AUSTIN'S FIRST MEDIA ARTS CENTER · SINCE 2003
Helping artists and storytellers
learn, make, and find
their people since 2003.
A community film school, accessible studios, residencies for those who've never had one, workforce training and youth programs — breaking barriers and keeping independent artmaking alive, one frame at a time.
Diversifying the industry doesn't happen by chance.
It happens when you build the infrastructure on purpose.
Our programs model the value of film & media arts in everyday lives and dreams for the future.
Since 2003, we've built three interconnected pathways — for people to learn, for working artists to grow, and for underrepresented talent to be seen.
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We run Austin School of Film — Texas's longest-running community school for film, photo, animation, and media art that’s open to everyone!
100+ classes & workshops a year across every level led by industry professionals and teaching artists. From filmmaking, photography, animation, experimental media, analog darkroom practice, creative technology, and more.
Since before we were called this name, we’ve been hosting youth summer camps since 1999 - that’s how we got our start.
Beginners always always welcome — no prerequisites, no pretension.
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We keep CINEMAKER Studios open to filmmakers, photographers, musicians, and media artists at community prices.
Membership-based access to professional lighting, backdrops, props, and odds & ends that are pain the lug around like apple boxes, c-stands, gels, the whole shabang!
Every month, we see over 400 creative sessions happen here from film shoots, photo work, music video production, album covers, artist portfolios, dance films, commercial work.
15,000 makers through our doors a year.
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We build pathways for the media artists & filmmakers.
Artist Access is six months workforce development for 30 media makers a year giving them job training, networking, and a ton of skills through an education stipend and free studio access.
Artists in Motion is a six-month residency for media artists who've never had one because everyone has to have their first experience somehow. Right?
Two Artists × Six Months is our 2026 experiment: two local media artists, free CINEMAKER access, no deliverables, no strings. Just the tools in their hands and the question of what becomes possible.
UPCOMING Programs & initiatives
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Summer Youth Camps
26 years of filmmaking, animation, and media camps for middle and high schoolers. 50+ students each summer. Scholarships available for every session.
Join waitlist →
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Artist Access Program
Six months of creative workforce development & access for 30 emerging media artists a year.
This program includes $2,000 education stipend, free studio access for one full year, mentorship, and direct industry networking.
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Film Forward Certificate
14 courses. 100+ hours. Three finished films or media projects. The deepest version of what Austin School of Film offers — for students ready to commit to the craft.
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Activations & Partnerships
We design custom public media programming for brands, institutions, and cultural partners — pop-up studios, community workshops, media-art activations, and co-created public events.
From the newsroom
★ 75,000+ students taught since 2003 across three generations of Austin makers
★ 400+ creative sessions every month in our CINEMAKER studios
★ 30 emerging artists receive mentorship each year through Artist Access
★ 10,000attendees across all programs and events every year
Our MISSION
Motion Media Arts Center is Austin's community-rooted home for film and media arts — building creative infrastructure, expanding public access, and developing the next generation of independent artists and filmmakers across Central Texas.
We provide film and media arts education, professional studio access, artist residencies, and youth programs to the underrepresented communities the creative industry was not built for — so that independent storytellers have everything they need to make their work real.