ABOUT

I’m a writer and editor originally from Virginia, now based in Los Angeles. I’m currently a PhD student and Teaching Associate in UCLA’s cinema and media studies graduate program.

I previously worked for Healthline as an Associate Editor, and as a staff writer for Psych Central covering issues related to LGBTQ health and identity, mood disorders, and more. I’ve also been a Teaching Assistant at USC, a bookseller, and a production intern at The Colbert Report and the Ghost Robot creative studio (among other eclectic jobs).

Resume | Instagram | Zines

** My full name is Donald Blake Collins. Older writing is published under my first name.

Blake taking a photo in a mirror with his phone, surrounded by framed art prints

Education

University of California, Los Angeles
PhD student, Cinema and Media Studies (entered fall 2022)

University of Southern California (LA, 2020)
MA in East Asian Studies, emphasis on film

Emerson College (Boston, 2015)
BA in Visual Media Arts — Media Production, Screenwriting

Research interests: critical media industry studies, distribution studies (theatrical and streaming), shifts in independent, arthouse, and “foreign film” circulation in America, subtitles, transnational cinemas, film authorship studies, horror genre trends