Technology is cheap. Talent is not. When governments, studios, streamers, festivals and national funds gather to ask where the next generation of storytellers will come from, the answer is here — the premier public higher education school that has transformed American moving images and arts.

Every day and everywhere, ideas for movies, television, digital media and theater compose our lives as makers and scholars. We are acutely attuned to the stories around us and within us, encountering the world with an instinct to observe, question, interpret and create. Stories do more than reflect our lives. They give form to experience, open possibilities for better realities and allow us to imagine what might otherwise remain unseen. What power!

UCLA TFT provides all students with the grammar, structure and vocabulary to learn their craft as practitioners and scholars. Our hallowed halls, stimulating classrooms, challenging assignments, creative and analytic projects provide the scaffolding to experiment with and actualize raw ideas to transform film, television, digital media and theater. We make 175 films a year to hear a symphony of voices. Our plays push the boundaries of performance and invite audiences into new immersive experiences.

The TFT banner of “Your Voice. Our Story.” means every student here gets to make something that is distinctly their own. The research and teaching of our world-class faculty and the expertise of our devoted staff ensure the development and success of our students, whose talents and capacities for representing the widest range of humanity, deserve and demand support.

As the Dean, I bring to UCLA TFT the love of an alumna and the lessons of my personal story as an immigrant woman of color, a grieving mother, a high-achieving scholar and prolific filmmaker. All of it in service of bringing UCLA TFT to its next eminence globally, nationally, regionally and locally with a sense of awe, reverence, and unstoppable joy that befits our institution’s history.

I believe that every encounter with our institution must be transformative, for that is what happened to me as a student. I became my bold self and brave name known for fearless research and compassionate leadership. I carry with me a passionate vision of truly inclusive excellence for our community, independence, innovation and impact, for our alumni, faculty, staff and students.

Own your story. Join us.