About

UCLA Emerging Filmmakers is a suite of summer programs for high school students run by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television — one of the most respected film schools in the country, whose alumni include some of the most prominent working directors, writers, and cinematographers in the industry. All tracks are residential, with students housed in UCLA dorms on the Westwood campus and immersed in both university and Los Angeles entertainment industry life. All require a 3.2 GPA minimum, a $35 non-refundable application fee, school transcripts, and personal essays; international students must demonstrate English proficiency. Decisions are issued within three weeks of a complete application; early application is strongly encouraged as sessions fill. Scholarships are available across all tracks. Students choose one track based on their creative focus; each operates on its own timeline, cost structure, and session schedule.

Digital Filmmaking is the flagship and most comprehensive track — a three-week residential intensive open to rising juniors, seniors, and 2026 graduates. Students collaborate in small teams to develop and produce original short narrative films, working through the full production arc from visual storytelling and directing through cinematography, editing, and post-production. Projects are shot as daylight exteriors across UCLA's campus. The three weeks include a studio tour of a major Hollywood lot, a virtual production workshop using professional LED wall technology (the same technology used on The Mandalorian and Wednesday), and a one-on-one portfolio review with an industry professional in the final week. The program concludes with a screening of completed films. Total cost: $8,975 ($8,625 program fee + $350 registration). Sessions run June 21–July 10 and July 12–July 31, 2026.

Cinematography is a one-week intensive open to grades 9–12, running across four session windows from late June through late July. Students work on UCLA sound stages with professional digital cinema cameras and lighting equipment, building foundational understanding of composition, framing, lens choice, camera movement, and lighting technique through lectures and hands-on exercises. The week includes a virtual production LED wall demo. A final class screening is open to friends and family. No prior experience is required. Total cost: $3,550 ($3,200 program fee + $350 registration).

TV Writing immerses students in the process of creating original episodic television, guided by a working industry professional. Participants develop an original series concept from the ground up — pitching ideas, breaking stories, and drafting the teaser of a pilot script, a beat sheet, and a visual pitch deck in a workshop environment that mirrors a professional writers' room. The program concludes with a live table read of student script teasers performed by professional actors, followed by a networking mixer. Two in-person sessions run June 21–July 3 and July 5–July 17 on UCLA's campus; a third virtual session runs July 20–August 8. Students should expect at least 15 hours of writing per week outside of class. In-person total cost: $5,175 ($4,825 + $350 registration). Virtual total cost: $2,955 ($2,605 + $350 registration). Open to grades 9–12.

Media Parks is the most distinctive track in the suite and arguably the most distinctive program of its kind in the country: a two-week residential course exploring the historical and cultural relationship between theme parks and screen media — film, television, and video games — through academic study and firsthand site visits. Students read scholarly texts, screen reference films, and analyze case studies of specific rides and themed lands in class, then put theory into practice through guided visits to Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Warner Bros. Studios, each with a behind-the-scenes lecture. Guest speakers in past years have included Disney Imagineers, concept artists, and creative executives in themed entertainment. The single session runs July 19–31, 2026. Open to grades 10–12. Total cost: $7,295 ($6,945 + $350 registration).

Across all tracks, students gain access to UCLA TFT's production equipment and facilities, live in campus housing with peers from across the country and internationally, and experience Los Angeles as a working entertainment industry ecosystem. The Virtual Production Workshop — hands-on experience with professional LED wall technology — is available in both the Digital Filmmaking and Cinematography tracks. All tracks award a certificate of completion; none offer college credit. For a student who wants to experience what it actually feels like to work inside the entertainment industry — on UCLA's sound stages, in a Hollywood writers' room simulation, on the backlots of Disneyland and Universal — this program puts that world within reach in a way that no classroom can.