SMU’s Film and Media Arts program hosted its Fall 2025 Student Showcase on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the Angelika Theater.
Walking into the theater, the energy filled the venue with excitement and anticipation. Student producers eagerly waited to see their vision on the big screen. Friends and professors arrived ready to see the work they put into their craft and cheer them on. The theater rows quickly lined up with popcorn and soda cups as everyone settled into their seats.
Sean Griffin, a Film and Media Arts professor, stood at the front of the showroom to welcome his students.
“I think the largest [goal for students] is partly its networking, but also it’s for them to have the experience of realizing, oh, like, this can be my career. I can be doing something with this,” Griffin said.
Mark Kerins, professor and SMU’s chair of Film and Media Arts, opened the show by presenting the evening’s lineup and introducing a new tradition of inviting an alumnus to speak. Kerins was joined by SMU graduate Elliot Mayen, the director of the creative services section for Texas’s Department of Transportation, to show students the possibilities and growth that await them after college.
”There’s a vast budget difference in the things you’re gonna see, but not a lot of the thinking has changed,” Mayen said.
The lights dimmed and the room went silent as the showcase began. It started with Mayen’s new video advertisements for the Texas Department of Transportation before diving into student films.
Twelve student films were shown, all with true inspiration and quality behind them. Fan favorites like “Prince: 1999”, an animated Prince song created by Catherine Reynolds, and “Joppy Mama Farms,” a documentary on a community farm within a food desert by Jake Willeford, moved the audience with rhythms of joy and exhilaration. On the other side of the spectrum, “The Confrontation”, a horror film involving evil spirits and a lonely girl by Garrett Seabold, chilled the audience using special effects and advanced perspective on camera placement and lighting.
Tyler Primeaux, a third-year film student and creator of “Test Note”, described his hope for the audience’s reaction to his short film, a parody of a scene in his favorite anime, “Death Note.”
“I hope they find it funny,” Primeaux said. “I think it’s something that even if you haven’t seen the show, you’ll be able to appreciate the humor in it, because I switched up the context. I’m not going to spoil it right now.”
After the showing, the floor was opened up for discussion with the student producers. They were able to speak directly to the viewers about the creation process and what the program had taught them.
Sage Esaili, the creator of “Getting Older”, left us with her final notes: “The most important thing I learned: authenticity comes first.”
The projects all differed in theme and purpose, forming a collage of creativity. The audience was exposed to a range of emotions, including horror, sadness, history, joy, and humor. The tasting plate of emotions left a memorable experience for viewers.
Addie Kelly, a fourth-year accounting major, started the night snacking on popcorn, “excited but a little scared” as she wasn’t sure what to expect.
“They were funny and powerful that I was like, it’s different,” Kelly said. “I feel like more people should come see it and experience it because it’s like something that’s so unique.”
