Steven Burgess
Directing
Biography
Steven Burgess (born March 8, 2005) is an American filmmaker currently attending Rice University. He’s directed, edited, and written 7 short films. Burgess shot his first feature film, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in 2023 as a capstone project in High School. In 2024, he started working as a film preservation specialist for Fondren Library, screening “Celebrating the Rice Media Center” in collaboration with Arman Saxena and Lydia Lee. In 2025, he enrolled at The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague, Czech Republic, for a one-semester film program, collaborating with student filmmakers on his short Mother Knows Best. Since then, he has continued to create and collaborate with creatives on music videos, promotional pieces, and video essays.
Known For
Through the Fondren Fellows program, the Rice Media Center Archive Project has spent the past few months sifting through material stored at the now-defunct Rice Media Center. The team has identified several films as especially notable and will be presenting them in conjunction with documentary footage the team shot of people involved with the films. From lectures featuring Roberto Rossellini and Werner Herzog to films from former Rice students and faculty, the film presentation will tell the narrative of the Rice Media Center through the films and filmmakers that passed through its corridors.
Celebrating the Rice Media Center
A twisted tale about a pair of lovers whose hearts are toyed with by fairies. Amidst all of this chaos, a play is to be presented to the duke ,and a group of unskilled actors think to achieve the best play possible.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
An overbearing mother tries to help her stressed son with his "romantic problems"
Mother Knows Best
In 17th century Prague, a young boy facing persecution seeks help by reviving the ancient legend of the Golem