Dr. Tom Schatz - October 2, 2023

Dr. Tom Schatz (Professor Emeritus)

When: Monday, October 2, 2023 - 5:00-6:15 pm CT
Where: DMC 1.202  
Note: Speaker sessions are subject to change based on evolving guest schedules.

Please join us for a Q&A session where we discuss Dr. Tom Schatz's research on the development of the media industries and his views on the current state of the media industries.

To RSVP, please fill out this form.


Speaker Biography

Tom Schatz is the Mary Gibbs Jones Centennial Chair Emeritus of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin, where he served on the faculty from 1976 to 2021, and was the Executive Director of the University of Texas Film Institute. He has written four books about Hollywood films and filmmaking, including Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio SystemThe Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era; and Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s. Schatz edited the four-volume collection, Hollywood: Critical Concepts, and he also serves as series editor of the Film and Media Studies Series for the University of Texas Press. Schatz's writing on film has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, and academic journals, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Premiere, The Nation, Film Comment, Film Quarterly, and Cineaste.

Schatz lectures widely on American film and television in the U.S. and abroad, and he has delivered talks and conducted seminars for the Motion Picture Academy, the Directors Guild of America, the American Film Institute and the Los Angeles Film School. Schatz also is engaged in media production, has consulted and provided on-screen commentary for a number of film and television documentaries, and is co-producer of "The Territory," a long-running regional PBS series that showcases independent film and video work.

Schatz's recent publications include an essay on "Band of Brothers" in The Essential HBO Reader (2008) and "The Studio System and Conglomerate Hollywood," the lead essay in The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry (2008). Current publishing projects include a study of contemporary Hollywood and a revised edition of Hollywood Genres.

As Executive Director of the UT Film Institute, which he founded and launched in 2003, Schatz oversaw a program devoted to training students in narrative and digital filmmaking, and the actual production of feature-length independent films.

Spring 2024 MIC Speakers

Feb 16. - Austin Animation Panel

Guests include Carrye Glazar (Executive Producer, Austin Community College Television), Brad Graeber (CEO, Powerhouse Animation Studios), Austin Harper (Supervising Producer, Rooster Teeth), Evan Narcisse (Senior Writer, Brass Lion Entertainment), and Craig Staggs (CEO, Minnow Mountain).
4:00 - 5:15 pm CT

Feb 20. - Scot Cru

Independent International Television & Media Consultant
12:30–1:45 pm CT

March 21 - Austin-Based Film Festivals Panel

Guests include Neha Aziz (Artistic Director, Austin Asian American Film Festival), Alka Bhanot (Co-Founder, Indie Meme), David Finkel (Director, Austin Jewish Film Festival), Todd Hogan (President, aGLIFF), and Gabriel Ornelas (Executive Director, Cine Las Americas).
4:00–5:15 pm CT

Apr. 1 - Patrick Schumacker

EP and Co-Showrunner of Abbott Elementary, Delicious Non Sequitur Productions and WB Television
5–6:15 pm CT

Apr. 9 - Amanda Harrell

Former EVP, Business and Legal Affairs, Alternative and Specials, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
12:30–1:45 pm CT

Apr. 23 - Lee Solomon

Partner, Apollo Global Management LLC
12:30–1:45 pm CT

Fall 2023 MIC Speakers

Aug. 28 - Launching Your Career Panel

Guests include Ben Harizman (Executive Assistant to the CEO, OBB Media), Zachary Smith (Line Producer's Assistant, 20th Television), Hemrani Vyas (Assistant Manager of Programming, TCM), and Rachel Wang (Associate Producer, Up Entertainment).
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 11 - Launching Your Career, Screenwriter & Agent

Guests: Davia Carter (Tulsa King), Jim Ehrich (literary agent, Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston) & Cindy McCreery (RTF Interim Chair, Honey Girls)
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 18 - Brent Weinstein

Chief Development Officer, Candle Media
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 25 - Gail MacKinnon

Senior Executive Vice President, Global Policy & Government Affairs, Motion Picture Association
5:00-6:15pm CT

Oct. 2 - Dr. Thomas Schatz

Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 9 - Business of Music Panel

Guests include Wofford Denius (Attorney, Eisner, LLP), Jonathan Eshak (Co-President, Mick Music), Margaret Galton (Promoter, C3 Presents), Dan Goscombe (Managing Director, Cal Financial Group), and Kevin Shivers (Partner, WME).
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 16 - Amanda Barclay

Director, Comedy Series, Netflix
5:00-6:15pm CT

Oct. 23 - Christopher Casanova

Vice President, Film & Television, Black Bear Pictures
5:00-6:15pm CT

Oct 25 - Emerald Fennell

Writer, Director, Actress and Author
Promising Young Woman, Saltburn
6:00-7:15pm CT

Oct. 30 - Pastor Alvarado III

Executive Producer and Creative Director, Riverside Entertainment
5:00-6:15pm CT

Nov. 6 - Lucy Huang

Senior Production Executive, Amazon Studios
5:00-6:15pm CT

Nov. 9 - Bob Berney

CEO, Picturehouse
9:30-10:45am CT

Nov. 13 - Entertainment Law Panel

PJ Shapiro & Greg Slewett (lawyers and partners, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole)
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 27 - David Tran

VP, Distribution Strategy and Analysis, Lionsgate
5:00-6:15pm CT

Dec. 4 - Austin Entertainment Industry

Guests include Alfred Gomez (Director, Programming & Development, Blind Nil), Jennifer Hutchins (Producer), Laura Kincaid (Director of Operations, ATX TV), Attia Rasul (Content Hub Editor, Atmosphere TV), and Vince Robinette (Controller, Amazon Studios and 20th Century Fox/Disney).
5:00–6:15 pm CT