January 2026 Student Spotlight

Eloise Sherrid, Content Producer & Communications Consultant, Public Communications Certificate Student

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your journey into film and video?
I’m passionate about film and video because it combines all the art forms: visual art, sound, performance and, of course, storytelling. I’ve always been creative, but it wasn’t until I began my undergraduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design that I suffered a crisis of indecision of what to major in, and so I chose the department with all the options I cared about under one roof! I love that film is one of the most accessible mediums in the world: in the digital era, all you have to do is embed a file on some platform or other, and your audience can experience what you have to say. That accessibility makes it easy to bring attention to stories that are silenced, ignored or made invisible by mainstream society. And, of course, making video has always been a skill I can make a living with, as there’s been plenty of demand for it in content and commercial marketing campaigns!

What made you decide to study at the Marxe School, and how does your background in film influence your studies?
I applied to Marxe because I wanted to learn how messages reach their audiences, instead of creating the individual asset that conveys the message itself. For example, say a public health agency is promoting a new flu vaccine. They need to make sure that the public knows that this medicine exists, but also why it’s important to get it, and the steps they need to take to obtain it. Obviously, video can play a role in this in the form of social media, TV, or subway ads, but it will only ever be one cog in a broader campaign to reach people. Sometimes it’s not even the right tool for the job! Sometimes distributing mailers, creating a help line in multiple languages for people to call, making a website, or requesting that neighborhood pharmacies promote the vaccine via word of mouth has the biggest impact. At Marxe, I’m learning how to work with that hypothetical agency to design the overarching strategy that gets people in the door to the clinic– and to use my skills as a storyteller to get the job done right.

Communication plays such a big role in society—how do you see it shaping the world, and where do you hope to make your mark?
Communication is everything! Every division and unity in our society stems from how people make sense of the world, whether it’s how they identify with certain groups, organize their priorities, or make material decisions such as where to spend their money and their time. All of this is shaped by communication on every axis, ranging from explicit verbal messaging from family, schooling and media to implicit messaging via nonverbal cues such as personal space and eye contact. By studying communications, I want to understand those mechanics to reach people where they’re at, on whatever front for which I’m designing a communications strategy. Whether that’s for a public agency, a design firm, an NGO, a company or a portfolio of freelance clients, I see my job as making it as easy for people to talk to one another.

What’s been one of your favorite projects or experiences—either professionally or in school—and what made it special?
I’m so glad you asked. I would say the project I’m most proud of is the short film “The Body is a House of Familiar Rooms” which I co-directed with painter Lauryn Welch. It’s a magical-realist documentary about life and love with a chronic illness; specifically, Lauryn’s life with her partner, Sam, who has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder that causes severe chronic pain. This short documentary combines paintings and live-action footage to show how emotions shape his world alongside Lauryn, his partner. You can watch it on PBS here, as well as on the Criterion Channel.

Pain is an invisible condition, and so frequently, doctors, peers and even family members don’t believe or understand the experience of people experiencing it. Pain is also a mental phenomenon as well as a physical one. So, we created this film the way we did to serve not only as a work of art, but also a tool to make the invisible and complex experience of chronic pain literally visible through film and acrylic paint.

This project was special for several reasons. On a professional level, it took four years of sustained work while balancing a demanding full-time job and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a personal level, it forced me to reckon with my own prejudices toward disability, and also taught me important lessons about collaboration and leaving my ego at the door (extremely hard.) Since releasing the film, audience members have told us they showed the film to their families to express their experience with chronic illness and reach a new understanding together. We also screened the work at a Russian disability film festival called Breaking Down Barriers, and Zoom’d into a Q&A session with the audience via a translator. The relationship between the United States and Russia is tense, to say the least, yet we heard from ordinary Russians who shared their own experiences with disability, and we connected over our shared love of film-making. It meant a lot to me.

What advice would you give to students or young professionals who want to balance creative work with academics?
It’s important to build a sustainable career so that you can both support yourself and find satisfaction in the work you do. Between climate change, AI and the instability of the economy, the world is increasingly unpredictable. We don’t know what creative or professional careers will even look like in five or ten years! Think about how to diversify your skill-set and combine your new skills with your foundation to find a new path forward. And, of course, stay hydrated.