{"id":7165,"date":"2026-09-30T17:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T21:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/?p=7165"},"modified":"2026-09-30T17:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T21:44:30","slug":"film-and-media-department-acquires-sony-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/2026\/09\/30\/film-and-media-department-acquires-sony-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"Film and Media Department Acquires Sony Equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Courtesy of Luke Mess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Film and Media Studies Department has partnered with Sony to acquire new and updated audiovisual equipment, providing students in the Journalism Program with access to industry-standard technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning this fall, students enrolled in journalism production classes will have the opportunity to use professional-grade Sony equipment in their classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so important that journalism program students are being trained on the equipment that is being used in the industry,\u201d said Professor and Journalism Program Director Sissel McCarthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Professor Seyma Bayram\u2019s Photojournalism class, students now use full-frame, mirrorless Sony Alpha 7 IV cameras. The new equipment replaces DSLR cameras the department had purchased in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The connection with Sony began through the Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium, a network that connects colleges and universities with the Pulitzer Center through student fellowships<\/a>, campus visits and talks by award-winning journalists<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Pulitzer Talk last spring, McCarthy met with the Pulitzer Center\u2019s CEO Lisa Gibbs. They discussed the challenges in higher education and teaching journalism, including Hunter\u2019s outdated equipment. Following that conversation, Gibbs introduced McCarthy to a Sony representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, Professor Kelly Anderson, the chair of the Film and Media Studies Department, and Luke Mess, senior college laboratory technician and equipment room manager, negotiated a deal with Sony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSony was very accommodating and friendly,\u201d Mess said. \u201cThey were eager to develop a partnership and recognize that students are talented and hungry to tell stories.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter College President Nancy Cantor had already worked with the Hunter College Foundation to provide $100,000 toward upgrading the department\u2019s equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe approached Sony and already had some funding,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThey were very interested in everything about Hunter \u2014 the diversity, the fact that we\u2019re in New York City, and our career pipeline work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anderson also shared with Sony the findings from an external review, led by Celine Parre\u00f1as Shimizu, dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA. The report described Hunter\u2019s program as \u201cone of the most socially significant programs\u201d in the country, citing its hands-on education and students\u2019 eagerness to learn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the summer, Anderson and Mess collaborated with Sony and B&H Photo and Video to make the most of the department\u2019s budget through rebates, special offers and discounts. Sony donated some gently used equipment and sold other equipment to the department at a 50 percent discount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an ongoing partnership,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThey want to work with our students and promote our students’ work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mess said the department is working with Sony to acquire a full set of Sony HXR-NX800 4K 1\u201d CMOS Sensor NXCAM Camcorders and Sony FX30 cameras for other upper-level production classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upgrade will allow students to work with higher-quality cinema-style cameras and greater flexibility in color grading, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll have a camera they\u2019re more likely to see on a set when they graduate or start working in the field,\u201d Mess said. \u201cThey\u2019ll be more prepared.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Film and Media Studies Department has partnered with Sony to acquire new and updated audiovisual equipment, providing students in the Journalism Program with access to industry-standard technology. Beginning this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":7166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage_news","category-journalism-program-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7165"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7169,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7165\/revisions\/7169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm.hunter.cuny.edu\/journalism\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}