Discussion accelerates to merge television and film within Dodge

As Dodge College adapts to a fully remote semester, more changes are on the horizon as plans to merge the Television Writing and Production major with the Film Production program begin to accelerate. CLARISSE GUEVARRA Staff Photographer

After years of discussion, the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts is moving forward with a formal proposal to merge both the Film Production and Television Writing and Production (TWP) programs. The proposal will be presented to Dodge College’s Undergraduate Curriculum Committee in November, with the goal of the merge taking effect fall 2022.

Dean of Dodge College Stephen Galloway emphasized flexibility, a seemingly common trend among faculty and staff in conversations related to the potential merge. Galloway’s intent is to allow students the ability to take a variety of electives related to their major without feeling the pressure to declare an emphasis until later in the curriculum. 

“I think most students who come (into Dodge) don’t actually fully know what they want to do yet,” Galloway said. “Most of our students are going to be working in the combined media-entertainment landscape. So (the merger) shows what that landscape is looking like.”

The merger will take place in two methods – creating a “production” major that combines Film Production and TWP’s production components, as well as creating a “writing for the screen” major that combines Screenwriting and TWP’s writing components. Michael Kowalski, the associate dean of Dodge College, said that the new production major will admit about 105 students. However, Galloway remains adamant that Chapman’s distinctively small, intimate class sizes will remain a constant.

“I really appreciate the small size of (my) major,” said sophomore TWP major Rachel Othon. “I know everyone in my major; I know what everyone is interested in doing … But you’re also letting in more people, more ideas and more collaboration.”

Kowalski is spearheading the goal of allowing film and television students to explore all forms of media, working on a merger task force alongside Media Arts Division Chair Madeline Warren, producing professor Barbara Doyle, Director of Television Studies James Gardner, documentary professor Sally Rubin and Director of Digital Arts Program Bill Kroyer. From taking experimental courses in augmented and virtual reality to creating traditional narrative films, Dodge College hopes to create a more interdisciplinary approach backed by a new core curriculum for all Dodge students.

“It’s not going to be one size fits all,” said Eric Young, Dodge College’s interim deputy Film Division chair. “We want to offer as much of a variety of mediums to the students as possible.”

If the proposal is approved in November, all incoming first-year students at Dodge College will be required to take a handful of preliminary courses regardless of major. Classes currently in consideration are FFC Story, Editing I, History of American Cinema, Production Workshop I, Writing for the Screen, Short Form Analysis and a beginner-level acting course. 

“This process is going to force students to diversify,” Kowalski said. “It will give them opportunities that they normally wouldn’t have considered.”

Given that Othon will be a senior when the merge is enacted, students like her already on course to graduate with a degree in Film Production or TWP will still be able to do so. However, they will also be granted the option to partake in the new merger courses offered. The new production major is currently slated for an estimated 72 credits.

All changes will require consent from all Dodge College departments involved, prior to being submitted to the Curriculum Committee in November. However, Galloway informed The Panther that the proposal was positively received at the recent virtual Dodge faculty retreat Aug. 27 by professors of both the television and film programs. 

Mort Nathan, a comedy and drama writing professor for the TWP department, believes it’s essential to combine the Film Production and TWP studies, as they go hand-in-hand in almost all forms of professional media and entertainment.

“We’re all just storytellers in a variety of mediums, so to differentiate in today’s market seems like an antiquated idea,” Nathan said. “Television and film nowadays, the line is blurred … and the storytelling in television is more sophisticated than it’s ever been.”