The School of Communications will begin offering a new bachelor's degree in film, video and interactive media in Fall 2009.

A career in film, video and interactive media production can be lucrative, according to Liam O'Brien, professor of media production. "Even in a bad economy people need to laugh and cry," he said. "People always seek information and entertainment."

He offers another reason: "The work is labor intensive," he said. "You cannot have robots on an assembly line creating film, video and interactive media, and you cannot easily outsource the American entertainment industry."

The new degree focuses on creating content and telling stories using standard and high definition digital video formats and 16 mm film. Film courses will focus on fiction and documentary storytelling. Video courses will concentrate on single and multicamera studio and field production. Interactive courses will immerse students in Web and mobile platform production and delivery, such as an iPod or BlackBerry.

Students also will have the opportunity to pursue coursework outside the United States. O'Brien has taken students to Cape Town, South Africa, and Tralee, Ireland. Communications professor Raymond Foery has taken students to Nice, France, for documentary and narrative filmmaking courses, and communications professor Rebecca Abbott has traveled with students to the Sundance Film Festival and to South Africa.

Previously, the School of Communications offered media studies and media production only as a concentration as part of a bachelor's degree in communications.

"This reflects the growth and maturation of the school," said David Donnelly, dean of the School of Communications. "The broader focus reflects changes in the media industry. We are training students to tell stories across all media platforms."

The 40-credit degree culminates with a capstone course for students to develop an idea and create a capstone project to help launch their careers.

"Students will use this to say to prospective employers: 'This is what I did in college, so I hope you are interested in hiring me,'" O'Brien said.

Examples of a capstone project can be an idea for a reality TV show, a documentary, a short film or a new platform for delivering information. "We are looking for students to think outside the box," O'Brien said.

Students will learn how to write, direct, produce and edit content. Attaining proficiency in various skills is essential. "To start out, you have to be a one person band," O'Brien said.

Students pursuing the new degree will develop skills in the Ed McMahon Mass Communications Center, which offers digital audio, HD video production, postproduction facilities and interactive authoring software, including Final Cut Studio, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Frame Forge 3D Studio II and the entire Adobe Creative Suite production package for digital design and motion graphics.

The new degree program also will offer a new course in video game development and design.

Graduates with a bachelor's degree in film, video and interactive media can pursue careers creating various digital media for current and emerging platforms. Graduates will be prepared to work for corporate, entertainment and nonprofit organizations engaged in delivering entertainment programming and information to audiences worldwide. Graduates can work in radio, TV and film production as a documentary filmmaker, writer, or video and audio editor. They also can be interactive content producers. Graduates also will have a firm foundation to pursue graduate work.

"Employers want people who can take charge, have great ideas and can do things - conceptualize, write, edit, produce and direct," O'Brien said.

Quinnipiac has graduates working as production staff on feature films nationally and internationally and in new media, such as ESPN Digital and LATimes.com. Graduates also work at cable companies, including CNN, Comedy Central and HBO, at postproduction houses, such as MatchFrame Media Group, and on TV shows, such as "Family Guy," "How I Met Your Mother" and the "Late Show with David Letterman."