Light, Camera, Action: The Film Major Is Officially Happening

At the beginning of the Spring 2025 semester, after a meeting with the Board of Trustees, it was confirmed that as of the Fall 2025 Semester AUBG will be offering a major in Film and Creative Media.

“At first, there was a great deal of skepticism around film in the university,” said the chair of the Film Department, Professor Sean Homer. “Many of my colleagues felt that a film degree would simply be people sat watching films in the auditorium and saying, ‘Oh, that was nice, wasn't it?’”

According to the latest version of its proposal form, the major is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in the production of short film and creative media, as well as theoretical knowledge to understand the global impact of media and film. At the core of the program will be storytelling through different forms of creative media and film genres.  

The theoretical and critical components of this program will provide a solid basis for students wishing to graduate study in the areas of film and creative media. The writing component will benefit graduates who wish to move forward with creative writing or writing for media.

The curriculum so far contains courses that include areas of study such as Media Studies, History, Literature, and Film and Theater. To complete the major students will have to have received 14 credits from required courses and 22 credits from electives.

However, it is important to note that the curriculum may be subject to changes, as the proposal form is not yet finalized.

Prof. Homer traces the origins of the Film and Creative Media Major back to about 14 years ago. It was at that time that he introduced the first course in film studies which was History, Memory and Narrative in Balkan Cinema.

Prof. Homer then introduced several other film study courses, which included writing-intensive courses that involved a significant amount of research and reading. He created the Film and Theater minor which took the already existing film courses and combined them with JMC courses taught by Professor Kiril Kirkov and Professor Ezra Winton.

Prof. Winton himself has been instrumental in the creation of the major. He was brought into AUBG in the fall of 2022 specifically to teach documentary studies and has taken the initiative to give courses in general film studies. Alongside that he will be teaching some of the JMC courses, making the roster of the Film and Creative Media major electives.

“It’s more interesting from a student's perspective, to take a major in film and creative media than just a film major,” said Prof. Winton. “I think, students that are just interested in film, will find that the complementary, media-type courses will directly benefit their practice and understanding of film.”

The first draft of the major proposal was submitted in May 2022. It received only a preliminary approval at the time as there was a lack of resources. This was due to the fact that the university could not properly offer production classes.

According to the university Provost, J.D. Mininger, one of the tasks facing the faculty was finding a location at which the practical exercises could be executed. “The campus plan eventually involves expanding to new buildings, but that's still some years down the road,” said the provost. “We'd like to do the program right now as there are students that want to take it now.”

Provost Mininger then recalled a conversation with Prof. Homer, who suggested that as for the time being, perhaps a studio space could be rented in Sofia. This seemed like a good idea, as this way not only will the university save money on equipment but also have a functioning and accessible place at which students will be able to complete their studies.

Provost Mininger expressed enthusiasm about the future of this major. “It's a great example of where critical thinking enters into our curriculum as AUBG students have an enormous initiative, energy, as well as extraordinary creativity.” he said. “We feel like this is the place to harness that and to showcase it.”

“I will be very pleased when it is up and running,” Por. Homer said. “If this major is something that I can leave here at AUBG, that will be very nice, and it will feel satisfying.”