SMS Alum Igor Myakotin Co-Produced Documentary “Welcome to Chechnya” – Sundance, Berlin Festivals & Shortlisted for Two Oscars

SMS Alum IGOR MYAKOTIN, Doc Studies ‘16, co-produced “Welcome to Chechnya” which played Sundance 2020, US Documentary Competition, Special Jury Award for Editing; Berlin International Film Festival, Audience Award, and was shortlisted for two Oscars: Documentary Feature and Visual Effects (a first ever for a … Read More »

“Disclosure” by Sam Feder (MA Media Studies 04) is Now Streaming on Netflix After Screening at 2020 Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals

DISCLOSURE is an unprecedented, eye-opening look at transgender depictions in film and television, revealing how Hollywood simultaneously reflects and manufactures our deepest anxieties about gender. Leading trans thinkers and creatives, including Laverne Cox, Lilly Wachowski, Yance Ford, Mj Rodriguez, Jamie Clayton, and Chaz Bono, share … Read More »

TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas (MA Media Studies 07) Profiled in Marie Claire

She’s not lip-synching, break dancing, or completing the #UmbrellaChallenge. She’s not Loren Gray, Addison Easterling, or Charli D’Amelio. But Vanessa Pappas is TikTok’s secret weapon, and, as the social media company’s U.S. general manager, she’s leading the unequivocally popular—and controversial—app into a future unknown. https://www.marieclaire.com/career-advice/a33485889/tiktok-vanessa-pappas-interview/ … Read More »

SMS Alum Ponvishal Chidambaranthan’s Interactive VR Film Wins AT&T Award

Ponvishal Chidambaranathan, Media Management ’20, created and produced an interactive VR film “Dreams of Color” that won an award at the 7th edition of the AT&T Film Awards. His film explores the different degrees of self-introspection of the current international students’ revised American dream.  

Mary Harron Summer 2020 Hirshon Artist in Residence at The School of Media Studies

The Hirshon Residency was conducted online because of the Covid 19 pandemic. One of the most distinctive voices of the independent film movement of the last 20+ years, Mary Harron made her debut as a feature-film writer / director in 1996 with I Shot Andy … Read More »

“Unprecedent Media” Media Studies work created during the Covid 19 Pandemic

https://www.unprecedentedmedia.com/https://vimeo.com/showcase/10694708 Since the global pandemic hit, many have called these times “unprecedented.” Perhaps it is not so much our time that is unprecedented as the need for media forms to arise in response to ongoing crises. From all over the globe, with only the resources they have on hand, in solitude … Read More »

Mixed Messages 2020 Launches Online During Covid 19 Pandemic

Mixed Messages is an annual exhibition showcasing outstanding creative work by graduate students in the School of Media Studies. Selected by a panel of distinguished jurors, projects include installations, interactive experiences, Web-based projects, and works on paper. https://www.smsmixedmessages.com/ “This semester has been an extremely challenging … Read More »

Tools & Weapons: A conversation with Brad Smith and Trevor Noah

Microsoft’s president Brad Smith in conversation with Trevor Noah, bestselling author, world-famous standup comedian, and host of the Daily Show, discussing Tools and Weapons and how the world should navigate the vast potential and existential risks of our digital world; co-sponsored by Strand Books and the … Read More »

Media Studies Alum Tanya Toft Ag’s Digital Dynamics in Nordic Contemporary Art published

TANYA TOFT AG, MA Media Studies ‘11, edited the anthology Digital Dynamics in Nordic Contemporary Art, (Intellect, 2019) – the book’s US launch will be at Scandinavia House in New York City, 23 February 2019. Offering an in-depth exploration of art’s contingent evolution with technology and digital … Read More »

Faculty Member Joel Schlemowitz Publishes Book Experimental Filmmaking and the Motion Picture Camera

Faculty Member and experimental filmmaker Joel Schlemowitz’s book, Experimental Filmmaking and the Motion Picture Camera has been published by Routledge Press. The book is an introductory guide to experimental filmmaking, surveying the practical methods of experimental film production as well as the history, theory and aesthetics … Read More »

Faculty Member Christiane Paul curates Exhibition “Programmed” at The Whitney

Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018 establishes connections between works of art based on instructions, spanning over fifty years of conceptual, video, and computational art. The pieces in the exhibition are all “programmed” using instructions, sets of rules, and code, but they also address … Read More »


Learn more about our programs

The MA in Media Studies gives students experience in creative media making, critical analysis, and entrepreneurialism. The Media Management MS offers the practical experience you need to succeed in today's media industries. The Documentary Studies Certificate program provides an opportunity to study documentary filmmaking in a small, tightly focused program. The Media Management Certificate Program provides a strong foundation of management principles and leadership skills to find work in the ever-changing global media landscape.