Cinema & Television Arts Major
Back to Majors, Minors & Academic Programs
About the Major
Cinema and television are art forms that focus on creative storytelling through words, sounds, images, actions and music. They can communicate both fact and fiction through live events, scripted programs, documentaries and narrative cinema.
Jobs in Cinema & Television Arts
- Scriptwriter/screenwriter
- Casting associate
- Editor
- Cinematographer
- Sports broadcaster
Past Elon Cinema & Television Arts Internships
- Atlantic Pictures
- FOX Sports
- Multihouse
- Tacoma News Tribune
- Toluca Pictures
Related Majors
Behind the camera, her creativity knows no bounds
Kendall Saulsby bet on herself.
As she settled into her sophomore year at Elon, the cinema and television arts major received an offer to edit podcasts for Blue Ox Films, a Portland, Oregon-based film production company. By this time, Saulsby was already established as a go-to graphic designer with the Elon football program, and her skills in video and photography were expanding. But she had no experience in podcast editing. She accepted the gig anyway. She figured she would just have to learn what she didn’t know.
Within a month, Blue Ox flew Saulsby to the Pacific Northwest to serve as an editor and behind-the-scenes photographer on a Nike Training Club app shoot. Nearly three years later, following two summer internships and numerous freelancing assignments with the company, Saulsby graduated Elon in 2023 as a sought-after creative and accepted a full-time job as an editor at Blue Ox. Since then, she has edited a TV commercial for ESPN’s college football Labor Day weekend promo, spent a week in Sydney, Australia, for a Nike shoot and was the photographer on a cross-country Crocs campaign shoot.
The friendships I have made doing these jobs would never have happened if Elon didn’t offer these types of opportunities for students and create jobs and spaces for them to grow in their craft and as a person.
Even before graduating, Saulsby had already taken trips to Los Angeles, Tampa, Portland and Utah, handling editing assignments for Blue Ox’s notable client list — Nike, ESPN, LIV Golf, RocNation and the NBA.
“I’ve even been on set with Megan Thee Stallion twice,” Saulsby said.
She admits that before she arrived at Elon, she had never used a cinema camera or even considered that “working in the film/sports industry could even be a real job for me.” She credits Elon for giving her opportunities to develop and showcase her skills.
“Every day I’m so thankful I came to Elon because I know I would have had a much harder time finding opportunities to work within athletics at other schools,” Saulsby said.
Before photo shoots and editing assignments featuring A-list sports celebrities like Ja Morant and Megan Rapinoe, Saulsby began her sport media journey her freshman year in the Creative Arts Living and Learning Community in Elon’s Global Neighborhood.
Inspired by friends she met there, she joined the Elon football team as a graphic designer producing recruitment materials. Her eye-catching work garnered attention right away.
While the pandemic paused the sports calendar in spring 2020, Saulsby continued to work anyway, spending day after day editing previously recorded content to sharpen her skills. She was driven by a need to improve.
Around this same time, she was connected with an Elon alumnus who needed support handling the online creative presence of The Burlington School’s boys’ basketball team. For three years, Saulsby led the Spartans’ social media content, gathering video and photography at games, practices and group outings — and racking up millions of views and impressions along the way. She traveled extensively with the team as part of its competitive schedule and conducted media day shoots to supplement her game footage.
In addition to successfully juggling roles with the Elon football team and The Burlington School basketball program, she completed short-term internships with the N.C. State and UCLA athletic programs — the latter conducted during her semester in the Elon in Los Angeles program. She also worked for The Phoenix Club during her senior year — and because Blue Ox was so impressed with her internship work, she was hired to freelance remotely, adding another level of complexity to her already hectic schedule.
While the work was challenging, Saulsby said it led her “to be where I am today.”
“I learn something new about editing and filming from my coworkers on every project, and my coworkers always push my creative ability to the limits,” she said.
Saulsby called her time at Elon “a whirlwind,” filled with hundreds of hours of editing videos and photos and creating graphics. But beyond the work, she said she cherishes the friends, collaborators and mentors she gained working the sidelines, camera in hand.
“The friends I have made here at Elon have always supported me and pushed me to be a better creative with every piece of content I make,” Saulsby said. “The friendships I have made doing these jobs would never have happened if Elon didn’t offer these types of opportunities for students and create jobs and spaces for them to grow in their craft and as a person.”
Did You Know?
- The cinema and television arts curriculum provides a broad foundation in writing and previsualization; visual aesthetics; industry best practices in areas such as audience analysis, content distribution, and equity, diversity, and inclusion; and content production.
- Through the academic program and co-curricular opportunities, students can focus on specialized areas of interest such as audio production and sound design, corporate video and branded content, documentary and narrative film, sports broadcasting and multi-camera live events, and studio- and reality-based entertainment programming.
- To promote academic depth, all students must complete a minor, double major outside of the School of Communications or a semester abroad in an Elon-approved program.