Cardinal Pictures was founded on a simple premise: to reduce the barriers to filmmaking for students of any background or level of experience. We provide support, resources, and guidance for all aspects of the filmmaking process.

MAKE A FILM

No prior experience is necessary to direct, and students of all class years can apply. Projects of all kinds are welcome, ranging from short, fun experiments to more ambitious narrative pieces.

For first-time filmmakers, we recommend shorter films that can be filmed in 1 weekend or a single day with runtimes below 5 minutes. Your first film does not need to be an epic!

To make a filmplease email us at cardinalpictureswes@gmail.com! We’re currently accepting pitches AND scripts (in various stages of completion) for our Spring 2023 development and production slates!

For pitches:
Include your name, class year, a quick rundown of your filmmaking experience, a logline for the project, and a pitch deck, treatment, or plot outline. Please include working scripts and notes if available. If selected, you’ll be paired with a Script Advisor to develop the project and, eventually, an Executive Producer to get it crewed, scheduled, and shot.

For completed drafts and locked scripts:
Include your name, class year, a quick rundown of your filmmaking experience, and a log-line for the project. If selected, you’ll go through one round of coverage and revision with a Script Advisor before entering pre-production with an Executive Producer.

BORROW EQUIPMENT

Want to check out gear? Unsure what you need? Sure of what you need? Either way, reach out with details about your project or event, and a gear manager will advise you.

ATTEND SCREENWRITER'S LOUNGE

Find out more about the Screenwriters' Lounge here.

OUR VISION

Cardinal Pictures is always striving to better serve the Wesleyan community. In the wake of the pandemic, we’ve been hard at work reviving our infrastructure, upgrading equipment, and streamlining internal processes. Wesleyan has struggled with institutional memory in the wake of the pandemic, and we’re eager to break that trend. We hope to become the primary resource for student filmmaking on campus, fostering a culture of inclusivity, collaborative experimentation, and open conversations about the difficult nature of our industry.

  • No-cost Filmmaking Equipment Rentals
    We’re upgrading our gear fleet to reflect advances in the prevailing technology on independent sets. We hope these changes will better prepare students that crew Cardinal Pictures productions for the rigor of contemporary physical production, particularly in light of the department’s lacking production curriculum.

  • Grants for Student Filmmakers

  • Institutional Memory Cardinal Pictures is in the early stages of an archival project that hopes to preserve work by Wesleyan students in the time-based and cinematic arts. We hope that curating a space for students to engage with the breadth of work that this community produces can inspire them to find new creative potential in their day-to-day lives. Wesleyan can feel constricting, even suffocating at times, especially in a creative sense.
    But, for as long as a creative community has existed here, students have told stories, reimagining what can seem like a mundane, suburban landscape into something far more sinister or absurd or critical or romantic or what have you! We feel obligated to nurture this fighting spirit and see documenting the work students create as the best path to doing so.

  • Industry Support and Alumni Networking

  • On-Campus Events