Dennis Conway

Biography

Dennis Conway earned a B.A. in Government / Political Theory from Cornell University, and an M.F.A. in Film & Television Production from New York University. He has served as Mass Media Area Head. Before entering academia, he worked in independent film production, public television (WGBH Boston), and in the corporate print and industrial video industries. His feature film, “Garden,” a screwball comedy about the chemical industry, which he wrote, directed, edited and produced, played in film festivals. Recent video productions include “Forming a Partnership,” a short documentary about the Valdosta Children’s Advocacy Center, “Undertones: Music from the N.Y.C. Subway Musicians,” and “Advised,” a comedy about a student with an ambitious advising agenda. He has been published eight times in BEA (Broadcast Education Association) academic journals, and his research topics include film festivals, the growth of online video production classes, and U.S. state film board incentives. His 2012 study, “Are Incentives From U.S. State Film Offices to Media Productions Worth The Money?,” was chosen for the BEA PAC (Production) Division’s “Scholar-To-Scholar” session. His screenplay, “Multicultural” (2012) won an award from the UFVA (University Film and Video Association) Writing division, and his scripts, “Second Look” (2011), and “Violent Nature” (2008), won awards from the BEA Writing Division. His analytic chapter on the feature film, “School of Rock” appears in the book, “Screen Lessons: What I Have Learned from Teachers on Television and in the Movies” (2016), edited by Dr. Mary Dalton. His piece, “Can We Effectively Teach Video Production Online?,” is scheduled to appear in the January 2017 Journal of Media Education. He has taught two dozen college classes in writing, performance, production, and history / theory, and enjoys his Mass Media students’ creativity at V.S.U.

Research Interest

Mass Media, film production and public television