Film

SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS

B.F.A. in Film


Majoring in film at LIU Post will help you prepare for a career in directing, cinematography, editing, lighting, producing, screenwriting or film criticism. LIU Post is one of only a handful of colleges and universities to instruct students in the use of 16mm film, and where students starting making films in their first semester. This 120-credit program also includes a strong film history component as well as courses in animation and special effects.

Our faculty are all working professionals in diverse areas of the field, including writers, directors, cinematographers’ documentarians and critics – award-winning professionals with top-level experience and credentials. As a student, you will have the chance to master the new media technologies, and develop your production design skills in our studio. You will get the valuable learning-by-doing experience that you need to succeed.

In addition to a comprehensive, widely respected education in film, you will study a well-rounded liberal arts-based core curriculum with lifelong personal and professional value. You will be a member of a diverse, vibrant learning community in one of the region’s most inspiring academic settings.

Please visit liupostfilm.org for an in-depth look at the film program at LIU Post.

Applicants are to be notified of departmental admissions decisions in the early spring. Mid-year transfer students will be contacted individually.

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

It is possible to apply for additional monies outside what the University has already granted you. Please email the Director of Film, Susan.Zeig@liu.edu to find out more about this.


Program Curriculum

Course # Course Name Credits
Required Film Courses (54 credits)
CIN 1 The Art of the Film/1900-1930 3
CIN 2 The Art of the Film/1931 to Present 3
CIN 5 The Art of the Documentary Film 3
CIN 6 Basic Motion Picture Production 3
CIN 7 Intermediate Motion Picture Production  3
CIN 8 Advanced Motion Picture Production  3
CIN 9 Screenwriting 3
CIN 10  Screenwriting  3
CIN 12 Intro to Editing and Sound 3
CIN 13 Intermediate Editing & Sound 3
CIN 15 Cinematography 3
CIN 28  Film Theory  3
CIN 24 Video Documentary Workshop  3
CIN 35 Production Laboratory  3
CIN 36 Production Laboratory 3
CIN 37 Film Production Lab - Practicum 3
CIN 38 Film Production Lab - Practicum  3
CIN 44 Interdisciplinary Concepts - Directing 3
     
Three courses from the following (9 credits) 
CIN 3 Major Forces in the Cinema 3
CIN 4 Major Figures in the Cinema 3
CIN 303 Film & Society 3
CIN 304 Film & Society  3
CIN 88 must be taken twice (8 credits) 
CIN 88 Film Thesis 4
Choose three courses from the following (9 credits) 
CIN 14 Cinema and the Arts 3
BDST 4 Intermediate Sound Projects 3
JOU 52 Interviewing Skills for Media  3
CIN 44 Interdisciplinary Concepts 3
CIN 89 Advanced Individual Study in Cinema 3
CIN 99 Film Internship 3
CIN 359 Honors Advanced Elective 3
CIN 360 Honors Advanced Elective 3


Course # Course Name Credits
Required Core Courses 
(32-33 Credits)
POST 101 Post Foundations 1
FY First-Year Seminar 3
ENG 1** Writing 1 3
ENG 2** Writing 2 3
MTH 5 Quantitative Reasoning 3-4 
Choose one course from each of the five below course clusters and one additional course from one of the clusters.
Scientific Inquiry & the Natural World
4
Creativity Media & the Arts 3
Perspectives on World Culture 3
Self, Society & Ethics 3
Power, Institutions & Structures (ECO 10 Required) 3
One additional course from one of the five above clusters. (ECO 11 Required) 3
General Elective (3 Credits from Any Course)

* Some courses may count as core and others as electives.

** In addition to ENG 1 and 2, students take at least 3 more writing intensive (WAC) courses as part of their major, core, or elective courses.  ENG 303 and 304 can satisfy the ENG 1 and 2 requirement for students in the Honors College.


Credit Requirements
Total Major Requirement Credits 80
Total Core Requirement Credits 32-33
Free Electives  8
Total Degree Credits 120


Courses

CIN 1 The Art of the Film: 1900 - 1930 

This course studies the silent film and the birth and development of film as an art form in the United States, Germany, Russia, and France.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 2 The Art of the Film: 1931 to Present 

In this course students study the sound film: the international development of creative motion pictures from the advent of sound through Neorealism, the New Wave, and the work of major new directors.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 3 Major Forces in the Cinema 

The influence of major movements in the cinema is examined in this course. Subject changes each semester. May be taken for a maximum of three semesters. This course fulfills the Ethics, Self, and Society thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 4 Major Figures in the Cinema 

The personal styles and influences of major directors are covered in this course. Subject changes each semester. May be taken for a maximum of three semesters.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 5 The Art of the Documentary Film 

This course is an analysis of the major contributors to the film documentary from the Lumière and Edison one-shot films through the contemporary documentary. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 6 Basic Motion Picture Production 

The introductory concepts of visual storytelling are taught with HD production techniques.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 7 Intermediate Motion Picture Production 

Introduction to working in small crews; development of storytelling skills.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 8 Advanced Motion Picture Production 

This course develops further exploration into the techniques of filmmaking and application of professional practice.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 9 Screenwriting I

This course includes an intensive program of screenwriting techniques, focusing on writing a short form screenplay.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 10 Screenwriting II 

This course includes an intensive program of screenwriting techniques, focusing on writing a short form screenplay.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 12 Basic Editing and Sound 

This course is designed to give students basic skills in digital picture and sound editing, sound recording, and sound mixing.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 13 Intermediate Editing &  Sound

This course is designed to give students intermediate skills in digital picture and sound editing, sound recording, and sound mixing.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 14 Cinema and the Arts 

This course is a series of films, discussions and forums presented by film professionals working in the contemporary scene.

May be repeated for a maximum of three semesters.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 15 Cinematography 

This course is an intensive study of the motion picture camera and lighting technology.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 24 Video Documentary Workshop II 

Students learn the basics of producing a short documentary film, including research, interviewing, budgeting, shooting styles and organizing footage for editing.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 28 Film Theory 

This course is an analysis of theories related to realism, montage, narrative and non-narrative films. Writings by Eisenstein, Vertov, Bazin and others are examined and films are viewed and discussed.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 35 Production Laboratory 

This course is an intensive practicum in motion picture production that covers advanced cinematography, advanced sound, research, budgeting, production and postproduction practices.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 36 Production Laboratory 

This course is an intensive practicum in motion picture production that covers advanced cinematography, advanced sound, research, budgeting, production and postproduction practices.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 37 Film Production Lab-Practicum 

This course is an intensive production experience that culminates in a group-made professional film, including basic distribution planning, and possible film festival screenings.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 38 Film Production Lab-Practicum 

This course is an intensive production experience that culminates in a group-made professional film, including basic distribution planning, and possible film festival screenings.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 44 Film Concepts: Directing 

This course will allow the student director to experience the craft of acting first-hand and also begin to develop methodologies for an approach to directing actors for the screen through an understanding of the actor's "tools" and actor vocabulary. Performance exercises, script analysis, and the concept of "organic blocking" will be explored through practical activities, screenings, readings, and discussions. Frequently team-taught. Course may be repeated for credit with permission of the department.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 88 FIlm Thesis 

Students work with a professor to create an original work that showcases his or her main areas of interest in film. Students must register for two consecutive semesters.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 89 Advanced Individual Study in Cinema 

Individual faculty-guided projects in cinema are appropriate when existing courses in the student's area of interest have been completed. Film majors may repeat for a maximum of four semesters. Students may register for more than one section during a given semester as long as the number of units for each section differs.

Credits: 4.00 

CIN 99 FIlm Internship 

This is an opportunity for the student to work in a professional venue and to be directly and meaningfully in day-to-day operations with an emphasis in an area of special interest.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 303 Film and Society 

This course examines a selected topic (varying from year to year) in the relationship between sociopolitical issues and film as an art form, an entertainment medium, and an index of cultural and historical values. Emphasis is placed on relating movies to the times and places in which they were produced, and on interdisciplinary interpretations of cinematic texts. Screening of selected films are coordinated with lectures, readings on cinema and other subjects, and discussions of relevant ideas. Students are expected to do substantial reading, viewing, and researching on their own to enhance class discussions and to prepare for writing a term paper. Oral reports and in-class presentations may also be required. Students may take CIN 303 or 304 but may not take both.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 304 Film and Society 

This course examines a selected topic (varying from year to year) in the relationship between sociopolitical issues and film as an art form, an entertainment medium, and an index of cultural and historical values. Emphasis is placed on relating movies to the times and places in which they were produced, and on interdisciplinary interpretations of cinematic texts. Screening of selected films are coordinated with lectures, readings on cinema and other subjects, and discussions of relevant ideas. Students are expected to do substantial reading, viewing, and researching on their own to enhance class discussions and to prepare for writing a term paper. Oral reports and in-class presentations may also be required. Students may take CIN 303 or 304 but may not take both.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 359 Honors Advanced Elective 

Honors Advanced Elective - Please consult the Honors website for complete description.

Credits: 3.00 

CIN 360 Honors Advanced Elective 

Honors Advanced Elective - Please consult the Honors website for complete description.

Credits: 3.00 

BDST 4 Digital Audio Production 

This course is designed to familiarize the student with intermediate-level theory and practice of digital audio production. Continues instruction in the various techniques for capturing and engineering sound. it offers training in the tools and techniques of producing audio and provides the foundation for sound production/reproduction essential to dealing with audio in environments such as radio, television, film ,multimedia, broadcast journalism and web production.Prepares the student for advanced work in audio production.

Credits: 3.00 

JOU 52 Interviewing Skills for Media 

This course teaches communications skills essential for any media career. Students receive practical training in interview techniques, including the one-on-one interview, the news interview, panels, and oral history interviews. Students record video or audio of interviews to assess their performance, and gain instructor feedback and peer critiques. Cross-listed as BDST 52.

Credits: 3.00 


Faculty

Mike Atkinson

Adjunct Professor
Screenwriting, Film Theory, Criticism

Mike Atkinson is the author of six books, including one volume of poetry and an upcoming novel from St. Martin's Press. He has written about film for The Guardian, SPiN, Film Comment, Sight & Sound, The Village Voice, Chicago Reader, Details, IFC.com, and many others. His TV pilot BABYLON FIELDS was produced by CBS TV and his pilot “All Things Awakened” is currently in production. His books include: “Blue Velvet” (British Film Institute), “Ghosts in the Machine: Speculating on the Dark Heart of Pop Cinema,” (Limelight Eds.), and “Exile Cinema: Filmmakers at Work Beyond Hollywood” (SUNY Press). Professor Atkinson has been teaching at C.W. Post for more than 11 years.

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John Koshel

Film Professor
M.F.A., New York University
john.koshel@liu.edu
Writing, Directing, Film Theory

John Koshel’s professional work spans digital, film and video media and includes network television and feature films. His background includes digital-asset and archives management, and historical media research for NBC-Universal, in addition to several producing and directing credits, editing experience, and contract negotiations with corporations and entertainment labor unions. Professor Koshel’s interests include motion picture history and production, preservation and restoration. Academic credits include the M.F.A. from the NYU Graduate Institute of Film and Television, concentration in writing and directing, and a Senior Fellowship in screenwriting from Hamilton, College, Clinton, N.Y.


John Mainente

Adjunct Professor and Technical Director

B.F.A., C.W. Post of Long Island University
M.F.A., Columbia University
john.mainente@liu.edu
Cinematography, Directing, Film Production

John Mainente directed an independent feature film titled “Bright Ideas.” The Long Island Voice lauded it as one of 1998’s “Best of the Year” and Newsday’s John Anderson applauded it, calling it a “Laurel and Hardy film for the ‘90’s.” Professor Mainente has also directed two nationally shown television commercials, eight short subject films, was the chief editor on a computer graphic anti-drug PSA music video, was the supervising editor to a Silver Anvil nominated video for Creamer Dickson Basford and has written five feature length scripts. John earned his B.F.A. from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and an M.F.A. in Film from Columbia University, where he studied with academy award winner Milos Forman.

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Gia McKenna

Assistant Technical Director, Advisor

Gia McKenna graduated from LIU Post with a BFA in Film Production in 2010 and was awarded the Martha Holmes Award for Excellence in Film.  Fresh out of college, she started her very own boutique video production company, 1909 Productions LLC. She works part-time at LIU Post as the Assistant Technical Director of the film program as well as an advisor to the film students. As ATD, she manages and maintains the equipment room, editing suites and film studios. As an advisor, Gia encourages students to be on her film sets outside of school so that they can have hands-on experience and will be better suited for a professional film setting. She also advises students on their own personal projects, films and theses.

In 2013, Gia produced an independent short, The Necklace (Dir. Joan Stein-Schimke). In September of the same year, her thesis film Poker Face (2010) made its small screen debut on Long Island Screening Room (WLIW21, New York Public Media).  Currently, Gia has served as Associate Producer on her first indie feature A Pebble of Love (Dir. Hossein Keshavarz).  She has also released a new web series An Actor Unprepared, which she both directed and produced.

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Lisa Robinson

Professor of Film
B.A., University of California, Berkeley
M.F.A., New York University
lisa.robinson@liu.edu
Film Production, Screenwriting, Directing

Lisa Robinson works as a screenwriter and director. She co-wrote and co-directed (with Annie Howell) the feature film SMALL, BEAUTIFULLY MOVING PARTS which premiered at SXSW in 2011, screened at over 20 festivals and won the Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival. It has played theatrically in more than 15 cities, was a Time Out and New York Magazine Critics Pick and Roger Ebert praised it as “effortlessly engaging”.  Robinson also recently wrote and directed HOLLOW, a short film funded by ITVS (a division of PBS) Futurestates series that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and is currently streaming at PBS.org. Robinson also co-created SPARKS, a web series about humans and technology, that was syndicated by the Sundance Channel. She has written and directed short films that have screened at film festivals around the world including Cannes-Directors Fortnight, Telluride, Edinburgh, and Clermont-Ferrand. She is the recipient of the Martin E. Segal Prize, the Mitsubishi Digital Media Lab Award for Excellence, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. Robinson received her MFA from New York University’s Graduate Film Directing Program.


  • Writer/Director of short film (FutureState Series for PBS) "Hollow" (2013)
  • Co-writer/Co-director of feature film "Small, Beautifully Moving Parts" (2011)
  • Recipient Sloan Feature Film Prize - Hamptons Fillm Festival (2011)
  • Co-creator, “Sparks,” Webisode syndicated by the Sundance Channel (2008-2009)
  • Writer, “Mind Blast” (IMAX feature, in pre-production)
  • Director/writer, short films including “Breaker” (2001), “Head Stand” (2000), “Heads, Tires & Other Studies” (1997)
  • Recipient, Sloan Foundation Feature Production Award
  • Recipient, Newman’s Own Fellowship – Yaddo
  • Recipient, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship
  • Recipient, Martin E. Segal Prize for Excellence in Film
  • Recipient, Lew Wasserman Fellowship
  • Recipient, Gold Prize and Kodak Award, New York Expo
  • Finalist, Wasserman Award
  • Recipient, Martin Scorsese Post Award
  • Recipient, Mitsubishi (Japan) Digital Media Lab Grant
  • Recipient, Clive J. Davis Award

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Soopum Sohn

Professor of Film
B.F.A., Chung Ang University; Art Center College of Design
M.F.A., American Film Institute; New York University
soopum.sohn@liu.edu
Film Screenwriting, Directing, Cinematography, Editing

As director/writer, Soopum’s short films include “Island to Island,” winner of a 2002 Student Academy Award, and “Fish in the Sea Is Not Thirsty,” an official selection of the 2002 Cannes Film Festival (Quinzaine). “Make Yourself at Home,” Soopum’s first feature film as a director/writer, was invited to the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival, Gala Presentation; Oldenburg Film Festival; San Diego Asian Film Festival; and Athens Film Festival. 

As cinematographer, Soopum’s films include “Michellville” (dir: John Harkrider), which screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival (American Spectrum), and “SA-KWA” (dir: Yi-Kwan Kang), winner of the International Critics Award at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival.
Soopum holds M.F.A. degrees from American Film Institute (cinematography) and New York University (film directing).

  • Cinematographer, Writer and Director, “Make Yourself at Home,” 35mm, 90 minutes
  • Director of Photography, “Sa-Kwa,” 35mm, 118 minutes
  • Director of Photography, “Mitchellville,” 35mm, 83 minutes
  • Cinematographer, Writer and Director, “Fish in the Sea is not Thirsty,” 16mm, 15 minutes Director, Island to Island, 16mm, 8 minutes
  • "Make Yourself at Home," official selection of the San Diego International Asian Film Festival (2009) and the Athens International Film Festival; chosen as the Gala Presentation for the Pusan International Film Festival (2008)
  • "Sa-Kwa," International Critics Award, Toronto International Film Festival (2005); Montblanc Award, San Sebastian Film Festival (2005)
  • "Mitchellville," official selection of the Sundance Film Festival (2005); Grand Jury Prize, Cine Vegas (2004)
  • "Fish in the Sea is not Thirsty," official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, Director’s Fortnight (2002), and the Hawaii International Film Festival (2002)
  • "Island to Island," Student Academy Award (2002); Certificate of Merit Award, Chicago International Film Festival (2001); Grand Jury Prize, Athens Film Festival

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Susan Zeig

Program Director, Professor of Film
B.S., Empire State College, SUNY
susan.zeig@liu.edu 
Documentaries, Independent Films, Latin American Films

Professor Susan Zeig is a documentary filmmaker focusing on issues of social concern. Her current work leads from the decades of dismal graduation rates in many urban neighborhoods, and how communities are successfully working to turn this around. She has received grants for these projects from the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the Barr Foundation, the Irvine Foundation, the Walter and Elise Hass Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, National Latino Communications Center, Independent Television Service (I.T.V.S.) New York Foundation on the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Humanities, New York State Council for the Arts, the Film Fund, and the Research Committee of Long Island University. Her films are in national distribution in educational, community and labor union circuits as well as being broadcast over PBS, transmitted on cable and the Internet. She also created a University Satellite Network with a 20 -university link-up, serving as Co-Project Director.

  • Producer/director, "In production: (untitled)" documentary on High School Redesign in Oakland, California
  • Producer/director, "A Community Concern," feature length documentary on community organizing and school reform
  • Producer/director, "All They Deserve," innovative situations in NYC public schools
  • Producer, "The Global Society and the Latino Community," short on Latinos in a changing United States economy
  • Producer, "Beyond the 'Browning of America'" three 50-minute television programs on the growing Latino presence in the United States, hosted by Maria Hinojosa 
  • Producer/director, "Plena is Work, Plena is Song," documentary about a form of Puerto Rican music analogous to the blues 
  • Producer/director, "Manos a la Obra: The Story of Operation Bootstrap," feature documentary on the origins and impact of the U.S./Puerto Rican industrialization model called Operation Bootstrap
  • Director, "All In Favor," film documenting women taking new roles in labor movement. Produced by the Coalition of Labor Union Women

*San Francisco Film Society, Harvard School of Education, Rutgers University, California State University, Brooklyn College School of Education, Communities for Public Education Reform Convening, Temple University, Project, Wellesley College, CUNY Graduate School of Education, Grantmakers for Education Conference, 2010 Give Kids Good Schools Week, LaGuardia Community College and New York University*

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Student Films

LIU Post Film Alumni Interviews

Alumni Interview - Mabel Santos Haugen from LIU Post Film on Vimeo.

Alumni Interview - Paul Taylor from LIU Post Film on Vimeo.

LIU Post Film Program Trailer (2017)

LIU Post Trailer 2017 from Susan Zeig on Vimeo.

LIU Post Film Program Trailer (2016)


LIU Post Film Program Trailer (2015)


LIU Post Film Program Trailer (2014)


Film Major Petter Holmsen makes wonderful speech at 2014 Commencement as Valedictorian.


LIU Post Film Program Trailer (2013)