About Me
Hello! My name is Tony Collins (Ed.D., MFA, BFA).Â
I am a documentary filmmaker, teacher & professor, and musician based in the lovely vicinity of Los Angeles, California.
My professional background and international experience includes:
- international acclaim for more than 20 films, videos, and digital multimedia productions
- 30 years of teaching and research experience in college, K-12, and various other settings.
- a practicing musician for more than 50 years (viola, violin, guitar, mandolin, others)
I have worked on professional, creative, and scholarly projects in higher education and in documentary filmmaking in many places worldwide--in the USA, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Thailand, Oman, Kenya, India, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, and other places worldwide during the past 40 years.Â
I am open to working worldwide with others from all artistic or scholarly backgrounds. Feel free to contact me.
Please see my DEMO REEL
I have received international acclaim for more than 20 films, videos, and digital multimedia productions. My professional and creative works have been exhibited, broadcast, and distributed in more than 10 countries.
Notable achievements in filmmaking include two Ford Foundation Media Production Grants (1998, 1999), four Fulbright Grants (1998, 2013, 2017. 2022), a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant (1986), various UCLA research grants, (1980s), Al Larvick Community Fund (2021), Missouri State University Library (2021 & 2022), Library of Congress (2022), and many others.
I have also worked profesionally and directly with many community-based groups (NGOs) in various countries for higher education, environmental and social justice, and the alleviation of poverty. These countries include the Philippines, Thailand, India, Oman, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Puerto Rico.
I have more than 30 years of teaching and research experience in college, K-12, and various other settings. I also have a broad range of experience as a teacher of educational media production, writing, and editing. I have also served as academic mentor, academic and creative research scholar, academic program leader, and curricula developer in film and video studies. I have significant international experience in the design and establishment of programs and facilities for higher learning in digital media studies.
Teaching and research enable me to integrate my talents, passions, and knowledge for the benefit of  student learners. My scholarly interests include alternative educational research methodologies, including the processes of Grounded Theory and Grounded Action (Glaser). I have written for publication in higher education, filmmaking and film studies, US legal history, ethnic studies, and others.
In 2022, I have teaching and educational consultancy projects in Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.
As a musician for more than 50 years, I have studied and performed on several acoustic instruments (viola, violin, guitar, mandolin, others) and am expanding the scope of my interest to include studies in electronic, ancient, and other music. My musical interests are wide, varied, and based upon lifelong pursuits in the study of World Music in all its aspects. This website features my field work with fiddle music in the southern Missouri Ozarks, and a web showcase of my teacher, the prominent violin soloist. Arnold Belnick. I am planning a project where I study "worker's songs" in rural and urban areas of Pakistan i(Fall 2022).
Educational Background
I have earned a Doctor of Education (EdD) degree in Leadership and Change from the Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. I also have a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Film and Television Production from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).