School of Theatre, Television, and Film Impact Report FY24-25

College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts

School of Theatre, Television, and Film

Fiscal Year 2024-2025

Dear Donor,

As I refect on this past academic year, I am flled with gratitude for School of Theatre, Television, and Film students, faculty, and especially, you—our thoughtful donors and supporters. Your generosity has helped make this year truly inspiring.

Indeed, inspiration has fourished in many forms: in the energy of our classrooms, the success of our flm festivals, and the powerful performances on our stages.

The worlds of theatre, television, and flm are changing rapidly, and we are committed to evolving with them. From emerging technologies to new models of storytelling, our faculty and students are exploring innovative ways to collaborate across disciplines and connect with audiences while pushing creative boundaries.

Your support plays a critical role in every aspect of our School, allowing us to provide essential scholarships to our students, support faculty research and productions, host guest artists, and grow our programs in ways that elevate both our reputation and our reach.

Thank you for believing in the power of the arts and in the work we do here at SDSU.

Stephen Brotebeck, M.F.A. Director and Professor School of Theatre, Television, and Film

Propelling the SDSU Community Forward

Pack Foundation Endowed MFA Design Technology Scholarship

The scholarship provides fnancial support to recruit and retain top candidates for the School of Theatre, Television, and Film’s renowned MFA program in design and technology. These candidates are often early-career professionals with experience at national performance venues, seeking to further their careers in the arts.

Summerfeld Family Endowed Scholarship

The scholarship supports students pursuing majors in television-flm production and TV, flm & new media (critical studies or production) within the School of Theatre, Television, and Film, encouraging them to explore a variety of subjects, work experiences, and internships to determine a clear career path following graduation.

Thriving in the Aztec Experience

Donae Swanson, Class of 2025

Class Level: Undergraduate Student

College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts

Major: Theatre Arts

In her time at SDSU, Donae Swanson served on the Executive Board of SDSU’s Black Renaissance Theatre Organization for three years (two years as president) and received mentorship through SDSU's Black Scholars Summer Konnection (BSSK) program, a summer program that ofered early exposure to college coursework and curriculum.

Last spring, Swanson was also inducted into the Jane K. Smith Cap and Gown Chapter of the Mortar Board National Honor Society for college seniors. She has performed in numerous productions on campus and directed a play for Black Renaissance.

Swanson leaves SDSU with this: “The best advice I can ofer to an incoming student at SDSU is to stay open to discovery, to change, and most importantly, to your own growth.”

“ The best advice I can ofer to an incoming student at SDSU is to stay open to discovery, to change, and most importantly, to your own growth. – Donae ”

Quoc Duy Le Do, Class of 2025

Class Level: Undergraduate Student

College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts

Major: Television, Film, and New Media

Quoc Duy Le Do took part in many clubs and organizations during his time at SDSU, including the Asian Cinema Club, Film Society, TFM Emerging Filmmakers Showcase, and was an avid member of the SDSU Asian Pacifc Islander Desi American (APIDA) Center.

Do aspires to work as a writer, director, and producer in the flm industry and says that SDSU TFM has prepared him for this venture.

He sums up his SDSU experience by saying, “In the classrooms and on the production sets at SDSU, I have collaborated with the most creative and talented minds, many of whom have become my dear friends. Being in the company of my peers has inspired and motivated me to become the best version of myself.”

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Being in the company of my peers has inspired and motivated me to become the best version of myself. – Quoc Duy Le ”

Nayeli Bailey, Class of 2025 Class Level: Master's Candidate College: College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts Major: Concentration in Design and Technology

Nayeli Bailey is a passionate lighting designer with a growing portfolio that spans theatre, themed entertainment, and architectural spaces.

For her fnal project at SDSU, she designed the lighting for the musical Rent, which she says was an exciting opportunity to collaborate with a talented team on a powerful production.

As a frst-generation college student, Bailey is driven not only by her creative goals but also by a desire to support and uplift others with similar journeys.

Her time at SDSU has helped her clarify her career path and build the skills and connections needed to move forward in professional lighting design.

“Nayeli Bailey’s lighting design blends creativity and collaboration, fueled by her passion and drive as a frst-generation student shaping her future in theatre and themed entertainment.

Celebrating Shared Success

Statistics of Interest

Dr. Martha Lauzen, Professor of Film and Television and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film: Her research focuses on the representation and employment of women in the industry, with studies such as The Celluloid Ceiling and Boxed In, helping to shape national conversations on diversity in media.

Dr. Brian Hu, Associate Professor and Artistic Director of the San Diego Asian Film Festival: Dr. Hu curates retrospectives and conducts research on Asian American cinema. He received the University Film and Video Association Teaching Award in 2021.

Mark Freeman, Professor and Documentary Filmmaker: Freeman's works have been showcased internationally, contributing to broader discussions on cultural and social issues.

Recent Highlights

Launched in 2024, SDSU's Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre is among the few undergraduate programs of its kind in California. The program currently enrolls 27 students and aims to provide comprehensive training in acting, singing, and dancing, preparing students for professional careers in musical theatre.

Creative Empowerment

New Degree

From stage to screen, SDSU’s dynamic programs in theatre, flm, and media empower students with the creative and technical skills to thrive in today’s entertainment industry.

Launched in 2024, SDSU’s BA in Musical Theatre is one of California’s few such programs, ofering 27 students top-tier training in acting, singing, and dancing.

Jessica McGaugh

Title: Assistant Professor, Television, Film, and New Media College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts Achievement: Jessica McGaugh is an award-winning flmmaker and a tenure-track faculty member in the School of Theatre, Television, and Film at San Diego State University.

She teaches production courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. McGaugh received an M.F.A. in Film from Syracuse University, along with a Certifcate of Advanced Study in Women’s Studies. Prior to her arrival at San Diego State, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Film & Television at the University of Colorado Denver, where she received numerous teaching awards and served as interim department chair in spring 2020.

McGaugh’s creative work celebrates diversity and inclusion through her focus on underrepresented characters, storylines, and collaborators. Her flms have screened internationally, including at the Vancouver Film Festival, Mumbai International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, NDTV, and Rocky Mountain PBS. Her feature flms Red Pearl and Three Worlds, One Stage are available on iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon, Roku, Vudu, and Walmart.

Her recent festival release, Tina Tina Bo Bina, follows a fctional performance artist struggling to balance the expectations of motherhood with fulflling her wild side through art-making. McGaugh’s project Womanhood: The Series, a collection of comedic short flms, aims to break taboos associated with women’s bodies and gender expectations. The team is currently in pre-production for its second season, which focuses on women in STEM careers. Season 1 received awards for “Best Series” and “Best Director” at flm festivals around the world.

Faculty Achievements

Ralph Funicello

Title: Don Powell Chair in Scene Design, Design and Technology College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts Achievement: Ralph Funicello holds the position of Powell Chair in Set Design at San Diego State University.

He has designed scenery for more than 300 productions of plays and operas worldwide, including the Broadway productions of Julius Caesar, Brooklyn Boy, Henry IV (Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony Award nominations), King Lear, QED, and Division Street; Of-Broadway productions such as Saturn Returns, Ten Unknowns (Lortel nomination), Pride’s Crossing, and Labor Day; New York City Opera’s La Rondine; San Diego Opera’s Don Quichotte and Murder in the Cathedral; and LA Opera’s acclaimed productions of The Dwarf and The Broken Jug.

Funicello is an associate artist at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and has designed for numerous prestigious companies, including the American Conservatory Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, American Festival Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Pacifc Conservatory of the Performing Arts, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Intiman Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C., Theatre Royal Bath, Shakespeare Center LA, the Stratford Festival of Canada, and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Funicello has received the Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration, as well as honors from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, the L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Dramalogue Magazine, Backstage West, and the United States Institute of Theatre Technology. His work has been exhibited at the Library and Museum of the Performing Arts in New York City, the University of San Diego, San Diego State University, Tifany & Co. San Diego, the Chevron Gallery in San Francisco, the Prague Quadrennial, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, and the Exhibition of Stage Design in Beijing.

Faculty Achievements

Katie Turner, Ph.D.

Title: Lecturer, Assistant School Director, Theatre College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts Achievement: Turner began as a lecturer at SDSU in 2017. She is a theatre generalist and teaches various theatre arts courses in both the undergraduate and master’s programs.

She is a scholar-practitioner, dedicated to academic research and theatrical production. Turner received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine, in 2016, where she specialized in American Theatre and completed a dramaturgy emphasis. She also holds a Master of Arts in Theatre from California State University, Northridge, and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Philosophy from Fort Lewis College.

Turner has been an active part of the San Diego theatre scene since her arrival in 2008. She has worked for such companies as The Old Globe (electrics), Ion Theatre (stage management), and Cygnet Theatre (electrics). From 2011 to 2015, she served as the Founding Artistic Director and Technical Director of Clairemont Act One Community Theatre and ran Turnkey Theatre from 2020 to 2022, a company founded during the pandemic in collaboration with SDSU students. Turner is an accomplished teacher and performer of comedic improvisation, and has recently ofered workshops for the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park and Turning Point Women’s Recovery Home. She is excited to join the cast of Historical Dining San Diego, which creates original historical murder mystery dinner shows. Most recently, Dr. Turner became the executive director of the Meisner & Chekhov Integrated Actor Training program in San Diego.

Turner’s scholarship focuses on representations of women in American Theatre. Her dissertation, Damsels in Distress: Theatre, Anxiety, and the Feminine, takes a close look at the relationship between female characters in melodrama and American social anxieties in the 19th century. Turner is also a playwright. Her interactive gothic melodrama Iris & the Axe, which draws on her dissertation research, won the “Outside the Box” award at the San Diego Fringe Festival in 2022. She recently completed a workshop reading of her solo show Here, at the End, a dark comedy about being a person at our peculiar time in history, and hopes to perform it in 2025.