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FIlm Media Program

Alumni

Join the URI Film/Media Alumni Group on Facebook to exchange information, ideas, post videos and comment on each other's work.

Are you a Film/Media alum? Tell us about your activities: urifilmdirector@gmail.com

Where are They Now?

Here is what some of our graduates are doing out in the real world...

Roger Bacon '12
After graduating last May, I was accepted into Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Art in Southern California where I am currently gaining my Master's Degree in Film Production, with an emphasis in Editing. While at URI I directed, edited, produced and wrote various shorts, including writing and directing a 2012 winning entry in the Providence 48 Hour Film Festival. I have also worked as a freelance videographer and editor as well as serving as a production assistant in the camera department of the audition episodes of Fox's reality show, The X Factor. Most recently a film I helped produce while an undergrad at URI was accepted into the 2013 Los Angeles International Women's Film Festival. I am currently residing in Los Angeles where I hope to continue to build on the education I gained at URI and establish a lasting career in the film industry editing feature films..

Kaitlyn Bouchard '12
I'm currently working as an administrative assistant for Squam Art Workshops where I edit videos for their upcoming online workshops and take photographs for their website. I've also been focusing on my freelance photography business: Kaitlyn Bouchard Photography.

Blake Leverence '11
I'm currently working as a cinematographer/post production editor for Seven Swords Media. The company is based out of Providence and produces all of Alex and Ani's creative video content. We just finished shooting our second Superbowl commercial that will be aired all over the US. I'm also producing a documentary along side my former professor David Bettencourt called "The Station." The story follows the survivors of the tragic West Warwick nightclub fire, and gives them a chance to tell their story. You can find out more information and watch the trailer at here. You can also keep up with the most recent Alex and Ani videos on YouTube.

Anthony Lombardo '11
I've been working in West Hollywood at Watch It Now (WIN) Entertainment the past 6 months as an assistant editor. I edit fitness and healthy lifestyle videos, including titles that feature model Brooke Burke to MMA fighter George St-Pierre. I currently reside in Culver City, where I've lived for a year. I love it out here.

Andrew Drachman '11
I'm currently a full-time Filmmaker for CineStories in East Providence, RI. My passion for filmmaking was always a path I wanted to pursue, but I lacked experience. To complete my credits for graduation, I decided to pick an internship with Scott Beer at CineStories to get my feet wet in the video production industry. I had no idea I would learn so much, so fast, and have the opportunity to make filmmaking a career. I look forward to expanding my skills everyday and I'm excited for our future accomplishments as a company.

Steve Parrillo '10
I was hired by the Scenkonstbolaget production company as the cinematographer on the feature film En Perfekt Film that was shot in July 2012. Currently, I'm writing, directing, and currently in preproduction on a feature film, Meet Pamela, which is about a boxer that is on the run from his past and hides in Sundsvall, Sweden. The film will be shot there in August of 2013. I am also in preproduction on a feature I've written and will be directing in May 2013, Rule of Thirds, and I'm in the process of completing the MFA program at San Francisco State University.

Kris Castro '10
I'm working as a Filmmaker and Motion Graphics Artist at CineStories, a company I helped found with several others. We operate on a national level and work in Film, Television, Corporate Video, and Motion Graphics. Some of the things we've produced include a feature length documentary (currently in post production), three TV pilots (currently being pitched), as well as music videos, independent shorts, and TV commercials. Our corporate clients include Daymond John, Skype, Expedia, Adorama, Dave's Marketplace, Mystic Aquarium, URI Athletics, Food Should Taste Good, and numerous other industry leaders. Check out my personal graphics reel here.

Rachel Mossberg '10
I've been living in Brooklyn and working in the NYC area since September 2012 in freelance film production. I gravitated toward the art department, which deals with production design, sets and props. I work as an art production assistant but I've advanced to being credited as a set decorator and on set dresser, which is something I'm very passionate about. I've worked on feature length indie films, shorts and commercials. In addition to my freelance production work, I collaborate with Wednesday Night Pictures, a small production company based in Boston where I've worked as a producer and assistant director on a feature length film called The Anchorite, which we will be entering in major festivals this year. We are currently developing a feature length documentary called Survive DC, to be shot in May 2013. I also intern at a production company in Brooklyn that creates documentary TV shows for cable networks. At this moment, I'm happy to have the opportunity to work in multiple arenas in TV and film production, because there's so much to learn and I am interested in so many different things.

Ryan Cuming '10
I am currently going to grad school at Chapman University in Orange, California for my MFA in Screenwriting. I'll be graduating in May and moving to Los Angeles to further my career in feature writing. I've had the opportunity to write five feature length scripts, a few of which have placed in screenwriting competitions around the country, and three short scripts which I have all seen (or will see) come to the big screen in the coming months. I've had some amazing internship opportunities, most notably working for Valhalla Entertainment who's known for The Walking Dead series and the Terminator movies. It was at URI where my teachers and professors urged me to move to California and apply to grad school; I couldn't be happier with the decision. I look forward to continuing my chase for the dream.

Libby Segal '10 is a New York City freelance associate producer, writer and stand up comic. Additionally, Libby hosts her own web series and website called The Hobby Hoarder. Her project was recently featured on AOL's website.

Brit McFarland '09 and Ricky LaPrade '09 started a production company, 12 Gauge Pictures, and made Death Force, a feature film that premiered at the Cable Car Cinema in Providence.

Ben Brodeur '08
Recently I got a job as a production assistant at Barclays Capital in New York and moved to New York City. It is an investment bank, so not a full fledged production studio in the classic sense, however, we do put economists on most of the financial channels throughout the day (CNBC, Bloomberg, and BNN). I do camera work and technical direction for our studio. For the most part, it is a webcasting department. Since Barclays is an international company with many offices in New York as well as around the world, we shoot meetings and presentations and package them to be displayed in either a live or replay webcast. I credit URI, the Film/Media Program, and all the great teachers I had for getting me to NYC which is where I always wanted to be.

Marisa Barone '07
5 years after graduation in 2007, I have moved on from my job in Boston as an Editor, to pursue my dreams to make it big in Los Angeles. I moved out west with two suitcases and no job, just my fingers crossed. It was a hustle to battle with everyone else out here looking for work. With hard work, and luck on my side I was able to land a job as an Editor for a television show on FOX called Dish Nation. Dish Nation is a daily Entertainment News show that airs in the evenings and reruns at noon the following day. It is such a great feeling to see my name in the credits on a show that airs around the country and has thousands of followers. So im one step closer towards my goal of making a name for myself out here, and maybe one day having a production company of my own.

Eric Altieri '06
After graduation, I had an internship in Boston at a production company, then did freelance set work around Boston and Providence, including some industrial projects, and some independent productions. Right now I'm enrolled in a MA program in Documentary Film & History at Syracuse University in the Newhouse School of Communications. My program is great, I'm getting the opportunity to produce my own films, and use some great equipment I wouldn't have access to otherwise.

Evangelos Giovanis '02
In collaboration with his brother George, Evangelos has written and directed three very independent feature films since graduating in 2002. Evangelos and his brother also act, edit, and create the sound scores for the films. Their second film, Land of Nod, won the Digital Wave in the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in 2006 - where Evangelos was compared to a young Scorsese and John Cassavetes, (read more here). They recently acquired the rights to the book about former RI Attorney General called, The Mob and Me by Arlene Violet to develop into a script for a feature length film!! To learn more about the book, watch the interview with Arlene Violet.

Stephanie Dervan '00
After graduating in 2000, I worked in book publishing for a year and hated it. For that whole year I was looking for an entry level job in TV or film. As you know, it's very hard to land an entry level job that actually pays. Finally, I got a job working as a PA/Office Assistant for a small independent TV company owned by 2 former BBC producers. It was a very cool experience to work for them and loved the fact that they were female producers and somewhat role models for me. The company went out of business about 5 months later but they helped me get a PA job over at the BBC in New York City. From that point on, I've been freelancing in TV for the past 8 years. I specialize in non fiction/factual programming (everything from travel shows, docs, docu-soaps, and reality.

Matt Conley '00
Since graduating I have been focusing on filmmaking, photography, and journalism. My first job out of college was as the Assistant Editor of southcoast247, an arts and entertainment website out of New Bedford, MA. It has recently unofficially ceased production of new content after four years, but the site was a community-driven website that focused on edgy writing and creativity while working to better the South Coast area of New England through charity events and volunteer efforts. In addition to being the Assistant Editor, I also was the site's videographer and assistant photographer. The site also hosted NB Reel two years in a row, which was a public film festival that attracted independent movies from around the world to be shown in Downtown New Bedford.

After moving to the Boston area in 2006 (and working on a more part-time level with southcoast247.com) I did a variety of jobs, including marketing for an entertainment research company and selling alternative advertising. I have also landed background extra work in some Hollywood productions that came to Massachusetts, including Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone, Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, and the TV pilot Bunker Hill with Donnie Wahlberg.

Currently I am focusing on freelance documentary filmmaking and photography. I recently completed shooting and editing the short subject documentary Painting the Past, which followed children painting their interpretations of senior citizens' fondest childhood memories and I have been commissioned to work for UMass Dartmouth on documenting a program funded by the government where involving educating troubled inner city teenagers.

With photography I am constructing a portfolio of my work and just completed a photo shoot for the New York magazine Everyday With Rachael Ray.

Alumni Spotlight

Scott Beer
Class of 2008

Scott Beer

I'm very thankful to have converted my Film/Media degree into a full-time career currently as a Partner, Co-Founder and Filmmaker of CineStories in 2011. Our company, which is located in East Providence, RI, is a national level production company producing Narrative Films, Documentaries, TV Content, Corporate Web/Marketing Video, and high-end Motion Graphics/3D Animation.

Before CineStories, I worked with filmmaking partners to produce, shoot and edit 3 feature length narrative films; along with gaining valuable experience for a year and a half as the Director of Videography for a RI media company and as a post-production assistant on a Wes Craven film (Focus Features). Since establishment of CineStories, both the company and I have been privileged to provide video solutions to top tier companies like Skype (Amsterdam), Expedia (Seattle), Tribal Vision, URI Athletics, and many more (see Kris Castro's bio). Much of our work in the antiquarian industry is often broadcast on major cable networks such as CNN, Fox News, NBC, and Yahoo.com.

We continue to rapidly grow and develop having produced multiple TV show pilots, short films and a feature length documentary. In addition to our video production work, CineStories is partners with Monte Zucker Photographic Education to develop photography/filmmaking education products and classes (sponsored by Canon, Adobe, and other top photography brands). In the process I've got the opportunity to learn lighting and photography from some of the best photographers in the U.S.. Since 2011, I have enjoyed traveling the world to teach filmmaking in RI, Boston, NY, Montreal, Hawaii, Italy and Budapest (Fall 2013). I love my job and will continue to share and do whatever I can to help like minded filmmakers.

Scott Beer Golden Gate Bridge