Eric A. Pitz
Cinema and Media Studies Ph.D. Candidate
UCLA
About
Eric A. Pitz (he/him) is a PhD candidate in cinema and media studies at UCLA researching the history of the Fleischer animation studio, analyzing the studio’s shift away from vaudeville and jazz-derived sensibilities and aesthetics from the 1920s until Paramount Pictures’ takeover of the studio in 1942. To do so, he is examining the studio’s technological innovations in conjunction to its utilization of Black, Jewish, and immigrant performers and performances, as well as the studio’s move from New York City to Miami. In addition to his research in cinema and media studies, he is also working on a graduate certificate in English writing pedagogy.
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Pitz’ work has been accepted for presentation at conferences put on by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and the Popular Culture Association. He has previously been awarded the Kemp R. Niver Scholarship in Film History and the Anna & Rich Lundin Summer Research Fellowship. Beyond his work as an academic, Pitz has worked with the Highland Park Film Festival, the Fresh Coast Film Festival, and the Sherman Grinberg Film Library.
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Outside of film, Pitz is an avid painter, record collector, concert goer, game enthusiast, and is constantly in search of the best trivia the world has to offer.
Education
2022-Present
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Los Angeles, CA
PhD: Cinema and Media Studies
Dissertation Chair: Denise Mann
​Dissertation Committee: Ellen C. Scott, Jasmine N. Trice, Rob King
2020-2022
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Los Angeles, CA
MA: Cinema and Media Studies
2016-2019
Northern Michigan University - Marquette, MI
BA: English and Spanish major, Film Studies minor
Advisor: J. Marek Haltof
Teaching Experience
Courses Taught
​Cinema and Media Studies Courses
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Introduction to the Art and Technique of Filmmaking
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History of the American Motion Picture
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American Television History
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Digital Media Studies
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Overview of the Contemporary Film Industry
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Third Cinema/History of African, Asian, and Latin American Film
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Film and Social Change
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Film Genres - Horror
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Film Authors - Sirk, Fassbinder, Haynes
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Pedagogy Course
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Teaching Practicum (TA Training)
Other Experience
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Highland Park Independent Film Festival - Judge (2024)
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Sherman Grinberg Film Library - Media Archive Intern (2021)
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Fresh Coast Film Festival - Programming Intern (2019)
Publications & Presentations
Publications
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(Under Review) "Queer Coding and Cross-Dressing: The Censorship of the Kiss in Hollywood Gender Impersonation Cinema, 1925-1959."
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Undergraduate Publications
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Pitz, Eric A. "In Another Person’s Skin: Adaptations of To Kill a Mockingbird and the Characterization of Scout Finch," Conspectus Borealis: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 5. (2018)
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Pitz, Eric A. "Homosociality in Michael Radford’s The Merchant of Venice." Conspectus Borealis: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. (2017)
Conference Presentations​​
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(Forthcoming) Pitz, Eric A. "There's a Trace of Him Here: Considering Cab Calloway in Fleischer's Minnie the Moocher." Animate Experience: Society for Animation Studies Annual Conference (Pittsburgh, PA: June 2026)
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(Forthcoming) Pitz, Eric A. “Betty Who? The Production of Betty Boop’s Racial and Ethnic Ambiguity.” Stars and Screen Virtual Symposium (Online: May 2026)
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(Forthcoming) Pitz, Eric A. "Considering Cab Calloway: The Fleischer Studios' Minnie the Moocher and Rotoscoping Black Performance." Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference (Chicago, IL: March 2026)
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​Pitz, Eric A. "Reelin’ In the Years: The Talkie Compilation Short and the Turn from Silent Cinema." USC Hollywood Conference (Los Angeles, CA : July 2025)​
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Pitz, Eric A. "'The Colossus of Clout (The Colossus of Clout):' The Sandlot, Babe Ruth, and the (Hi)story of Baseball.” Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Summer Salon Conference (Albuquerque, NM: June 2025).
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Pitz, Eric A. "Ho-di-ho-di-Ro-to-scope: Black Performance in the Fleischer Studios' Minnie the Moocher." Popular Culture Association Conference (New Orleans, LA: April 2025).
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Pitz, Eric A. "Queer Coding and Cross-Dressing: The Censorship of the Kiss in Hollywood Gender Impersonation Cinema, 1925-1959 - Case Study: Some Like it Hot." Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference (Chicago, IL: April 2025).
--- Chaired Panel: Queer Histories of Kissing, Scandals, and Home Movies​​
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Undergraduate Presentation
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Pitz, Eric A. "Chaplin as an Auteur: The Case of The Great Dictator." Northern Michigan University Celebration of Student Scholarship (Marquette, MI: April 2017)
Guest Lecturer
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(Forthcoming) Pitz, Eric A. “Say Kids, What Time is it? Time for a Brief History of Children’s Television” – UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (Los Angeles, CA: May 2026)
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Pitz, Eric A. “‘And You Gotta Be Girls:’ Cross-Dressing, Censorship, and Some Like it Hot” – UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (Los Angeles, CA: February 2025, February 2026)
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Pitz, Eric A. “Archival Research and Practices, Media Archaeology, and Preserving Film History” – University of California, Irvine School of Humanities (Irvine, CA: January 2026).​​​​
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Pitz, Eric A. "'We're Going to Die Out Here:' The History, Marketing, and Culture of the Found Footage Film" - UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (Los Angeles, CA 2024)
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Awards
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UCLA Cinema and Media Studies Graduate Merit Award (2026)
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Society for Cinema and Media Studies Animated Media Scholarly Interest Group Travel Grant (2026)
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Kemp R. Niver Scholarship in Film History at UCLA (2024)
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John H. Mitchell Fellowship Award (2022)
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Outstanding Graduate in Department of Languages, Literatures, and International Studies (Language Major) - Northern Michigan University (2020)
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James Cloyd Bowman Scholarship (2019)
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Anna & Rich Lundin Summer Research Fellowship (2019)
Academic Interests
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American Film History
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Film Genres
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Comedy Studies
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Animation
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Race & Ethnicity
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Media Industry Studies
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Convergence
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Silent Cinema
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Classical Hollywood​
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Gender & Sexuality