Spotlights

Breaking the glass ceiling one creative move at a time

Ayah LeBrane

Cinema, music, theatre and dance all have one thing in common: storytelling. Whether it's through a heart-felt performance on screen or a mesmerizing dance routine on stage, it is art forms like these that allow the audience and the creators themselves to be deeply impacted by the stories told. 

But for these four UO students, art is much more than that. For them, it's about creating a space to express themselves freely, and taking what they have learned from their personal experiences to make positive changes in their creative industries and pave the way for future generations.  

Lights, Camera, Action! 

Growing up in Los Angeles for most of her life, UO junior Ayah LeBrane was surrounded by and drawn to the magic of film. However, it wasn't until she moved to Las Vegas during her senior year of high school that she realized she wanted to pursue a career in screenwriting. 

COMIC-CON BEGINS: Origin Stories of the San Diego Comic-Con and the Rise of Modern Fandom

Comic Con Begins

Research for a new six-part podcast on the history of the San Diego Comic-Con is provided by Cinema Studies Associate Professor Erin Hanna. The podcast includes interviews with Hanna and research from her latest book: Only at Comic-Con: Hollywood, Fans, and the Limits of Exclusivity.

Weekly episodes begin June 22, 2021.

From Yes Day to Love Victor, Film Editor is Making the Cuts

Sabrina Gimenez

Article From Around the O, January 20, 2021

Sabrina Gimenez loved movies, but she couldn’t imagine a future in film until a light bulb moment during her senior year at the University of Oregon.

For a film studies class, she had created a short, stop-motion animated film about two bicycles that go on a date on campus, culminating in a dorm-room tryst. As she pieced the film together, she found herself completely enthralled. “All of a sudden, I look at my clock on the computer, and six hours had passed right before my very eyes, and I was like, ‘How did this happen?’” 

Fast-forward seven years, and the 2013 graduate (English, cinema studies) is now working in Hollywood as an assistant film editor. She has helped produce scripted movies, including director Miguel Arteta’s 2020 comedy Like a Boss, the upcoming Netflix comedy Yes Day, and season two of the critically acclaimed Hulu teen drama series, Love, Victor. 

Jerell Rosales interview on SiriusXM Radio's "AFFIRMATIVE REACTION with Xorje Olivares

Affirmative Reaction

Listen to Career Instructor of Narrative Production and Writer/Director Jerell Rosales' interview on SiriusXM Radio's "AFFIRMATIVE REACTION with Xorje Olivares" (Ch 127 • SiriusXM Progress).

Jerell and Xorje discuss filmmaking from the QPOC perspective and the inspiration behind his short film These Things Take Time, part of the feature-length compilation, The American Boys (released by NQV Media available on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, and Vimeo Worldwide).

What Our Members Do: Sabrina Gimenez, Assistant Editor

University of Oregon Cinema Studies alum Sabrina Gimenez sitting in front of a computer

Article from CINE Montage: Journal of the Motion Picture Editors Guild

Who gave you your first break?

"I was fortunate enough to have a mentor, David Bess, whom I had met in my senior year of college when we connected through the University of Oregon’s Cinema Studies alumni network. David reached out on my behalf to a former colleague who happened to work where I wanted to work, Trailer Park. He passed my name along at an opportune moment when the agency’s satellite office was hiring a coordinator/assistant editor. David has had my back ever since."

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Spotlights