Digital Cinema Faculty

Instructor,  Manager of Southern Oregon Digital Media Center
MIIS, Digital Art, Film, and Media, Southern Oregon University (Projected Completion Fall 2019); BS, Communication with a concentration in Radio, Television, and Film, Southern Oregon University, 1999

Brandon Givens oversees all operations of the SOU Digital Media Center and manages the DMC’s for-hire production services, offering employment and professional preparation of our Digital Cinema students. He teaches classes in Studio Production for Film & Television, Promotional Video, and Broadcast News. He has previously worked as a production services manager, live television director, news photographer, commercial producer/director, and television production instructor. He is currently working on his graduate thesis project, a documentary focusing on an inclusive theatre production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival featuring young teen performers with exceptionalities.

Office: SOU Digital Media Center
Phone: 541.552.6892
E-Mail: givensb@sou.edu

Instructor
MFA, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, 1977; BA, Photojournalism, University of Minnesota, 1968

Howard Lavick is a retired Associate Professor and the former Interim Associate Dean of the School of Film & Television at Loyola Marymount University. He is a Vietnam veteran who served in the Army from 1969 to 1971. He spent one year in South Vietnam, where he was a combat photographer with the 25th Infantry Division and a reporter with Pacific Stars and Stripes. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his reporting of the South Vietnamese combat mission into Laos in 1971. Under his leadership, the film program at Loyola Marymount grew from a department with 250 students to a School of Film and Television with more than 700 students. One of his proudest academic achievements has been as the guiding force behind the development of the SFTV-Bonn (Germany) film program that is now in its 14th year. He retired in 2015 and now teaches production and cinema studies classes at both SOU and St. Mary’s School in Medford.

E-Mail: lavickh@sou.edu

Instructor
PhD, Department of Radio-TV-Film, University of Texas at Austin; MA, Department of Radio-TV-Film, University of Texas at Austin; BA, The Evergreen State College

Christopher Lucas teaches documentary production, media writing, screenwriting, and editing and cinematography, among other production tools courses. He has produced and directed in broadcast news, independent film, commercial and documentary film, and produces scholarly work on the professionalization of craft-level workers in the media industries. Christopher is active in the Ashland New Plays Festival and sits on the boards of Film Southern Oregon and Ashland Independent Film Festival.

Office: Britt 242
Phone: 541.552.6425
E-Mail: lucasr@sou.edu

Instructor
PhD, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California; MA, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California; BS, Cinema Studies & Photography, Ithaca College

Betsy A. McLane is the author of the book A New History of Documentary Film: Second Edition. During a critical 8-year period she held the position of Executive Director of the International Documentary Association. She retains the honorary title of Director Emerita of IDA. She served the Project Director for The American Documentary Showcase, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U. S. Department of State. She is a Past President of the University Film and Video Association, the first woman to be elected to that office and is a Programmer for the Ashland Independent Film Festival. She now teaches documentary and film history at SOU.

E-Mail: mclaneb1@sou.edu

Associate Professor & Chair, Communication
PhD, Communication & Society, University of Oregon, 2008; MA, Photojournalism, University of Texas at Austin, 1995; BA, Journalism, Texas State University, 1986

Erik Palmer teaches Design Thinking, social media, and visual communication at SOU. He has an extensive record of professional practice as a photojournalist and creative image-maker, and has launched two media start-ups committed to the production and publication of multimedia content. His signature course is the Creative Careers Bootcamp, a summer excursion in which he takes SOU students to explore professional opportunities in and around Portland, Oregon. His latest research explores the impact of social photography on the practice of professional media photography. In the academic year of 2019-2020, he will be on sabbatical as a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana.

Office: Britt 240
Phone: 541.552.6880
E-Mail: palmere@sou.edu

Instructor
BA, Philosophy, Harvard University

Courtney Williams teaches location shooting for film and video, with an emphasis on pre-production and on-set management. She began working in film production in 1998 during the rise of independent film in New York City, starting as a Production Assistant and becoming a First Assistant Director, on feature films, shorts, and commercials. She has collaborated with independent producers to write and pitch features, documentaries, and episodic series; and has had original projects considered at HBO, Showtime, Black Label, Alcon, Lionsgate TV, CBS Sports Network, and aired on Discovery and TLC. In Ashland, Oregon, she writes, directs, and produces digital media for commercial and non-profit clients on both coasts.

E-Mail: williac12@sou.edu