Contact Information

About

Pete Porter teaches Film Criticism and Screenwriting.

Porter’s recent work studies media representations of non-human animals from a cognitive-ethical perspective. He is the Film Review Editor for Society & Animals, an international journal of Human-Animal Studies. He has published in S & A, The Journal of Moving Image Studies, and the Michigan Academician.

Porter serves as President of the Contemporary Arts Alliance, which oversees the Spokane International Film Festival. He served as faculty advisor to the EWU Film Society. He has also served on the board of  The Friends of Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge.

Before arriving at EWU in 2004, he earned a PhD from Wayne State University by writing a dissertation arguing that the ancient literary form Menippean satire, a travesty of The Odyssey, the work of Plato, and old comedy, has taken shape in movies from Duck Soup (1934) to The Big Lebowski (1998). You can get a good idea of this work by reading his chapter in Lebowski 101.

About

Chase Ogden teaches film production, film theory and film history. Holding an MFA in film production from Chapman University, Ogden has been a part of 100s of different film projects over the years. In 2006 he co-created a magazine style outdoor sporting show called “Outdoor Storytellers” and continued to serve as the show’s co-producer, cinematographer and editor until 2009. He has worked on dozens of commercials for major clients such as Microsoft, Cisco, General Electric, the FDA, the National Park Service and Mammoth Mountain. He has also had short films in over 50 festivals around the world.

Ogden has also served as Director of SpIFF, the Spokane International Film Festival and as a commissioner for the Spokane Arts Commission.

About

Malcolm Pelles teaches Screenwriting and Film Criticism at EWU.  He received his MFA degree in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and his BFA degree in Film Production from Florida State University.  Malcolm has written scripts for CBS Entertainment, the NFL, and the United States Army.  He’s originally from the Washington, DC area, and is a tortured Washington Wizards fan.

Professor Pelles currently serves as Equity Chair for Washington Filmworks

About

Dr. Ayers will be on Professional Leave for 2023-24.

Drew Ayers teaches courses in film theory, film history, film criticism, narrative analysis and occasionally video games. Before arriving at EWU in 2015, Ayers received his BA in Classical Languages from Carleton College in 2003, his MA in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas-Austin in 2007 and his PhD in Communication (Moving Image Studies) from Georgia State University in 2012. Drew’s research interests are focused on cinema, visual culture, digital technology, visual effects, and nonhuman theory. His book, Spectacular Posthumanism: The Digital Vernacular of Visual Effects, is forthcoming from Bloomsbury Academic. His work has been published in animation, Configurations, Film Criticism, and various edited anthologies. Drew also serves as a board member and programmer for the Spokane International Film Festival and is currently director of the EWU Film Program, on the Cheney, WA campus.

About

Jessy Earle teaches production.  Experienced artist, educator, and researcher with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Adobe CC Creative Suite, Digital Printing, Video Production, and Illustration. Strong digital creative professional with a Master of Fine Arts – MFA focused in Electronic and Integrated Art from Alfred University.

About

Tom Alderson received his AA degree in Applied Science from Spokane Community College and was hired by KAPP-TV in Yakima, WA as a Broadcast Technician from 1975-77. He moved to Spokane Washington in 1977 and worked as the Broadcast Tech for KHQ-TV until 2007. Following his career at KHQ, Tom joined the staff in 2011 as Broadcast Technician II and has become an irreplaceable member of the film program.