UCLA TFT NEWSLETTER

Volume 12, Number 1: January-February 2019

UCLA TFT RECEIVES $100,000 GIFT FROM PEARL STUDIO TO ESTABLISH SCHOLARSHIPS IN MEMORY OF UCLA TFT ALUMNA AUDREY WELLS 

Pearl Studio, one of the world’s leading creators of animated entertainment for the global family market, has gifted $100,000 in scholarships to UCLA TFT in memory of screenwriter, director and producer Audrey Wells (The Hate U Give, Under the Tuscan Sun) to fund current use and endowed M.F.A. scholarships in directing and screenwriting. Wells, a UCLA TFT alumna, passed away on October 4, 2018.  

Two current-use scholarships will be awarded from the Audrey Wells Memorial “Say Yes!” Scholarships, first to an M.F.A. screenwriting student in the 2018-19 academic year and, in the 2019-20 year, to an M.F.A. directing student. Beginning in 2021, an endowed scholarship will alternate awards annually between a qualified M.F.A. screenwriting student and an M.F.A. directing student. All of the scholarships include a one-week all-inclusive artist residency at Pearl Studio, known as the Pearl Studio Artists in Residence Program. Additionally, scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to be mentored by an industry professional who worked with Wells during her lifetime.

PAULA VOGEL NAMED VISITING PLAYWRIGHT-IN-RESIDENCE

TERI SCHWARTZ AND UCLA TFT FEATURED IN UCLA MAGAZINE

COPLEY CENTER NAMED TO HOLLYWOOD REPORTER LIST 

UCLA TFT’s David C. Copley Center for Costume Design has once again made “The Top 10 Costume Design Schools” list compiled annually by The Hollywood Reporter.

Read the article
 

THE UCLA TFT THEATER SEASON CONTINUES WITH
PRODUCTIONS OF THE KITCHEN AND REBEL GENIUS

SKETCH TO SCREEN COSTUME DESIGN PANEL AND CELEBRATION

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2019

On Saturday, Jan. 26, UCLA TFT and Dean Teri Schwartz hosted its annual reception at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, to celebrate the cinematic accomplishments of its filmmaking community. The event was sponsored, once again, by Avid and Keycode Media. Professor Phyllis Nagy was one of the jury members in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Professor Nancy Richardson edited the festival’s Surprise Screening, MGM’s Fighting With My Family. Other UCLA TFTers with ties to the festival this year included:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Lisa Aragona (B.A. ’14), art department coordinator, Clemency
Blake Berris (B.A. ’06), actor, Before You Know It
Shannon Bradley-Colleary (M.F.A. ’98), screenwriter, To the Stars
Akin McKenzie (B.A. ’02), production designer, Native Son

NEXT
Aldo Velasco (M.F.A. ’98), screenwriter, co-editor, The Infiltrators

MIDNIGHT
Jonathan Snipes (Faculty), composer, Mope

PREMIERES
Eleanor Infante (B.A. ’98), film editor, Late Night

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
James Egan (M.F.A. ’85), producer, Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins
Alex Gibney, director, producer, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

SPECIAL EVENTS
Taran Killam, actor, Documentary Now! Season 52 Preview

U.S. NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS
Garrett Bradley (M.F.A. ’12), director, screenwriter, America

In 1997, UCLA Film & Television Archive and Sundance partnered to create the Sundance Collection at UCLA, established to preserve long-term access to independent film production. This important initiative is annually celebrated at the festival, highlighting important works protected as part of the landmark collaboration. Two films from the ’90s were featured in this year’s From the Collection screenings: The Blair Witch Project (1999), directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez; and The Hours and Times (1991), directed by Christopher Munch.

CHURCH & STATE READING IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE PARKLAND SHOOTING

UCLA INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN CULTURES FILM FESTIVAL ​

UCLA TFT Executive Board member Moctesuma Esparza (B.A. ’71, M.F.A. ’73), and professors Dominic Taylor and Ellen Scott spoke at the UCLA Institute of American Cultures Film Festival, held on Friday, Feb. 1, which celebrated 50 years of ethnic stories on screen created by UCLA alumni. 

INTERACTIVE VR PROJECT 
THE SUN LADIES SHOWCASED AT UCLA TFT  

AWARDS SEASON ROUNDUP

With the Academy Awards having taken place on Sunday, Feb. 24, Awards Season, that time of year when the entertainment industry recognizes its own for work well done in the previous 12 months, has officially wrapped. Once again, UCLA TFT alumni figured prominently as honorees, nominees and winners (and others by association) in a number of major awards ceremonies. 

 
ACADEMY AWARDS (Feb. 24)

Winner
Melissa Berton (B.A. ’89), producer, Period. End of Sentence.
Best Documentary Short

Nominee
Paul Schrader (M.A. ’70), writer, First Reformed
Best Screenplay nomination


ART DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS (Feb. 2)

Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
James Fiorito (B.A. ’63)


ARTIOS AWARDS (Jan. 31)

Winner
Michael Donovan (Faculty), casting (with Margery Simkin and Richie Ferris [associate]), Mamma Mia!
Special Theatrical Performance

Nominee
Michael Donovan, casting (with Richie Ferris [associate]), 12 Angry Men and The Graduate
Regional Theater

Michael Donovan, casting (with James Calleri, Paul Davis, Howie Cherpakov and Richie Ferris [associate]), Bright Star
Theatre Tours


BAFTA AWARDS (Feb. 10)
 
Nominee
Eric Roth (M.F.A. ’74), writer, (with Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters), A Star Is Born
Adapted Screenplay
 
 
CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS (Jan. 13)

Winner
Paul Schrader (M.A. ’70), writer, First Reformed
Best Original Screenplay


DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS (Feb. 2)
 
Winners
Ben Stiller, director, Escape at Dannemora
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries

Louis J. Horvitz (B.A. ’68), director, The 60th Annual Grammy Awards
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports - Specials
 
Nominee
Eytan Keller (B.A. ’71), director, Iron Chef Gauntlet, “Episode 201”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs nomination
 
 
FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS (Feb. 23)
 
Winner
Charles D. King (Executive Board Member), producer, Sorry to Bother You
Best First Feature

Nominee
Paul Schrader (M.A. ’70), director, First Reformed
Best Director, Best Screenplay
  
 
Alumni Involvement in Nominated Projects
Michael J. Benavente, (B.A. ’78), dialogue editor, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Feature
 
Sheila Vand (B.A. ’06), actress, We the Animals
Best First Feature
 
Akin McKenzie (B.A. ’02), production designer, Wildlife
Best First Feature
 

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS (Jan. 6)
 
Honoree
Carol Burnett
Inaugural Carol Burnett Award recipient

Nominee
Billy Porter (Professional Programs), actor, Pose
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
 
Alumni Involvement in Nominated Projects
Michael J. Benavente, (B.A. ’78) dialogue editor, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Motion Picture – Drama

Steven Canals (M.F.A. ’15), co-executive producer, Pose
Best Television Series – Drama

 
Jason George (M.F.A. ’11), co-producer, Vice
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Eric Roth (M.F.A. ’74), screenwriter, A Star Is Born
Best Motion Picture – Drama
 
 
GOTHAM INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS (Nov. 26, 2018)
 
Winner
Paul Schrader (M.A. ’70), writer-director, First Reformed
Best Screenplay

Nominees
Steven Canals (M.F.A. ’15), creator, Pose
Breakthrough Series, Longform
 
Andrew Goldberg (M.F.A. ’02), creator and executive producer, Big Mouth
Breakthrough Series, Longform
 
Paul Schrader (M.A. ’70), writer-director, First Reformed
Best Feature; Audience Award
   
Tess Sweet (M.F.A. ’11), creator, Cleaner Daze
Breakthrough Series, Shortform
 
Alumni Involvement in Nominated Projects
Michael J. Benavente, (B.A. ’78) dialogue editor, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Feature
 
Nick Moceri, (M.F.A. ’10) co-executive producer, Madeline’s Madeline
Best Feature
 
Alex O’Flinn, (M.F.A. ’09) film editing, The Rider
Best Feature
 
 
PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS (Jan. 19)
 
Nominees
Kevin J. Messick (B.A. ’89), producer (with Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay), Vice
Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
 
Dhana Rivera Gilbert (M.F.A. ’96), producer, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 2)
Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy
 
Ben Stiller, producer, Escape at Dannemora
Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television
 
Caroline Williams (M.F.A. ’04), producer, Maniac
Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television
 
 
WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (Feb. 17)
 
Winner
​Orion Walker (B.A. ’96), narrative design, God of War
Videogame Writing
 
Nominees
Eric Roth (M.F.A. ’74), writer, (with Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters), A Star Is Born
Adapted Screenplay
 
Benjamin Arfmann (M.F.A. ’13), writer, Marvel’s Spider-Man
Videogame Writing
 
 
 

BROADWAY WORLD LOS ANGELES AWARDS

Five UCLA TFT alumni and faculty are among the winners of the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, which were announced on Wednesday, Jan. 9. Honoring productions that opened between Oct. 1, 2017-Sept. 30, 2018, nominations were submitted by readers of BroadwayWorld and voted on by local theatergoers.

Winners
Cheryl Baxter (Faculty), Beauty and the Beast
5-Star Theatricals
Choreography - Local

Donny Jackson (M.F.A. ’12 Theater), Arrival and Departure
Fountain Theatre
Lighting Design - Local

Evelina Stampa, Spring Awakening
Department of Theater, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
Director of a Play - Local

George Takei (B.A. ’60, M.A. ’64), Allegiance
East West Players
Featured Actor in a Musical - Local

Alexa Weinzierl (Student), Spring Awakening
Department of Theater, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
Costume Design - Local

29th ANNUAL LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS

Puppet designer Greg Ballora (B.A. ’86) was an Ovation Honors recipient for his work in Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin at the 29th annual LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards on Jan. 29. Thirteen UCLA TFT alumni and faculty also received nominations.


Ovation Honors Recipient
Greg Ballora (B.A. ’86), Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
Puppet Design

Nominees
Dana Solimando (Faculty), Cabaret
Choreography

Alessandro Camon (M.A. ’94), Time Alone
Playwriting for an Original Play

Kelly Lester (B.A. ’81), Cabaret
Featured Actress in a Musical

Pablo Santiago-Brandwein (Faculty), Skeleton Crew
Lighting Design (Large Theater)

Pablo Santiago-Brandwein (Faculty), Time Alone
Lighting Design (Large Theater)

Francois-Pierre Couture (M.F.A. ’06), Jackie Unveiled
Scenic Design (Large Theater)

Sibyl Wickersheimer (M.F.A. ’99), Significant Other
Scenic Design (Large Theater)

Cricket Myers (Faculty), Cabaret
Sound Design (Intimate Theater)

Drew Dazell (Faculty) & Noelle Hoffman, Wicked Lit 2017
Sound Design (Large Theater)

Cricket Myers (Faculty), Allegiance
Sound Design (Large Theater)

Sara Ryung Clement (Faculty), Mrs. Warren's Profession
Costume Design (Large Theater)

Corwin Evans (M.F.A. ’09), The Art Couple
Video/Projection Design (Intimate Theater)

Hana Kim (M.F.A. ’12), With Love and a Major Organ
Video/Projection Design (Intimate Theater)

Adam Flemming (Faculty), Allegiance
Video/Projection Design (Large Theater)

Yee Eun Nam (M.F.A. ’14), Bordertown Now
Video/Projection Design (Intimate Theater)

M.F.A. STUDENT WINS PAULA VOGEL AWARD IN PLAYWRITING

THEATER STUDENTS FEATURED IN COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Theater seniors Danielle Koenig, Molly Livingston and Irving Mason Jr. were featured in College Magazine’s list of “10 Inspiring UCLA Students Set to Change the World.”

TFT STUDENT FINALISTS IN REGAL FILM COMPETITION

A 30-second film created by TFT students Elon Zlotnik and Nathan Nguyen-Le is one of five finalists in this year’s Coca-Cola and Regal Films Competition. Their project, which spotlights the movie-going experience, was chosen from a total of 6,000 submissions. It will compete in April for the grand prize — the opportunity to be screened in Regal theaters across the country. 

CHARLES BURNETT TO DIRECT STEAL AWAY

Charles Burnett (B.A. ’69, M.F.A. ’77) will direct the Amazon Studios film Steal Away, which tells the remarkable story of Robert Smalls, a slave who stole a paddlewheel steamer and navigated it to freedom.

JULIE DASH DIRECTS BIOPIC

Julie Dash (M.F.A. ’85) is set to direct a Lionsgate biopic about ’60s counterculture activist Angela Davis, written by Brian Tucker (Broken City). Production begins in June.

CHANNING DUNGEY JOINS NETFLIX

UCLA TFT visiting professor and Executive Board member Channing Dungey (B.A. ’91) has joined Netflix as VP of Original Content. She was previously the president of ABC Entertainment.

ALFRED P. SLOAN FILM AWARD WINNERS

Skye Emerson (M.F.A. ’18) and Belinda Schmid (M.F.A. ’18) were 2018-19 Alfred P. Sloan Film Awards winners for their scripts Challenger and Marimonda, respectively. Emerson was also a Sundance Institute Award winner, receiving a Sloan Commissioning Grant. Anthony Onah (M.F.A. ’12), another Sundance winner, received a Sloan Lab Fellowship for his screenplay Goliath, which he brought to the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Sundance, Utah.

LILA GAVARES IN DESERT RATS 

Lila Gavares (B.A. ’16) portrayed a high school cheerleader in the January Latino Theater Company production of Desert Rats, a dark comedy about life and crime in America's contemporary West, at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in DTLA.
 

ALUMNI SCREENPLAY PROJECTS NAMED TO 2018 BLACK LIST

Queens of the Stoned Age, an unproduced screenplay written by Elyse Hollander (B.A. ’12) and another, Young. Wild. Free., from Tony Rettenmaier (B.A. ’12), made the 2018 Black List in December. Screenplays make the annual tally based on the votes of 300 film executives and financiers.

Eric Charbonneau/Rex/Shuttersock

DAVID KOEPP WRITES FIRST NOVEL 

Screenwriter David Koepp (B.A. ’90) has written his first novel, the thriller Cold Storage, due on shelves in September. The movie rights have already been sold to Paramount. Koepp will produce, with Gavin Polone, and write the screenplay. 

JAKE LEVY IN OFF-BROADWAY PRODUCTION SUPERHERO

Recent graduate Jake Levy (B.A. ’18) is starring in the 2ndStage Off-Broadway production of Superhero, described as "a deeply human new musical about a fractured family, the mysterious stranger in apartment 4-B, and the unexpected hero who just might save the day."

BET

FELISCHA MARYE'S PEACHTREE PLACE ON BET

Felischa Marye (M.F.A. ’14) is the writer and co-executive producer of the new 10-episode BET comedy series Peachtree Place, which follows five 30-somethings living in Atlanta. 

Road Theatre Co.

MICHAEL PERETZIAN DIRECTS DEATH HOUSE

Michael Peretzian (B.A. ’63, M.A. ’66) directs the world premiere of Death House, written by Jason Karasev, at North Hollywood’s Road Theatre Company, currently playing through March 18. 

ALEXANDRE SCHMITT AND WIFE INK DEAL WITH ABC STUDIOS

Alexandre Scmitt (B.A. ’95) and his producing partner wife Krista Vernoff have launched Trip the Light Productions, which will have a multiyear overall deal with ABC Studios. Vernoff is the showrunner for ABC's Grey's Anatomy.

JORMA TACCONE VOICES GREEN GOBLIN

Jorma Taccone (B.A. ’02) is the voice of Green Goblin in the Academy Award-nominated animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.

AMPAS

FACULTY AND ALUMS HAVE ADVISORY ROLES IN NEW ACADEMY MUSEUM EXHIBITION

In Fall 2020, the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, scheduled to open in late 2019, will present Regeneration: Black Cinema 1900-1970. It will be the first exhibition of its kind—a research-driven, in-depth look at Black participation in American filmmaking. UCLA alumni Charles Burnett and Ava DuVernay, and UCLA TFT Associate Professor Ellen C. Scott are members of an advisory panel collaborating with Regeneration’s curatorial team.

MICHELLE LIU CARRIGER ARTICLES PUBLISHED

Michelle Liu Carriger recently published two peer-reviewed articles: "Maiden's Armor: Global Gothic Lolita Fashion Communities and Technologies of Girly Counteridentity" in Theatre Survey (January 2019) and "No ‘Thing to Wear’: A Brief History of Kimono and Inappropriation from Japonisme to Kimono Protest," in Theatre Research International (July 2018).

Ethan Pines

ERKKI HUHTAMO

FTVDM professor Erkki Huhtamo, who also teaches in the Department of Design Media Arts, was recently profiled in UCLA Magazine, which discussed his pioneering study of media archeology. Read the article

GINA KIM FEATURED IN UCLA MAGAZINE

Professor Gina Kim was featured in the December 2018 issue of UCLA Magazine, where she discussed her filmmaking projects, including her latest, the VR project Bloodless, about the real-life murder of a South Korean sex worker by a U.S. soldier. Read the article

JONATHAN KUNTZ FEATURED GUEST

Film historian Jonathan Kuntz was a featured expert on seven of eight episodes of KLCS Classic Movie Monday, a program airing on local PBS station KLCS (Channel 58). 

DEBORAH LANDIS MODERATES PANEL IN SPAIN

In November, Professor Deborah Landis hosted Diseño de Vestuario…a la Española, a discussion about costume design presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences and the Academia de Cine, in Madrid, Spain. 

UCLA

CHON NORIEGA FEATURED IN UCLA MAGAZINE AND DAILY BRUIN

Professor Chon Noriega was profiled in UCLA Magazine and the Daily Bruin as the head of the Chicano Studies Research Center, one of four ethnic studies centers celebrating 50 years on the UCLA campus. Read UCLA Magazine, Read the Daily Bruin

MARIKE SPLINT NAMED SHERWOOD AWARD FINALIST

Marike Splint was one of three finalists for the Center Theatre Group’s 2019 Richard E. Sherwood Award. CTG recognizes and celebrates the finalists for their exceptional contributions to the Los Angeles theatre landscape and their work as innovative and adventurous artists. 

UCLA Festival of Preservation Takes Place in Westwood

The 19th edition of the UCLA Festival of Preservation was held February 15-17 at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood, featuring more than 40 newly restored and preserved feature films, shorts and TV programs. The festival offered "a weekend of cinematic rarities and surprises...as always, with a deeply satisfying cornucopia of films, forgotten gems, and rarely revived classics that never fail to both astonish in their diversity and dazzle in their newly restored glory," wrote Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan. That included, with the financial help of a major crowdfunding campaign, the recently restored Laurel and Hardy film Perfect Day (1929). Film preservationist Scott MacQueen said that it "looks and sounds magnificent, the best it has been experienced in nearly 90 years." 

JAN-CHRISTOPHER HORAK RECEIVES GERMAN AWARD

In November, Archive Director Jan-Christopher Horak received the Reinhold Schünzel Award in Hamburg for his lifelong dedication to the study and preservation of German film history. Read the UCLA Newsroom story

KEENEN IVORY WAYANS VISITS

In November, Keenen Ivory Wayans spoke in Neil Landau's Professional Program in Writing for Television class about his career and the state of comedy in today's television landscape.

GLORIA KATZ

Award-winning screenwriter Gloria Katz (B.A. ’69), 76, the co-author of numerous screenplays including American Grafitti and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, has passed away after battling ovarian cancer. Katz wrote Graffiti and Doom with her husband Willard Huyck. Together, they also helped beef up the script for director George Lucas' original Star Wars (1977). The duo also worked with Lucas on other films, including Radioland Murders and Howard the Duck. Katz served on the board of the Writers Guild of America and was an advisor at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

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