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For the second year in a row, Biola University’s School of Cinema and Media Arts was listed as one of 50 best film schools around the world by Variety’s Entertainment Education Report. Schools selected for the list “score high marks in both showbiz and academic circles,” according to Variety.

“Inclusion in Variety for the second year in a row substantiates the caliber of the CMA program and the success of our alumni,” said Gerald Fisher, interim director of Biola’s School of Cinema and Media Arts.

Biola’s School of Cinema and Media Arts was launched as Biola’s ninth school in July 2018.

“We are enhancing every aspect of our program to the highest caliber from the freshman experience to career transition after graduation,” said Fisher. “Cinema and Media Arts is expanding courses offered, internships continue to be top notch, alumni are supported as they build their careers in the industry, and students are mentored by professionals — all while building a deep community of media artists who support one another.”

With the establishment of the new school, Biola will introduce 17 new undergraduate degrees and concentrations over the next five years in areas such as acting, entertainment producing, cinematography and directing. This fall, a new concentration in game design and interactive media will launch and provide students with training for growing career opportunities in the game industry as use of virtual and augmented reality rises. Biola’s program currently offers concentrations in entertainment producing, production, game design and interactive media, and writing for film and television.

Biola hopes these new programs will attract nearly 750 new students by 2027. A proposed new 56,000 plus square-foot facility will house a screening room capable of seating nearly 300, several sound stages, a Foley stage, recording and editing rooms, five classrooms and 30 faculty and staff offices. Currently, students are provided 24-hour access to a 10,000 square-foot production center complete with sound stage, recording room, and video and audio editing facilities.

The School of Cinema and Media Arts is dedicated to sending out “thoughtful, kingdom-minded storytellers into the mainstream of the industry to tell stories that matter to a world that needs them the most.”

Biola has already nurtured the development of many great film professionals like writer and director Scott Derrickson (’90) and filmmaker and influencer Zach King (’12). Derrickson is known for box office hits like “Doctor Strange,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” King is known for his video illusions. His work has landed him interviews on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America and in People magazine. Biola alumnus Rob Bredow (‘94) (CTO Lucasfilm/ILMX Lab) was nominated for an academy award for his work in “Producing Solo: A Star Wars Story,” alumnus Joshua Perez (’11) was apart of the team that worked on the Academy Award winning film “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” at Sony Imageworks and alumnus Jonathan Hensley (’12) edited the montages that played during the Academy Broadcast for the second year in a row.

Biola students are also getting their films seen, with more student films hitting the festival circuit than ever before, including cinema and media arts major John Rizkallah’s Biola Film “Mallory, Los Angeles” winning at the Riverside International Film Festival this year.

Learn more about Biola’s School of Cinema and Media Arts and apply now.

For more information and press inquiries, contact Jenna Loumagne, manager of media relations, at (562) 777-4061 or jenna.loumagne@biola.edu.