Craig Erpelding

About

Craig Erpelding, winner of the 2023 University Film and Video Association Teaching Award, is also an award-winning Independent Filmmaker with projects screened at venues and festivals across 4 continents. His textbook, Filmmaking with Intention: A Comprehensive Guide to Creating Engaging Motion Pictures, is now in First Edition from Cognella Publishing. Erpelding earned his MFA in Directing from DePaul University’s Digital Cinema Program in 2015, with prior educational experience at UCLA for Screenwriting and a B.A. of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State University.

While he has written and directed various short films and an independent television pilot, Erpelding has also worked for several network TV shows including FOX’s “Empire,” ABC’s “Mind Games,” and NBC’s “Crisis”, he has sat on a committee for the Producers Guild of America, as well as a juror for various Oscar-qualifying film festivals. He was a journalist and editor for various filmmaking trade magazines. His academic and creative work focuses on narrative cinema and episodic and serialized TV development and developing, producing, and directing motion pictures via intention for audience engagement with a focus on visual language, camera work and postproduction techniques.

Education

MFA in Cinema Production – DePaul University

Graduate Certificate in Screenwriting – UCLA

BA in Journalism, Mass Communication – Kansas State University

Books Published

Filmmaking with Intention – A Comprehensive Guide to Creating Engaging Motion Pictures

Articles and Presentations

“Chat GPT as a Scriptwriting Tool,” November 2023, Journal of Film and Video

“AI in The Classroom” CILECT North America Panelist, 2024

“ChatGPT as a Development/Scriptwriting Tool” UFVA Panelist, 2023

Media Appearances

“The Use of AI in Screenwriting,” Books Shows Tunes & Mad Acts Podcast, April 28, 2024.

“Episode 106: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou with Director of IU’s BFA Cinematic Arts Craig Erpelding,” Life in the Credits Podcast, October 2023

Production Experience

Empire (FOX)

APB (FOX)

Exorcist TV Series (FOX)

Mind Games (ABC)

Crisis (NBC)

Festivals/Awards