Recent News

Students walk through Red Square near white tents.
Connect, explore, get involved! Dawg Daze will take place from September 23 to October 2, 2026. It is a great way to discover resources, familiarize yourself with important campus landmarks, and connect with staff and other students at the University of Washington. Continue reading on UW College of Arts & Sciences News
Chloe O'Dell with headset on
Article written by UW CMS '25 alumna Chloe O'Dell.This summer, I got to spend five weeks in Chicago as part of the BTN NOW program, a rotational workshop for recent graduates at Big Ten Network!Each week was a new experience, starting with a studio rotation in week one, where we learned about automation, worked directly with talent, and learned just how chaotic a room full of mascots…
Yandong Li
Congratulations to Yandong Li, whose dissertation, “Energy Objects: A Media Genealogy of Environmental Futures”, has been chosen for the University of Washington Graduate School’s 2026 Distinguished Dissertation Award (Humanities & Fine Arts).   The Graduate School is extremely pleased to acknowledge the noteworthy contributions this scholarship has already made to the…
Photo of Beacon Cinema Staff
CMS alum Shayna Nowicki and fellow Beacon Cinema co-owner Tommy Swenson were announced as winners of The Stranger's Genius award in the film category. For more details (and tickets to the party!) see: https://www.strangergeniusawards.com/geniuses 
Warren Etheredge and Amy Lillard speaking
The Department of Cinema and Media Studies sponsored the professionalization mixer, "Meet Your Makers" at the Walla Walla Movie Crush (WWMC), July 11 2026. Rated as one of the coolest film festivals by Moviemaker Magazine, WWMC and CMS provided an opportunity for filmmakers of all levels to talk their craft and artistics vision with producers, other filmmakers, and CMS students and faculty.…
raccoon walking across grass
Professor Stephen Groening spoke with KNKX's Kirsten Kendrick about the social media phenomenon of Jimothy, the raccoon whose spinal disorder has captured the imagination of Ballard residents and a surprisingly large swathe of the social mediasphere. Listen to the conversation here: https://www.knkx.org/arts-culture/2026-07-31/rooting-for-him-how-seattle-short-spined-raccoon-jimothy-went-viral…
Nighttime crowd under park lamps
On June 24, I was slogging through my thrice-weekly check of all the platforms on which someone could need something from me.Slack. Nothing. Outlook. Ghost town. Except for the plethora of spam emails that I will maybe someday go through. YouTube. Why was I even checking that? Discord. A white notification dot appeared next to the channel for last quarter’s documentary class.I opened it to find a…
Two CMS Graduates Hugging
Congratulations to all of our students who completed their degrees during the 2025-2026 academic year! The Cinema & Media Studies department is proud to have awarded a grand total of two PhDs, three MAs, and seventy-eight BAs.As these Huskies embark on the next chapters of their lives in a wide range of fields - including careers in media, film, drama,…
Feminist Media Histories Masthead
The Department of Cinema and Media Studies is home to two academic journals: Feminist Media Histories (editor-in-chief, Jennifer Bean) and the Journal of Chinese Cinemas (editor-in-chief Yomi Braester). Department Chair Stephen Groening sat down with some previous managing editors of FMH – Kallie Strode (2021-2022), Cain Miller (2024-2025), and Ben Coldwell…
Two male individuals standing behind a bar facing each other
A Los Angeles based production company paid me to write a short film script, and then fully financed and produced it.You did not mis-read that. However, as my UW screenwriting teacher Warren Etheredge told me, this is what they call “a unicorn.” Nobody pays you for a short film script. And they certainly don’t walk in with a fully funded $25K budget production. No - you write your…