Ava Justin blends in with the crowd of students crossing the quad during the day on the University of St. Thomas St. Paul campus. But Justin is uniquely accomplished for a first-year student. She arrived at St. Thomas to major in business and minor in film after already starring in, co-writing and producing a feature film, Joy of Horses, in 2024, through her production company, Ava Justin Productions.
“I knew, with my business, I wanted to learn more,” said Justin, whose father received a master’s degree in psychology from St. Thomas. “And I knew St. Thomas had a fantastic business program and film program.”
Film studies, which was first offered as a minor beginning in 2013 and as a major in 2020, was moved into the Department of Music, Film, and Creative Enterprise in the College of Arts and Sciences in 2023. At that time, the instructors in the program proposed the creation of a co-major in film studies and media production, so that students who wished to become both critics of film and makers of film could have a robust set of cross-disciplinary courses to support their goals. These programs are attracting an ambitious generation of film students interested in learning about the history, critical theory and production of cinema in a collaborative, interdisciplinary setting. The creative enterprise component pairs the creative focus of the program with the practical necessity of making a living.
"It’s the part of a creator's life that deals with the business side of things. Most of our students are looking to be entrepreneurial in that way,” said Shersten Johnson, director of the film studies program. “We are focusing on ways to build in more attractive reasons for students to major in film studies. Our faculty are very excited to teach cutting edge technology and cutting edge means of distribution of film and content.”
Jim Snapko, a longtime adjunct professor at St. Thomas, was recently hired as the first full-time faculty member in the program and will start his role as clinical faculty in fall of 2025. Snapko is an active filmmaker, and has directed 30 films, including two narrative feature films.
“We want our students to explore every aspect of our abundance of creative opportunities,” Snapko said, of the pairing of music and film into one department, where the two vocations are collaboratively intertwined. “It takes artistry, craftsmanship and a lot of skill to develop a unique voice in cinema, just like it does in music.”
Film studies majors and minors can fulfill requirements by taking courses across the creative disciplines on campus, including English, theater, music and a wide array of courses within the Emerging Media Department.
“Digital media arts courses bring a lot of hands-on production experiences to film studies majors and offer opportunities to work with an array of production contexts, approaches, and audiences including filmmaking and related areas,” said Emerging Media Department chair and associate professor Peter Gregg. “There are opportunities to grow as individual and collaborative artists and storytellers, as well as learning about the ways that film fits into the broader tapestry of thinking about and making media.”
The emerging media and film studies programs became further aligned recently with the introduction of a co-major in film studies and media production through digital media arts.
In addition to classroom theory and production experiences offered through coursework, students find opportunities to work on production sets on location.
Snapko has been partnering with Jacob Benda, the director of music, liturgy and sacred arts at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, to create a series of short documentaries highlighting the Chapel Arts series, a slate of musical performances aligned with the “Elevate the Arts” initiative, funded in part by Tommie alum and donor John Monahan, ‘73.
“I am especially excited that our students have the opportunity to work with experts across several academic areas as well as members of the Twin Cities film making community,” said music, film and creative enterprise chair, Professor Douglas Orzolek, who is also director of the Graduate Programs in Music Education. “The deep and rich connections that our faculty have will only further support the growth and development of the next generation of filmmakers.”
Snapko sees an opportunity to create a new and passionate generation of Tommie filmmakers.
The collaborative spirit is alive in our classes,” Snapko said. “I love that interaction that brings out the passion in these students to find their own artistic filmmaking identities.”
