Department of
Theater, Film, and Media Studies

Megan Rippey (class of 2008, B.A. women, gender, and sexuality studies, minor in theater studies) is currently an M.F.A. student in the acting program at the California Institute of the Arts (class of 2013), where she recently performed in Federico García Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba." Since graduating from SMCM and before heading to CalArts, Megan performed in numerous theater productions in the Baltimore, Silver Spring, MD, and Washington, D.C. areas, and worked as an actor with the professional touring group, The Children's Theatre Association of Baltimore. She has interned as a theater mentor to Baltimore City high school students with the group Unchained Talent and helped to produce, direct, and act in two of its productions. In summer 2009, Megan worked as an assistant teacher at 5th Wall/Steve Yeager's Young Filmmaker's Workshop and helped mentor kids ages 9-12 on acting for the camera. She has acted in numerous film productions, including two independent feature films ("The Rosens" by Steve Yeager and "The Devil's Playthings" by Four-Fingered Films), seven short films, and the webisode series, "Life after Lisa," by Kapri Productions LLC. Since January 2010, Megan has been performing acts onstage as her alter-ego, "Femme 6", in which she blends burlesque, theatricality, performance art, gender performance, and comedy to produce a neo-burlesque style of playing that is at once sexy, self-critical, ironic, feminist, and hilariously entertaining. On the east coast, "Femme 6" has performed in six burlesque shows in as many venues in Baltimore and D.C.; she also blogs regularly. As for filmmaking, from 2008-2009, Megan was an active company member and videographer for Run of the Mill Theatre Company; during that time, she produced two video projects that were screened as a part of two theater productions at Theatre Project in Baltimore.

While at SMCM, Megan was very active in the theater program as a performer (playing the lead, Irma, in Jean Genet's The Balcony, and as a member of the ensembles in Jean-Claude van Itallie's The Serpent and David Tushingham's adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories), director, and installation artist.

Judy Sellner (class of 2009, B.A. film and media studies and sociology/anthropology, minors in theater studies and women, gender, and sexuality studies) is in the final stages of completing her M.A. in International Media from American University, a dual program in both the School of Communication and the School of International Service. A contract video producer for the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that provides aid to Latin America and the Caribbean, and for their affiliate, the Organization of American States, she has shot video for PADF in Haiti, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic. She currently works as an intern DVD developer at Acorn Media Group (www.acornmedia.com), a company that specializes in distributing British television on DVD in the U.S., and as a part time house manager at Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center (www.montgomerycollege.edu/cac).

Judy was a two-time recipient of the Arts Alliance Award for Excellence in Film and Media Studies (2008, 2009) at SMCM for her classroom and studio work, and was an accomplished stage performer during her time at the college.

Adam Curtis (class of 2009, B.A. theater studies, minor in film and media studies) is one-quarter of his way into an intensive Masters program in film production at American University, which he intends to supplement with an M.E. from the University of Maryland upon completion. Adam is active in the educational theater circle in the D.C. metro area, working primarily with Round House Theatre. He is busy writing screenplays and making student films (you can see some at http://vimeo.com/user8428026) in preparation for his thesis film next year.

Since graduation, Adam has worked as an actor, educator, and an acting educator with a number of different theater groups and schools in the D.C. area as well as a half year stint in Americorps.

He misses his time at St. Mary's and encourages students to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge offered by the amazing faculty of the TFMS department.

Barrett Uhler (class of 2010, B.A. theater studies) is currently working at The Hippodrome State Theatre in Gainesville, Florida as assistant designer and head of wardrobe for Marilyn Wall. Since graduating from SMCM, Barrett has worked with various costume designers, set designers, and directors on a variety of entertainments, and most recently with Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota as a costuming intern. In her experience, she has designed, crafted, and built costumes, costume pieces, and props, and has been backstage costumer on numerous productions. Since 2009, she has worked on 17 shows, including “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” “Cowgirls,” “Ghostwriter,” “God of Carnage,” “A Christmas Carol,” and “The Turn of the Screw.” Barrett plans to attend graduate school in costume design once her portfolio is more extensive.

Josh Bristol (class of 2008, B.A. theater studies, minor in philosophy) is a freelance director, actor, stage manager, and techie who takes whatever opportunities he can make come his way. He recently had a stint as assistant technical director at the Folger Theater of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

Since graduating from SMCM, Josh has performed at Mystery Dinner Playhouse in Arlington, VA and became a company member of The Shakespeare Factory Players in Sykesville, MD. In addition, he has directed several well-received plays in Baltimore and Annapolis; he continues acting as well, regionally in D.C., Baltimore, and Virginia. Josh is committed to making a living entirely from the arts, if for no other reason than to prove it can be done. If you ever meet him, be sure to ask about the bear.

While at SMCM, Josh was an avid performer and director. He acted in several main stage shows, including The Serpent, The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Balcony, and with the world-famous Bread and Puppet Theater during its residency in fall 2008. He directed several shows for the student-run performance space, The White Room, for which he served as president, and on the main stage, for which he produced his St. Mary's Project in theater, Eric Bogosian's subUrbia, for the 2008-2009 theater and arts season.

D. Grant Cloyd (class of 2008, B.A. theater studies, minor in film and media studies) has worked with numerous theater companies in and around the Washington, D.C. area, including Rep Stage, Source Theatre Festival, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Venus Theatre, 1st Stage, Spooky Action Theater, Synetic Family Theatre, Wandering Souls Faction of Fools, and The Washington Rogues, of which he is a company member. He has recently performed a one-person show in conjunction with the Jewish Museum of Maryland about the life of immigrant artist Saul Bernstein. Grant has been seen in television commercials, independent short films, industrials, and print work, and has additional training from David Mamet's Atlantic Acting School.

Adam J. Sincell (class of 2008, B.A. English, minor in film and media studies) holds an M.A. in Film and Electronic Media from American University. While a grad student, Adam was a teaching assistant in video editing, darkroom and digital photography, and visual literacy. A freelance photographer and videographer for Patch.com (an AOL affiliate), he will head to Park City, Utah in January 2012 as crowd liaison at the Holliday Theatre for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. During his graduate career Adam wrote and directed several short films (www.youtube.com/user/ajsincell). In his spare time, he writes, acts, sings, arranges music, and studies Buddhism.

Molly Hubbs (class of 2007, B.A. film and media studies, minors in French language and culture; women, gender, and sexuality studies; African and African diaspora studies) earned an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts in 2009. Following graduate school, she returned to the D.C. area and is now coordinating assistant for the D.C. International Film Festival (Filmfest DC) and Arabian Sights Film Festival. Molly is also a researcher at WHUT Channel 32 for the American Archive Pilot Project. In 2011, she joined the board of directors of the Washington, D.C. Film Alliance (dcfilm.org).

Molly was the first recipient of the Arts Alliance Award for Excellence in Film and Media Studies at SMCM for her classroom and scholarly work, including for her SMP project on Latin American Revolutionary Cinema.

Aaron Brussat (class of 2007, B.A. film and media studies) trekked across country with his girlfriend Liz Lawrence (class of 2008, B.A. art and art history) before putting down roots in the Eugene, OR area. A self-proclaimed “graduate student” in the “School of Hard Blocks” and self-degreed “Doctor of Legology,” Aaron was the second recipient of the Arts Alliance Award for Excellence in Film and Media Studies at SMCM for his classroom and studio work, including for his SMP project, the short experimental film, synthesthesia. Currently working with a brewer-vintner specializing in craft beer from around the world, Aaron is having a blast enjoying Oregon life. He also brews his own mean beer!

Graham Pilato (class of 2004, B.A. theater) is currently a working professional actor in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metro area. An active member of the then-Dramatic Arts department while at St. Mary’s, he performed a range of roles; counted among his favorites are: Holofernes (the Pedant) in Shakespeare’s "Love’s Labour’s Lost"; Harpagon (the Miser) in Molière's "The Miser"; Deeley in Pinter's "Old Times"; Old Ekdal in Henrik Ibsen’s "The Wild Duck"; and, perhaps his favorite still, Humpty Dumpty in "Wonderland" in the student-run performance space, The White Room. He was also a long-serving member of Take One! Improv (prefiguring his clowning and commedia dell'arte work).

After graduation, Graham first substitute taught in the St. Mary’s County public schools, then began teaching full-time at Great Mills High School (2005-2007). Finding teaching to be more full of inherent failure and rejection than an acting career could possibly be, he moved on, vowing still to return to grad school one day and then teach again.

When Graham left public school teaching, he joined the community of professional theatre artists in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. metro area as an actor, producer, critic, and clown. Since fall 2008, he has worked continuously as an actor, performing with various area companies, including: Faction of Fools (D.C.'s commedia dell'arte theatre company), with whom he is an associated artist; the legendary (now defunct) Baltimore Shakespeare Festival; Bay Theatre in Annapolis; Constellation Theatre; WSC Avant Bard; the Maryland Renaissance Festival; the Washington Revels; Happenstance Theater; American Century Theater; Molotov Theatre; Fells Point Corner Theater; Mobtown Players; and the Theatrical Mining Company. He is a regular performer at D.C.'s Clown Cabaret in his character of Nebbishy Neville. He and SMCM alum Allison M. C. Clapp have also collaborated to co-found an environmental and interactive theatre company, Cloudism, which premiered in D.C. with the 2011 Capital Fringe production of "cloudism". Graham is also a critic with Maryland Theatre Guide, and has appeared in several short films.

Alana Smith (class of 2001, B.A. with a double major in theater and philosophy) is currently an M.A. candidate in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland. A political activist and organizer with the International Socialist Organization, Alana has remained vigilant as an advocate of social justice and has been most involved with anti-racism, anti-war, anti-death penalty, Palestine solidarity, and LGBTQ rights. She writes for the organization's national newspaper Socialist Worker, and her article on the Fahad Hashmi case was republished by Counterpunch. In early 2009, Alana presented a paper entitled "Citizen/Terrorist: Security Problems of the Biopolitical State" at the NYU Spring Conference of the Working Research Group on Poetics and Theory, entitled "On Security," and presented the same paper in late 2009 at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Philadelphia as part of a panel entitled "Citizenship in the Margins of the State: Violence, Borders and Belonging." In October 2009, Alana presented "This Is Our Emergency - Creatures of the Night are Calling: Political 'Wolf-Men' from Homo Sacer to the Caves of al-Qaida" at a graduate conference called "States of Crisis" hosted by the Department of English and American Literature at Brandeis University. Recently, she has published "The Politics of Participation: Revisiting Donna Haraway's 'A Cyborg Manifesto' in a Social Networking Context" (pdf) in Anamesa.

Immediately after graduating from St. Mary's in 2001, Alana was an arts administrator and casting intern at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. After a handful of office jobs--some theater-related and some not--she finally settled into a position at a nonprofit as the Marketing Manager for the Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers, where she remained for six years. A performer as well as a scholar of political theory, Alana has performed in Naomi Wallace's "Slaughter City" at the internationally acclaimed W.O.W. Cafe on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Ben Wyskida (class of 1999, B.A. as an independent student designed major in media and performance studies--combining theater, film and media studies, anthropology/sociology, and English; minor in environmental studies) is senior vice president in the National Issue Advocacy Practice of BerlinRosen, New York office. Recently, he was communications executive for The Atlantic Philanthropies, a $2.5b private foundation for which he directed communications and media strategies for national advocacy grantees on health care issues, social security, and education. Prior to his gig at Atlantic, Ben was director of publicity and new media for The Nation Magazine and communications director at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. A writer and regular contributor to The Nation, HuffingtonPost.com, Mother Jones, Alternet, and a range of progressive media outlets, Ben is also co-founder and editor of the politics and culture blog, PinkoMag.com. While at SMCM, Ben was active in the theater program as a performer ("Widows," "Angels in America: Part I: Millennium Approaches") and director (Jose Rivera's "Marisol," an SMP project in repertory with Aristophanes's "Lysistrata").

Coya Paz Brownrigg (class of 1997, B.A. theater) co-founded the internationally acclaimed all-Latina performance group, Teatro Luna, in 2000 and served as its co-artistic director until 2009. Coya holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in performance studies from Northwestern University. A director, playwright, performer, poet, and scholar, Coya is currently on the full-time faculty at The Theater School at DePaul University. Twice in residency at SMCM with Teatro Luna, performing "Generic Latina" for the Fourth Annual Women Studies Colloquium (2003), and "S-E-X-Oh!" as part of the 2006-2007 TFMS main stage season, Coya continues her association with Teatro Luna and has recently co-founded Proyecto Latina and is director-in-residence for the Poetry Performance Incubator at the Guild Complex. Coya's scholarly work on Latina performance, Latina/o identities, and public violence has appeared in the Oxford University Encyclopedia of Latino/as in the United States and in California History Magazine. Her artistic work has been profiled in The New York Times, American Theatre magazine, Theater Journal, and the Chicago Tribune, among others.

Kurt Heinlein (class of 1992, B.A. theater) earned his M.F.A. in Acting from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM) and Ph.D. in Environmental/Social Theater from Louisiana State University. Currently, Kurt is associate professor and coordinator of the BFA Professional Actor Training Program at Missouri State University. His professional affiliations include SAG, AEA, AFTRA, ATME, FDC, and SAFD. A published scholar on environmental theater, Kurt has written Green Theatre: Promoting Ecological Preservation and Advancing the Sustainability of Humanity and Nature (2008) and Koko and the Performance of 'Conservationism' (2005). He is also the author of "Evangeline Drowning" (2010), a play about the wetlands territories of the Southeast Louisiana region pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina.