TV Pilot Screening: Cast and Crew

• November 29th, 2009
• in TCF News & Notes

Students of the University of Alabama’s Advanced Television Production course will host their television pilot premiere, titled Cast & Crew, at the Bama Theater on December 10th, 2009 at 7:30pm. Doors will open at 6:30pm and the Bama Theater’s full line of refreshments will be available.

Students in TCF 451 worked together over the course of the semester from story pitch to final production to create the first episode of a potential television series. The production crew consists of seven students; Tatum Northington –Producer, Joshua Hamilton –Screenwriter & Associate Producer, Zac Oyama – Director, Jason Spencer –Director of Photography, Nicolas Mahone –Sound Designer, Caitlin Clark –Production Designer, and Angelique Stepp –Editor, as well as Adam Schwartz –Professor and Executive Producer.

“This is a great opportunity to come out and support the future TV and filmmakers from right here in Alabama. The seven seniors in the course have worked very hard on the TV pilot this semester and we’re proud to be presenting it to the public at the fantastic Bama Theater in wonderful downtown Tuscaloosa,” says Schwartz.

The story itself unfolds in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and revolves around a small television production crew. Below is a brief synopsis:

Matt Reynolds (Jake Boyd) is an up and coming star director/producer at CNOW (Cable News Organization Worldwide), then he discovers his wife-to-be, Libby Davis (Wallis Barton), in an affair with his boss and mentor, Wallace Bergman. Matt leaves Atlanta and comes back home to Tuscaloosa to start a small production company with his college buddy and producer, Jeremiah Lint (Stephen Brunson). When Matt and Jeremiah discover that the “naked baby” on the cover of one of the most influential rock albums of the last 20 years is going to attend college at the University of Alabama, they decide to try their hands at a reality show of their very own.

Media Studies Position Opening

• November 17th, 2009
• in TCF News & Notes

Update, 5/21/10: This position has officially been filled. Kristen Warner, from the University of Texas, will be joining the TCF Department in the fall.

The TCF Department invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in media studies, beginning August 16, 2010. The successful candidate will be expected to do research and teach undergraduate/graduate courses from a humanities perspective (i.e., critical, rhetorical and/or cultural studies).

More specifically, the successful candidate must be able to teach in one or more of the following areas: television studies, cinema studies, digital or convergent media, identity (race, ethnicity, class, gender) in media, visual communication, documentary history/theory, news analysis, political economy or the integration of media theory and practice. Additionally, candidates with the ability to teach in more than one area will be given special consideration.

Candidates must have an earned doctorate or be in the final stages of dissertation completion and their Ph.D. should be in television studies, media studies, cinema studies, communication studies or a related discipline. Candidates must also demonstrate potential for outstanding teaching and for developing a program of scholarship suitable for tenure consideration. Salary is nationally competitive.

Established in 1940, the Department has approximately 500 students in its undergraduate and masters programs. It is one of five academic units in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, which includes an interdepartmental doctoral program ranked seventh nationally and the Institute for Communication and Information Research. The College operates the professional production facilities of the state’s Center for Public Television and Radio, award-winning Alabama Public Radio, student radio station WVUA-FM, and Tuscaloosa’s primary commercial television station, low powered WVUA-7 and full powered commercial WUOA-TV that serve the Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa DMA through broadcast and DirecTV and Dish Network.

The University of Alabama, established in 1831 in Tuscaloosa, is currently rated one of the top-40 public universities in the nation by US News & World Report. It has over 28,000 students, including 4,000 graduate students in 56 doctoral programs and a Carnegie classification of “Doctoral/Research Universities-Extensive.” Tuscaloosa is a university-oriented community of nearly 100,000 located about fifty minutes southwest of Birmingham, in the nation’s 40th television market. It is a morning’s drive from the Smoky Mountains, Gulf Coast beaches, New Orleans, Nashville, and Atlanta. Additional information about the Department, the College and the University, is available at www.tcf.ua.edu. Telephone inquiries (205-348-6350) and e-mail (copeland@ua.edu) are welcome.

To apply visit http://facultyjobs.ua.edu. Attach application letter, vita/resume and names, addresses and phone numbers of three references. Other materials may be sent to: Prof. Gary A. Copeland, Telecommunication and Film Department, University of Alabama, Box 870152, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0152. Screening of applications begins November 24, 2009; however, applications will be accepted until search is completed. (This announcement is going out later than anticipated. Candidates should not view November 24, 2009 as a final deadline. However, we will begin screening applications early in December.)

UA is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply.