Teri Schwartz

• Dean
• E-mail:
• Phone: 310-825-7891

Biography

A Los Angeles native, UCLA alumna and successful feature film producer, Teri Schwartz is the dean for UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, appointed in July, 2009.

Schwartz brings a dynamic vision and plan to UCLA TFT to build upon its remarkable resources and talent, and to ensure its long-term success and leadership role across the landscape of media and performance arts long into the future.

With the engagement of the entire UCLA TFT community, Schwartz looks forward to bringing together the critical components of humanistic storytelling, global diversity, civic responsibility and technological innovation to foster a vibrant creative and educational community of outstanding, diverse students, faculty, artists, scholars and industry leaders whose transformational works and stories will enlighten our lives and inspire change for a better world.

Prior to coming to UCLA TFT as its newest dean, Schwartz served as professor and founding, inaugural dean of the School of Film and Television at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles from 2003-2009. There, Dean Schwartz engaged the school community in creating a singular vision and long-range, actionable strategic plan for master visual storytelling grounded in humanism, innovation and diversity. In particular, groundbreaking strategic initiatives she created for diversity, humanistic story, global industry connectivity, and new equipment and technology were successful in drawing funding from — and forging new partnerships with LMU leadership, private donors and industry.

Without a doubt, Schwartz loves to create and build. She began her film career in the early 1970s, developing and producing successful feature films for many top actors, directors and writers. A few of her many film credits include the Golden Globe Best Picture nominee “Sister Act,” “Beaches,” “Nuts,” “Life With Mikey,” “Joe Versus the Volcano,” “When Billie Beat Bobby” and “Hope.” Her projects have garnered nominations in a variety of categories for Academy, Emmy, Grammy, MTV and CLIO awards.

For many years prior to her appointment at LMU, Schwartz served as president and producer of her own film and television production company, Teri Schwartz Productions. In addition, from 1995 to 2000, she served as president, producer and partner of Cherry Alley Productions, creating and producing a variety of successful entertainment projects for film and in partnership with Academy
Award winner Goldie Hawn.

Schwartz is a member of the Directors Guild of America; the Producers Guild of America; the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation Board of Directors; chair, Education Committee for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; the Advisory Council for the Caucus for Television Producers and Writers; the International Academy for Television Arts and Sciences; the Hawn Foundation Board of Directors; and the Savannah Film Festival Board of Advisors, and is special advisor to TED/Pangea Day. Dean Schwartz is also a member of the Board of Governors for the LA Stage Alliance and the Board of Directors of the Geffen Playhouse. She has served on the juries for the Palm Springs International Shorts Film Festival, the Monte Carlo International Television Festival and the Babelgum International Online Film Festival.

She earned a B.A. degree in English literature at UCLA, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude in 1971. She received her M.A. degree in film at the University of London in 1973.

Dean Schwartz is an optimistic, imaginative and resourceful leader who passionately believes in film education as a way to help foster remarkable new talent who will transform our world for the better through the power of story, innovation and diversity. She has dedicated this chapter of her life to this goal and considers it a privilege and honor to do so.