Cinema Department at San Francisco State University
The School of Cinema is housed in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts at San Francisco State University. It is located in San Francisco, California, US, and offers a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts, and Master of Fine Arts in cinema. The program has been frequently included in the annual "Top 25 American Film Schools" rankings published by The Hollywood Reporter.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Established | 1967 |
---|---|
Academic staff | 23 |
Students | 950 |
Undergraduates | 900 |
Postgraduates | 50 |
Location | , , |
Website | www |
The curriculum combines film production, screenwriting, animation and critical theory in both its undergraduate and graduate programs. A wide range of courses in digital, interactive, and experimental production are offered at the school, as well as cinema history, theory, and criticism.[8] Currently there are approximately 950 students enrolled, the majority in the undergraduate program.[9]
Facilities
The department's production and research facilities include:
- Animation lab
- Coppola Theater
- Critical studies center
- Digital cinema lab
- DOC Film Institute
- Post-production studio
- Foley studio
- Optical printing studio
- Queer Cinema Project
- Post-production studios
- Sound stage
- Veteran Documentary Corps
History
The School of Cinema was founded amid the political activism and artistic experimentation of the 1960s. Originally part of the Broadcast and Electronic Arts Department, cinema faculty such as Jim Goldner successfully made the case to the university that filmmaking was both an art and industry, and that it needed to be housed in a separate department.
In the 1990s, a new facility was constructed, featuring a 2500-square-foot shooting stage, greatly enlarging the department's post-production studios and labs, and beginning the transition from analogue to digital processes. A new screening room, the Coppola Theater (FA 101), equipped for both 16mm and 35mm projection and featuring a Dolby sound system, was named for former Dean of Creative Arts, August Coppola, whose efforts were primarily responsible for funding the new building.[10] Digital upgrades to sound and editing labs have further modernized the department's production facilities.
In more recent times, filmmakers as diverse as Francis Ford Coppola and Ken Burns have given talks, master classes and screenings of their work. Alumni have also returned to the department to critique student work, to provide internships, and to continue the tradition of giving back to their community. Faculty in the department have long-standing relationships with the San Francisco Film Society and Bay Area Video Coalition, among many other San Francisco-based film production and cultural institutions.
Today, students take classes from a diverse group of over 20 tenure-track and tenured faculty committed to exploring all dimensions of film and media production and studies - from independent filmmaking to experimental animation to critical and cultural theory. Faculty continue to make films, write books on film and media culture, and give talks around the world on such diverse topics as Chinese cinema, digital culture, television aesthetics, experimental narrative, screenwriting and the politics of documentary film.
Faculty
- Daniel Bernardi: professor (media and culture)
- Scott Boswell: associate professor (fiction filmmaking)
- Steve Choe: associate professor (media and culture)
- Rafael Flores: assistant professor (filmmaking)
- Martha Gorzycki: professor (animation)
- Artel Great: assistant professor (George and Judy Marcus Endowed Chair in African American Cinema Studies)
- Laura Green: assistant professor (filmmaking)
- Julian Hoxter: professor (screenwriting)
- Pat Jackson: professor (filmmaking)
- Aaron Kerner: professor (media and culture)
- Steve Kovacs: professor (media and culture; screenwriting)
- Jenny Lau: professor (media and culture)
- Joseph McBride: professor (media and culture; screenwriting)
- Mihaela Mihailova: assistant professor (animation)
- Rosa Sungjoo Park: assistant professor (sound)
- Elizabeth Ramirez-Soto: assistant professor (documentary)
- Ben Ridgway: professor (animation)
- R.L. Rutsky: professor (media and culture)
- Rae Shaw: assistant professor (filmmaking)
- Britta Sjogren: professor (filmmaking; media and culture)
- Greta Snider: professor (filmmaking)
- Bethany Sparks: assistant professor (sound)
- Johnny Symons: associate professor (documentary filmmaking)
- Mayuran Tiruchelvam: assistant professor (George and Judy Marcus Endowed Chair in Social Justice Filmmaking)
- Weimin Zhang: professor (cinematography, documentary filmmaking)
Distinguished alumni
- Sean Afshar, special effects
- Tory Belleci, filmmaker, special effects department
- Gloria Borders, sound engineer (Academy Award winner)
- Christopher Boyes, sound designer, Skywalker Sound (Academy Award winner)
- Curtis Choy, sound engineer
- George Csicsery, documentary filmmaker
- Arthur Dong, documentary director, screenwriter, producer (Academy Award nominee)
- Anthony C. Ferrante, director, producer, writer
- Weston Green, digital filmmaker (Emmy Award winner,[11] Webby honoree [12])
- Barbara Hammer, filmmaker (Lambda Literary Award)
- Sarah K. Hellström, visual effects
- Masoud Jafari Jozani, director, screenwriter, producer
- Justin Kelly, director
- Lexi Leban, executive director, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
- Delroy Lindo, actor, theater director
- Steven Okazaki, documentary filmmaker
- Marcy Page, producer, director
- Anthony Peckham, screenwriter, producer
- Jonas Rivera, producer, Pixar Animation Studios (Academy Award winner)
- Jay Rosenblatt, filmmaker
- Corey Sienega, producer
- Lisanne Skyler, screenwriter, director
- Ethan Van der Ryn, sound editor (Academy Award winner)
- Steve Zaillian, screenwriter (Academy Award winner for Schindler's List)
Former faculty
- Jameson Goldner [13]
- Patricia Amlin: emeritus
- Jason Jakaitis: full-time lecturer (documentary, new Media, experimental)
- Scott Barlett
- Tim Blaskovich
- Robert Bell: emeritus
- Mel Carlsen
- Larry Clark (filmmaker)
- Angela Davis
- Cheryl Dunye
- Tarek Elhaik
- John Fell: emeritus
- Pat Ferrero: emeritus
- Douglas Gallez
- Jennifer Hammett
- Dave Hilberman
- Karen Holmes: emeritus
- Margo Kasdan
- Jim Kitses: emeritus
- Ron Levaco: emeritus
- Time Lewis
- Robert Lewis: emeritus
- Allie Light
- Akira Lippit
- Fred Padula
- Jan Millsapps: emerita
- Katie Morrissey
- Jesse Moss
- Alexander Nevill
- Bill Nichols: emeritus
- Joan Reynertson
- Irving Saraf
- Chris Saxton
- Celine Shimizu
- Trinh T. Minh-ha
- Stephen Ujlaki
References
- "The Top 25 Film Schools in the United States 2014". The Hollywood Reporter. 30 July 2014.
- "The Top 25 Film Schools in the United States 2015". The Hollywood Reporter. 2 October 2015.
- "THR Ranks the Top 25 American Film Schools". The Hollywood Reporter. 18 August 2016.
- "The Top 25 American Film Schools 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. 16 August 2017.
- "The Top 25 American Film Schools". The Hollywood Reporter. 16 August 2018.
- "The Top 25 American Film Schools, Ranked". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 August 2019.
- "2020's Top 25 American Film Schools, Ranked". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 August 2020.
- "Road Trip: San Francisco State University". US News. 2010-08-17.
- "SF State Cinema Bulletin 2011-12". SFSU.
- "SFSU names screening room after ex-dean Coppola". San Francisco Chronicle. 1997-09-17.
- "Weston Green wins Emmy Award".
- "NEW Webby Gallery + Index".
- "Extreme Educator: SF State's Jameson Goldner". CineSource. 2009-01-05.