How to Get Into the University of Hartford's Cinema Program: Insights from the Director and Admissions (Part 1)

Tucked away in the capital city of Connecticut, the University of Hartford's Cinema program is one of New England's hidden gems for undergraduate film students. Founded in 1957 through the merger of Hartford Art School, Hillyer College, and The Hartt School, the University has a longstanding reputation for offering a high-quality liberal arts education.

What sets the Cinema program apart is a combination of its small size, unique location between New York City and Boston, and the people who teach it. Faculty are working filmmakers who bring insider knowledge into the classroom, drawing on valuable experience that includes festival curation and professional production sets. From day one, faculty mentor students to stay on top of emerging film trends and technology, including around-the-clock access to HD workstations. With both a major and a minor, the program prepares undergraduates for an exciting range of careers and the world’s top graduate film programs.

Alexa Pellegrini spoke with the following faculty and staff about how to craft a stand-out application to the University of Hartford and what to expect as a Cinema student:

Lauren Cook is the Director of the Cinema program and Associate Professor at the University of Hartford, where she teaches courses in filmmaking and media studies. Her award-winning films have screened internationally at festivals and institutions including the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History, the Florida Film Festival, and the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. FilmSchool.org She has received the University's Innovation in Teaching and Learning Award twice in 2015 and 2017.

Nicole Mazzarella is the Manager of Collegiate Admission in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Hartford. She serves as a primary point of contact for prospective students and families exploring the University's arts programs and helps oversee the Student Ambassador program.

Editor's note: This interview is approximately 12 pages. Part 2 (5 pages) offers a closer look into the admissions process, tips to craft a memorable application, the program's alumni network, and more. It is available exclusively to Supporting Members, without whom in-depth articles and interviews like this one would not be possible as FilmSchool.org is 100% advertisement-free. Supporting Members also enjoy access to our database that tracks upwards of 5,000 film school applications and the full Acceptance Data statistics for each film program that helps demystify common questions about how to construct a winning portfolio, ideal GPAs and GRE scores, and much more.

For undergraduates weighing their options, what makes the University of Hartford's Cinema program a compelling alternative to bigger, higher-profile film schools?​

Lauren Cook: We’re not USC or NYU; our answers will be different due to that fact. But what we do really well is allowing every student to find their voice and develop a large portfolio of work by directing their own films, starting in the first year. Every student also graduates with the marketable skills they need to be able to get a great job in media production, TV, or film.

I also think that some of our opportunities might actually be broader than a large-track film program. Your question hones in on the fact that even though we are a smaller program, we're still helping students find their voice and figure out where they want to go with their career.

We train our students in a wide range of skills that allows them to be able to adapt as they enter the market and grow with the industry. We aren't teaching them how to do just one thing. We're teaching them how to take those skills and apply them in a lot of different contexts. So, our students work in production, but that might be in areas like sports broadcast and commercial production — generally better-paying jobs.

What makes an exceptional Cinema program applicant?​

LC: From an academic perspective, we're looking at trends within a student's transcript. Are they consistent semester to semester and course to course? Is there a dip in their grades, but did they come back over time? If they did, it shows persistence, and we like that.

In terms of creativity, we look at more than their filmmaking experience. Like, what are they doing outside of school? Are they part of a sport? Are they the captain of a team? Are they part of an extracurricular activity? Again, this isn’t a requirement to get into the Cinema program, but are they part of a production club in or outside of their school? Do they film with their phone?

Not every applicant may have prior experience studying film or working with a camera. How does the Cinema program see students who apply without production experience but a lot of passion and dedication?​

LC: We serve both students who come in with a lot of experience and students who come in with very little. Not all students, as you pointed out, have the opportunity to get their hands on filmmaking equipment prior to applying for college, so they might not have a portfolio. But they still might have exciting stories to tell based on their life experiences.

The first semester filmmaking course is a real equalizer for students in both of those categories. It's designed to offer quality experiences at any level. Some students have already done quite a bit — they’ve won student Emmy Awards, for example. But in that first semester filmmaking class, everyone's abilities and skills level out. So, everybody with all different life experiences and stories are going to come into the Cinema program. And after that first semester, they're going to end up in about the same place.

Can you describe the core differences between the Film and Video track and the Cinema Studies and Screenwriting track?​

LC: For the major, we have two tracks. They’re not tracks in the sense of what you would find in other production programs where you can only do editing or only do directing or screenwriting, though. You're doing all of those elements in our program.

First, there’s the Film and Video Production track, which is what almost all of our students are on. The other is the Cinema Studies and screenwriting track. We do get some transfers who have primarily a film studies background, but not necessarily production — so, it makes sense to enroll in the second track. But the bulk of our students do Film and Video Production.

Do students in both tracks have the chance to collaborate?​

LC: Definitely. They're in a lot of the same classes, but the film and video production track has more production work.

We’ve reformed our major from the film studies-based curriculum it was in the past into what it is today, but we didn't want to completely get rid of its foundations. We've had some students who became critics for the New York Times, things like that — they came here for our film studies courses. We’ve also historically had students who really wanted to focus on screenwriting, so they came here because they could do a less production-specific curriculum.

We have a lot of options and tailor the experience to the student and their goals. We want to meet the students at their interest point and be able to offer them what they're looking for.

How do students on the Film and Video Production track balance hands-on courses with film studies?​

LC: Students also take a variety of film studies classes that round out their understanding of why they make films the way they do. They produce and direct their own films in our introduction to filmmaking course, but the capstone producing and directing courses require that you take all the skills you’ve developed and experiences that you've had through the program and implement them in a much more professional way. So, we find that students who really know about film history and analysis, how to talk about films, and how genres work go on to become better filmmakers. These film studies courses help you develop a concrete vision.

Even though it's a production-based track, they still develop that base understanding of film language, genres, theory and history from the first course to the last.

What should prospective students know about the Film Studies minor?​

LC: What’s kind of cool about it is the students can choose to do that in addition to the Film and Video Production track. We tend to have a lot of students who feel that taking film studies classes adds to their creative ability and helps them get a sense of who they are. We see other students get into different minors — creative writing is popular.

The reason why we don't have a production minor is simply because [...] we would have a lot of people from all different areas that would need the resources we set aside for our majors.

How many students are in a cohort, and how does that inform what the community feels like?​

Nicole Mazzarella: Typically, we'll have about 15 students in a cohort, and we do that intentionally. That size gives Lauren and our other faculty members the opportunity to really meet students one on one, to have hands-on experiences with them. This also gives them better access to our spaces and equipment. So, it's a good size where our students truly get to know the faculty, the faculty really gets to know their students.

We have a great community. There’s the film viewing club, which has members from the same [Cinema] cohort. I happen to work with a group of student ambassadors that helps with recruitment events in pairs of two — I always see them together, signing up for events together. It’s a nice opportunity to make friends, and eventually colleagues.

I would love to hear more about the film viewing club. How do those students engage with each other?​

NM: It's called The Off Hollywood Club. They organize screenings and talk about films. It’s fun because it supplements our coursework as well. A lot of these films are popular titles and might match a particular holiday of the month, but others are more complex.

What accolades do faculty bring to the classroom?​

LC: I mentioned the film festival curation class. So, the faculty member who teaches that course, Anna Hogg, has curated a film festival previously in Virginia, and she's incorporating that knowledge into her class.

We take the work that we do in our own filmmaking practice and bring it into the classroom. That same professor did some work as a gaffer on a feature this summer and is taking that work and turning it into a lighting class — she had to do a bunch of lighting on a bus in a very bright location. Now, she’s sharing that industry experience with her students. We also try to have opportunities to work with alumni as well, whenever possible.

Beyond teaching important theoretical and technical skills, does the Cinema program prepare students to screen their work in front of live audiences?​

LC: Yes! We have a film studies class this semester that I wanted to talk about — a film festival curation class. The curriculum is about 75% production for the students on the film and video production track, but obviously, you need to know film history and the basics of film studies. The students actually get a chance to curate a screening for part of our department running the Hartford Film Festival. They're curating submissions from outside filmmakers.

The festival is going to be screened at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, which is a really old and established museum in Hartford. It's actually the oldest public continuously running museum in the country. It's a really exciting location for our students to curate films, plus it gives them career-ready experience to put on their resume and the confidence that brings. It just puts them a step ahead.

How large are Cinema classes?​

LC: Cinema classes are typically capped at 16 students each. But I’m teaching a commercial production class this semester where students get to make NFL commercials for a national student advertising competition, and I let in two extra students.

Normally, it's not difficult to get into the classes because of the close-knit cohort Nicole was talking about. That was just a unique class and so many people wanted to get in. So, exceptions can be made, even though 16 is our goal for each class.

We are thinking about doing one class for non-majors, since there’s been so much interest in the Cinema program, and we might do 20 students for that one. Generally, we really want our students to have that community experience with one-on-one time with their professors.

We even have one-on-one experiences for students who want to sign up for independent studies. That's accessible to every student — and our honor students can do an Honors thesis in their final year where they work one-on-one with a faculty member. I mean, a good portion of our students do independent studies, since you can't cover everything in every class.

Can you tell us more about the Honors program?​

LC: The Honors program allows students to work on year-long projects like a film or a screenplay. One student I had did an Honors thesis that was a feature-length screenplay; she ended up getting her MFA at Chapman in Screenwriting and has since come back to [the University of Hartford] because she's a working screenwriter and she can live anywhere. She's teaching a couple screenwriting classes for us. It's a real exciting turn to see.

How does the Cinema program being exclusively for undergraduates improve the overall student experience?​

LC: We're a teaching institution. So, for all of our faculty, that's the focus. We're also working as filmmakers, but we're not the kind of school where you're focused on graduate students, primarily, and then they’re teaching the undergrads — every class is faculty-led. I mean, I was a graduate student teacher. There's nothing wrong with that. But in graduate school, you're learning how to teach. This is something that I talk to prospective students about and they really seem to appreciate that you’ll know what you’re getting when you come to our program.

The equipment we have is entirely for undergrads. In some of the larger film programs, you'll see this amazing camera in their front page, but there's no way that any undergrad is ever going to even be in its presence, except maybe on a tour.

Our students get access to our most advanced equipment in the first year, particularly in the cinematography class they take in their second semester. They're using only film equipment their first two years. I love a good Bolex — I love all film equipment. But you also have to learn and master those digital skills, too. So, they're getting more of that hands-on training and our faculty’s absolute attention.

Thank you for reading! The interview continues in part 2…​

In the final installment, Lauren and Nicole continue the discussion around how the Cinema program helps students build impressive resumes, admissions advice and what makes an unforgettable application, the program's BA/MBA hybrid degree, the alumni network, and more. Read the full interview by becoming a Supporting Member.

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To learn more about the University of Hartford's Cinema program, contact Lauren at 860-768-4573 / lcook@hartford.edu or Nicole at 860-768-5908 / NMazzarel@hartford.edu. If you're applying to the University of Hartford, we encourage you to log your application to help support other prospective film students.

For more resources on studying undergraduate film, read our article on 12 Best Film Programs for Undergraduates in Every Region of the US:

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