COVID-19 (Coronavirus) update 4/22/20

Dear Maine Media Family,

As the current crisis forces us to reexamine our interactions with one another, it offers a moment to reflect on everything that binds us together.  Maine Media has long been a place where artists and creative thinkers come together to engage in conversation and creation, and now with the events of the past several weeks, we further recognize the inspiration and support unique to this community.  

With the health and well being of our community at the forefront of our thoughts, Maine Media Workshops + College is taking the unprecedented step of suspending all on campus activities through the month of August of this year.  It is our intention to resume programming on campus in Rockport again beginning in September 2020, as improving conditions allow. To accommodate this new schedule many of our programs, courses and workshops will be presented through online instruction, and a number of workshops are being moved to the fall. As we refine and reschedule courses and workshops through this period, we’ll reach out to enrolled students individually with more information. All of our certificate courses will continue through a combination of online and one-on-one delivery.

Inspired by the photographers, filmmakers and storytellers we host, and fueled by the rich history of innovative programming at Maine Media, our staff and faculty are hard at work organizing a series of new initiatives, even while our presence on campus is suspended.  Our college programs, including our MFA, Professional Certificate in Visual Storytelling, and Certificate in Collaborative Filmmaking are all being conducted virtually, ensuring that these students remain on track to complete their certificates. Many workshop offerings are being reshaped for delivery online, and a series of new courses are in development.  An Alumni Network is taking shape, special presentations are now made weekly, and an archived catalogue of content is being published in the coming weeks.  There is a lot happening in the community that is Maine Media.

With many online class opportunities already posted, many more will be announced daily in the coming weeks.  To highlight just one example keeping our global community connected – Starting May 30, Maine Media MFA alumni Luis Zéron, now a successful editor for shows on HBO and Netflix, will lead a 12-week online editing class taught in Spanish. It will be the first MMW+C class to be taught in a language other than English.  Spanish is the native language of some of our most accomplished alums, including four-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro Iñárritu (The Revenant, Birdman) and three-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. 

Suspending programs on campus is not an easy decision, but it is the responsible one at this moment.  I have great confidence in our ability to stay connected and work together.  It has been encouraging to see the uncertainty of the past month met with such fearless creativity.  As a community of creatives in a dramatically changed world, our perspective and determination will see us through.   

In solidarity,

Michael Mansfield

President

Resource:

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)