University of North Texas 
DENTON (UNT), Texas — With support from the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts (IAA), three University of North Texas professors are pursuing transformative and meaningful creative research projects as 2025-26 IAA Fellows. The IAA supports faculty with advance excellence in the visual, performing, creative and literary arts. Each year, the university selects professors to be part of the Faculty Fellows program, which enables UNT faculty to spend a semester focusing on creative endeavors that will deepen their scholarship, enhance their teaching and elevate UNT’s national profile.
Josh Gilbert, assistant professor of practice in Media Arts in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, will create a short film titled Trophies. The film will follow a man with a terminal illness who, facing his final days without
the support of family or friends, takes comfort in the inanimate objects in his room
and the memories they spark.
Gilbert was inspired to make Trophies by personal experiences and conversations with others surrounding end-of-life care
for loved ones.
“It’s easy for a lot of people to talk about horror movies or crime podcasts, but
when it comes to discussing our own mortality, the subject suddenly becomes too upsetting
or morbid to focus on. Because of that, so many questions and preparations we could
have started with loved ones are put on hold,” Gilbert said. “I wrote the script with
the goal of starting that conversation.”
Gilbert will create the short film using stop-motion animation, a medium that he first
encountered while working in television. While animation tends to be time-consuming,
Gilbert said his passion for it — as well as the film’s subject matter — make it a
natural choice. The project will also include the creation of a script-to-screen documentary
intended to explain the production process and help students learn more about creating
animated content.
“No matter what media-related career path you’re pursuing, more experience means more
opportunities to find new passions. And of course, experience makes you a more well-rounded
and knowledgeable creator,” Gilbert said. “This project is giving me a chance to do
that, too.”
Gilbert is an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer whose television work includes
animation, game and talk shows, reality, variety and network half-hour shows. He has
also sold film pitches and scripts to studios and production companies including Universal,
Disney, Paramount and New Line. Currently, he is developing independent film projects
with a Texas-based production company.