As Anne Hathaway accepted her award for Best Supporting Actress at the 85th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, UCLA’s own Tatenda Mbudzi was there to hand off her golden statuette.
Mbudzi, a second-year MFA candidate in the Producers Program at the School of Theater, Film and Television, was one of only six students chosen to participate in the Oscars Experience College Search out of over 1,100 submissions.
Mbudzi handed out awards in the category of Best Original Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, Best Documentary Feature and Best Supporting Actress.
“Handing the statuettes to the presenters was terrifying and exciting. I walked out on the stage, and it was just amazing to see all the faces,” Mbudzi said. “I was pretty focused on doing the job at hand. It was funny because the presenters would say hilarious, or really nice things as I was handing them the trophies,” Mbudzi said.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, sponsored the nationwide search. Back in November, Mbudzi was taking notes in Professor Denise Mann’s “Overview of Contemporary Film Industry” class when Seth MacFarlane walked in unannounced.
Once MacFarlane was at the head of the class, he announced the opportunity for aspiring film students to appear onstage at the Dolby Theatre on the Sunday of the Oscars, where they would hand winners their trophies during the live telecast.
The contest simply asked students to upload a video of themselves, answering the question, “How will you contribute to the future of movies?”
In his video, Mbudzi spoke about his heritage and sometimes feeling like an outsider. Mbudzi was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and moved to London, England at the age of three with his parents.
Following high school, Mbudzi moved to the United States to pursue his undergraduate studies at Ithaca College and later came to UCLA.
“Overall, my interest is to tell stories about underdogs and coming-of-age stories. That’s my main storytelling thrust. The interesting thing about being a foreigner is that it’s a very universal experience because at any point in time everyone feels like they’re an outsider or that they don’t belong,” Mbudzi said.
Mann, who is also the head of the UCLA Producers Program and associate professor at the School of Theater, Film and Television, said she has witnessed Mbudzi’s hard work and dedication as one of his professors. Mann said Mbudzi recently received the prestigious Fred Rogers Fellowship to support creators of exceptional children’s entertainment.
Ben Harris, the assistant director of the UCLA Producers Program, said Mbudzi’s video submission highlighted his personality.
“(Mbudzi) is a true Bruin. He is in fact quite fearless, which you wouldn’t think since at first blush he comes across as quiet and reserved. But there is nothing that he won’t try,” Harris said. “Even though I didn’t know he had applied to the Oscars competition, I wasn’t at all surprised when I found out that he had won.”
Mbudzi’s prize included a week of film industry experiences culminating with the opportunity to be on stage and hand off the Oscars. As the President of the Academy, Hawk Koch introduced Mbudzi onstage – Koch added, “Go Bruins,” at the mention of UCLA.
His star-studded week included a visit to the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library to view its prized film memorabilia collection, a visit to Walt Disney Animation Studios and a meet and greet with Academy Award nominees in this year’s short film category.
While Mbudzi said he did not get to meet his idol, Steven Spielberg, he said a standout moment of the Oscars for him was Ben Affleck’s acceptance speech.
“It was the perfect capstone to the week, and very inspiring, second only to Michelle Obama announcing the Best Picture. That entire sequence of events concretely brought home the impact of being there,” Mbudzi said.
The night ended with an invitation to attend the Governor’s Ball, which Mbudzi said was gorgeous and seemed like something out of a Bond movie.
Among all the celebrations, Oscar weekend also marked the anniversary of Mbudzi’s father’s passing. Family and friends were watching the telecast from all across the globe and, while Mbuzi’s father wasn’t physically there to share in the moment, Mbudzi said he knows his father was watching.
“He told me to never stop dreaming and I never have stopped,” Mbudzi said.