Greetings,
My name is Jack Powers and I'm a faculty member in the Television, Photo, and Digital Media program of the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College.
I mostly teach about the business of entertainment media (television, film, streaming, video games, sports, news), and my primary area of research deals with the social effects of entertainment media on children (especially TV).
In terms of creative work, I have been fortunate enough to have pitched multiple ideas to some of the top talent agencies, producers, and production companies in the biz. Currently, I'm serving as a producer for a feature film (budget just under $1 million) being shot in Ithaca over the summer (2025). The film will employ a number of Park School students as paid intern, and many IC alums will work in key positions.
I've been extremely lucky in my media life as I've been able to keep a foot in Hollywood while I teach here at IC. Over the past decade, for example, I've regularly read sitcom pilot scripts and provided notes for programs under consideration for CBS, ABC, FOX, and Netflix. In addition, I travel to Los Angeles regularly to be on set for the shooting of pilots, and-- in the cases where the shows have been picked up-- episodes. I've even been cast as featured background character in episodes of Modern Family (ABC), The Odd Couple (CBS), The History of Us (unaired pilot for CBS), and Furst Born (unaired pilot, also for CBS).
This access has allowed me to share invaluable information with our students about the best way to gain entry to the highly competitive field of entertainment media (including meeting face-to-face with some of those exec producers while in Los Angeles).
In terms of my teaching philosophy, I believe in the blending of theory and practice ('learning is doing.)'
In the uber-competitive field of film & television, I inform prospective students that if they intend to enroll in one of the television or film programs in the Park School, they should expect to
1) spend a semester abroad in London or elsewhere interning;
2) spend a semester in Los Angeles as part of of LA Program and obtain 1-2 high-profile internships;
3) work each semester on one or more of our 20+ television shows produced for ICTV;
4) engage in other media activities including working on-air or behind the scenes at one of our 2 radio stations, newspaper, alternative magazine, professional communications production company, etc.
Our television program is arguably one of the best in the United States.
Some highlights include (all of these represent grads who have entered the business in the nearly two decades I've been at IC, so it's only a small fraction of our grads):
- Dozens and dozens of grads employed at ESPN
- Dozens of grads employed at MLB Network
Grads are working/have worked on the following programs/networks/companies:
- 'Ray Donovan'
- ESPN (dozens and dozens)
- MLB Network (dozens and dozens-- including my son)
- 'Ellen'
- 'Trial & Error'
- 'Little Fires Everywhere'
- 'Dr. Oz,'
- 'The Doctors'
- 'The Voice'
- 'Top Gear'
- 'American Idol'
- 'Dancing with the Stars'
- 'Top Chef'
- Nick, Jr.
- Nickelodeon
- MTV
- CBS Productions
- 'Family Guy'
- 'CONAN'
- 'Casual'
- 'Entertainment Tonight'
- 'The Daily Show'
- 'Good Morning America'
- 'NBC Dateline'
- KickTV
- Yahoo Video
- Renaissance Literary & Talent
- 'The Bachelor'
- 'The Bachelorette'
- 'Supermarket Stakeout' (my daughter is a producer)
- TeenNick
- Showtime Networks
- HRTV
- U.S. Senate (video production)
- United Nations (video production)
- Mattel (video production)
- The Golf Channel
- Madison Square Garden
- New York Mets
- New York Yankees
- HBO
- FOX Television
- The Walt Disney Company
- NPR
- Turner Broadcasting
- Isotope Films
- TV Land
- truTV
- Ant Farm Productions
- Media Arts Lab
- Jane Street Entertainment
- Warner Bros. Television
- Paramount Pictures
- Play-by-play New York Islanders
- Freeform
- AMC Networks
- The Wall Street Journal (multimedia video producer)
- College Humor
- Funny Or Die
- The New York Times (multimedia video producer)
- Fanology Social Media
- Deutsch Media
- Comedy Central
- United Talent Agency
- SNY Sports
- 'Naked & Afraid'
- 'Cupcake Wars'
- Netflix
- 'Guy's Grocery Games'
- 'Modern Family'
- Bleacher Report
- Hulu
- SAW franchise
- Play-by-play Pittsburgh Penguins
On-air and behind-the-scene news talent can be found on radio/TV stations in
- Elmira, NY
- New York, NY
- Syracuse, NY
- Sarasota, FL
- Ithaca, NY
- Denver, CO
- Philadelphia, PA
- Urbana-Champaign, IL
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Fort Myers, FL
- Johnstown, PA
- ESPN's Sportscenter
- ABC World News
- CBS News
- 48 Hours
- ClearChannel Radio
- Boston, MA
- New York, NY
- Sirius XM Radio
- San Francisco, CA
- Cleveland, OH
Some of our more 'famous' alumni include:
- Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company
- Daniel J. Heffner, Producer of the SAW film franchise
- David Muir, Anchor for ABC World News Tonight, Primetime Live, and Good Morning America
- Karl Ravech, Host of ESPN's Baseball Tonight
- Kevin Connors, SportsCenter Anchor, ESPN
- Lauryn Kahn, Screenwriter of feature films like Ibiza (Netflix) and Fresh (Hulu)
- Liz Tigelaar, writer/producer of such shows as Tiny Beautiful Things, Little Fires Everywhere, Revenge, American Dreams, Life Unexpected (creator), Brothers & Sisters, Melrose Place, Once Upon a Time
- Bill D'Elia, executive producer/director of How to Get Away with Murder, Chicago Hope, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, Harry's Law, Judging Amy (co-creator)
- Chris Regan, 5-time Emmy winner as comedy writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, co-author of America (The Book), writer for Family Guy
- Barbara Gaines, executive producer of The Late Show with David Letterman
- David Boreanaz, actor-- most known for his roles on Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel
- Rod Serling, creator/writer of The Twilight Zone (while not a graduate of the program, he was a lecturer for many years; all of his Emmy awards are housed at Ithaca College, as is his script library)
- Too many others to list...
Personal
On the personal side, I'm a big, big baseball fan (as I'm sure my wife and two kids would attest) and I'm a major media junkie: television (favorite shows include 'Game of Thrones,' 'The Sopranos,' 'Better Call Saul,' 'Modern Family,' 'The Simpsons,' 'Homeland,' 'Breaking Bad,' 'South Park,' 'The Daily Show,' '60 Minutes,' 'Family Guy,' and 'Charlie Rose);' news (NYT, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal); and movies (favorite directors include Quentin Tarantino, Greta Gerwig, Martin Scorsese, Kathryn Bigelow, Spielberg, and Apatow-- among others).
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/powersjack/
EDUCATION
- PhD (mass communications, media & behavior concentration), Syracuse University-- Advisor: George Comstock, PhD
- MA (journalism/mass communication), The Ohio State University-- Advisor: Lee Becker, PhD
- BA (communications and French), University of Mount Union
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2022 -- present Professor and Chair, Media Arts, Sciences & Studies, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
2020 -- 2022 Interim Dean and Professor, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
2017 -- 2020 Associate Professor and Chair, Media Arts, Sciences & Studies, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
2013 -- 2017 Associate Professor, Television-Radio Program, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
2006 -- 2012: Assistant Professor, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
Courses:
- TV and Film Industries
- Media Law
- Entertainment Media Writing
- Mass Media Research Methods
- Media and Behavior
OTHER ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
Instructor, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University.
Research Assistant to Professor George Comstock, S.I. Newhouse Endowed Chair, Newhouse School, Syracuse University.
Digital Convergence Center, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University.
SCHOLARSHIP
Selected sample of refereed presentations/publications:
Powers, J. The future of filmmaking: How technologies are changing what films are and how they are made, distributed, and experienced. Refereed panel presentation, Conference on World Affairs, Denver, CO.
Powers, J. How to get your first job in Hollywood: Steps for breaking in and, more importantly, finding success once you do. Broadcast Education Association (BEA), Presenter, Las Vegas, NV.
Powers, J. Teaching the Writers’ Room. Accepted. Broadcast Education Association (BEA), Presenter, Las Vegas, NV.
Loop, M., Powers, J. Readability of award-winning fantasy sports journalism. The International Journal of Sport and Society , 9(3), 21-33.
Powers, J. Documentary film and journalism ethics. Refereed panel presentation, Conference on World Affairs, Denver, CO.
Powers, J. The new business of media: How should news be funded? Refereed panel presentation, Conference on World Affairs, Denver, CO.
Powers, J. All speech is free, some more than others: Social media’s role in regulating incendiary speech. Refereed panel presentation, Conference on World Affairs, Denver, CO.
Powers, J. Dating is more difficult than ever: It’s not your fault: New technologies and changing attitudes about sex have not been associated with more satisfaction. Refereed panel presentation, Conference on World Affairs, Denver, CO.
Powers, J., Peruta A. Teens, sexting, and cyberbullying. Paper competition. Accepted. To be presented, Broadcast Education Association (BEA), Las Vegas, NV.
Powers, J., Peruta, A. Look who’s talking to our kids: Representations of race and gender in TV commercials on Nickelodeon. International Journal of Communication (USC Annenberg).