The Cru Film Program is going into its fourth year at UMHB. Dr. Diane Howard (Director of Performance Studies in the Dept of Communication and Media Studies in the College of Humanities) and Mrs. Donna Teel (Director of Computer Graphics Design in the Dept. of Business Information Technology and Systems in the College of Business) have designed, produced, and supervised this program. Dr. Howard teaches film performance and pre-production in film courses, such as Screenwriting and Acting for the Camera. Mrs. Teel teaches film production and post-production in film courses. Students in her Multimedia and Film Production Course study project management of filming. (They study this in each of the Digital Video Editing and Post Production courses but get more in depth in the MFP course.) Further, they study camera operation, lighting, sound, script breakdown, shot sheets... Dr. Joseph Tabarlet teaches a Film Studies course and advises film students.

UMHB Film Students have been producing original short films, documentaries, and public service commercials on campus. Further, they have worked together with area businesses and organizations to produce training videos. Regional independent filmmakers and UMHB film alumni have assisted UMHB film faculty and students with production of film projects at UMHB and in Central Texas. UMHB film students have provided on camera and voice-over talent for UMHB commercials and other projects.  Some UMHB students have regional agents and have been cast as talent in national television programs,  advertisements, commercials, and movies. (See http://dianehoward.com/talent_students_alumni.htm. ) Some UMHB film alumni have worked as casting directors and talent agents.
Cru Film Projects have received recognition regionally and nationally. 

For four years, screenplays for short films have been written in the fall and selected for production in the spring. UMHB students have also participated in producing short films in connection with the national 48 Film Hour Project.  See

Original Cru Film Productions- Fairytail & Map Thieves, '05

Original Cru Film Productions- Bullets at Twilight & Dumb Love, '06

48 Hour Project, Big Plume Productions, Hidden Places, Summer '06

Original Cru Film Productions, Fly Away, Split Ends, '07

Two screenplays that have been written by UMHB film students have been selected for production Spring ‘08. The UMHB Cru films that are to be produced this spring can be used as training films for UMHB graduate counseling courses and in the counseling ministries of military chaplains, who are being trained at UMHB in marriage and family counseling with military soldiers. The Good Wife by Jillian Shook deals with grief, loss, and PTSD in a military family impacted by deployment to war zones. Runaway by Steve Nelson depicts recurring family patterns, abuse, and trauma that are repeated in subsequent generations of a family. Screenings of the UMHB Cru Spring ’08 films have been scheduled for screening and public viewings on April 21 (Monday) in Brindley Auditorium at 11 a.m. and on April 22 (Monday) in Lord Conference Center at 12:30 p.m.  

See UMHB Film Curricula- http://dianehoward.com/curricula.htm

See the Cru Film Schedule for Spring ’08-http://dianehoward.com/Spring_08_Film_Projects_Performance_Studies_Calendar.htm