Dear Chancellor Howard Gillman, Dean Stephen Barker, Provost Hal Stern, Professor Kevin Appel, Professor Joanna Ho, the UCI Academic Senate, and other members of the UCI Administration,

On behalf of the UCI community, we are writing to demand immediate action to secure the continuation of the Digital Filmmaking minor.

The Digital Filmmaking minor has been undergoing significant funding cuts in the past few years and lacks support from the Art Department. At the start of Winter 2021, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts announced the layoff notice for the program’s primary instructor Bryan Jackson, who had a key role in designing the program and teaches more than half of the courses. The lay-off would likely signify the end of the minor, and there is already a reduction in classes offered, with many students possibly unable to complete the minor.

Digital Filmmaking is a film production program championing storytelling from a diverse group in an industry that has always been historically exclusive. The loss of the minor would detriment our ability to affect change through the stories we tell. This program is and has been cultivating a new generation of filmmakers that is made up of women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups. The existence of our diverse community would be gone and the process of reform in media representation it brings. 

The guidance that this program provides for these undersupported groups has been crucial in their career development. The minor distinguishes itself from the Film and Media Studies major with courses dedicated to hands-on experience in video production, emphasizing the use of film equipment on a soundstage and specific technical skills. It offers in depth classes focusing on pre and post production, going further than the more generalized production courses offered in the FMS department. Professor Bryan Jackson is a working filmmaker who provides invaluable growth and networking opportunities to students. This has been an essential component of securing students’ success in the film industry. Digital Filmmaking exposes students to the mechanisms of the industry so they feel confident and comfortable entering it. Alumni from this program have gone on to represent not only Digital Filmmaking but also UC Irvine at companies such as Netflix, and most recently the Newport Beach Film Festival among other entertainment and media platforms. 

Additionally, this program has aided in recruitment and retention for many UC Irvine students. For Film and Media Studies majors, Digital Filmmaking supplements their studies as it allows them to apply what they have learned. To others, the minor gives them the ability to express themselves creatively, combining what they have learned in their major with that from the Digital Filmmaking minor. This space enables non-humanities and non-art majors to learn how to convey themselves in a 21st century way. Many prospective students are enthusiastic about UCI due to the minor, and it has assisted current students in feeling secure about their decision to be at our university. 

Moreover, the minor is extremely popular and in high demand, with a fraction of students who apply getting accepted. Many FMS majors who are not in Digifilm have indicated that they aim to pursue filmmaking and would switch to Digital Filmmaking if it was offered as a major.

Since its inception, Digital Filmmaking has advocated for undersupported groups. Ulysses Jenkins, an African-American video artist, laid the groundwork of the program with the creation of documentary and experimental film classes in 2003. Subsequently, Bruce Yonemoto, a Japanese-American artist, developed much of the current curriculum alongside Bryan Jackson, a gay filmmaker and AIDS activist. All three of our instructors used art as their means of community organizing. They brought these experiences to UC Irvine, where they fostered

young, diverse filmmakers despite tight resources and little funding. Our filmmaking education is intertwined with legacies of community organizing and change-making that have informed our

creative work and, now, our petition efforts.

This petition represents the collective (consisting of prospective, current students, and alumni) desire to keep the minor. But many others are people who have witnessed the impact that Digital Filmmaking has had on the people they know; or more broadly, they’re people who recognize the importance of such a program. All are invested in the future of DigiFilm and this petition. 

We ask for for the Claire Trevor School of the Arts to: 

● Establish a new faculty tenure position dedicated to the continuation of Digital Filmmaking as assurance that Digital Filmmaking has a future at UC Irvine. 

●Provide consistent and long term funding to sustain the Digital Filmmaking minor as a permanent feature of this university.

● Operate with full transparency with students about the handling of the minor moving forward in the form of student representatives at meetings and a direct line of communication to the student body.

● Consider a transition for the minor to become a major, given that it would draw students to UCI and become a popular and valuable program.

We believe that Digital Filmmaking has provided an essential space for us to express ourselves. This program has equipped us with the skills to become working filmmakers. It has taught us how to develop our personal storytelling and communication skills. Digital Filmmaking is vital to the UC Irvine community.

We demand accountability for the lack of transparency and communication with students. We hope to hear from you soon at ucidigifilmsociety@gmail.com.