Unit 37 | College of Media

Recent MACS alumni reflect on film and winning UIUC Student Film Festival Jury Award

March 21, 2023 | Paige Terando, New Voices Intern

Joanna Raimo (BS ’22, MACS; pictured at right) and Gio Giles-Sanchez (BS ’22, MACS), creators of A Tint of Red, won the 2022 UIUC Student Film Festival Jury Award, selected by members of the College of Media faculty.

The pair’s film, a 21-minute psychological horror, was one of 19 short films and videos screened at the UIUC Student Film Festival last April at the Knight Auditorium at Spurlock Museum.

The annual event, which is organized, promoted, and produced by students in the MACS course “Film Festivals,” features films of all genres created by undergraduates, filmmaking clubs, and production classes across the University of Illinois campus.

The festival drew a crowd of more than 200 attendees in person and has nearly 400 views on the livestream channel. Watch the film fest recording here.

Jon Knipp, lecturer for the Film Festivals class, described A Tint of Red as a “rich, well-made film.”

“Among the jury’s comments was an appreciation of the film’s formal command and creative use of genre tropes,” Knipp said.

Paige Terando, a New Voices Intern and a freshman in media and cinema studies, talked to Raimo and Giles-Sanchez about the film’s origin, inspiration, and what it felt like to win the jury award in a recent interview.

What is your current job title and where do you work?

Joanna: I am a recent graduate from the College of Media with a degree in Media & Cinema Studies and English. I just finished my first post-college job, working on a political campaign for Congressman Brad Schneider, which was a temporary position. Now, I’m looking for other jobs and have expanded into a path into politics as well, which was not a path I expected to go down but have really enjoyed.

Gio: I am a recent graduate as well, also with a degree in Media & Cinema Studies. Currently, I am a weekend anchor, producer, and reporter for KOTA and KBN Black Hills Fox, in Rapid City, South Dakota.

What were some valuable takeaways you got out of helping organize the film festival through the MACS course?

Joanna: MACS 464 (now MACS 366) had only been around two or three years before being hit by COVID-19, and this was the first year that the festival happened with the turnout that was expected. Everyone who attended the festival that I spoke to said it was cool to see student filmmaking. I really enjoyed planning the festival as well. It was fun to see everyone in the class have their own piece. I did social media marketing for the film, which is something I can use in the future.

What inspired you to make the film A Tint of Red?

Gio: Originally, this script was one I wrote for fun, within a week over winter break. It came from all the different media I was consuming at the time, in particular a game called Layers of Fear. It inspired me to create a story with a similar theme: art and death. I had a fascination with artists and art galleries, which after some brainstorming, left me with the idea of artists being pressured into being perfect in the industry. In the beginning, this film was modeled to be a slasher film. After Joanna and I started talking and brainstorming other ideas, we changed the idea to a psychological horror.

What was the process behind making this film?

Joanna: My senior year was coming up, and I knew that I wanted to create something bigger. Being a MACS student allows you to be a part of many small projects, but for this, I really wanted to do something of my own. One day in class, Gio was telling me about a script he had written and I asked him if I could look at it. That led to me asking if I could direct and edit this into a piece. One of the challenges we faced with the horror genre is how dramatic it is. We were excited to play with the styling and makeup effects we had within the film. The original script Gio gave me was 50 pages long, which we unfortunately had to cut down, to make this a short film.

Gio: After Joanna showed such an interest in the script I wrote, I asked her if she would want to work on it with me, and she agreed. She helped dial the film back from a slasher to a look into the (mental illness) struggle of a fine arts student. We had found a balance: I prefer to write the story and have someone else put their touch on it, which allowed us both to connect.

What techniques or theories did you learn in various MACS courses that you applied to this film?

Joanna: We began working on A Tint of Red when we were in JOUR 317 with Ken Erdey. On Camera Performance for UI7 is a class I recommend to anyone interested in journalism or anchoring. Also, getting to know your professors and networking is so important to do while in school. Victor Font (MACS lecturer) throughout the years has taught me so much about production. He taught me to just film, always be filming. Professor Amanda Ciafone and Jonathan Knipp were a big part of helping support us. All these professors helped us find resources to further this project. A lot of the things you learned in class, you learn to apply on set, which makes it really special.

Gio: I often read about lighting in classes, like MACS 100 and actually being able to play around with those skills was really cool to work with. Using gel filters, fill lighting, key lighting all were a big thing I was able to take away from classes and from this film. Jorge Murga did an amazingly beautiful job with the lighting within this film.

On winning the Jury Prize:

Joanna: Receiving the Jury Award for the 2022 UIUC Student Film Festival means so much to me, my co-director Gio Giles-Sanchez, assistant director Angelle Cortes, and our cast and crew. We spent many, many hours outside of our busy academic schedules to create A Tint of Red for the student film festival. We were eager to showcase our skills and prove that we could not only complete a substantial and challenging project before graduation, but that we could do it creatively and do it well. Receiving this award makes it all feel worthwhile!

Watch A Tint of Red:

Q&A with Grace Chen

Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Grace Chen (MS ’10 advertising) is a product manager at Meta.

When did you know that you wanted to study advertising?
As a child, I remember being very fascinated with old catalog ads. Throughout my childhood, a lot of advertising consisted of subscription-based magazines and order catalogs. I always thought about how much I loved seeing all these creative advertisements and innovative ideas. It even made me feel like I wanted to buy everything in the magazine. As I grew up, viewing TV commercials seemed like the coolest thing ever to me, for some reason. I’ve always been interested in studying advertising.

What are your main responsibilities as a product manager at Meta?
As a product manager at Meta, I work with engineers to build new products for Meta. I primarily work on a private communication team. My team’s mission is to help people start and continue conversations on the Facebook app.

If you could describe the advertising industry in one word, what would it be?
Adaptive. A lot has changed since I started my first job in advertising, and change will continue to be constant in this industry. In the past, TV advertisements were a major shift in the industry. Now, advertising is completely digital. When I started my career, digital used to be about 5 to 10 percent of a client’s budget, and now it’s near 100 percent for some companies. People need to be adaptive to work in this industry and it will continue to evolve.

What are one or two skills you think one needs to be successful in the advertising industry?
It’s important to not limit your understanding of advertising in terms of studying this major or finding a job. Today, media and technology are treated very similarly in the industry. Advertising, while part of media, is also part of technology. As a student, I believed I needed to get into an agency role right away, or work in the client side at some point. I didn’t realize that the industry is much bigger. It’s a good reminder to students entering the industry to notice how it has evolved, and the various opportunities that have been created as a result of the industry evolving. Another skill is adapting an understanding of the food chain of advertising. For example, if you join an agency and are at the lower end of the food chain, meaning more entry-level positions, you naturally have less say in your role. You may also find yourself wanting to have different responsibilities. It’s important that you know who the designated decision maker is in order to be efficient in responding to the needs of your job.

What is the most meaningful part of your job?
Right now, the most meaningful part of my job is working alongside a team of people I enjoy working with and who inspire me to be better! In the past, what I enjoyed the most about my job was being introduced to different product types and industries. In general, my interest in advertising sparked my curiosity to discover how aspects of the industry work together. It also gave me a good glimpse into the categories of products I could work for, whether it was working for pet foods, coffee products, entertainment services, and many more.

What advice would you give to students soon to graduate from the College of Media?
This next chapter in your life is the start of everything, not the end of things. Certainly, the job market may be tough at times. It’s quite common and normal for people to feel a lot of uncertainty at times, especially considering that the economy is totally different now than in previous generations. Despite this, it’s important to remember that this is just the beginning, and you can continue to build your brand. This could be achieved by building up your portfolio from something you’ve never considered before. Always remember to stay hopeful and keep going!

Hear more from Grace Chen, who participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on technology and media in Fall 2022. Watch a recording of the session here.

—Interview by Lauren Barjami, New Voices Intern

Molly Cornyn joins College of Media as project coordinator for Ebertfest

March 14, 2023 | Kelly Youngblood

Molly Cornyn recalls the time she and the cast of her musical just happened to run into Roger Ebert one night at a local Steak ‘n Shake after one of their high school performances. Ebert, the late Pulitzer-Prize winning film critic and Media alum (BS ’64, journalism), was a huge fan of Steak ‘n Shake, so it’s not that implausible to have spotted him there one random evening enjoying a meal.

However, Cornyn and her fellow cast members didn’t waste the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Ebert and sing their best musical number for him. Cornyn is proud to say they received Ebert’s iconic two thumbs-up rating for their impromptu performance and she left the diner with a smile on her face and a story for the ages.

Years later, Cornyn is now helping to plan Roger Ebert’s Film Festival as the new project coordinator for the College of Media. While the Ebert encounter never came up during the application process, the Champaign native had numerous qualifications to make her a stand-out candidate for the position.

“Molly’s experience managing the logistics for multiple complex projects in the entertainment industry makes her a perfect fit, and she has jumped right in,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin. “Moreover, we’re happy to welcome home a Media alum who understands and is invested in the mission of Ebertfest.”

Cornyn (BS ’06, media studies) will help plan, promote, and manage Ebertfest, which runs April 19-22 at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign.

“I think [Ebertfest] is a shining gem of what we have in this community,” she said. “I know that people at both the University of Illinois and outside of it are excited about the festival and think it’s really something special. Being able to be involved in that and bring that to the community is rewarding.”

After earning an MFA in producing for film and television from Chapman University in California, Cornyn spent five years at Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas, which owns and operates nine resort properties in the area, starting out as an entertainment public relations coordinator and then a film and special events manager.

Cornyn said she shot between 90 to 130 productions every year, which included “tons of cooking shows,” some with Gordon Ramsay whom she says is very nice to work with, despite his volatile persona on television. She also worked with producers of the Jason Bourne movie series for a scene that involved a car crashing into one of Caesars’ properties.

“Every project was different, the people you worked with were different, and that just made it exciting, something different every day,” she said.

When Cornyn decided to come back home to be closer to her family, she was hired at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, coordinating all aspects of a visiting artist’s performance. She enjoyed her time at Krannert Center, but also still held onto the dream of making her own films one day.

After two years there, she decided to take the leap and delve into freelance filmmaking but ultimately discovered filmmaking “wasn’t for me.” However, she never lost her passion for film, and when she saw that the job description for Ebertfest project coordinator sought certain logistical and project management skills that she excelled at, and involved a familiarity with film, she knew the job would be a great fit.

“The aspect of [the position] still being involved in film, which I love and didn’t necessarily want to get out of film entirely, [was appealing],” Cornyn said. “I was just trying to find my place, my niche [with film].”

Cornyn, who volunteered at Ebertfest as a student, believes her education and work experience in production will be a great asset in her new role.

“Producing is project management. It’s certainly having an eye for the creative and making space for the creatives to do what they do, and it’s also managing budgets, timelines, paperwork, and all the various people,” she said.

Her goal will be to balance the needs of all parties involved, from sponsors to vendors to attendees. Above all, she wants to maintain the integrity of the festival and the vision co-founder and host Chaz Ebert, wife of Roger Ebert, has for it.

Cornyn said continuing Ebert’s legacy through Ebertfest is very important for the film industry and the community at large.

“I think a big part of what Roger Ebert wanted from this festival was to educate people and give them the opportunity to see movies that are really phenomenal, that they might have never heard of, and having people who are involved or educated [about film] who can talk about them is so fantastic,” Cornyn said. “It’s important to remember people like him. He’s from this community, he cared about it, and gave a lot to it.”

First slate of Ebertfest films and guest Frank Oz announced around theme of ‘Empathy at the Movies’

March 9, 2023

A diverse selection of films that generate empathy have been curated for the 23rd Annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, running April 19-22 at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign. Ebertfest—co-founded and hosted by Chaz Ebert—will honor the 10th anniversary of her husband Roger Ebert’s death by screening films and bringing filmmaker guests who exemplify the theme of “Empathy at the Movies.”

Roger Ebert, a renowned film critic, University of Illinois journalism alumnus, and Urbana native, spoke often about the power of cinema and its ability to transform perspectives. Chaz said his guiding principle was empathy.

“For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy,” said Roger Ebert. “If it’s a great movie, it lets you understand a little bit more about what it’s like to be a different gender, a different race, a different age, a different economic class, a different nationality, a different profession, different hopes, aspirations, dreams, and fears.”

“Empathy can be generated through pathos and humor and by sharing communal experiences,” said Chaz. “This year in Roger’s memory we will gather together in what Roger has called the temple of cinema to reaffirm our connections to each other.”

Joining this year’s Ebertfest will be director Frank Oz, known for creating and performing many beloved characters on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, bringing to life Yoda in the Star Wars series, and directing numerous films, from Little Shop of Horrors to What About Bob? to The Stepford Wives.

“We are eager to welcome this special guest whose work is the very embodiment of empathy,” said Chaz.

Oz will accompany the screening of his film Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself (2020), a biography that explores identity and illusion while the storyteller and magician attempts to answer, “Who am I?” The film originated as a play written and performed by DelGaudio and directed by Oz, which ran Off-Broadway for 72 weeks. Derek DelGaudio and Janet Pierson, director emeritus of SXSW Film Festival, will also be in attendance.

THIS YEAR’S LINEUP ALSO INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING FILMS AND GUESTS:

The German cinematic masterpiece Wings of Desire (1987) made director Wim Wenders’s name synonymous with film art. “You’re seduced into the spell of this movie,” wrote Roger Ebert in his original review. The film, which was shot in black and white and color, features Bruno Ganz as Damiel, an angel who is willing to give up his perch high over Berlin, his ability to hear thoughts, as well as his immortality to return to earth after falling in love with a trapeze artist. Created shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ebert wrote that “the film is like music or a landscape: It clears a space in my mind, and in that space I can consider questions. Some of them are asked in the film: ‘Why am I me and why not you? Why am I here and why not there? When did time begin and where does space end?’” Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, will attend.

Directed by Emmy and Peabody Award-winner Rita Coburn, Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (2022) explores the life of the African American singer and civil rights pioneer, who died in 1993 at the age of 96. The film highlights Anderson’s career, art, and legacy as a Black classical singer with a breathtaking and rare vocal range as well as her work to further civil rights. The film allows viewers to hear Anderson’s own voice and point of view through archival interview recordings, photographs, and personal correspondence with family and friends, including Martin Luther King Jr., Josephine Baker, and Langston Hughes.

Director Rita Coburn and producer Brenda Robinson will attend. Following the screening will be a live performance by Viveca Richards, an opera soprano from the University of Illinois Lyric Theatre.

After a series of award-winning short films and music videos, Japanese Brazilian writer and director Edson Oda delivers a heartfelt vision on the meaning of life in his film directorial debut, Nine Days (2020). The ultra-original American fantasy drama that invites viewers to reconsider their worldview was a winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. In the RogerEbert.com review, Oda was praised for centering the film around “the eternal issues of the human condition: What does it mean to be alive? How do we appreciate life while we are here? Is it even possible?”

This year’s selection from the Ebertfest audience choice movie poll is Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story (1953). In Roger’s review of the film—which he called “one of the greatest films of all time”—he wrote, “Ozu is not only a great director but a great teacher, and after you know his films, a friend. With no other director do I feel affection for every single shot. … It ennobles the cinema. It says, yes, a movie can help us make small steps against our imperfections.”

An expert on Yasujiro Ozu’s work (to be announced) will be in attendance.

Continuing Ebertfest’s tradition of hosting a live music performance with a silent film, the Anvil Orchestra, based in Vermont, will accompany the German Expressionist silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), directed by Robert Wiene. It depicts the story of an insane hypnotist who uses a somnambulist (a sleepwalker) to commit crimes. The Anvil Orchestra—fondly named after a misspoken introduction by Roger Ebert at the Alloy Orchestra’s first Ebertfest appearance—is comprised of two-thirds of the Alloy Orchestra, which has since disbanded.

Additional films and guests will be announced in the coming weeks.

Passes to see all films with reserved seating are available to purchase online or at the Virginia Theatre box office, 203 W. Park Ave., Champaign, 217-356-9063. Individual movie tickets will go on sale on April 3.

Ebertfest is sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Media and Chaz Ebert.

Note: Anyone interested in supporting the event as a festival sponsor may contact Molly Cornyn, the festival’s project coordinator, at mcornyn2@illinois.edu.

Aranda named assistant news editor with American Heart Association

After a 24-year career at the Charlotte Observer, journalism alum Rogelio Aranda has become assistant news editor with the American Heart Association. He will continue to be based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In his new editorial role, Aranda will help to raise awareness around heart disease and stroke through the AHA’s news service. He will also contribute to the AHA’s Spanish-language news site, overseeing the translation process.

Aranda worked in a variety of positions at the Charlotte Observer, including news and sports copy editor and designer, wire editor, interim sports editor, and, most recently, local news editor.

Before moving to North Carolina in 1998, Aranda worked at the copy/design desk at the Daily Herald, suburban Chicago’s largest daily newspaper.

Anderson Cobb produces play about insurrection

Update March 7, 2023:

Anderson Cobb facilitates workshop on her play about insurrection

Nicole Anderson Cobb (MS ’16, journalism) recently facilitated a community workshop about her play Homegrown: An Insurrection Play, following a free screening at the First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana.

The play had previously run at the Station Theatre in Urbana in December and was also available to view virtually in February.

During the workshop, community members gathered to discuss the themes of the play and how they relate to a person’s civic duty.

Learn more about her play in this News-Gazette feature.

12/15/22

Nicole Anderson Cobb (MS ’16, journalism) was recently featured on Illinois Public Media radio program The 21st to discuss her play, Homegrown: An Insurrection Play. The play ran December 2-11 at The Station Theatre in Urbana. During the interview, she discussed the insurrection and the process of writing and producing the play.

Anderson Cobb, an author, historian, and playwright, said Homegrown: An Insurrection Play considers the impact of January 6, 2021, on a fictional church community grappling with the pandemic, political polarization, and racial protest. She holds multiple degrees from the University of Illinois: BA ’95 in political science, MA ’99 in history, and PhD ’07 in history.

Watch the play’s trailer:

‘Illini Sports Night’ airs first show on B1G+ network

March 7, 2023 | Vivian La, Communications Intern

Update 5/9/2023: Congratulations to the students who produced this broadcast! They won the 2023 NATAS Mid-America Student Production Award in the College Sports Program category.

Illini Sports Night hosted a live pregame show at State Farm Center on February 19 before the Fighting Illini women’s basketball game—the first-ever collaboration between the B1G+ network and the student-produced broadcast. The half-hour show aired on B1G+, which livestreams non-televised games.

Emmie Larson, senior in journalism and executive producer of Illini Sports Night, said students prepared for their national broadcast for three weeks.

“It was awesome to see that hard work and preparation create a live show,” she said. “This is something we’ve all never done before. It was cool to know we were capable of doing that.”

The pregame show focused on the Illinois women’s basketball team and the Penn State team, featuring interviews with players on both teams, commentary from the student anchors, and a sit-down with Illinois women’s basketball head coach Shauna Green. (Watch their special broadcast below and see behind-the-scenes photos.)

Illini Sports Night is part of UI7 Newsroom, where students write, produce, and report on all sports at the University as part of the journalism curriculum at the College of Media.

“The Illini Sports Night team had the opportunity to expand the reach of the program on a national scale and gain invaluable experience that will serve them in their future career pursuits,” said Kenneth Erdey, instructor and technical coordinator for Richmond Studio, the site for the student broadcasts.

Adrian Carrasco, senior in journalism and producer of the show, said he’s learned a lot from this experience and from his peers.

“That’s the great thing about working here—everybody’s so prepared and on it,” he said.

While their pregame show at State Farm Center did have some unexpected elements, Carrasco said they all took it in stride and learned something new.

During their live show, former women’s basketball head coach Theresa Grentz was honored with a banner unveiling—something the Illini Sports Night team thought would happen after their show ended.

The team quickly adjusted the end of their show, with anchors remarking on the historical impact of the moment, before transitioning to B1G+ programming.

“As our job, we kind of have to be ready for everything,” Carrasco said. “We have to be ready to solve any issues that come and just be on our A-game.”

Larson said one of her biggest takeaways from the show was that you can never be too prepared.

“If you keep your head in the game, you can create something very cool and very successful,” she said.

Illini Sports Night airs Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Watch past broadcasts.

New Emerging Leaders Program connects advertising students with industry leaders in Chicago

March 3, 2023 | Faith Lee, Communications Intern

The Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising and the Hub for Brand Innovation and Advertising Technology have created a new professional workshop series for students through the Emerging Leaders Program, which aims to immerse students in the advertising industry.

Thirty advertising students were selected for the 2022-23 academic year to gain experience in innovative areas of advertising, and network with University of Illinois alumni and industry guests in three workshops at the Illini Center in downtown Chicago.

“These immersive events allow students in the Emerging Leaders Program to interact with and learn from industry leaders in an experiential learning format,” said Michelle Nelson, professor of advertising and acting head of the department. “These experiences will also give students a unique advantage when they enter the job market.”

The program has focused on three themes in their workshops: programmatic advertising, brand strategy, and product marketing.

Susan Muirhead, associate director of the Brand Hub, was glad to develop an opportunity for students to apply their advertising skills outside of the classroom and gain a closer look at the advertising industry.

“I hope [students] learn about what the industry is doing so they’ll get a pulse on what’s happening and what the emerging trends are,” Muirhead said.

The sessions consist of a three-hour workshop where students work on a group project or exercise, followed by a two-hour networking event where students engage with peers and attending professionals and alumni.

Muirhead said the events have been a fun opportunity for both students and professionals to meet each other.

“I think [the industry professionals] are really impressed with the energy, the passion, and the talent, and how bright our students are.”

In October, the first workshop on the future of advertising technology was presented by The Trade Desk, which offers an independent media-buying platform.

“I learned about measuring audiences and media planning and the digital aspect of advertisements,” said Asia Griffin, a senior in advertising. “Just being able to network and talk to people at The Trade Desk was a great experience.”

In February, global advertising agency Leo Burnett presented on brand strategy and the students completed a Cultural Insights exercise, a tool actively used by the brand strategy team at Leo Burnett.

“I want to be more involved with Chicago-based companies,” said Joshua Watson, junior in advertising. “It’s also a good opportunity to learn more about what Leo Burnett is, what a job looks like there, and even just seeing all the people [who work] there.”

TikTok will host the last workshop in April, focusing on TikTok search engine optimization and product marketing.

Danielle Rowaiye, a junior in advertising, has enjoyed the program so far.

“I’m just excited to get to meet up with the same people again and have that same opportunity to network and to learn,” Rowaiye said.

Students and companies interested in participating in future Emerging Leaders Program events can contact Susan Muirhead at muirhea@illinois.edu.

Richmond Studio to undergo $2M renovation to create state-of-the-art broadcast facility

March 2, 2023 | Kelly Youngblood

Students in the College of Media will have access to a state-of-the-art broadcast studio and newsroom this fall after nearly $2 million in renovations are completed at the Richmond Studio.

Since 1999, the studio—connected to Campbell Hall, the home of Illinois Public Media—has served as the site for the college’s broadcast journalism courses. Three student broadcasts are currently produced at the studio for the University of Illinois public access TV channel UI7, including UI7 Live, Illini Sports Night, and Good Morning Illini.

The renovation project, which will begin in mid-March and is expected to reach substantial completion before the Fall 2023 semester begins, is made possible thanks to a gift from Richard and Leslie Frank. In 2020, the Franks gave the College of Media $7.5 million—the largest gift in college history—to establish the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media and to renovate Richmond Studio. This project is the first major overhaul of the building since it was erected in 1996, funded by a $2 million gift from Jack C. and Marjorie Laird Richmond.

“Through their enthusiastic support and generosity, Richard and Leslie Frank are ensuring our next generation of broadcast journalists will enter the profession ready to make an impact,” said Mira Sotirovic, associate professor, Karin and Folke Dovring Scholar in Propaganda, and head of the Department of Journalism.

The renovation project includes a fully remodeled studio with a new control room. A new equipment storage and check-out room will be built, as well as a video and audio production room where students will be able to record podcasts.

The existing classroom and computer lab located adjacent to the studio will become a collaborative room that serves not only as a class meeting space with a lab but also a newsroom and green room. A scrolling, LED news ticker will be installed around the perimeter of the newsroom and computer lab area. (Pictured above is a rendering of the newsroom and green room.)

Most of the current equipment—including studio cameras, lights, and the control systems—will be upgraded to more modern versions that newsrooms around the country are currently using, allowing students to learn best practices.

“My commitment to the University of Illinois, and Leslie’s career and passion for journalism, inspired us to want to give back to the journalism program by creating a new, state-of-the art broadcast facility,” Rich Frank said. “We are really impressed with the program here and the people who are dedicated to making it one of the top in the country.”

“Shaping journalists starts at the university level,” said Leslie Frank. “We feel that the University of Illinois has a fantastic journalism program and think our contribution will only enhance it, giving students more advantages and opportunities to become successful in their future journalism careers.”

Students on the set of Richmond Studio broadcast an episode of *UI7 Live.* (Photo by Kenneth Erdey.)

Kenneth Erdey, instructor of journalism and technical coordinator for the Richmond Studio, says he’s excited to see the new opportunities the renovations will bring to students.

He expects to see expanded televised programming, live reporting from various locations outside of the studio, and more breaking news coverage, which will be beneficial to students.

“On-camera talent is going to get better because there’s going to be more opportunity for them to [be on-air],” Erdey said. “Newscasts will improve because there will be more opportunities to cover breaking news.”

Alison Davis, lecturer of journalism and Emmy-award winning documentarian, is thrilled about the revamped studio and increased access to experiential learning.

“The renovated space will not only give students access to the latest technology but it will be a space for collaboration,” Davis said. “We hope students in all classes will use Richmond to further their creativity and journalism skills whether it is joining the UI7 Newsroom RSO, creating a podcast, anchoring a newscast, or producing their own TV show.”

Erdey, who has taught at the studio for 12 years, says his goal has always been to give students a sense of a real, working newsroom.

“I want this building to be a working experience, but also allow students to make the mistakes they need to make before they get their job,” Erdey said. “The work students are doing here is not just college work, it’s [broadcast] television.”

March 10 is the last day classes will be held at the studio before it’s closed for construction. However, students will continue reporting for the duration of the semester, making video stories to be uploaded to ui7newsroom.com. Live studio shows will be limited to one special per show.

“The Department of Journalism is dedicated to preparing students for an industry that will continue to evolve with changes in technology,” Sotirovic added. “When Richmond Studio reopens, the new experiences it will offer will give students a distinct career advantage in today’s dynamic media environment.”

Ebert Symposium 2023 to address documentary, violence, and the media

March 1, 2023

This year’s Chaz and Roger Ebert Symposium will feature a film screening, keynote speaker, and two roundtable discussions that address the theme of “Documentary, Violence, and the Media.” The events, which are free and open to the public, are presented by the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies.

Chaz Ebert’s beloved grandson, Joseph London Smith, was tragically and unintendedly the victim of gun violence in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2022. In dedication to his memory, the Ebert Symposium will explore the power of cinema to mediate violence and ask: How does cinema intervene in this conversation?

PROGRAM

TUESDAY, APRIL 18

7:30-9 p.m.
Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory, Urbana

Screening of Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968) is an experimental documentary by Black Emmy award-winning filmmaker William Greaves that was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2015. Ebert Symposium keynote speaker Amir George, artistic director of Kartemquin Films, selected the film and will share introductory remarks. Learn more.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19

9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Illini Room C, Illini Union, 1401 W. Green, Urbana

Keynote Speaker
9:30–10:45 a.m.
“To Be Radical”
Amir George, Artistic Director, Kartemquin Films, Chicago
Join us in person or register to join via Zoom.

Roundtable Discussion #1
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
“Cinema and Media Interventions into Violence”

Panelists:

Rachel Kuo, Assistant Professor of Media & Cinema Studies, UIUC
Denise Zaccardi, Executive Director and Founder of CTVN, Community TV Network, Chicago
Melita Garza, Associate Professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism, UIUC
Moderated by Angela Aguayo, Associate Professor of Media & Cinema Studies, UIUC

Roundtable Discussion #2
1-2:30 p.m.
“Cinema and Violence in Challenging Times”

Panelists include the following Ebertfest 2023 filmmaker guests:

Edson Oda, director of Nine Days (2020)
Jason Michael Berman, producer of Nine Days and president of Mandalay Pictures
Max Libman, teenage founder and director of CU International Film Festival, Champaign-Urbana
Brenda Robinson, producer of Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (2022)
Moderated by Jenny Oyallon-Koloski, Assistant Professor of Media & Cinema Studies, UIUC

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Amir George, Artistic Director of Kartemquin Films

Amir George is an award-winning filmmaker and has served as a programmer at True/False Film Fest and Chicago International Film Festival. As an artist, George creates spiritual stories, juxtaposing sound and image into an experience of non-linear perception. George’s films have screened at institutions and film festivals including Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, Anthology Film Archives, Glasgow School of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, and Camden International Film Festival, among others.

The Ebert Symposium began in 2018 and is named in part for the late film critic Roger Ebert. Ebert, who died in 2013, was an Urbana native, journalism alumnus, Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, and founder of RogerEbert.com. His namesake film festival, known as Ebertfest, runs April 19-22 at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign.

PANELISTS

Rachel Kuo, Assistant Professor of Media & Cinema Studies in the College of Media, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Rachel Kuo writes, teaches, and researches race, social movements, and technology. Her current book manuscript, Movement Media: Racial Solidarities Across Platforms, brings together archival research and ethnographic fieldwork to examine historical and contemporary grassroots organizing and social movement media forms addressing state violence and U.S. democracy. Her new work examines transnational and intergenerational information systems in Asian diasporas and histories of mis- and disinformation. Her writing has been published in New Media & Society, Social Media and Society, Journal of Communication, Teen Vogue, Truth Out, and ACM Interactions.

She is a founding member and current affiliate of the Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies and also a co-founder of the Asian American Feminist Collective. She is a co-editor of the anthology Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities with Haymarket Books and co-editor of the the book series Critical Race + Digital Studies at New York University Press. She is also a guest editor at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, including the World Without Cages project.

Denise Zaccardi, Executive director and founder of CTVN, Community TV Network, Chicago

Denise Zaccardi, executive director and CTVN founder, holds a PhD in Communications from The Union Institute and wrote the nation’s first dissertation on media arts curriculum for low-income, minority youth. She earned an M.S. in Early Childhood Education from State College in Buffalo, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Dayton. She has participated as a media and education activist with a variety of local and national organizations. Dr. Zaccardi has received numerous awards for her contributions to the field, including the Christian Service Award from the University of Dayton, and the Service Recognition Award for Arts Educator from the Illinois Arts Alliance. Dr. Zaccardi has put together a team of seasoned artist/teachers carefully selected not only for their exceptional ability to engage and teach arts underserved youth; but to represent a broad range of vital skills and knowledge including psychology, marketing, organizational dynamics, writing, audio, editing, producing, directing, graphics, and animation.

Community TV Network (CTVN) is a non-profit company devoted to empowering youth with the resources and education they need to make digital media! Our network of artists, teachers, and alumni has been promoting the visions and voices of Chicago’s students for 49 years. CTVN promotes positive youth and community development with the overall goal of raising the educational success and economic viability of the neighborhoods in which young participants live and work. CTVN programs instill in our students the awareness, motivation, and tools they need to create positive futures for themselves and the people around them.

Melita Garza, Associate Professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism in the College of Media, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Melita M. Garza is an associate professor and the Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism in the Department of Journalism. She is the 2022-2023 Chair of the Standing Committee on Research for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. She was a fellow at the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. Prior to getting her PhD, Melita M. Garza was an award-winning journalist, working at the Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg news, and the Los Angeles Times during a two-decade-long career.

She is an American journalism historian who studies news as an agent of democracy, specializing in English- and Spanish-language news, the immigrant press, and coverage of underrepresented groups. She is the lead editor of a forthcoming book that aims to re-envision the history of journalism. She is the author of They Came to Toil: Newspaper Representations of Mexicans and Immigrants in the Great Depression (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018), which was a finalist for the Tankard Book Award, the Frank Luther Mot/ Kappa Tau Alpha Award, and the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) Tejas Fojo Award. Her research has also won awards from the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA), and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) divisions of: History, Minorities and Communication, and International Communication.

MODERATOR: Angela Aguayo, Associate Professor of Media & Cinema Studies, UIUC

Angela Aguayo’s research is centered around documentary production and media studies, and her work creates connections between production, theory, and history. She was selected as a James W. Carey Faculty Fellow, for which she will work on a book project called Collective Matters, which examines how traditions in the humanities, health care, law, and education manifest through documentary in non-theatrical spaces, addressing the rituals of media producing, screening, and circulating that bind communities across time. Her project called the Illinois Community Media Project—which focuses on people making and circulating media that is most aligned with the interests of that community—received funding from campus’s inaugural Call to Action to Address Racism & Social Injustice Research Program. She has previously published Documentary Resistance: Social Change and Participatory Media (Oxford University Press), which explores a documentary’s capacity for social change.

Edson Oda, Director

After a series of award-winning short films and music videos, Japanese Brazilian writer and director Edson Oda made his film directorial debut with Nine Days (2020). Based in Los Angeles, Oda is a BAFTA Breakthrough alum, a Sundance Screenwriters Lab alum, and a Latin Grammy-nominated director for best music video.

Jason Michael Berman, Producer, President of Mandalay Pictures

Jason Michael Berman, president of Mandalay Pictures, was named in the 2016 Variety Dealmakers Impact Report, and in Variety in 2011 as one of the Top Ten Producers to Watch.

Berman currently has AIR in release for Amazon and Skydance, directed by Ben Affleck, written by Alex Convery, and starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, and Jason Bateman.

He recently produced Surrounded, directed by Anthony Mandler and starring Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, and Michael K. William, awaiting release from MGM/Amazon. His other recent producing credits include Edson Oda’s Sundance award-winning film Nine Days; Olivier Megaton’s The Last Days of American Crime; Prentice Penny’s Uncorked; Cindy Chupack’s Otherhood; Clark Johnson’s Juanita; Jonathan Helpert’s IO; Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands; Ryan Koo’s Amateur; Eli Craig’s Little Evil; and Nate Parker’s 2016 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury and Audience Award-winning film The Birth of a Nation.

Berman is in development on new projects for Skydance, Netflix, Sony, Apple, and A24.

Prior to producing, Berman worked at the William Morris Agency, MGM Studios, and for writer/director Gary Ross. Berman is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and the Producers Guild of America. He is a 2006 graduate of the University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts, where he has been an adjunct professor since 2013. Berman helped to develop and start the Catalyst program at the Sundance Institute which has now raised over $50M for the financing of award-winning independent narrative film and documentary projects. He is originally from Baltimore, Maryland.

Max Libman, CU International Film Festival Founder

Max Libman is the teenage founder and director of the CU International Film Festival that debuted in October in Urbana and featured eight short films, one of which was produced by the Turner brothers. In his young career, Libman has also been honored for his screenwriting.

Brenda Robinson, Producer

Brenda Robinson, producer and entertainment attorney, is involved with numerous film, television, and music projects. She is a producer of Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (2022), and was a financier on the Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus as well as Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Step. Robinson is currently head of film finance and inclusion strategies for HiddenLight Productions, a global studio founded by Hillary Clinton, Sam Branson, and Chelsea Clinton. She is also a member of Impact Partners, which is dedicated to funding independent documentaries that focus on social issues.

MODERATOR: Jenny Oyallon-Koloski, Assistant Professor of Media & Cinema Studies

Jenny Oyallon-Koloski is an assistant professor of Media & Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and a Certified Movement Analyst in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies. She serves as the movement analysis specialist for the Media Ecology Project (Mark Williams and John P. Bell, PIs, Dartmouth College) and is a faculty affiliate of the Eye Tracking / Physiology Lab in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Her current book project argues for the storytelling power of figure movement and dance in musical cinema. She is also the director of the movement visualization (mv) lab and co-creator, in collaboration with Michael Junokas, of the mv tool, an embodied motion-capture research environment to study the manifestations of human movement in cinematic space.