Welcome to the SIUC Department of Cinema and Photography
Alumni/Student Spotlight
Matt Jones is from Marion, Illinois, and is currently working at a library in preparation for Graduate School. His winning screenplay is titled “Lydia’s Hero” and is a story of the depth of responsibility that one feels after saving a life and how misplaced this responsibility can be if felt by the wrong individual.
Matt graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Cinema and Photography on May 9th, 2009. Before graduating, he received the Outstanding Cinema Scholar Award. He hopes to continue his education in film and media studies and strives to someday teach at the collegiate level.
Film Alternatives - A documentary by Damon Taylor
Cinema-Photography Spotlight
Dru E. Vratil, Associate Professor in the Department of Cinema & Photography, graduated from the University of Iowa in 1998 with an MFA in Film & Video Production, and has been employed at SIUC since 2000.
She developed the screenwriting sequence from two classes in 2000 to the current four classes and teaches Writing the Short Film, Screenwriting 2 and Thesis/Independent Screenwriting, and a summer class, From Script to Screen: The Short Experimental Narrative.










