about
Raphael Rosalen (he/him) is a Brazilian scholar of digital media and celebrity culture, as well as a multimedia artist. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts. Rosalen has worked extensively at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences building a database for inclusive film research. He’s also worked at the Museum of Modern Art’s film department and The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
His ongoing scholarly work has primarily focused on YouTubers and other digital media celebrities, thinking about the affective strategies of authenticity, specifically in the genre of apology videos. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Film and Media Studies at UC Irvine, where he is thinking about the emergence of computer-generated avatars who have emerged as celebrities on various digital platforms, blurring the line between the physical world and the digital.
As of November 2022, Raphael is also the Managing Editor at the leading journal in the field, JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies.