About Us
As Hawaiʻi’s film school, the Academy for Creative Media (ACM) is at the forefront of cinematic arts in the Pacific. Located in Honolulu at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, ACM is dedicated to academic and creative excellence through its Bachelor of Arts degree designed to encourage innovation and collaboration with emphasis on Hawaiʻi, the Pacific and Asia. Focused in the heart of a state with a robust film and television industry, ACM encourages professional development, mentorship, and community engagement through a variety of programs including internships, master classes, and industry screenings such as the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival.
ACM nurtures and empowers students to develop their own unique voices as storytellers, exploring creative media forms rooted in personal experience and place-based learning through animation, critical studies, digital cinema, and screenwriting.
Driven by a boundless curiosity, ACM students collaborate and support each other in their creative endeavors and conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner. ACM students create stories for the screen rooted in diversity and personal identity. These films offer windows into their communities, cultures, beliefs and experiences. Whether on set or in the classroom, ACM students embody the values and ethics of emerging artists and scholars who aspire to educate, challenge, and entertain audiences through their work.
ACM offers a core curriculum in three tracks: Creative Media, Animation, and Digital Cinema.
Faculty / Staff
Click the filter buttons below to find the specialties of each faculty. Click the faculty photo to read their bio and see their work.
Christine Acham
Christine Acham received her Ph.D. in Critical Studies from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. She is currently the Chair of the Academy for Creative…
Lisette Flanary
As an independent filmmaker and a hula dancer, Lisette Marie Flanary creates documentary films that celebrate a modern renaissance of the hula dance and Hawaiian culture. She is the writer,…
Jun seo Hahm
Jun seo Hahm is an animation director and digital artist born in Korea. He started his artistic practice as a filmmaker working in experimental animation, and now has extended his…
Vilsoni Hereniko
Vilsoni Hereniko's research, teaching, and creative work explore issues related to climate change, indigenous storytelling, art and cultural identity, and the politics of representation in all kinds of media. He…
Jason Leigh
Jason Leigh is the Director of LAVA: the Laboratory for Advanced Visualization & applications, Co-Director of the Hawaii Data Science Institute, Director of Create(x) at University of Hawaii at West…
Laura Margulies
Laura Margulies has been creating hand painted animated films and commissioned work for 30 years. Her work combines motion, color, texture, live action, rhythm and sound to create award winning,…
Anne Misawa
Anne Misawa has worked internationally in various aspects of film production, with work in both film and TV since 1997. She was largely raised in Hawaiʻi and has studied filmmaking…
Joel Moffett
Joel Moffett was raised on the island of Maui where he graduated high school from Seabury Hall. He holds an MFA in Film Directing from the American Film Institute and…
Marc Moody
Marc moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Arkansas, where his screenplay A Song for the Night climbed through the story department at ABC Motion Pictures. ABC…
Jim Parente
James Parente received his MFA in Computer Art from Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. He has worked as a visual effects artist on both live action &…
Scott Schimmel
Scott received his MFA in Documentary Film from Wake Forest University in 2017 and joined the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa that same year. He spent his first 4 years…
Florina Titz
Florina Titz is a filmmaker from Romania. Her film work has screened at Cannes, South by Southwest, South by Southwest, Berlin Music Video Awards, Napoli Film Fest, Sarajevo Fashion European…
George Wang
George Wang is Professor of Creative Media at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award hosted by The University of Hong Kong (2014-15), George…
Wimal Dissanayake
Wimal Dissanayake is one of the leading scholars of Asian cinema and Asian communication theory. He has also been awarded an honorary D.Litt. for his scholarly work. He has written…
Brett Service
Brett Service is an advisor and lecturer in the Academy for Creative Media. He received his MA from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. He previously worked…
Tiffany Taira
Tiffany Taira was born and raised in Lahaina, Maui. She works as a Director of Photography and Editor in all forms of production from narrative, documentary and music videos. She…
Fun ACM Facts
Academic Tracks
ACM offers a core curriculum in three tracks: Creative Media, Animation and Digital Cinema.
Student Info
Visit our Student Info page to learn more about Tracks, Portfolio Requirements, Equipment Requirements, etc.
Student Flims
Here are some of our students’ films.
Contact Us
Click the map below to navigate to Crawford Hall
Address
Crawford 210
2550 Campus Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
Phone
(808) 956-5660
Fax
(808) 956-6662
Email
acm@hawaii.edu
