For over thirty years, Carson-Newman has been teaching students about films and filmmaking. An interdisciplinary Film major now blends coursework in film production and writing with the academic study of motion pictures in a Christian context. Film students hone their craft as filmmakers while studying the aesthetics of cinema and the business of the motion pictures industry.
The Mossy Creek Documentary Arts Festival is just one of many ways Carson-Newman Film students connect to the profession. The festival offers the opportunity for students and professional documentary filmmakers to share their stories with the campus and community.
Film students will study the aesthetics of motion pictures, learn the tools of production, and prepare for careers in the film industry. Students majoring in Film will select from classes on film in the areas ranging from Communication to English, from History to Religion.
Specialized courses like Film Authors or American Film Genres provide students with a clear understanding of the medium. Classes like World Cinema offer an intercultural perspective on film. Film students also have access to a production studio, editing equipment, cameras, lighting, and other tools of the trade, and internships play a crucial role in providing students with real-world skills in and knowledge of the film industry.
Students have the opportunity to interact with professional filmmakers as they visit the campus and serve as guest lectures in classes. Each year, Carson-Newman also hosts the Mossy Creek Documentary Arts Festival showcasing the documentary films of both students and professionals and bringing filmmakers to campus. In addition, Tennessee Filmmaker, a PBS series, is sometimes shot on the campus.
By the senior year, students work individually with professors to create Senior Film Projects. This capstone experience demonstrates the knowledge and skills that the student has developed throughout the program.
While at Carson-Newman, students also can apply to be involved in film internships, including opportunities in Hollywood.
A limited number of Film Scholarships, typically of $1,000 per year, are now available to incoming students. To apply for the scholarship, you must be accepted as a student at Carson-Newman and a major in the film program.
To apply for a scholarship, submit a sample of your work in the area of film. You could choose to submit a DVD of a production in which you were involved, the web link to a video you helped to produce, a sample of your writing about a film (a film review), a segment of a script you have developed, or some other example of your experience in film or video.
The committee considers the student’s portfolio and awards the scholarship on an ongoing basis. The scholarship is available for four academic years if the student continues as a Film major and remains in good standing with the university. *
*The scholarship is not available the semester a student is involved in the LAFSC program.
• Filmmaker• Director• Film editing• Production
Film students have the opportunity to participate in internships with filmmakers in this region of Tennessee, near their hometowns, and in Hollywood. Through a partnership with the Los Angeles Film Studies Center, students that are accepted in the program live in LA with students from other Christian colleges throughout the country. Students have the opportunity to participate in top-notch internships while working and studying with Hollywood filmmakers, Students participate in LAFSC while earning credit from Carson-Newman.
Carson-Newman prepared me for a career as a professional filmmaker, with great production classes, opportunities to shoot student films and even a Hollywood internship.