Student Showcase
Students in the Media Production MA program create either a Major Professional Project or a Major Research Paper that focus on variety of aspects of the media industry.
Feel free to explore project titles from the previous years below. Full abstracts can be found at the bottom of the page via the Media Production MRP Catalogue link.
Major Research Project/Papers (MRP)
Behind The Leaders: How Media Producers Build Strong Teams, Deliver Outstanding Content and Transform the Industry’s Future
Supervisor: Joe Recupero
The Importance of Existing Regulatory and Government Support for Canada's Independent Production Sector and Why Canada Needs to Continue Supporting the Development of Canadian Comedy and Drama Programming
Supervisor: Lia Langworthy
Re-Inventing the Modern Music Consumption Experience
Supervisor: Dr. Kristopher Alexander
Media in the #MeToo Era: The Fictional Framing of Sexual Assault and Audience Response to These Narratives
Supervisor: Kathleen Pirrie Adams
Latin American Cinema in the Global Market
Supervisor: José Rosales, Matt Jones
D.I.Y in Video Games: the Impact of User-Generated Content and Live Streaming in Media Production
Supervisor: Dr Kristopher Alexander
SINASALA: Exploring the Effects of Television on Second-Generation Filipinos in Canada
Supervisor: Dr Layal Shuman
The Evaluation of the Existing Resources, Pathways, and Role Models for Women’s Ice Hockey Players
Supervisor: Karen Sebesta
Humanizing Homelessness Through Transmedia Documentary
Supervisor: Charles Davis
The Youtube Dream: More Than Meets The Eye
Supervisor: Dr Kristopher Alexander
Examining How Video Games Can Teach Social Issues
Supervisor: Dr Kristopher Alexander
YouTube & Platform Responsibility: Navigating as a Child
Supervisor: Dr. Charles Davis
Examining the Impact the Teenage Romantic Comedy Genre of the Early 2000s has had on Current Popular Culture
Supervisor: Laura Nenych
Finding Funny: The Investigation of how Cancel Culture Affects Stand-Up Comics and Their Careers
Supervisor: John Tarver
Holding Out for 2025: How the Uncertain State of the Film Industry Affects Emerging Talent
Supervisor: James Nadler
Overcoming Factuality
Supervisor: James Nadler
Understanding Black Canadian Youth’s Relationship to Media and Social Media Platforms "Beyond Black Twitter"
Supervisor: Dr Kisha McPherson
Searching for Safe Sport
Supervisor: Daniel Berlin
How does social media impact the mental health of athletes?
Supervisor: Joseph Recupero
Beyond The Frame: Television Idents
Supervisor: Laura Nenych
FROM SETBACKS TO BREAKTHROUGHS: Resurrecting Untold Stories: Breathing Life into Narratives with LED Virtual Environments
Supervisor: Dr. Kristopher Alexander
NEWS IN THE DIGITAL AGE:
HOW TO KEEP YOUTH ENGAGED WITH CURRENT EVENTS
Supervisor: Dr. Charles Davis
TIKTOK'S IMPACT ON GEN Z'S MEDIA CONSUMPTION & REGULATION
Supervisor: James Nadler
SPECTRUM: EXPLORING IMMERSIVE SOUND IN ABSTRACT IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Supervisor: Mark Argo
BREAKING THE SOUND CEILING: ALGORITHMIC AND PROMOTIONAL GATEKEEPING IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND ITS IMPACT ON FEMALE REPRESENTATION
Supervisor: Salman Rana
GENERATION Z AND THE MODIFICATION OF COMEDIC TELEVISION
Supervisor: James Nadler
THE RESURGENCE OF SALVADORAN FILMMAKING: A MODEL FOR CO-PRODUCTION IN SALVADORAN MEDIA
Supervisor: Laura Nencyh
The Forgotten
Supervisor: Dr. Laura Nenych
Wrongthink
Supervisor: Karyn Pugliese
An Examination of Cinematic Naturalism in the Digital era
Supervisor: John Tarver
Territory: Commonalities Between the Reclamation of the Kalinago Language and Connection to Land
Supervisor: Lila Pine
Collective Resistance: Exploring Indigenous and Black Injustices and Solidarity Efforts on Turtle Island
Supervisor: Dr. Lila Pine
From Stage to Screen: Exploring The Remediation of Classical Vocal Music Performance In Canadian Visual Broadcasting and Distribution.
Supervisor: James Nadler
Toxic Paradise: A Study of Constructed Femininity in Love Island
Supervisor: Steven Ehrlick
Grassroots Filmmaking in the Digital Age
Supervisor: Michael Coutanche
The Role of Tik Tok in Creating Engagement, Virality and Reach for Generation Z and How Tik Tok Can be Used As a Marketing Tool for Web Series Targeting Canadian Youth
Supervisor: James Nadler
Marginalization, Socio-Cultural Systems, & The On-Screen Horror Genre: A Cross-Demographic Exploration / "On the Other Side"
Supervisor: Laurie Petrou
Off the Bench: Asians in Basketball
Supervisor: Laurel Walzak
Showrunners & Streamers: The Shifting Balance of Power in the Age of Peak TV
Supervisor: James Nadler
Where is the Album?: An Analysis of the Connecting Potential of Transmedia Music Promotion
Supervisor: Dr. Kathleen Pirrie Adams
TikTok in the dissemination of sports media after the COVID pandemic – A case study of the Chinese Men’s Professional Basketball League account on “Douyin” (TikTok) during the 2021-2022 season.
Supervisor: Laurel Walzak
Taking Back TV: Developing Female Auteur Comedy in a Postfeminist Televisual Landscape
Supervisor: Dr. Laurie Petrou
Press Start: Why Canadian Media SHould Embrace Newgames To Build Digital Audience
Supervisor: Dr. Kristopher Alexander
A Canadian Perspective of Community Through Co-Viewing
Supervisor: Lynda Rinkenbach
Staging the Biopic: Production Design and Genre in Art Cinema
Supervisor: Dimitrios Latsis
The “Sentimental Regret” of Teen Dramas and Television: How Female Characters are Stereotyped on Gossip Girl and Riverdale
Supervisor: Lia Langworthy
Capturing Reality by Employing Virtual Production: A Creative Practice-Based Inquiry of Machinima as a Democratizing Medium for Filmmaking.
Supervisor: Dr. Henry Warwick
Accessibility and the Apocalypse / One Day Day One
Supervisor: Lila Pine
Colour Me Happy: Immersive Art Experiences, Colour and Emotion
Supervisor: David Colangelo
Practice makes Podcast: A Review of Common Effective Practices used to Foster Engagement amongst Podcast Audiences
Supervisor: Dr. Charles Davis
MASC'D UP: LGBTQ2S+ Representation in North American Professional Ice Hockey
Supervisor: Joe Recupero
Putting Your Best Face Forward: Dating App UX/UI Design and its Influence on Relationship Values and Practices
Supervisor: Henry Warwick
An Inch Wide and a Mile Deep: Developing and Retaining Audiences for U.S.-Based Niche Over-The-Top Streaming Video Services
Supervisor: Dr. Charles Davis
Digital Love: Surveying Fan Engagement in Virtual Concerts During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Supervisor: Cintia Cristia
Fantasy, Glamour and Unattainability: A Video Based Exploration of Online Fashion Communities
Supervisor: Ramona Pringle
Unrequited: The Myth of the Independent Black Woman
Supervisor: Marusya Bociurkiw
Staying Alive: Ensuring business sustainability and relevance of Canadian local news through strategic representation in digital content
Supervisor: Ramona Pringle
Understanding the link between Children and Comedy; Exploring Participatory Culture in Digital Spaces for Youth
Supervisor: Charles Falzon
Assessing Sustainability in the Motion Picture Industry
Supervisor: Donna Gall
The Danger of Deepfakes
Supervisor: Dr Charles Davis
Reading the Game, Playing the Industry: An Exploration of the Subversive Potential of Text-Based Narrative Games Within the Heteronormative Video Games Industry
Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Harley
Trauma Porn as Unethical Content; An Exploration of Social Media Motivation, Creation and Consumption
Supervisor: Dr. Adam Miller
Media Neuroscience & Audience Engagement: Targeting & Producing Audience Emotional & Neurobehavioural Fear Responses
Supervisor: Dr Charles Davis
"We Are The Movement": Sports Media, Social Media, and the effect on Young Muslim Sportswomen
Supervisor: Laurel Walzak
A Study of the Effects of the Censorship System on Chinese Social Media
Supervisor: Dr. Henry Warwick
Notes on Notes: Co-creating The Feedback Process Between Commissioners and Creators of Canadian Television Content
Supervisor: Michael Coutanche
Finding Marks, Seducing Rubes, and Killing the Gullible: Ride and the Evolution of the Patsy in Neo-Noir
Supervisor: James Nadler
Canadian Immigrants and The Second Generation
Supervisor: Lori Beckstead
A Trial Concerning the Representation of Mental Health in Film and Television: A Guideline to the Ideal Portrayal of Mental Health
Supervisor: Lori Beckstead
Beautiful Dreamer
Supervisor: Lia Langworthy
VR as a Collaborative and Embodied Experience
Supervisor: Ali Mazalek
Alchemical Storytelling: Synthesizing Niche and Popular Devices in the Tarotable Relationships Podcast
Supervisor: Lori Beckstead
Metagaming Misconception
Supervisor: Dr. Kristopher Alexander
An Examination of Screen Media Genre Preferences and Content Consumption Habits using the Big Five Personality Dimensions
Supervisor: Dr. Charles Davis
“Alexa, Open the Messlins”: Using Smart Technology to tell Interactive Stories in a Family Home
Supervisor: Alex Bal
The Cost of Being an Athlete Activist: Case Study Analysis of African American Sport Activism
Supervisor: Dr. Steven Ehrlick
Home
Supervisor: Michael Coutanche
The Same But Very Different: Glocalizing the Canadian Reality Television Format
Supervisor: James Nadler
A Meta-Exploration of the Æffect of Digital Society & Culture: Braiding a Web Series with a Dedicated Social Media Platform
Supervisor: Michael Coutanche
Immigrant Stories
Supervisor: James Nadler
Goners of Gold Creek: Adapting Depictions of Mental Health Education in Cinema
Supervisor: Michael Coutanche
Contextualized Narrative Model- Delivering Simplified Education Through Passive and Interactive Media
Supervisor: Dr. Richard Lachman
The Space Between Worlds: An Auto-Ethnographic Study of Cultural Disconnect Between Members of Diaspora, their Homelands and their North American Homes
Supervisor: Dr. Laurie Petrou
Running head: On Coming Out, Orientalism, and their Interlink 1
Supervisor: Alex Bal
Kphoto and Video Production
Supervisor: Joe Recupero
Creators: The New Storytellers
Supervisor: Michael Coutanche
Indigenous Hollywoods: Bridging Two Worlds of Storytelling
Supervisor: Dr. Laura Nenych
The Ride-or-Die Test: A Re-Evaluation of the Bechdel Test and Female Friendships in the Age of #metoo
Supervisor: James Nadler
Visualising Artifacts as 3D Models in Augmented Reality (Synaesthetics Media Lab: Tangible Cultural Analytics)
Supervisor: Ali Mazalek
Seven Generations: The Unheard Stories of the Chippewas of Georgina Island
Supervisor: Marion Coomey
Stage Voices: How Podcasts Can Help Theatre Meet the Needs of Today's Audience
Supervisor: Marion Coomey
Identity and I Don't: The Impact of Social Media and Genealogy Services on Identity Formation and Sense of Belonging Within Transracial Adoptees
Supervisor: Dr. Laurie Petrou
Diver: Encouraging Audience Political Engagement Through Conceptual Music
Supervisor: Michael Murphy
Wi Can Relate: Fifth Year, Millennial Audiences and the New Sitcom
Supervisor: James Nadler
Selfie Manipulation Associated with Body Dissatisfaction among Coloured Women
Supervisor: Laurel Walkzak
PROJECTAR: Augmented Reality as a Bridge Between Print and Digital Media
Supervisor: Dr. Laura Nenych
The Click Me Classroom: Interactive Multimedia Tool Prototype to Support Early Learners of Language, Science and Social Studies
Supervisor: Dr. Laura Nenych
Distant Eden
Supervisor: Michael Coutanche
A New Moneyball: Economies of Gender in Baseball
Supervisor: Laura Walzak
Tangible Axis Sequencer: Towards the Creation of an Adaptable and Comprehensive Tangible Step Sequencer and Gestural Controller
Supervisor: Ali Mazalek & Dr. Steven Ehrlick
Embodied Soundscapes: Augmenting Spatial and Environmental Awareness Through Haptic Wearables
Supervisor: Ali Mazalek
Student Work Samples
Graham Beer
In an ever-changing media industry, the need for strong leadership remains constant. This study aims to provide leaders in media production fields with the understanding and tools to build people-centred teams, develop creative collaboration and advance technical innovation. Through in-depth interviews, Canadian leaders in non-fiction content producing, directing and business management share insights and stories about their professional leadership experience. With a focus on leadership qualities, approaches and practices, leaders envision the future of the business by identifying key traits and actionable strategies for effective leadership. The findings will contribute to an industry-wide discussion, providing leadership recommendations for media organizations. The study inspires current and future leaders to build a resilient media industry.
Learn more at https://mediaproductionleaders.com (external link) .
Jeanette Kong
Jael Joseph
Vielle Case native and Master of Arts in Media Production alum ('21) Jael Joseph is a well-known marketing guru, media personality, and media entrepreneur in the Caribbean and Canada and soon, she will be known by another moniker- director; as she debuts,” Territory,” her documentary on Dominica’s Kalinago people, at the annual Caribbean Tales International Film Festival (CTFF) in Toronto which runs from September 6-22, 2023.
