Kevin B. Lee appointed professor for Crossmedia Publishing at Merz Akademie Stuttgart

12.09.2017

Kevin B. Lee, video essay pioneer, has been appointed professor of the new field of study “Crossmedia Publishing” at Merz Akademie, University of Applied Art, Design and Media, Stuttgart starting in the winter semester 2017/18. With this new field of study, the Merz Akademie strengthens its position to educate authors with competence to publish in various media.

Kevin B. Lee is a filmmaker and critic who has made over 360 video essays exploring film and media. His award-winning “Transformers: The Premake” was named one of the best documentaries of 2014 by Sight & Sound Magazine and was featured in several festivals including the Berlin Film Festival Critics Week. In 2017 he was the first Artist in Residence of the Harun Farocki Institute in Berlin, where he researched ISIS propaganda videos. He was Founding Editor and Chief Video Essayist at Fandor, supervising producer for the U.S. nationally televised show “Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies”, and has written for The New York Times, Sight & Sound, Slate and Indiewire. Previously he taught film and media studies at universities such as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Goethe Universitat Frankfurt.

Today’s content creators and publishers must have the competence to succeed in an ever-changing mediascape comprised of text, data, audiovisual and interactive web formats. The new field of study “Crossmedia Publishing” prepares students in a practical way and with a strong theoretical background to utilize all relevant media and technologies: from researching and creating a storyline using the basics of photography, film, podcast and publishing through the newest narratives with virtual reality and live streams. Crossmedia Publishing benefits from its ties to the other fields of study “Film and Video”, “New Media” and “Visual Communication”.

 

Lecture „10th Anniversary of Video Essays” from the series „Film Kritik versus Video Essay - Nachdenken über Film”

Regarding his appointment, Kevin B. Lee states: „I am excited for the opportunity to develop a new program that addresses the needs and challenges of media publication in the 21st century. The very idea of Crossmedia Publishing is an instance of innovative thinking at Merz Akademie and is what attracted me to teach here.”

Regarding the decision of the search committee of the Merz Akademie, Rector Martin Fritz notes: „With a comprehensive education, our graduates will be prepared to successfully maintain and strengthen information sovereignty and freedom of communication. The new field of study “Crossmedia Publishing” expands and complements the study program at Merz Akademie. We are happy to find in Kevin B. Lee the right one.”

22.10.2021

Screen Stories: Not Dead Yet

Last week the Crossmedia Publishing project “Screen Stories – Live and Alive” delivered their final project event “Screen Stories: Not Dead Yet”. The students organized an intimate event in the...

14.06.2021

DAAD Visiting Professor Weijia Ma at the 1st HFM Pop-Up Event: July 2, 6pm

HFM presents: Spaces for Animation – 1st Pop-Up Event on July 2, 2021 The Haus für Film und Medien Stuttgart (HFM) cordially invites you to an online panel discussion on...

01.06.2021

Prof. Kevin B. Lee at Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg and IFFR

His short film Once Upon a Screen: Explosive Paradox is presented in the International Competition of the Hamburg Short Film Festival, from 01-07.06. The film was completed at Merz Akademie with Merz Akademie’s...

20.01.2021

Our Nominees for Studienstiftung Scholarship – Konstanze Winter

A total of four cross-media publishing students from the Merz Akademie have been nominated for the 2021 scholarship call of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. This means that all the...