Biography
Marie Barnas has earned two M.F.A. degrees, first in Film Production from Ohio University and then in Creative Writing from Georgia College and State University. She teaches courses in video and film production and is the Department of Media Arts Distance and Online Education Coordinator. Her professional interests include online education, study abroad, and documentary production. Her projects have won numerous domestic and international awards including Emmy, Telly, Cindy, and Worldfest Houston and have earned over 50 awards and honors at various film festivals, performances, and exhibitions worldwide.
In 2021-22 she raised over $150,000 through grants, private donations, and crowdfunding for her latest film The Cost of Caring. In her spare time she enjoys spoiling her two fur babies, Roxy Roo and Boris Boo. When she isn’t traveling to distant lands, she also co-produces the award winning podcast Voca Vacay with her husband and colleague Frank Barnas, Ed.S., M.F.A. She is a native of South Charleston, West Virginia and worked in the film industry in Atlanta, GA from 2004-2011.
Films
The Cost of Caring (2024)
Role: Director
The Cost of Caring is a documentary about the high incidence of veterinarian suicide rates in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Veterinary Medical Association published a joint study in 2019 indicating that veterinarians were more likely to die by suicide as compared to the general U.S. population. Men were 2.1 times more likely and for women, it was worse at 3.5 times. The researchers cited multiple stressors that may play a role: the daily demands at work which include euthanizing pets, burnout, compassion fatigue, poor work-life balance, and being cyber bullied and vilified by pet owners for not meeting their expectations. This film delves into those issues and exposes this crisis in the pet med industry today.
[ watch trailer ]
