From 2024, the Hanson FilmTV Institute is managed by the Director of the University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television (TFTV) and the following TFTV faculty and staff who comprise the Hanson Advisory Committee.

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Kevin Black is a TFTV Professor of Practice in Acting, teaching Acting l and ll, Introduction to Voice and Movement, and Screen Acting. A professional actor with more than 35 years’ experience, he has acted with The New York Shakespeare Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger, Primary Stages, The Pearl Theatre Company, Theatre for a New Audience, Laguna Playhouse, and Arizona Theatre Company, and he has appeared in films selected for the Sundance Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, and the Venice Film Festival. In addition to acting, he coaches speech and dialects, and directs and produces theatre, film, and dance projects.

 

Jacob Bricca, ACE is an award-winning film editor, director, producer, and scholar. He has edited 11 feature documentaries including the international theatrical hit Lost In La Mancha, the Independent Lens Audience Award Winner Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew, the 2016 Sundance Special Jury Award Winner The Bad Kids and the 2023 Peabody Award Winner Missing in Brooks County. He is a member of the American Cinema Editors, where he is Co-Chair of the ACE Education Committee. His book Documentary Editing: Principles and Practice is the definitive textbook on documentary editing and is a part of the curriculum at film schools around the world, and his newest book How Documentaries Work, published by Oxford University Press, offers a provocative deconstruction of documentary tropes and conventions. At TFTV, he teaches classes on narrative and documentary film editing, documentary history, and documentary production.

 

As TFTV’s Director of Advancement and External Relations, Kerryn Negus creates and oversees public relations and advancement initiatives, increasing the scale and dynamism of the School's visibility and connections with students, alumni, audiences, and other stakeholders. As the head of the School’s festivals and awards office and a longtime festival veteran, she mentors TFTV’s emerging filmmakers, developing tailored festival, exhibition and awards strategies that build national and international awareness of their filmmaking talent. Under her guidance, films created by Film & Television students have been selected for dozens of high-profile film festivals including the Academy Award-qualifying Palm Springs International ShortFest, Chicago Children’s International Film Festival, Leeds International Film Festival, and New York's Urbanworld Film Festival. She is a recipient of the Arizona Arts Excellence in Service Award.

 

Dr. Barbara Selznick received her doctorate from Northwestern University's Department of Radio-Television-Film in 1997. Dr. Selznick's research examines the connections between films and television programs as art and the contexts – industrial, social, or cultural – in which these media productions are created. Dr. Selznick's book on art film exhibition, Sure Seaters: The Emergence of Art House Cinema, was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2001. Global Television: Co-Producing Culture was published by Temple University Press in 2008. Her latest book, TV’s American Dream: U.S. Television after the Great Recession, examines how the U.S. television industry in the 2010s pursued audiences whose ideas about hope, fairness, work, and economic class were shaped by the Great Recession.

 

Former Staff

 

Between 2004 and 2024, the Institute had two directors.

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Mia A. Farrell was the Director of the Hanson FilmTV Institute from August 2022 to July 2024. During her tenure, Mia brought a globally inclusive perspective to the Institute, building on its existing legacy to support, encourage and inspire film and television students and the community alike. She brought a first-class slate of films, filmmakers and entertainment industry professionals to engage with TFTV's students and developed student programs for film festival intensives at Sundance and SXSW. She was also responsible for a special "in conversation" event with AMERICAN FICTION's Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director Cord Jefferson and students from TFTV and UA's African American Student Affairs - a highlight of her time at the Institute. Mia joined Hanson from the British Film Institute, where she had served as PR Manager, BFI Festivals. She brought to the Institute 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry.

 

Vicky Westover was the founding Director of the Hanson FilmTV Institute and served in the role from 2004 through 2020. During that time, she initiated educational programs including professional practice courses, industry seminars and internships that kickstarted the careers of countless TFTV graduates, provided funding and consulting support for independent film projects, and organized public events that drew tens of thousands of audience members. She was the co-director and programmer of Native Eyes Film Showcase and the founder and co-director of Tucson Cine Mexico, the first film festival in the United States to showcase contemporary Mexican cinema. Vicky also served as an adjunct faculty member in School of Theatre, Film & Television, where she created and taught Professional Practices and Film Programming and Exhibition.  

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