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Eric A. Pitz

Cinema and Media Studies PhD Candidate

UCLA

Eric Pitz

Eric A. Pitz

PhD Candidate in Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA

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UCLA Profile

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About

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 & Experience

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

  • Introduction to the Art and Technique of Filmmaking

  • History of the American Motion Picture

  • American Television History

  • Digital Media Studies

  • Overview of the Contemporary Film Industry

  • Film and Social Change

  • Film Genres - Horror

  • Film Authors - Sirk, Fassbinder, Haynes

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Pedagogy Course

  • Teaching Practicum (TA Training)

Other Experience

  • Highland Park Independent Film Festival - Judge (2024)

  • Sherman Grinberg Film Library - Media Archive Intern (2021)

  • Fresh Coast Film Festival - Programming Intern (2019)

Publications & Presentations

Publications

  • "Queer Coding and Cross-Dressing: The Censorship of the Kiss in Hollywood Gender Impersonation Cinema, 1925-1959" (In Preparation)

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Undergraduate Publications

  • 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)

 

  • Pitz, Eric A. "Homosociality in Michael Radford’s The Merchant of Venice." Conspectus Borealis: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. (2017)

Conference Presentations​​

  • ​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

  • Pitz, Eric A. "Chaplin as an Auteur: The Case of The Great Dictator." Northern Michigan University Celebration of Student Scholarship (Marquette, MI 2017)

Guest Lecturer

  • Pitz, Eric A. “‘And You Gotta Be Girls:’ Cross-Dressing, Censorship, and Some Like it Hot” – UCLA (Los Angeles, CA 2025)

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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 (Los Angeles, CA 2024)

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Publications and Presentations
Awards & Interests

Awards

  • Kemp R. Niver Scholarship in Film History at UCLA (2024)

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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)

 

  • Anna & Rich Lundin Summer Research Fellowship (2019)

Academic Interests

American Film History

Film Genres

Comedy Studies

Animation

Race & Ethnicity

Media Industry Studies

Convergence

Silent Cinema

Classical Hollywood​

Gender & Sexuality

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