Kathryn “Kat” Szypulski
Presidential 
Scholar and Honors College student Kathryn “Kat” Szypulski has harbored a dream of working in film since grade school. One look at Georgia State’s Creative Media Industries Institute sold her, and now she calls it her second home. Below, she shares with us the community she’s gained and the opportunities she’s unlocked on campus.
Interview by Jordan Ferguson
You grew up in Cary, N.C., but were drawn to Atlanta for its noted film scene. Tell us about how you chose Georgia State.
My house is a 15-minute drive from downtown Raleigh and then 30 minutes from Durham, N.C., but neither of those cities is anything like Atlanta. Atlanta has one of the biggest film industries in the United States, and since I was in third grade, I knew I wanted to work in film and do visual effects. I also knew I didn’t want to go to New York City or Los Angeles, so I really looked for schools in Atlanta and Georgia. When I visited Georgia State, my tour guides were both students from the Honors College, and they were telling us great things about it. That really sold me.
Because campus is right downtown, there are so many awesome networking events. There are also so many great connections offered through the College of Arts & Sciences. It’s such a great community.
The Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) is exclusive to Georgia State. How do you feel it’s prepared you for your career in a way no other school could?
Before I came to Georgia State, I was not aware of the CMII. When I toured as a Presidential Scholarship finalist, one of the past scholars was someone who worked at the CMII, and she gave me an introduction to the building. We weren’t able to go inside, but when I came for orientation over the summer, I made contact with David Cheshier [director of academic programs for CMII], and he gave me a tour and a rundown of everything that’s happening in the building. It really spoke to me. I knew this is where I was meant to be on campus.
The CMII, in my opinion, is the coolest building on campus. We have multiple computer labs for students to come and do work that they couldn’t do on their little laptops. We also have a virtual reality lab. The Creative Media Industries Institute has everything you could possibly need from a creative space and, for someone who wants to go into the entertainment industry, it is the place to be on campus. Just being here and connecting with people at Georgia State has allowed me to have job opportunities. Last summer, I was able to work on a TV show that’s going to come out on Hulu!
CMII faculty, including artists-in-residence like “The Walking Dead” Producer Tom Luse, are seasoned in media and film. How does that shape their teaching?
The professors in these classes really guide us through working on projects and troubleshooting all the problems with them. They really make sure that we are ready for the industry, whether that is in creating games or if, like me, you want to go into more of the visual effects side of things or motion capture. All the work that would be involved with that — cleaning up motion capture data, etc. — the professors make sure that you are prepared and that you know everything you need to know.
The professors of practice here at CMII and at Georgia State are out in the industry working while they are teaching their students, and that means sometimes they’ll have to say, “Hey guys, this is a workday. I’m out working on a movie or I’m out working in a studio.” But this allows these professors to have current industry knowledge in the entertainment industry, which is invaluable to students because you cannot go into music, and you cannot go into video games, film or television, with outdated information.
