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Film and Television Summer Institute – Film Production

Learn the aesthetics, techniques, and practices of filmmaking from story pitch to post-production

An intensive program that shapes the filmmakers of tomorrow in the heart of Los Angeles

The UCLA Film & Television Summer Institute – Film Production track gives students from across the country and around the globe an unparalleled opportunity to study filmmaking at one of the most prestigious film schools in the world.

This intensive immersion filmmaking workshop is intended for beginning and intermediate filmmakers of all ages (19+). Students work together on short film projects as they are introduced to the aesthetics, techniques and practices of filmmaking. Students work closely with each other under the direction of UCLA faculty to study directing, cinematography, editing, production and creative collaboration while using UCLA equipment and sound stages.

The UCLA Film & Television Summer Institute – Film Production track shapes the filmmakers of tomorrow right in the heart of Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world.

Fees and Payment Info

The program fee includes the unit fees for the UCLA coursework offered as part of the program and thus varies by UC student status. In addition to the program fee, students are assessed other campus and administrative fees during the summer. This is a summary of fees that commonly apply to the selected student type.

Actual tuition and fees are subject to change by the University of California. Visit the fees, payment, and financial aid section for important disclaimer, as well as more details on fees, payment instructions, and information on delinquency, refunds, and financial aid.

Program Fee $5,367
Ackerman Student Union Fee $13.80
Ackerman / Kerckhoff Seismic Fee $22.80
Wooden Center Fee $7.80
SPARC Fee $22.80
Undergraduate Student Association Fee $49.86
PLEDGE Fee $21.06
IEI Fee $61
Document Fee (incoming UCLA students only) $50

Meet your instructors

Instructors for the UCLA Film and Television Summer Institutes are UCLA Department of Film, Television and Digital Media faculty.

Kelly Pike

Kelly Pike is a film writer/director named on Austin Film Festival’s 2021 “25 Screenwriters to Watch”, a recipient of the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) “Award of Outstanding Directorial Achievement”, and a graduate of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. With an established career as a sculptor, she first expanded her practice into filmmaking by working with documentarian, Albert Maysles, then went on to earn an M.F.A. in Film & Television from UCLA. She is now known for creating intimate, visually lyrical, character-driven dramas. Her films have screened at film festivals around the world, winning awards from the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Savannah (SCAD) Film Festival, Bahamas Film Festival, and many more. They have also earned recognition from PBS, Vimeo, NATO, and the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors, the Puffin Foundation, and the Directors Guild of America. She is currently based in Los Angeles, CA. For more details, please visit: www.kellypikefilm.com

Melissa Finell

Melissa Finell is an award-winning director and screenwriter. SENSITIVITY TRAINING, her first feature film, had its world premiere at the LA Film Festival, where it was named a “Can’t Miss” film by the Hollywood Reporter. Her script for SENSITIVITY TRAINING won an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Production Grant and a Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award. The film went on to screen at numerous festivals worldwide including Woodstock, Frameline, and TIFF Inside Out. It was released by Random Media in partnership with The Orchard and is currently available on Prime and all major platforms.

Mel’s short films have screened for festival audiences around the world. “Disaster Preparedness” was a Semi-Finalist for the Student Academy Awards and has been broadcast on PBS Stations across the country as part of KQED’s “Film School Shorts” series. The film premiered at Palm Springs International ShortFest, where it was named an Audience Favorite and screened in the “Best of the Fest” program. The film also screened at Mill Valley, Cleveland, Frameline, and NewFest; it won the “Best Short Film” Jury Award at the Seattle Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and was selected for “Best of Fest” at Outfest.

Mel has written feature screenplays for Lionsgate, Gunpowder & Sky, CJ Entertainment, and Tyler Perry’s 34th Street Films. Originally from New York, she received her B.A. in Gender Studies at Smith College and studied sketch comedy writing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Mel is a graduate of UCLA’s MFA program in Film and Television Directing, a former Film Independent Project Involve Directing Fellow, and a Ryan Murphy Television Half Initiative mentee. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America West.

Lia Lenart

Lia believes that stories give us a structure to help us understand our experiences, values, identity and place in history. She is drawn towards complex stories that challenge stereotypes and avoid simple conclusions. Originally from Cambridge, MA, Lia graduated with honors from Harvard. As a Directing MFA at UCLA’s School of Theater Film and Television, she was a UCLA TFT/Telluride FilmLAB Fellow, and received the Streisand Sony Fellowship and Jim Morrison Film Award. Her thesis, Cassandra, won the Women in Film Verna Fields Memorial Fellowship, Lynn Weston Fellowship in Film, Adrienne Shelley Award, and Caucus Foundation Grant. Her final year in the program, she was selected to direct one of three UCLA Theater-Film collaboration films. She is an Associate Editor on the upcoming feature doc “Would You Hide Me?” and an Instructor at Loyola Marymount University and UCLA Film School Summer Sessions.