Alumni Feature – Christina Lamagna
Christina Lamagna, a 2021 graduate from Kilachand Honors College and the College of Communications, was recently part of election coverage with Kirk Documentary Group for FRONTLINE PBS as a Production Assistant and is now a Production Coordinator, but that wasn’t always where she saw herself landing.
“I was part of a science communication program [at BU]. It was a really cool intersection of people who studied earth science, journalists, filmmakers and communicators, and everyone did all of the parts of the process,” Lamagna, a Biology minor, said.
Lamagna’s passion for the industry was always clear, but what that specifically meant for her role in it would pivot post-graduation.
Her undergraduate degree from COM focused on Cinematography and Film/Video Production, and she had a more technical background as a Camera Assistant, too, explaining, “I had to figure out where else I might fit in the industry, even though at the time, I was still very interested in film, but it was a practical and lifestyle choice.”
The intersection of science and communication that threaded through her personal projects and the research program at BU fell away in favor of political media, but she got to revisit documentary work in the process.
“It’s been really cool to be able to work with journalists, because the work that we do really is journalism, where the medium happens to be film versus documentary filmmaking,” Lamagna said. “There are some differences in those processes, and we adhere to a more specific journalistic code of ethics.”
When Lamagna explained the things that are important to her, it almost seemed like this career path was meant to be, as she has always found it important to consume media with intention, something she calls a “personal ethos.” This approach has become increasingly important as news, media and politics continue to deeply intersect with the internet and social media.
“I think there are a lot of reflections upon our society that are available for us through this very accessible art form, ” Lamagna said. “I think that it’s a good way to understand and empathize with people that have different life experiences, identities or histories than us. I think sitting down and thinking more critically about [the media we consume] could open up a world of understanding and curiosity.”
Lamagna is in an exceptional place in her career, doing things that not only matter at a large scale, but that call to her interest in documentary and align with her personal values. If she could mold her own path, however, she feels drawn to a specific type of storytelling.
“I really love and appreciate documentary,” Lamagna said, “but I’m feeling a push toward narrative in the way it can be escapist but also hold a lot of commentary about societal circumstances I love to hear someone else’s great idea and figure out how I can best support and enhance that vision. But in general, I really am drawn to the indie world of smaller-scale narratives about everyday people and telling them artfully and communicating their experiences,” she added.