“Student Film: The Movie”, Clemson’s first feature film, premieres February 6
January 22, 2026
Clemson University’s World Cinema program is premiering its first-ever feature film on Friday, February 6 on the Clemson campus. “Student Film: The Movie” is the culmination of a groundbreaking film production course and a grant from the South Carolina Film Commission. Filming took place in the summer of 2025, uniting students, faculty, film industry professionals, and Clemson community members.
“The Clemson film program has now added hands-on production courses to build on the already amazing film theory courses in the major,” said Sam Sokolow, 2-time Emmy Award-nominated producer (National Geographic and Disney+’s Genius) and current Professor of Practice in the World Cinema program. “Students working shoulder-to-shoulder with industry professionals to make a feature film – literally doing almost every job on the movie – is the gold standard of experiential learning.”
Student Film: The Movie is based on a screenplay written by Gaffney, SC native Julia Fowler (Netflix’s Country Comfort, YouTube’s Southern Women Channel) that the project acquired. Fowler also directed the film, working closely with the students who had never acted in a movie before to get them ready for the show.
Student Film: The Movie tells the underdog story of a fledgling college film program finding its footing at a fictional state university. Throughout the production, Clemson students tackled key creative and technical roles, collaborating with a distinguished cast and crew of education consultants.
Guiding the 18 Clemson student actors (including 2 Clemson football players) and 24 Clemson student crew members behind the scenes on their first feature film were a highly-experienced, professional crew of educators led by Sokolow and Fowler that includes BrandCinema’s Nicholas Levis (High Strung), Geoff Herbert (The Irishman, The Hunger Games), Mark Cochran (Cross Wars) Andrea Brotherton (The Six Triple Eight, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), and Quintessence Patterson (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Furious 7).
Student Film’s on-camera cast combines these newly discovered Clemson student-actors with recognizable actors from film and TV including Finesse Mitchell (Saturday Night Live, Ant Farm), Tim Stoltenberg (Failure to Launch), Brett Rice (Forrest Gump, Remember the Titans), Julia Fowler (Modern Family, The Closer), Matthew Settle (Band of Brothers, Gossip Girl), Jayson Warner Smith (Murdaugh: Death In The Family, The Walking Dead), Alex Ellis (Hot In Cleveland), Katherine Bailess (One Tree Hill, Hit the Floor), and Delaine Yates (Law & Order).
“Having worked in show business around the world for several decades, we have a good sense of where the film industry is today and where it’s heading, “added Sokolow. “We’re not teaching Clemson students how things used to be done, we’re training them to thrive in the industry that they are going to be a part of in their careers.”
The invitation-only premiere will be at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts on February 6 with a lobby reception and red-carpet event beginning at 5 p.m. followed by the film premiering at 6:45 p.m.
Many of the talented professionals who worked on the film will be in attendance, along with other celebrity guests, VIPs, the students who worked on the film, and members of the Clemson community.
