Cinematic Arts – Zaki Gordon Center

Tell Your Story. Get a Degree in Filmmaking!

It’s Time to Make Your Mark in the Film Industry

Get ready for success in one of the fastest-growing industries with a global reach. With your film degree from Liberty University’s Cinematic Arts department, you’ll gain the experience you need to tell your story and make a difference in the world.

Through immersive, hands-on productions, a stimulating cohort of classmates, and industry-standard facilities and equipment, you’ll get what it takes to make high-quality movies, tv-series, corporate videos, and documentaries.

A Christian Film School Experience

Learn from faculty members who embrace their Christian faith and are active professionals, specializing in producing, directing, screenwriting, business affairs/marketing, camera, lighting, sound design, stunts, editing, film equipment, and film production software. Our programs are built around teaching the art, skills, and profession of filmmaking in order to impact the culture for Christ.

Cinematic Arts Programs

Bachelor’s Degrees in Film Production

Take your filmmaking skills to a professional level with our Cinematic Arts bachelor’s degrees.

Study under experts in the field using industry-standard equipment in our world-class facilities. Our graduates leave eligible for hire in Hollywood productions, government agencies, media companies, corporations, nonprofits, and media-producing churches.

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Script and Screenwriting – Feature Film

Impact culture by crafting scripts that challenge the mainstream entertainment world and fuel the rise in interest in family and Christian entertainment.

With an online MFA in Script and Screenwriting, you’ll prepare for the industry including film, television, documentary, and ministry media outlets.

Minors in Cinematic Arts

Film education enhances your degree. Get an employable skillset for your career with a Cinematic Arts minor.

Choose between our Cinematic Arts Production minor—an immersive program where you’ll collaborate on a film project from start to finish, and our Cinematic Arts minor—which is classroom-based and taken throughout your degree program.

Current Students

Featured Faculty

Stuart Bennett

Associate Professor

Specialty: Producing & Directing
Danny Carrales

Assistant Professor

Specialty: Directing
Scotty Curlee

Assistant Professor

Specialty: Producing
Jonathan Hout

Associate Professor

Specialty: Cinematography
Doug Miller

Professor

Specialty: Cinematography
Durrell Nelson

Associate Professor

Specialty: Screenwriting & Stunts
Stephan Schultze

Chair, Cinematic Arts Executive Director, Zaki Gordon Center

Specialty: Producing & Directing
Lorene Wales

Associate Professor

Specialty: Film Business & Marketing

Lorene Wales

Associate Professor

Specialty: Film Business & Marketing

View All Cinematic Arts Faculty

State-Of-The-Art, Theatrical-Grade Film Equipment

Your film degree ensures that you could walk onto any production and feel at home, know what to do, and how to deliver.

Here at Liberty, you’ll train on cutting-edge tools, including Arri and RED cameras as well as a THX-certified dub stage.

Watch Our Student’s Short Films

Check out the quality of work our students produce. View the following playlist of thesis film projects created by our Cinematic Arts students.

Start Your Journey as a Student at Liberty

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Film Alumni Success

Get equipped with the technical skills and work ethic needed to be successful in a variety of careers. Alumni from the Cinematic Arts, Zaki Gordon Center have worked on a broad range of media projects, from commercials to studio movies and television series, with many of them earning IMDb film credits.

While some of our graduates have gone into entertainment, others have used their knowledge and production experience to make their mark in the fields of education, government, medicine, ministry, and entrepreneurship.

Entertainment and Movie Industry Sets Where Film Alumni Have Worked

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Avengers: Infinity War
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Divergent
Black Panther
Venom
Spiderman: Homecoming

Corporate and Christian Careers Where Film Alumni Have Worked

Universal Studios
Sony Pictures
Disney Studios
CNN
TBN

YouTube
CBN News
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Samaritan’s Purse

Hear Their Stories: Where Film Alumni are Today and Why They Chose LU

What Others Have to Say About Our Film Students:

It was by far the nicest film program I’d ever seen. . . just the equipment Liberty had there was so cutting-edge, and there was just so much of it. I knew I’d be getting a good education.

I’ve heard about other (film schools) in Virginia and none of them have a program like Liberty’s. They allow us to go on a real film set with real equipment and professors who have been in the field directing, sound mixing, and doing editorial...In the filmmaking world, it’s more important to have experience rather than just a résumé.

I had done so much in school, so it was an easy slide working in the industry; it wasn’t a huge leap. Everything behind the scenes I had already covered in school, so there really weren’t that many surprises. I think the cinematic arts program prepared me well for jumping on set.

The film school at Liberty is total immersion, which is something that other film schools do not do. Being able to understand how every department works together as a whole, and how every aspect of the filmmaking process works, is invaluable.