Ithaca College Recognized as Top Film School

By Grace Collins ’22, August 27, 2021
The Hollywood Reporter ranks IC as the #18 film school in the country.
Student working with a camera

The Hollywood Reporter recognized schools that continue to provide top-not educations to students despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.

(Photo by Adam Baker)

The Hollywood Reporter recognized schools that continue to provide top-not educations to students despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.

(Photo by Adam Baker)

The Hollywood Reporter has once again recognized Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communications as a top film school. In their annual roundup of the Top 25 American Film Schools, IC earned the #18 ranking.

In this year’s rankings, The Hollywood Reporter acknowledged the restrictions that Covid-19 had placed on film programs and recognized the institutions that best overcame those obstacles to provide students with a top-notch academic experience.

The Park School of Communications’ film program, which includes undergraduate degrees in cinema and photography; documentary studies and production; television-radio; film, photography and visual arts; and writing for film, TV and emerging media, was noted for offering students hands-on production experience such as the Class of 2020 virtual commencement.

“The sweet spot of an excellent film education is the combination of a strong liberal arts core and hands-on experience. The Park School does that extraordinarily well and the proof is in the pudding.”

Jack Powers, interim dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications

Jack Powers, interim dean of the Park School, said the accolade is a testament to the adaptability of the faculty, staff and students.

“I love the fact that the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College continues to change with the times, and the continued success of our young grads reflects that,” he said. “The sweet spot of an excellent film education is the combination of a strong liberal arts core and hands-on experience. The Park School does that extraordinarily well and the proof is in the pudding.”

A headshot of Olubusola (Shola) Ajayi

A new course, Filmmakers of Color, taught by adjunct professor Olubusola (Shola) Ajayi was highlighted by The Hollywood Reporter. (Photo submitted)

The write-up on IC also prominently featured new faculty member Olubusola (Shola) Ajayi, adjunct professor of media arts, sciences and studies, and her course Filmmakers of Color, which Powers called a “critically important” addition to Park’s offerings.

According to Ajayi, the course features filmmakers of color in the curriculum and discusses white supremacy, racism and inequality in Hollywood and in the films watched in class. It also encourages students to be active in recognizing and questioning how characters are presented in their stories, the stories their peers are telling, and the potential impact these stories will have on their audiences.

​​“I created this course in response to my own film school experience. Filmmakers of Color is extremely relevant now and provides an opportunity to prepare future creators to be comfortable having conversations around topics dealing with race, inequality and intersectionality,” Ajayi said. “I'm excited about how this course has evolved, due in part to some amazing IC students who took the time this summer to work with me to develop this course. The overall goal is for graduates who work in production and/or Hollywood enter these spaces informed and empowered enough to work towards ensuring Hollywood is an equitable industry for all.”

Additionally, the write-up highlighted the new Iger-Bay endowed scholarship, which is awarded to incoming journalism, sport media or documentary studies students who demonstrate financial need and hail from communities that are historically underrepresented and underserved in these fields at the college and nationally. The inaugural recipient of scholarship was sports media major Damani Madir ’24.