Skip to main

Richard Brett
  • Professor of Communication & Cinema

Communication & Cinema
Richard Brett

Contact Prof. Brett

I received my M.F.A. in Broadcasting and Cinema from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and my M.A. in Film & Video Production from The University of Iowa. I am a recipient of a Cine Eagle and a regional Emmy, as well as a number of national and international screenwriting awards. I am also a represented screenwriter with feature-length screenplays optioned by production companies in Los Angeles and Germany. My areas of specialization are film and video production, history, theory, and screenwriting, and I teach courses in narrative filmmaking, script writing, video editing, and film analysis. My particular areas of interest at the moment are narrative structure in screenplays, teleplays and novels, and photo-realistic miniatures and paintings used in visual effects.

Education

1994
M.F.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro
1987
M.A., University of Iowa
1984
B.A., Carleton College

Research Interests

  • Narrative structure in screenplays, teleplays and novels

  • Use of miniatures, matte paintings and optical perspective in visual effects.

Recent Courses

  • CIN 3401: Scriptwriting

  • CIN 3301: Film Analysis - Hitchcock

  • CIN 3201: Narrative Film Production

Clubs and community involvement

  • Faculty Sponsor for McDaniel Film Club

  • Chair, Communication & Cinema Department

  • Chair, Academic Assessment Committee

  • Communication & Cinema Department Library Liaison

  • Site Co-Administrator - McDaniel Cinema Facebook Page.

Awards and Honors

  • First Place Winner: National A/Exposure Screenwriting Contest, Beverly Hills, CA, Oct. 2011

  • First Place Winner: GreenLight Screenwriting Contest, London, Ontario Canada, 2012

  • Third Place Winner: StoryPros International Screenwriting Contest, Los Angeles, CA Dec. 2011

  • Honorable Mention: Comedy Category, National ScriptVamp's 2011 Dream Quest Feature Screenplay Contest, April 2012

  • Faculty Creativity Award: McDaniel College, 2012, 2015

Richard Brett

Contact Prof. Brett

"Both of your Scriptwriting classes—Scriptwriting last year and especially the Independent Study this spring—have been my favorite classes I have ever taken. They have also been my favorite part of being at McDaniel."

Kayla Catlin, '20 Cinema