Premiering in a classroom near you in an exclusive run, Jake Yuzna, the Department of Communication’s new assistant professor of film production.
Assistant Professor Yuzna is teaching two sections of CO 145-01 Intro to Video Production and one section of CO 338 Video Post Production in the fall as well as two more sections of CO 145 and CO 315-01 Making the Short Film in the spring. Yuzna has directed multiple films, started a new cinema program at the Museum of Art and Design in New York, and won awards for their films. They’ve done work in LA, NYC, Europe, Japan, the Midwest, South America, and more.
Professor Yuzna said they’ve always been a little obsessed with film ever since they were a child. They grew up with supportive parents who helped instill that love of film. Whether it was midnight showings of Chinese fantasy epics with their dad or their mom bringing them to foreign and international films, they’ve always loved film.
Prior to college, they’ve always wanted to do film and something else, film and painting, film and writing, film and sculpture and ended up in art school for undergrad. When it came time to declare a major the professor said, “Well, it seems like it’s always film and something so I kind of followed my instincts and went into that (film) program.”
Once there, Yuzna said they really enjoyed it and felt ambitious, having the ability to make short films and sell them to be played at festivals all over the world. When they graduated, they made their first feature film with some friends, which when asked, was the one project they were really proud of, out of all their work.
“I think about it a lot, not only did it kind of start my career, but because it was really just a bunch of friends right out of undergrad,” said Professor Yuzna. “And we got accepted into one of the top film festivals in the world and won this award and it shows to me, I think, what I like about it, is it shows it’s not unattainable.”
Dr. Deanna Shoemaker, Chair of the Department of Communication, supported the choice of the hiring committee that helped select Professor Yuzna. According to her, Yuzna has won prestigious awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, Creative Capital Foundation, Frameline Foundation, McKnight Foundation, IFP MN, FilmNorth, and a Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Film Institute. Their films have been screened at Cannes Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, London Film Festival, New Museum of Contemporary Art, British Film Institute, and have been acquired by Netflix, PBS, and Arté Television.
Shoemaker said, “After a very competitive job search, we found that Professor Yuzna stood out based on their impressive professional experiences across multiple filmmaking roles and genres.” Her opinions align with the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, David Golland.
Dean Golland emphasized his desire to have professors that are really doing the things they are teaching, giving students the best experiences possible, as well as building a culture that will grow and thrive. Dean Golland said, “Monmouth is the sort of place that we want people to fit in, but we also want them to make us fit in with them and I’m incredibly hopeful that Professor Yuzna will get us to fit in with them.”
Ciara Sharp, a junior Communication major, has Professor Yuzna for Video Production. She said that what sets the professor apart from others she’s had is, “They give us a lot of real experiences they have had to apply to our work and they give us advice through their experience.” She said they’re passionate, understanding, and educated, giving students a well-balanced class of experience and lectures to connect them to their classes and advance their skills.
With the addition of Professor Yuzna, there is hope from the university to build a new film major within the Communication Department. They said, “When I saw Monmouth was starting to talk with folks here (about hiring a film faculty member), it just seemed like it was a really unique opportunity with this idea of making a new major.”
They said, “It’s exciting, there’s a few bits that I don’t know if I’m allowed to say quite yet but we’re definitely working on both a major and kind of a revamped minor.”
They want this program to really foster a kind of filmmaking and TV that has a lot of passion and love around it. Professor Yuzna said, “It’s gonna be a type of program that doesn’t exist anywhere else, and that I think is long overdue.”
