Professor of Communication Arts
email
212-774-4863

Degrees
B.A., Oxford University
M.A., New York University
Ph.D. New York University

Prof. Alister Sanderson holds a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Oxford University and the M.A. and Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from New York University, where he was a George Amberg Doctoral Research Fellow and specialized in WWII British documentary film. Before coming to MMC, he taught at NYU, Drew University, the School of Visual Arts and Brooklyn College. He also made experimental films, sat on the board of directors of the Millennium Film Workshop, and founded and edited the Millennium Film Journal, a quarterly devoted to avant-garde film-making. In commercial television, Alister was A&E’s Creative Director and senior producer during that network’s launch. He went on to head up his own communications and production company which was hired for the launches of Lifetime, Lifetime Medical Television, Request Television (America’s first pay-per-view channel), the Sci-Fi Channel and TNT. Among other clients were HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, the New York Times, USA Network, The Long Island Philharmonic, Artpark, Pilobolus, the David Parsons Dance Company, and the NYC Refugee Employment Project. Recently, Alister has been producing, writing and directing for the History Channel (for which he received the American Advertising Federation’s Addy award) as well as for Biography, the Kennedy Space Center, the Smithsonian and the National Constitution Center. His own recent films include the award-winning A Little Tour of Manhattan and Sun Tea. Chase Games, made with Prof. Elizabeth Higgins and featuring MMC dance students, was shown in 2005 at the Utah Arts Festival and the Independent Film Festival in Florida. Among the courses Alister teaches are Beginning Video, Intro. to Film & Video, Producing for Television and The Avant-garde in Theatre, Film & Art. He is the Director of CommArts’ Theresa Lang Center for Producing, which provides the facilities for MMC students to work creatively in video, sound design, graphic design and interactive multimedia.

Recent Presentations/Productions:

Writer/Producer/Director, on-air programming spots for The History Channel and A&E. June – December 2008.

Writer/Producer/Director, two commercials for Kingsborough Community College: The City University of New York. June 2008.

Film screening

The Four Senses and More of Kirche Zeile (Alister Sanderson, director). Marymount Manhattan College. May 6, 2009.