Film and Television Gets a New Studio

Since 2015, COM’s film and television production courses have taken place at its 2,900-square-foot studio at 300 Babcock St. In a relocation that department chair Craig H. Shepherd compares to moving from an elementary school football field to an NFL stadium, that studio will soon have a new home at 808 Commonwealth Ave., upstairs from the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground. Shepherd says the new facility, which will be on the building’s fifth floor, will house studios for cinematography and directing. The move and renovation will cost roughly $3.5 million and serve a growing film and television program. They follow a $500,000 investment in equipment and renovations at Studio West, which primarily serves BUTV.

Shepherd inspected the Comm Ave space in summer 2024, when it was still filled with debris, including a Model T car—perhaps a remnant of the building’s history as a car dealership. “But I saw a barren, open space that would be gutted and bespoke for the film and television department,” he says. “I also saw the ability, because the space is so large, to prep it for future technologies we don’t even know about.”

Construction is underway with the goal of having the space ready for the fall 2025 semester. Shepherd says the new studio, which he calls “a complete game-changer,” will be the hub of COM’s film and television production activity.

“I see it as the home for the students to not only have the appropriate studio space and technical equipment to create, but also a collaboration hub,” Shepherd says. “Because this art form is completely a collaborative art form—where there’s common spaces, where cinematographers can talk to directors, can talk to producers, can talk to actors. That’s where the best ideas are generated from.”

Shepherd was tapped to take over the film and television department in September 2024. He’s said he aims to make an already good program even better. In the Hollywood Reporter’s 2024 rankings of America’s top film schools, BU came in at No. 18. A larger, state-of-the-art studio space—which will be closer to what graduates encounter when they enter the industry—will serve as its own recruiting tool for talented new students, he says.

“It’s like being in [Willy Wonka’s] chocolate factory, like walking into a fantasy land,” he says. “You just say, this could be all at your disposal, and you have the ability to use this space as you grow your career as a television, film and content maker. It’s inspiration, right off the bat.”