Jillian M. Báez (PhD ’09, communications and media, ICR), Diana Leon-Boys (PhD ’20, communications and media, ICR), and Institute of Communications Research Professor Emerita Angharad N. Valdivia (PhD ’91, communications and media, ICR) edited a collection that draws on the expanding field of girlhood studies to examine the increasing visibility of the event and the figure of the quinceañera herself in pop culture.
The contributors focus on quinceañeras as a trope for English-language media’s treatment of Latina girlhoods and Latinx cultures but also examine how use of the quinceañera charts openness and inclusivity within Latinx culture.
(Photo by Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Evans is the co-creator and host of the popular YouTube show Hot Ones, where musicians, professional athletes, and television and movie stars join Evans in eating chicken wings doused in progressively spicier hot sauces within the format of a talk-show interview. He notched a Daytime Emmy® Award nomination in 2021 for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host and has won multiple Internet entertainment awards. Evans also was named to TIME magazine’s inaugural “Time100 Creators” list last year, heralding the most influential digital voices of the modern media industry.
“Sean Evans defined his own path and reimagined the role of a journalist and a talk show host in the modern media landscape,” said Illinois Chancellor Charles L. Isbell, Jr. “We encourage Illinois students and alumni to be innovative, and Sean created something no one else had. His work inspires us to continue to push boundaries, to challenge convention, and to develop new ideas instead of just adopting old ones.”
Sean’s career is a wonderful illustration of where an Illinois education, one that nourishes creativity and confidence, can take you. We are so proud of his accomplishments and know that he will inspire students with his story.
Tracy Sulkin
College of Media Dean
Evans forged an affinity for the university long before he arrived at Illinois as an undergraduate student. His mother attended the U of I, and Evans’s favorite holiday haul to this day was the morning he found a Sega Genesis and an orange-and-blue Illinois Starter jacket underneath his Christmas tree as a boy.
Once he stepped on campus as a student, a lasting imprint was left almost immediately.
“You walk out on the Quad, and it looks so quintessentially college,” said Evans, a native of Crystal Lake. “It looks like a college out of a film. There’s a scale and a history to it that really smacks you in the face. Walking onto the Main Quad for the first time, I had this feeling of being in a totally different place in my life and feeling a lot of comfort in it.”
Evans said he “trusted the incubation period” of the journalism program in the College of Media to build up his skill set. He recalled the high standards the professors expected out of students, and the meaningful experience he gained cycling through each production role on WPGU-FM student news broadcasts.
Alum Sean Evans, Hot Ones host, visits with students in Journalism 340: Video Reporting and Storytelling, taught by College of Media senior lecturer Alison Davis. The class was one Sean remembered taking when he was in school. (Photo by Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
“Sean’s career is a wonderful illustration of where an Illinois education, one that nourishes creativity and confidence, can take you. We are so proud of his accomplishments and know that he will inspire students with his story,” said Tracy Sulkin, dean of the College of Media.
But like many young people entering the workforce in 2008, he found a flagging job market upon graduation. Evans returned to his old summer gig: a Chicago architecture tour guide.
“I remember feeling so hopeless,” Evans said. “There was this existential feeling to it. But even at that time, I had a passion for what I wanted to do. I would take every freelance project I could get. I knew I had a passion for this work and needed an outlet for it.”
His meteoric rise began after successfully pitching and developing Hot Ones in 2015, when he was working at Complex magazine. He wasn’t even the biggest fan of chicken wings. At best, Evans thought it could be a fun idea he and his co-creators would program on a quarterly basis. But the format of humanizing celebrities—and making them forget their media training—by putting them through blistering hot wing sauces worked in capitalizing on the attention economy. Notable guests have included Will Smith, Stephen Curry, Billie Eilish, Justin Timberlake, Gordon Ramsay, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dua Lipa, and many more across the show’s 400 episodes.
(Photo by Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
“I certainly never thought it would be my own media company,” Evans said. “We were working in cubicles at Complex and ended up making something that became bigger than these giant, hulking media companies it was incubated in.”
Evans remains deeply involved in the preparation for each Hot Ones episode and works late into the night formulating precise questions and perfecting his delivery of those queries to his guests. These nocturnal work sessions always transport Evans back to his time at Illinois, where he would sign up for the latest availability in the basement of Gregory Hall to edit his broadcast journalism projects.
“I always really liked going down there, having my headphones on, being the only person in the building, and just lost in the basement of Gregory Hall cutting packages,” Evans said. “I still to this day work like that. I’ve written my best interview questions—and probably the most interview questions—after 10 p.m.”
As his own celebrity stature has grown, Evans has eagerly returned to his alma mater. He has attended sporting events, spoken to students, and even hosted a special edition of Hot Ones with Illinois men’s head basketball coach Brad Underwood as the guest. It’s all a part of giving back to a place that has been special to him for most of his life, and Evans can’t wait to add to that legacy with his role as Commencement speaker.
“As somebody who loves this school, went to this school, and now has this crazy pop culture platform, it’s fun to bring that energy back to Illinois,” Evans said.
Watch Chancellor Charles L. Isbell, Jr. interview Commencement speaker and Illinois Media alumnus Sean Evans:
For more information regarding the universitywide ceremony—including the stadium’s clear-bag policy, student regalia, and parking instructions—visit commencement.illinois.edu.
Editor’s note: To request a media interview with Sean Evans, contact Kovert Creative at fwfpr@kovertcreative.com. For media requests related to Commencement, contact Patrick Wade, director of executive communications and issues management, 217-333-5010, pwade@illinois.edu. For information about Commencement, contact commencement@illinois.edu.
Emmanuel Camacho (BS ’11, media and cinema studies), founder of Manny Reel Films, is a Los Angeles-based film director and producer with a decade of experience crafting compelling visual narratives. His career spans music videos, short-form documentaries, and branded content, collaborating with industry giants like Nike, Google, Tidal, and Moët Hennessy. He has directed and produced a tour documentary for Lil Wayne, an inside look at Deadmau5’s record label, and Distilled (2024), a half-hour special on AMC+. Learn more about this College of Media alum, whose work merges documentary storytelling with cinematic aesthetics, capturing authentic moments that resonate across platforms.
1. What first drew you to filmmaking and production, and how did that evolve into your current role today?
My first real appreciation for film and filmmaking began when I was 13. My older siblings, Paulina and Orlando, took me to the theater to see Kill Bill, directed by Quentin Tarantino. I remember being completely enthralled by the experience and asking myself, “How can a film make you feel so much?” That question stayed with me and sparked a deep love for cinema.
As I got older, that curiosity turned into intention. I enrolled in film-related classes and programs and eventually pursued a degree in media and cinema studies at the University of Illinois. After finishing undergrad, I knew I wanted to fully commit to building a career in filmmaking. I interned under Chicago-based documentary filmmaker Ben Kolak and later worked as an after-school arts instructor at the National Museum of Mexican Art, teaching Chicago high school students digital media arts.
From there, I began working independently, taking on clients across sportswear, food and spirits, nightlife, and music and culture media. Today, I live in Los Angeles and work with a wide range of clients producing social media content, editorial work, and long-form projects across film and television.
2. What do you consider your biggest career accomplishment. Is there one project that felt especially meaningful to you?
One of my biggest career accomplishments is sustaining my business as an independent filmmaker through major shifts in the media landscape, including the economic impact of COVID-19. Longevity in this industry isn’t guaranteed, and I credit it to staying grounded in my creative convictions while also building strong, lasting relationships with producers, clients, collaborators, and the friends and family who have supported me along the way.
A project that felt especially meaningful was directing a Google commercial in 2021, “Helping Small Businesses: Irazu, Chicago, IL.” It was one of the largest commercial projects I’ve directed, and beyond the creative fulfillment, it played a pivotal role in my career. The opportunity allowed me to make the full move to Los Angeles and continue pursuing my work as a film director at the next level.
Watch Camacho’s commercial:
3. What advice would you give to students who want to break into directing or production but don’t know where to start?
My biggest piece of advice is to create as much as possible and learn to enjoy the process of working. Early in my career, I passed on opportunities because I was too focused on compensation, when I should have been prioritizing experience and growth. That time is invaluable.
If paid opportunities aren’t consistent, create your own projects. Experiment with lighting, scout new locations, and revisit your edits to explore different approaches and workflows. With the Internet today, your work can reach audiences far beyond your immediate circle—you never know who might discover it and be inspired.
If this is truly what you want to do, do it. Stay persistent, stay curious, and keep making work.
4. The media landscape is constantly changing—how do you keep your work both current and true to your vision?
From a young age, I’ve been deeply interested in new media—likely influenced by growing up during the early days of the commercial Internet. I believe it’s important, especially as a student and creator, to stay informed about emerging trends and to actively experiment with new tools and technologies, including AI. Beyond technical growth, I draw inspiration from watching contemporary films, visiting museums, and engaging in creative conversations with friends and colleagues.
Staying true to my vision comes from having developed a clear and intentional visual identity over time. Through years of practice, I’ve learned how to create instinctively while maintaining a consistent point of view. I know what I want my work to look and feel like, and that confidence behind the camera is something I continue to refine through regular practice and self-reflection.
5. What’s one dream project you’d love to direct or produce in the future?
My ultimate dream project is to direct a feature film of my own. I’m especially drawn to telling lighthearted, character-driven stories set in Chicago, my hometown. Since moving to Los Angeles, I’ve become more aware of how Chicago is often portrayed through darker, heavier narratives—projects like The Chi or Chicago P.D. frequently frame the city as rough or dangerous.
While those stories reflect a real side of Chicago, they don’t represent the whole picture. I believe there’s an opportunity to reimagine the kinds of characters and stories that come from the city that highlight its warmth, humor, and humanity, and reveal the beauty that exists beneath the surface.
My hope is to bring those stories to life and, in doing so, inspire both Chicagoans and those who only know the city from afar to see it in a new light.
After years of planning, a new bachelor’s in sports media is ready for prime time.
In response to a growing interest from students—and with a proven track record of successful alumni across the sports media industry—the College of Media is expanding its roster to offer a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media.
The program will prepare students for a variety of careers in sports media, including as PR and strategic communication managers, content creators and digital storytellers, social media and data analysts, sportscasters and producers, and more.
The new undergraduate degree received official approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education in Spring 2026.
This is an area of high interest from students and employers alike, and, together with our campus partners, we are prepared to offer students a first-rate experience marked by the innovation, rigor, and personalized attention that defines all of our degree programs in the College of Media.
Tracy Sulkin
College of Media Dean
Starting April 27, current University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students may apply to transfer into the BA in sports media for Fall 2026. Transfer students from outside the University of Illinois can apply to the program for Spring 2027. First-year students can apply for Fall 2027 entry.
Courses from all three departments in the College of Media—Advertising, Journalism, and Media & Cinema Studies—will make up the core curriculum for the sports media degree.
“We’re excited to offer this interdisciplinary degree to prepare students for exciting career paths within sports media. This is an area of high interest from students and employers alike, and, together with our campus partners, we are prepared to offer students a first-rate experience marked by the innovation, rigor, and personalized attention that defines all of our degree programs in the College of Media,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin.
As streaming, podcasting, and multi-screen sports viewing continue to reshape how teams, fans, and brands interact, graduates who understand these evolving dynamics will have an advantage in the job market.
The College of Media already offers sports-focused courses, including “Sports Public Relations,” “Sports Journalism,” “SportMedia, Technology & Culture,” and just this spring, “Sports Advertising & Branding” debuted. Students can also gain firsthand production and reporting experience through Illini Sports Night, a program covering Illinois Athletics, through the course “Newsroom Experience.”
Sports media majors will be able to take elective courses within the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism in the College of Applied Health Sciences, such as “Sport Analytics: Data-Driven Decision Making,” “The Foundations of Sport Management,” and “Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics: The Big Ten Conference.”
To expand experiential learning opportunities, the College of Media plans to collaborate with alumni working in the sports industry to create additional immersion and internship opportunities. These efforts will build upon past programs that included tours of athletic companies like Nike and Adidas. Alumni currently hold top positions across sports media such as producing, anchoring, and writing for national networks and publications; leading communications and videography for professional sports leagues; working with celebrity athletes, athletic brands, and sports teams; and some have even competed as Olympic athletes.
Students will also benefit from the extensive opportunities that come with the University of Illinois’ premier athletics program and its membership in the Big Ten Conference. For example, students have produced live pregame shows for Illini Sports Night in collaboration with the B1G+ network, and many intern at Fighting Illini Productions, the video team for the University’s Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Additionally, DIA colleagues serve as adjunct instructors in the College of Media, and both local and national sports personalities frequently visit classes, including Brian Barnhart, the Illinois football and men’s basketball play-by-play announcer, and Gus Johnson, the lead college football and basketball play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports.
The BA in sports media is the sixth undergraduate degree offered by the College of Media, along with advertising, computer science + advertising, journalism, media and cinema studies, and an online degree in media for transfers. Learn more about Media’s academic programs.
Mukhopadhyaym will join six other graduate students and seven faculty members who will meet at the Humanities Research Institute throughout the year to address how they are rethinking research paradigms.
The theme for this year’s Fellowship is “Up Against Erasure,” which invites researchers to persuade others of the stakes of identifying processes of erasure, of being up against it, and of working in opposition to it. Mukhopadhyay’s research narrative is “Governing the AIR: Radio, Polity, and Nationalism in Postcolonial India, 1950–2023.”
As an HRI Graduate Student Fellow, Mukhopadhyay will receive a $25,000 stipend and a tuition and partial fee waiver.
HRI grants fellowships to Illinois faculty and graduate students, who spend the year engaged in research and writing. All HRI Fellows participate in HRI activities, including the yearlong Fellows Seminar.
An open, hands-on media studio for local high school students will launch this spring that encourages critical thinking, media literacy, and community engagement.
The first Content Creation Lab workshop will kick off this spring on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on April 4, 11, and 25. There is no fee for students to participate.
Aguayo said the program will offer a space for teens to try out new ideas, collaborate, self-direct, and articulate their own perspective on the world through media production.
“My biggest hope is that local youth can see the College of Media and the Content Creation Lab as a resource hub and a space for exploration, that we are a location where students can come decide if they’re interested in developing lives as media makers, creators, and thinkers,” said Aguayo.
This spring, the Lab will focus on media literacy, audio production, storytelling, and podcasting. In Fall 2026, instruction in video production and short-form storytelling will also be taught.
Aguayo has been training a team of undergraduate and graduate students who will help facilitate the open studio lab, guiding participants to develop their own projects through a practice of media literacy and encouraging them to direct their curiosity toward the local community as a place of discovery. The student-led team includes journalism major Leonor Carrillo; Earth, society, and environmental sustainability major Angela Conde; and Institute of Communications Research doctoral students Tom Farrenkopf and Gillian Paxton. Carrie Wilson-Brown, senior lecturer of media and cinema studies and of advertising, will also help oversee the project.
There’s a barrier to students trying media production, and the idea of the Lab is to lower that barrier so that students who might want to pursue media—either as a hobby or as a profession or as a pathway of study—can do so without having it cost anything.
Angela Aguayo
Associate Professor of Media and Cinema Studies, Creator of Content Creation Lab
“We’re going to lead students through the process of thinking about the things that concern them the most, the questions that they have about their world and their local community, and where those stories show up,” Aguayo said.
High schoolers will also be able to experiment with audio and video tools to learn more about recording and editing, an invaluable opportunity for local teens who may not have access to production equipment or facilities. The Lab’s partnership with Illinois Public Media will provide an opportunity for young people to work in a professional media facility and acquire mentorship from experts there.
“There’s a barrier to students trying media production, and the idea of the Lab is to lower that barrier so that students who might want to pursue media—either as a hobby or as a profession or as a pathway of study—can do so without having it cost anything,” Aguayo said.
In addition to providing instruction and hands on experience with media tools, Aguayo would like to see the Content Creation Lab function as a space for continued research on the evolving pedagogical approaches to youth media production.
While some students may end up with a finished product, Aguayo envisions the Content Creation Lab as a creative space for development.
“The Lab is not outcome-focused, it’s process-focused. What we’re really doing is [determining] how we can help students understand that media production is a productive way to contribute to their community.”
The Super Bowl, the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup this summer have set the stage for a sports season defined not just by competition but by community.
These sporting events create shared viewing rituals that bring millions of people together to experience the games in real time. And while audiences continue to reach historic highs, even as media habits fragment, it’s worth examining how these events shape identity, fandom, community, and the way people connect with one another.
To help understand why sports carry such cultural influence and how brands try to engage with fans in these moments of collective attention, we spoke with Steve Hall,senior lecturer of advertising, who is teaching a brand new course this semester on “Sports Advertising and Branding” and serves as chair of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Athletic Board.
With the rise of “communal viewing”—from watch parties to bars to fan zones—how does the social nature of watching sports amplify the impact of an ad compared to watching alone?
Viewing sports together as a shared social experience can be extremely powerful and create incredible opportunities for advertisers. It can also pose serious challenges.
The impact of advertising in communal contexts is complicated and depends on a dizzying array of variables. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked. For starters, how does an advertiser define and measure impact? From a media perspective, there’s a ton of data analytics being generated to measure what and when people are watching when it comes to sports on linear and streaming platforms. But that’s just scratching the surface.
Questions remain: What kind of fan zone, bar, or watch party is it? Organized or spontaneous? Is the game, match, or race interesting or boring? What stake or emotional connection do each of the audience members have with the sport, teams, players, and the group of people or type of fans who are there watching? Favorite or rival team winning or losing? Are people intensely engaged, having side conversations, focused on eating a pastrami on rye, checking fantasy stats, or posting videos of themselves at the party on social media?
Then you have the ad itself. Is the storytelling mediocre or amazing? Does it connect with the audience on an emotional, human level from a creative perspective? Do people discuss, share, or comment on the ad with others in a positive or negative way? Is there a strategy to amplify the advertising message across omnichannel touchpoints?
Understanding the impact of advertising in communal viewing environments is complicated. Stay curious. Keep asking questions. Because you’ll never have all the answers.
With the United States co‑hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, how significant is this moment for American brands looking to reach a global audience—especially given soccer’s growing popularity in the U.S.?
Whether you call it soccer or football doesn’t matter—the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a huge moment for all brands looking to reach global audiences. As the most popular sport on the planet, fandom is massive and culturally diverse. That opens a very big door for advertisers to tell their stories, create experiences, and connect with people everywhere on the world stage. To be successful, culture should be at the epicenter of advertising, fan engagement activities, and marketing programs. Branding is about what people think, feel, and believe. It’s reputation.
The FIFA World Cup will present incredible opportunities for advertisers to leverage culture, meet new audiences, create trust, and build relationships with everything from in-stadium brand activations to prime-time TV commercials. This global event will allow brands to align fans, teams, and athletes with relevant, authentic storytelling, sponsorships, partnerships, and innovative experiences that will not only reach global audiences, but connect with them in entirely new ways. After all, the world will be watching. Game on.
What are students currently analyzing and discovering in your brand new “Sports Advertising and Branding” course?
Currently, we’re looking at the relationship between culture, trends, and sports. Overall, the class allows students to explore, discover, and examine sports advertising and branding in a broad array of contexts that connect advertising, marketing, media, sports, teams, athletes, fans, events, experiences, and partnerships at amateur, collegiate, and professional levels.
The course introduces industry practices and processes to help students understand and apply concepts related to research, data, consumer behavior, strategic planning, creative content, production, media, and branded integration into the incredibly immense and fascinating world of sports.
Specific topics include sports information, public relations, event management, fan engagement, merchandising, brand activation, technology, e-sports, NIL, gambling, ethics, personal branding, sports celebrities, and collaborations. The class also incorporates experiential learning opportunities with alumni, sports industry professionals, and coaches, as well as attending NCAA athletic events on campus.
Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, co-authors of the New York Times bestsellers, “Fight,” “Shattered,” and “HRC,” will be on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus to discuss their recent reporting, Donald Trump, and a preview of the 2026 elections on Monday, April 20, from 5-6 p.m.
Attendees may join the event in the Illini Union, Room B, 1401 W. Green, Urbana, or register to join via Zoom. The conversation will be led by Colleen King, director of the Frank Center and clinical assistant professor of journalism.
Allen is an award-winning senior national politics reporter for NBC News. He covers presidential campaigns, the White House, Congress, and national political issues.
Parnes is a senior political correspondent covering national politics at The Hill. She previously worked as a staff writer at Politico, and during the first Trump administration, she was a CNN political analyst.
Alex Studer (BS ‘17, advertising) is the director of web strategy at Peacock. He joined the streaming service in 2020—playing a key role in its launch—and now leads all major web initiatives and experimentation strategies across PeacockTV.com. Previously, Studer worked in the advertising industry as an account executive at Deutsch NY, where he supported the ACUVUE account, and later at Ogilvy NY, where he led client workstreams for Gerber and Nestlé. Studer has received multiple industry honors, including a Sports Emmy, Webby nomination, and three Webby honorable mentions. He has also been recognized as a 2023 MAIPer to Watch and was honored as an ADCOLOR FUTURE in 2019.
1. What is your current role at Peacock?
Currently, I’m the director of web strategy on the growth go-to-market team here at Peacock. I’ve been at the company for six years now and have been one of the key acquisition and experimentation leaders who have helped launch and grow the business. Put simply, my team runs our website (PeacockTV.com). We are responsible for everything consumers see when they come to our site, and we run experiments to try to get new users to sign up as efficiently as possible.
2. What do you find most challenging and most rewarding about your career?
The fast pace at which the marketing/advertising world moves is both a challenge and a reward for me. Each year, there are new advancements in technology, evolving consumer sentiments and values, and shifting company structures (e.g., mergers) in the industry that all result in a need to think into the future to stay ahead of it. This can for sure be daunting but also is satisfying as it challenges me to keep learning, adapting, and evolving alongside the industry.
3. When did you first realize advertising was the career path you wanted to pursue?
I started my journey at the University of Illinois as a pre-med psychology major. I spent my freshman year exploring different majors in the STEM world (electrical engineering, calculus, physics, and chemistry, to name a few), but everything changed my sophomore year on Quad Day when I stumbled upon the American Advertising Federation booth.
I’ll never forget my first AAF meeting and how inspired I was when learning that careers in advertising/marketing existed. The idea that you could have a career in a field where you analyze consumer behavior and use creativity to influence it really made an impact on me and motivated me to one day break into the industry. After getting heavily involved in AAF throughout my sophomore year, I was elected to the executive board my junior year and ended up running AAF Illinois as president my senior year. AAF is the reason I was able to finally discover a career path that felt more in line with my passions and interests. It’s also the reason I fell in love with NYC, thanks to our industry immersion visits here.
4. What advice would you give to students trying to break into the advertising industry today?
The biggest piece of advice I would give is to fully maximize and learn how to talk about all your past experiences to help land your future ones. Even before I started gaining industry experience, I was able to gain relevant, transferable skills through my involvement in student organizations, which later helped me land internships.
Once you start to compile your own set of experiences, I’d encourage students to focus on networking with those who are in the advertising industry, and to seek out professional organizations that can help further your career. For instance, I was fortunate to land my first ad agency internship at Bailey Lauerman in Omaha, Nebraska, after meeting a senior leader during an AAF Illinois campus visit.
My senior year, I decided I wanted to start my career in NYC, but recognized I didn’t have a strong network outside of Chicago. I applied to the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program and became a finalist, which gave me the opportunity to move to NYC after graduation to intern at Saatchi & Saatchi NY. My career in NYC wouldn’t have been a possibility without these prior experiences as I was able to finally start building my network and career here!
Alex Studer with fellow members of the 2024 Paris Olympics campaign team for Peacock.
5. You were part of a campaign team that earned the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Experience for the 2024 Paris Olympics. What was your role for that campaign and what was it like to receive that recognition?
My team was responsible for the website acquisition and experimentation strategy to garner as many new subscribers as possible for the Olympics. For all organic traffic and paid media, our website served as a destination to learn more about the Olympics and helped consumers sign up for Peacock as seamlessly as possible to start streaming.
If I’m being candid, receiving this recognition didn’t feel real until I opened the (heavy!!) box the Emmy came in and saw my name on it. Early in my career, I was given valuable feedback from a mentor that I don’t take the appropriate amount of time to celebrate my wins and instead immediately look ahead to the next one. I challenged myself for this award to start to shift that and will definitely incorporate more celebration and reflection into any future awards/recognition my career brings me!
Receiving an Emmy was without a doubt a career highlight so far! It doesn’t feel like an “all-at-once” type of recognition, and instead feels more like a culmination of all my past wins, failures, lessons learned, etc. I feel fortunate to have this under my belt, and every day feel reminded of the accomplishment when I walk past the statue at home.
The 2026 Chaz and Roger Ebert Symposium, presented by the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies, will address “Onscreen Fantasies/IRL Illusions: Fandom, Parasocial Relationships, and the Media.” Join us for this free two-day event on March 30-31, featuring a film screening, a roundtable discussion, and keynote address.
Monday, March 30
Film Screening: The Wiz
7 p.m., Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum
Before Wicked, there was The Wiz.
Join the Ebert Center for a screening of Sidney Lumet’sThe Wiz (1978). See cultural icons such as Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Nipsey Russell follow the yellow brick road in this musical retelling of The Wizard of Oz.
While considered a failure upon its release, the film has since developed an enduring and charming legacy, as well as a dedicated cult fan base.
The film will be introduced by Dr. Alfred L. Martin, Jr., Chair of the Department of Cinematic Arts at University of Miami, and Ebert Symposium keynote speaker.
Tuesday, March 31
Roundtable Discussion
2-3:30 p.m., Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum
Join a roundtable discussion with doctoral students from the Institute of Communications Research on the Ebert Symposium theme of “Onscreen Fantasies/IRL Illusions: Fandom, Parasocial Relationships, and the Media.” Not only will it explore themes from The Wiz and the Ebert Symposium keynote speech, but it will also expand to all types of media. Moderated by Cait Coker, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Illinois, this discussion will be held among ICR students Youngin Kang, Gustavo Nery, Stephanie Perez, Kendra Williams, and Nansong Zhou. Audience participation is encouraged.
“What The Wiz Was (and Is): Media Industries, Distribution, Reception and The Wiz”
The Ebert Symposium keynote will be delivered by Dr. Alfred L. Martin, Jr., Chair of the Department of Cinematic Arts at University of Miami.
As a part of the Ebert Symposium’s theme,“Onscreen Fantasies/IRL Illusions: Fandom, Parasocial Relationships, and the Media,” Martin draws attention to The Wiz as the first Black-cast blockbuster and re-assesses its significance to issues of Black media production, initial reception, distribution, and its enduring fandom. Concomitantly, this presentation is about the ways, particularly within a socio-political environment hostile to Blackness, The Wiz provides a prism through which to place the feminist “I” and joy into research. Engaging media industry studies, fandom/reception studies, and media studies, this presentation argues that the history and ongoing legacy of The Wiz is far more complicated than reducing it to a financial failure.
Martin is associate professor of media studies and chair of the Department of Cinematic Arts at the University of Miami. He is author of Fandom for Us, by Us: The Pleasures and Practices of Black Audiences (New York University Press, 2025) and The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom (Indiana University Press, 2021), editor of Rolling: Blackness and Mediated Comedy (Indiana University Press, 2024), and co-editor of The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai (Rutgers University Press, 2025). A former marketing communications executive and ballet dancer, in his spare time, Martin is a ballet teacher, coach, and choreographer.
