FAVS 255
FAVS 366 Video Production for Social Change
Wednesdays, 10:30am-1:10pm | AB 1005
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.

Summer Office Hours

Over the summer, FAVS in-office hours will be from
1-4pm, Monday-Thursday. We can also be reached
at film@gmu.edu. 

The Film Equipment Cage and Film and Video Studies Post-Production Labs (C100 and Cortez)
are closed for the summer. You may access them
by appointment only. Contact filmcage@gmu.edu
(for Equipment Cage) or favslabs@gmu.edu (for Post-Production facilities) to schedule an appointment. 

Visiting Filmmakers Series

Thank you to all who attended our last Visiting Filmmakers Series event of the semester, a Masterclass with TV Writer-Producer and George Mason Alum Andy Reaser. The visit took place on April 1: Andy shared valuable insights and some great stories, based on his career working on shows such as Charmed, Pretty Little Liars, and seven seasons of Grey’s Anatomy

A special thanks to our host, Professor Peter Kimball, who led the engaging conversation.
Stay tuned for news on Fall 2025 VFS events.

W.C. Taylor High School: A Legacy
 Premieres on Folkstreams 


W.C. Taylor High School: A Legacy, a film that was directed and produced by G. Chesler and created with the help of 60 FAVS faculty, students, staff, and alumni through the Mason Film Lab, as well as the W.C. Taylor Alumni Committee, premiered on Folkstreams. W.C. Taylor High School: A Legacy is a moving tribute to the African American students, teachers, and families who made W.C. Taylor High School a pillar of strength, education, and community in Fauquier County, Virginia.  

The film tells the story of W.C. Taylor High School, which operated from 1952 until 1969 as the county's first and only high school for Black students during segregation. Named after educator William C. Taylor, the school served as a central institution for African American life in the region, offering not only education, but also leadership, opportunity, and cultural identity during a period of entrenched racial inequality. This short film documents the stories of alumni from their time in school, through segregation and integration, and of their accomplishments since. 

Watch the documentary here: https://www.folkstreams.net/films/w-c-taylor-high-school-a-legacy 

Learn more about the film and Folkstreams here

Meet our New Equipment Cage Supervisor

Welcome Cory Mason!


Cory is the Equipment Cage Supervisor (part-time) for the Film and Video Studies program at George Mason University. He is a FAVS alum (2019) who specializes in cinematography and producing. He works freelance throughout the DMV and recently produced the award-winning feature film Take From Me. You may find him working in the Equipment Cage located in the Art and Design building. Be sure to stop by and say hello!

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is looking for volunteers this summer. This year's theme is Youth and the Future of Culture. Held on the National Mall each summer, the Folklife Festival honors contemporary living cultural traditions and celebrates those who practice and sustain them. With free performances, workshops, demonstrations and other activities, it is a chance for visitors to be immersed in song, dance, crafts, games, food and skills of the unique culture. 

A particular program of interest is Emerging Media MakersEmerging Media Makers highlights how young filmmakers, journalists, and DJs are telling unique and personal stories that explore the depth and breadth of their worlds. Filmmakers and media organizations across the nation will be participating.

Opportunities for volunteers include: 
• Festival Set Up and Pack Out 
• Audio, Photo, and Video Documentation 
• Accessibility 
• Sustainability 

Volunteer opportunities are flexible and start as early as June 16. This is a great opportunity to gain experience and network!
Learn more and apply to volunteer here.

Student Achievement

New Film and Video Studies graduate James Bah is featured in The George. In the article, he discusses his achievements as a film student, as founder and president of the Black Filmmakers Association (BFMA) and participant in the Visiting Filmmakers Series, as well as his professional work.

Read the article here

Alumni Spotlight

Photo from George Mason Office of Government and Community Relations
DeShane Jones (‘18) received a Jack Wood Award in the Community Category for his commitment to fostering relationships between George Mason University and the City of Fairfax. He took the initiative to create lasting, positive change in the community through civic engagement and local advocacy. Specifically, DeShane co-founded the Black Social & Culture Committee (BSCC); their work includes ensuring that Black Fairfax residents, students, and business owners can access George Mason spaces to celebrate culture, promote economic growth, and enhance civic engagement. 

Read more here
Rhyan Elliot (’20) is featured in The George.
The article chronicles her success working as
a production supervisor for the five-time Oscar-winning film, Anora, as well as her other accomplishments as a film professional, including projects in New York City.  

Read the article here.


Faculty Accomplishments

We’re proud to note that on May 14, CVPA’s inaugural Faculty and Staff Outstanding Achievement Awards recognized the following Film and Video Studies members. 
Professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi received the CVPA Art and Community Engagement Award, which recognizes a faculty member who uses the arts to “create community” for Mason Arts, models a commitment to social change and community engagement, serving Fairfax County, Northern Virginia, and/or the world beyond, gives a voice to marginalized groups, and offers life-changing perspectives, and more. 

Professor Peter Kimball received the CVPA Teaching Award, which recognizes an instructor who creates a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible teaching environment where students can see themselves reflected in the curriculum, brings the best of their discipline to their classroom and advising, and makes this knowledge accessible to everyone, fosters a lifelong love of learning, and encourages productive risk-taking and collaboration. 

Professor Cynthia Fuchs received the CVPA Interdisciplinary Collaboration Award, which recognizes a faculty member who routinely engages with people from diverse disciplines, ideas, and lived experiences in their work, encourages members of the Mason Arts and broader communities to reach across traditional disciplines to build something new with others, creates opportunities for student and professional collaboration, and more. 
Professor Tommy Britt is presenting a new paper, "Post-language, post-soul: New rap and its reception" as part of the "Post-Soul Humor" seminar at the annual meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association. Also, the 2025 Fiction Fest is producing a live reading of his screenplay Lab Partners at the Limelight Theatre in Atlanta.

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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