CEMI

Jay is a MFA Film Production Candidate at the University of Texas at Austin. Jay found his way to Texas by way of Kentucky where he completed a double major in Acting/Directing at Western Kentucky University. After 10 years of performing/developing theater in New York City, Jay became interested in filmmaking. His first short film (For Hope) was his gateway to a new career. Since then, Jay has helmed 4 short films with two in pre-production. Jay works diligently as a TA for UT and where he excels in pre-production and development work. More information about his film can be found at Jwilliamthomas.com 

Yannis Tzioumakis is Reader in Film and Media Industries in the Department of Communication and Media, School of the Arts. He teaches courses on American independent cinema and on the political economy of global entertainment with particular emphasis on Hollywood cinema.

His publications include 5 monographs, all focusing on aspects of American independent cinema, 6 co-edited collections that range from examining Greek cinema to American independent cinema, to political filmmaking, to the Hollywood Renaissance. to the film Dirty Dancing and its place in popular culture and the 100-year history of United Artists. These books have been published with leading publishers, including: Routledge, Edinburgh University Press, Wayne State University Press, Bloomsbury Academic and the University of Chicago Press.

Yannis' work has also appeared in a number of key journals, including: Screen, Velvet Light Trap, Film History, Studies in Documentary Film, The New Review of Film and Television Studies, the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics and the French Revue Française d'Etudes Américaines. His work has also appeared in numerous edited collections focusing on filmmakers such as John Sayles, David Mamet, Steven Soderbergh, Edgar G. Ulmer, Joseph H. Lewis, Jacques Tourneur, Spike Jonze and John Hughes and in topics ranging from Hollywood and media convergence to the ways in which independent film travels outside the US.

Yannis is on the editorial and advisory boards of several journals (Media Industries, Journal of Greek Media and Culture, Transnational Cinemas) and book series (ReFocus), while between 2010 and 2019 he was co-organiser and co-host of the Liverpool Film Seminar, which hosted over 70 scholar disseminating research in the field of film studies. His current projects include: co-authoring Rock Around the Clock as part of his Cinema and Youth Cultures series, and preparing a bid for a large-scale project on Hollywood studios' activities in Greece as producers.

Cristina Pablos is an undergraduate student at the University of Texas. She is a senior majoring in Economics and minoring in Media and Entertainment Industries. She recently returned to Austin from Los Angeles after completing the UTLA program in the fall of 2022. Post-graduation, Cristina will pursue a law degree with the goal of specializing in music law to support musicians and their career objectives. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Austin’s vast live music scene and checking out local vinyl record shops.  

Micah Barber is a kids & family director from Austin. He has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as a Director (Student Academy Award Finalist) and Screenwriter (Nicholl Fellowship Semifinalist). The imagination and sense of joy and wonder displayed in his short films first attracted the attention of Terrence Malick's wife, Alexandra, who asked to produce The Adventures of Thomas & Felix, his first feature film. It has been called “A stellar (and rare) indie family film”, winning several screenplay prizes and a “Best Family Film” distinction during its run at festivals across the country.   Micah is developing several projects for kids and imaginative adults. His style is joyful and complex, often featuring vulnerable coming-of-age heroes, and with a nod to Hayao Miyazaki, Jim Henson, and 1980s classics. Before making his own features, Micah (a former musician himself ) assisted producer Fred Miller in the development and production of the family movie Angels Sing, starring Harry Connick Jr., Willie Nelson, Connie Britton, Kris Kristofferson, and a host of Austin music legends. Micah’s newest projects with co-writer Tony Faia include the pirate adventure Winter Island, under option by 8750 Films in Los Angeles, and Good Hart, a television pilot. Micah is attached to direct both. He teaches film at the University of Texas at Austin, including an innovative course with executive Jordan Levin.

Experienced sport media professional passionate about brand management, marketing insights and leveraging sport as a catalyst to build communities and foster important values.

Current MBA Student, and most recent experience was at Back on My Feet, an organization that uses running, as well as health and wellness to aid house-less individuals.

Born and raised in Washington state, Annie Ward graduated from Western Washington University, with a BA in Literature and Philosophy in 2019. She has since shifted her study towards new media technologies, focusing specifically on the ways in which digital media changes how we tell stories and interact with our selves. She enjoys research and writing, and is interested in exploring the types of jobs that are available within different media industries.

Nandini is a marketing professional based out of Mumbai. Until recently she was heading the Brand and Marketing Department of Indian gourmet superfood start-up Pink Harvest Farms; having started work with the company while it was first making its shift to a B2C market, helping it grow from a hyperlocal business to a national brand. Before this she has been a brand strategy and design consultant, a copywriter, a creative director and holds a law degree from the University of Mumbai having worked with Disney India while specializing in intellectual property rights. She hopes to expand her knowledge of marketing, consulting through the MBA at McCombs, while expanding her knowledge of the media and entertainment industries through the affiliateship with CEMI.

Kellen Sharp is a first-year MA in the Radio-Television-Film department studying Media Studies. He is a Wisconsin native and recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin -Madison, where he earned a BA in Communication Arts: Radio, TV, Film and minored in Digital Studies. Kellen is passionate about media’s ability to connect communities and cultivate identities.

Laurel is a third-year PhD student and Assistant Instructor in the Radio-Television-Film Department. Her interests sit at the intersections of fandom, fan studies, and nostalgia, particularly the sites where fans, creators, and industry collide. She is interested in the “reboot culture” boom of recent adaptations, remakes, reboots, and new franchise entries, and how nostalgia factors into the production, marketing, and reception of these media texts.Her other research interests include online platforms, science fiction, and superheroes.

Caleb is an MBA candidate at the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin focusing on Strategy, Brand Management and Marketing. Prior to McCombs, he received his undergraduate degree in Supply Chain Management and a minor in Communications and Media Studies from Texas A&M University. After graduating, he worked in various supply chain roles across multiple industries focusing on creating tools to streamline processes for customers and internal stakeholders.

Outside of work, he worked on several entrepreneurial ventures and passion projects in the media space. He co-founded a networking and media entity to connect African Diaspora, called BunaTime, and was able to market and grow the social media presence to over 100k followers in one year across all platforms. He also started a music label to release and produce music for myself and other artists. Amazingly, the music created has garnered millions of views on YouTube and other music platforms, played on multiple television programs around the world (including MTV, Mnet [South Korea], and CityTV [Canada]), and has allowed him to perform several shows and festivals from SXSW here in Austin to Tokyo. His early success in the music industry has also given him the opportunity of being a Voting Member for the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards), his childhood dream.