Occidental and the Media Arts & Culture Department are committed to principles of excellence and equity.

The MAC department provides sufficient equipment and editing lab facilities for all students to successfully realize innovative projects. Students at any level of production are not permitted to rent or utilize equipment beyond the department's without permission of their instructor. We do not provide monetary financial support to student projects.

Be smart and creative as you develop your project. Avoid projects involving any of the restricted areas detailed in the Making Sure Your Project is Safe and Casting sections of this handbook to prevent any potential additional costs. Use our Gift In Kind Donation Form to get a local restaurant to donate a meal to your production as a tax write-off. 

At the advanced level, media projects can involve some potential costs (food, permit fees, costumes, or props). Develop projects that take advantage of resources and locations you have at your disposal.

MAC 491 Senior Comprehensives students are encouraged to plan ahead and apply for ASP grants from Occidental's Undergraduate Research Center. MAC 491 Media Production Seniors are also permitted to run a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, upon approval of the faculty supervisor. 
 
External funding is not required to produce a successful, innovative project, but in order to ensure equity the external budget cap for a MAC 355 Advanced Media Practices production is set at $300. The external budget cap for an MAC 491 Media Production Senior Comprehensives project is set at $1,000. These are maxixmums, and students should not feel that access to such funds is necessary to produce innovative projects. Students are required to produce a budget in these course contexts to be approved by the faculty supervisor using the Budget Guidelines template provided under the Index of Forms

 

Contact Media Arts & Culture
Weingart 109
Katarzyna Marciniak
Department Chair