UNLV's Department of Film is proud to announce a new addition to its curriculum — the Filmmaker Vision Lab. Unlike any film program of its kind in the country, the new lab aims to bridge student coursework to practical creative practice with working filmmakers. This intensive incubator program allows emerging filmmakers of note to collaborate with students on a short project that grants the filmmakers a finished film piece, and students real-world experience in an intensive setting.
This program invites working filmmakers with busy schedules to create useful short projects (proofs of concept, short films with feature potential, festival-destined projects) within a semester’s academic calendar to best accommodate student experience. Students work closely with Filmmaker Fellows to synthesize their learning with practical experience in the "home laboratory" of UNLV Film.
“This new program is essential to UNLV Film’s trajectory. By establishing meaningful relationships with working filmmakers in an intensive incubator setting, we establish long term connections to the film industry that keep our program relevant, current and dynamic," said film professor and program coordinator Adam Paul. "As Nevada becomes recognized as a film industry hub it’s more vital than ever that our program grow to meet the coming needs of an industry that no longer is anchored to Hollywood."
In addition to the Filmmaker Vision Lab, UNLV Film continues to develop their successful internship programs that provide students access to production and distribution companies that lead the industry, he noted.
"Filmmaker Vision Lab is another engine of growth for our department and for the university as a whole," said Paul. "And this past year, we’ve assembled a passionate advocacy board to help shepherd that growth.”
Andrea Walter, the writer and director of Edge of Daylight, is a UNLV Film alumna ('12) and one of the two Filmmaker Fellows who have already worked with students on their projects.
“ One of the best things that I had learned from when I attended UNLV's film program was having a community who took care of me and supported me," she said. "The Lab gave me a chance to do the same for the students who crewed our film. Edge of Daylight is a deeply personal project for me, and through the Lab process, a lot of the students learned that their personal journeys and their unique voices are super important to storytelling.”
About the UNLV College of Fine Arts
The UNLV College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.
