ULM has approved a new concentration that will merge theater and communication studies to train people for jobs in the film industry.

The new concentration is called Multi-Media Performance and is part of the communication studies curriculum. Students can enroll in the concentration now.

“Theater students don’t have a major, and this gives them a major,” said Carl Thameling, head of the Communications Department and author of the concentration.

Students following the concentration will take core communication studies courses. Additional courses in theater and mass communication will also be required.

Some courses required include public speaking, media writing, advanced acting, video production and performance studies, to name a few.

Students in this curriculum will also be able to take advantage of the cutting-edge production equipment housed in the Mass Communication Department.

Kyle Zimmerman, assistant professor of acting and directing, said he was looking forward to learning more about what he calls “small frame media,” which includes things like YouTube and blogs.

Zimmerman said Louisiana, and particularly the ULM/Monroe region, could take advantage of this emerging industry, an industry Zimmerman said is no where near realizing it’s full potential.

“What gives a site an advantage is what it has over another site,” Zimmerman said. “The people who owned [companies that  produced this media] would be here, whereas we will always be getting the leftovers of TV and film from Hollywood.”

Thameling echoed Zimmerman’s desire to get in on the ground floor of the small media industry.

“The digital market can be a paradise or a paradise lost. We’re hoping it will be a paradise,” Thameling said. Specifics of the course will not be published until the 2012-2013 catalog, but the Communication Department has specifics.