Film students are moving to a new space that will make their program more accessible.
The film department, which was formally housed in Dawson-Loeffler Center and the Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, began moving their film equipment into the mass communications department in Walker Center June 7.
Jeffrey Miles, film junior and film production equipment technician, said the move is a result of the film production lacking a fully-functional educational space.
“We’ve resorted to a wing of a science building and a closet of two other buildings,” Miles said.
The film department’s primary location will be the television studio in the mass comm department, Miles said. The technicians have already moved the film equipment into the studio.
Bryan Cardinale-Powell, film chairman, said the film department is still part of the School of Visual Arts, while the mass communications department is part of the Petree College of Arts and Sciences.
“I think it’s too early to call it a merger,” Cardinale-Powell said. “The university has seen an opportunity for the film department to locate itself in a place that’s more central on campus.”
Miles said the new space offers educational advantages to the film students, such as lighting and accessibility. He said the film department’s use of the space will not conflict with mass comm students’ classes or access.
“I think in the long run, sharing the spaces will be great,” he said. “We have our documentary classes in the film school that people in the broadcasting style could benefit from, and the same goes for the opposite where we could find benefit from what they’re doing.”
Trae Trousdale, mass communications junior, said mass comm department officials had talked about the merge in the past.
“I think adding the film department could bring in more diversity of teachers,” Trousdale said. “It gives us that unique ability to see the current market and learn from true professionals that are at work.”
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