Assistant Professor Motion Picture Directing - Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema

City University of New York • Brooklyn, NY

58d • $79,598 - $102,017

About The Position

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (CUNY) invites applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor of Motion Picture Directing at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema with a starting date in August 2026. The ideal candidate will have directed at least one narrative feature that received a strong festival run and/or gained distribution, or the equivalent television work, on their resume. We are looking for someone with a mastery of storytelling that transcends technology.

A key focus of our program is career readiness, specifically helping students find their pathways in a complicated industry, and we are looking for candidates who have an engagement with the contemporary industry and who can articulate methods for collaboration between working filmmakers with students, helping the latter to launch careers in all levels of the industry. Our student body includes 250 non-traditional MFA and MA students transitioning from diverse careers and educational backgrounds into passionate and driven careers in cinema. We are especially interested in faculty who can engage with such students and mentor them on their journey to film.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

+ Teach five courses per year. The focus of these courses will be on directing or the practical crafts related to the production of student projects, ranging from short MOS films to final thesis projects;

+ Help administer a specific film production sequence of courses over a three-year MFA program. This includes curricular development, advisement of adjuncts, and drafting and maintaining production and safety protocols;

+ Advise and mentor students;

+ Engage in regular critiques of student works;

+ Assist in providing student programming, such as guest screenings and special topic panels;

+ Contribute to the broader curricular development of the MFA program in Cinema Arts through new course development and committee work.

+ Participate in the admissions process by reading applications and performing interviews;

+ Serve on Department, College, and in some cases, University Committees.

We are looking for a dedicated Filmmaker and Educator excited to participate in helping to shape a world class cinema school within a college whose student body is highly diversified. Brooklyn College serves students from as many as 150 countries who speak over 100 languages and dialects, and thus constitutes a vibrant microcosm of the rich diversity and energy that characterizes the borough of Brooklyn and the greater New York City area itself. Its mission features "a special commitment to educate immigrant and first-generation college students from the diverse communities that make up our city and state."

The college ethos, along with Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, is strongly invested in the educational and career success of a population that encompasses a multiplicity of nationalities, ethnicities, religions, cultures and languages. We are committed to fostering a spirit of camaraderie and shared ideals across the entire spectrum of our varied constituency. By accessing a first-class and affordable college education in an inclusive and nurturing intellectual milieu, our students acquire the skills, confidence, and global mindedness that allow them to thrive in a rapidly changing, unpredictable marketplace of ideas that is increasingly mindless of borders and spans the gamut of cultures and vernaculars.

To this end, the college seeks faculty who are eager to engage with the diversity of our student body and have a demonstrated commitment to inclusion and heterogeneity through teaching, research and/or service. We seek to recruit and retain faculty who reflect the mosaic of our student population. Successful candidates will bring their unique creativity, sensitivity, insights and perspectives to a community that welcomes innovation in scholarship and teaching. Together we will model the finest that a public urban liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies college can be for the present and future.

Requirements

• An MFA in Film/Digital Production or a BA and significant college-level teaching experience in film
• A significant record of achievement as a narrative filmmaker. This should include significant work as a director: either a feature film that has secured distribution or a strong festival run, or equivalent television work
• A demonstrable capacity to translate one's professional background into a dynamic classroom experience
• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Sponsorship will not be offered for this position.

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on expertise in digital production and post production, including familiarity with some of the standard professional shooting and editing equipment currently used in production and post.

Responsibilities

• Teach five courses per year. The focus of these courses will be on directing or the practical crafts related to the production of student projects, ranging from short MOS films to final thesis projects
• Help administer a specific film production sequence of courses over a three-year MFA program. This includes curricular development, advisement of adjuncts, and drafting and maintaining production and safety protocols
• Advise and mentor students
• Engage in regular critiques of student works
• Assist in providing student programming, such as guest screenings and special topic panels
• Contribute to the broader curricular development of the MFA program in Cinema Arts through new course development and committee work.
• Participate in the admissions process by reading applications and performing interviews
• Serve on Department, College, and in some cases, University Committees.

Benefits

• CUNY offers faculty a competitive compensation and benefits package covering health insurance, pension and retirement benefits, paid parental leave, and savings programs.
• We also provide mentoring and support for research, scholarship, and publication as part of our commitment to ongoing faculty professional development.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Industry: Educational Services
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees