Alumna films comedy series on navigating between motherhood and career

Fictional 37-year-old Amanda is wrapped up in her screenwriting career until she finds out she only has one ovarian egg left. In “37 Problems,” a comedy web series written, directed, starring and produced by Lisa Ebersole, protagonist Amanda focuses on getting her own web series off the ground until she must decide whether or not […]

Retired lecturer talks new edition of book, TV screenwriting panel

Hal Ackerman retired from UCLA in 2015 – but he’s been back every winter quarter since. After retiring from his 30-year career as a screenwriting lecturer and returning to his hometown of New York, Ackerman has evaded East Coast winters to teach at UCLA on emeritus status, he said. As the co-chair of UCLA’s screenwriting […]

Second-year theater student makes off-Broadway debut in ‘Blamed’

Lillie Muir was a sophomore in high school when she was cast in “Blamed: An Established Fiction,” the show that would eventually lead to her off-Broadway debut at the SoHo Playhouse earlier this month. The second-year theater student was a part of “Blamed” from its conception in 2014. As a core part of the play’s […]

Film students explore benefits of interschool collaborations

Los Angeles is a goldmine of prestigious film schools. Colleges located in the homeland of cinematic showbiz have distinct teaching styles. However, some students choose to collaborate with those from other schools to make movies that combine the differing educational foundations of UCLA, USC and Chapman University. Students from film schools across LA connect with other […]

Transforming Hollywood conference explores evolving media landscape

USC and UCLA will combine forces Friday to coordinate the eighth annual Transforming Hollywood conference, held in the James Bridges Theater starting at 9 a.m. The event, which aims to educate attendees about the changing landscape of entertainment and technology, is co-directed by Denise Mann, co-head of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s […]

Student Hannah Payne makes appearance in ‘13 Reasons Why’ series

Hannah Payne’s phone was off when she got the call that she landed her first-ever recurring role in a television series. The second-year American literature and culture student was at a concert in San Francisco with her family when she missed five calls from her agent’s personal cell phone at 11 p.m. Realizing the repeated […]

Q&A: Alumna explores police brutality, race relations in TV show ‘Shots Fired’

After the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, Fox approached Gina Prince-Bythewood to create a fictional television series about police brutality. Prince-Bythewood felt a responsibility to address the sensitive topic after the black teenager’s death at the hands of a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The show, “Shots Fired,” is the first television series of […]