Our Mission Statement
To develop creators, innovators and leaders for the future of filmmaking by combining new technology with the fundamentals of storytelling to produce creative, original stories, with an eye towards emerging technologies that enhance the production, distribution, and exhibition of those works in the global marketplace.
Our Vision Statement
The Film program of the Department of Film, Theatre, and Creative Writing will be preeminent nationally in filmmaking education. As a leader, the Film Program will be recognized for its excellence by:
- Developing a high-quality comprehensive curriculum that balances storytelling and technical competence;
- Developing a comprehensive artistic experience that emphasizes creativity, confidence, innovation, and experimentation;
- Developing a comprehensive approach to professional practices and career strategies in the motion picture industry including the business of filmmaking and marketing of films;
- Recognizing trends that will create opportunities for filmmakers in the future;
- Drawing positive attention in the University, in the region and nation-wide, to the program, faculty, and students;
- Maintaining an infrastructure, including facilities, equipment, and computers, that supports the program’s vision;
- Maintaining a student to equipment ratio that keeps new and cutting edge equipment in the student’s hands, both in the classroom and outside of class on their own projects;
- Fostering the community-wide appreciation of the art and production of films;
- Recruiting, enhancing, and retaining an internationally recognized faculty and staff.
Our Core Values
Programmatic
- Providing an exceptional quality education that meets the high standards of the University of Central Arkansas as well as the specific needs of the emerging filmmaker.
- Fostering an environment of creativity, experimentation, and innovation for students and faculty to craft stories that are unique and individual.
- Providing an educational environment that values equal opportunities, inclusiveness, and cultural diversity.
Students
- Helping students become practicing artists and creators with a clear identity and the confidence to engage the world.
- Focusing on fundamental storytelling techniques and encouraging students to craft stories that are unique and individual, and that help students develop a unique voice.
- Fostering student group productions and faculty-lead film productions that allow for the development of collaboration and teamwork, work with local industry, and provide examples of professional-level filmmaking
Curriculum and Facilities
- Taking accessible and cutting edge technologies and applying them to the solution of creative challenges.
- Providing up-to-date equipment and facilities that serve as a working model of current filmmaking production.
- Proactively updating and developing the Film program’s curriculum.
Faculty
- Actively engaging in scholarly and creative activities.
- Keeping up with the latest developments in our fields.
- Collaborating with colleagues on and off campus as equal partners in ways that capitalize on each other’s unique strengths in research and creative activities.