THE JONATHAN B. MURRAY CENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY JOURNALISM
Method M Films is the Murray Center’s in-house production company, powered by student filmmakers immersed in the Missouri Method of hands-on, professional work.
With a unique approach to hands-on learning, award-winning faculty, and an unmatched visiting artists program, the Murray Center offers students a singular path into the world of documentary film.
Housed at the world’s oldest school of journalism, the Murray Center provides opportunities for students to immerse themselves in documentary film from day one; attending screenings, workshops and meeting industry-leading filmmakers, producers and editors.
Students use state of the art gear to make festival-ready films under the guidance of award-winning faculty. They make personal connections with acclaimed documentary filmmakers through the center’s unparalleled visiting artist program. The center’s extensive alumni network helps students find professional opportunities and mutual support during their time in school and after they graduate.
Learn from experts who will support you from enrollment to graduation and beyond
ROBERT GREENE
FILMMAKER IN CHIEF
Robert Greene is an award-winning filmmaker and editor whose films have screened at leading film festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Venice, and Tribeca, among others. His most recent film Procession premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, was nominated for an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award, a Peabody, and is distributed by Netflix.
SEBASTIÁN MARTÍNEZ VALDIVIA
SUPERVISING PRODUCER
As supervising producer, Sebastián Martínez Valdivia teaches production skills and reporting classes, and produces Murray Center students’ films. He is an award-winning journalist with more than a decade of experience in multimedia reporting. His previous work, covering access to healthcare, rural immigrant communities and the COVID-19 pandemic has appeared on NPR, Kaiser Health News and PBS.
ADAM DIETRICH
ALUMNI COORDINATOR
As the Murray Center’s first alumni coordinator, Adam Dietrich connects current students to alumni mentors, organizes the annual Murray Center alumni conference, and develops festival strategy for Murray Center students’ films. Beyond his work with the Murray Center, he is also the co-owner of Tree Fort Films, a film production company. He has worked on numerous films in a range of roles, including producing and co-directing Concerned Student 1950, which was screened a the 2016 True/False Film Festival.
The Murray Center curriculum is a two-year program for undergraduate and graduate students, which typically spans undergraduate students’ junior and senior year. Even before students join the program, they have opportunities to attend screenings the center organizes, hear from visiting artists in masterclasses and screenings and to participate in documentary club. Every aspect of the program is designed to give students real-world experience with all facets of the filmmaking process.
When students join the program, they spend their first year learning the ins and outs of documentary theory, building practical camera and editing skills, reporting in the community and developing the idea for their capstone film. At the end of that first year, students will have experience using the latest gear to make professional work. At the end of the year they pitch their film ideas to a panel of industry leaders in the annual Murray Center Pitch Forum.
Once they’re given the go-ahead, students can immediately begin production on their capstone films. Their second and final year in the program revolves around making their films. Through all stages of production and post-production, students receive guidance from our faculty, as well as alumni mentors, and visiting artists. While students are ultimately responsible for their own films, collaboration is key to the Murray Center’s ethos, and students routinely help on each other’s films. This gives students the opportunity to explore in depth which aspect of the documentary world appeals to them.
Connect with Academy Award-winning filmmakers and industry leaders
Thanks to filmmaker-in-chief Robert Greene’s experience and connections as a working filmmaker, the Murray Center is able to offer students the opportunity to network with, learn from and work with renowned directors, editors, producers and more. Each year, the center brings in upwards of a dozen visiting artists to share their expertise, advise students on their own films, participate in public screenings and masterclasses. Students are offered the chance to network with artists over meals and forge lasting professional connections that can lead to opportunities after they graduate.
Make films that will be seen at festivals around the world
The Murray Center helps students develop a festival strategy for their capstone films to give them the best chance at being programmed at festivals the world over. Murray Center films have been programmed at the True/False Film Festival, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and many others. The Murray Center alumni coordinator researches festivals, builds relationships with programmers and advises students on where they can find the best fit for their films.
The annual Stronger Than Fiction Film Festival showcases films from the Murray Center’s graduating class at the historic Missouri Theatre in downtown Columbia. The screenings are free and open to the public.
A panel of judges from the documentary film world award four of the Stronger Than Fiction films prizes each year, and the award-winning films screen at the First Look Film Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York the following spring.
Join a network of alumni who help each other succeed in the real world
“The Murray Center really opened my eyes to what nonfiction film can be and what it can mean for so many different people.”
Barbara Kuensting, Class of 2022 and director of Carrie in Control
The Murray Center maintains an extensive alumni network, keeping tabs on our graduates and what they’re working on after graduating. Alumni have gone on to work in a range of roles, from directing features to film criticism to programming and beyond. The Missouri Method provides graduates with a range of skills that are applicable across professions, even outside of the documentary film world.
Our alumni coordinator runs an alumni mentorship program where alums are paired with current students to advise them on their films and to help ready them for the real world. Each year, the center holds an alumni conference for students to meet alums face to face and hear about their experiences after graduating.
The alumni coordinator also maintains an active Slack workspace and produces a newsletter to keep alumni informed about job opportunities, so new graduates can find work straight out of the gate.
Watch this space for more news on how the center will further support graduates in the future
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