Olivia Mazzucato

“Reel Representation” discusses different issues of race and representation in media as they relate to new movies and TV shows.  Using a mixture of informational graphics, anecdotal evidence, statistics and personal perspective, the ten-part series navigates a variety of issues and mediums.

UCLA alumnus Jesus Martinez, who worked on "Coco" as the film's layout and animation manager, discusses his role working on “Coco,” how he worked to instill the film with cultural authenticity and his personal connections to the protagonist.

The blowback to the casting of biracial actor Henry Golding in "Crazy Rich Asians" was swift and raises questions about how biracial and multiracial actors fit into a film industry that is becoming more aware of race in casting. Within the industry, roles available to biracial actors often depend specifically on their physical appearance. The conversation begs the question – does casting a partially white person to play a character of color qualify as whitewashing?

“Thor: Ragnarok” is a thunderous film that sparks life into the Norse god’s tired trilogy.

The last time audiences saw the god of thunder was in the disjointed “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and his previous stand-alone film, “Thor: The Dark World,” which felt humdrum and anticlimactic. “Ragnarok” is easily the best “Thor” film, eschewing the film’s routine action sequences and seriousness for a surprisingly funny ensemble plot that embraces the spectacle and whimsy of Thor’s galactic playground.

“Weeds” expands on the idea of wanting to find a new home, telling the story of a dandelion born on the wrong side of a driveway. As the dandelion looks across from its dry, desolate yard to the sprinkler-filled, lush green paradise across the way, it must decide whether or not to uproot itself and risk crossing the dangerously hot driveway for a better life. The two-minute, 48-second film serves as a metaphor for immigration and refugees, exploring themes of empathy and hardship through a simple story, Hudson said.

“It really came down to (the idea) that if we can make people feel for something as small and insignificant as a little dandelion, then maybe we could make them feel something a little more for their fellow human being,” Hudson said.

From Seth Meyers’s razor-sharp “A Closer Look” segments on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” in which he analyzes a topic for about ten minutes with searing detail, to Jimmy Kimmel’s impassioned monologues about the Affordable Care Act on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” more late-night hosts are incorporating current events into their shows in a nuanced way that keeps the shows relevant.

Joanna Jones first went to see “Hamilton: An American Musical” in 2015, but she had no idea she would make her Broadway debut two years later as a member of the cast.

“To see people who look like me and sounded like me telling this amazing story on Broadway really inspired me,” Jones said. “It reminded me that that’s the kind of material that makes me do what I do, and I just try to every day on stage remind myself how the story is so important.”

Kristina Wong’s latest show features a scene where she throws brightly colored red hashtags at her audience members while encouraging them to throw them back.

The act is meant to simulate hashtag activism, one of the many topics Wong, a UCLA alumna, critiques in her one-woman show “The Wong Street Journal.”  The show translates her time as an Asian-American woman in Uganda into a one-woman show that tackles themes of privilege and activism. Wong re-enacts moments from her trip, analyzing interactions and breaking down abstract concepts with both humor and a TED Talk-style realism.

UCLA design media arts professor Rebeca Méndez, who was inducted Sept. 18 into the One Club Creative Hall of Fame, talks about about her creative process, her passion for championing diversity and her advice to those hoping to follow in her footsteps.

In interviews with The Guardian on Aug. 24 and The Hollywood Reporter on Sept. 27, Cameron criticized the summer’s No. 1 film at the box office, dismissing it as “a step backwards” and deeming the film’s hype as misguided “self-congratulatory back patting” because it objectifies its heroine while masquerading as a revolutionary film for women.

Cameron’s statements are fundamentally deluded because they rely on age-old stereotypes about women in media, including the notion that women exist within strict binaries of categorization – either beautiful or powerful but never both. In a society that should be moving forward in terms of gender equality and female representation, Cameron drags the conversation backward by expressing his antiquated notions to the movie-going public.

“The Tiger Hunter” relies on an optimistic take of the immigrant narrative, rather than portraying an immigrant’s journey as an exclusively oppressed one, Khan said.

“When I talk to (immigrants), they look back with nostalgia about the funny, crazy, weird things they did to make it in this country and the really creative things they did to achieve their goals,” Khan said. “The creative license came in figuring out what was really genuine and really funny or really heartfelt about things that were actually real and just maximizing them.”

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Angelenos don’t have to “wait for it” any longer – “Hamilton: An American Musical” has arrived at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, and it is breathtaking.  From its intricately crafted lyrics and melodies to its nuanced performances and spellbinding choreography, “Hamilton” serves up a captivating experience only made more poignant given the country’s current political climate. 

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One of the most powerful scenes in the film “The Illegal” involves a simple Skype call. The main character tries to connect with his daughter in India after being away from home for almost 10 years. The scene highlights some of the pain that characterizes the typical immigrant experience, said Danish Renzu, the film’s director and writer and UCLA alumnus. He added it moved the film’s crew members, who come from many cultural backgrounds.

'Game of Thrones' production designer Deborah Riley discusses the challenges of being a production designer for such a large show, her favorite “Game of Thrones” set and her advice for students pursuing a career in production design.

Wonder Woman shattered the comic book glass ceiling when she first burst onto stands in 1941. In 2017, she does so again as the first woman to front a superhero movie in a new wave of DC and Marvel films.

UCLA Extension grad Daniela Arguello wrote, directed and produced her short film "2500KM," which tells the story of a Guatemalan woman trapped in an abusive marriage, who leave her husband and immigrates illegally to the United States for the sake of her children. The film was picked up by HBO and is now internationally available on streaming platforms.

UCLA alums Susan Cartsonis and Nick Moceri worked together to produce the Netflix film "Deidra & Laney Rob a Train." The two combined Cartsonis’ emphasis on female-driven content with a diverse cast and crew to tell the story in a more authentic way.

UCLA directing alumna Marta Savina found the story of Franca Viola in a book and knew she had to bring the real-life heroine to the screen. Viola, a Sicilian woman was the first Italian woman to refuse what was called a “reparatory marriage” to her rapist, even though such marriages often took place in 20th-century Italy. The resulting project was “Viola, Franca,” Savina’s 15-minute thesis film that she co-wrote and directed.

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Leslie Odom Jr., famous for his Tony Award-winning performance as Aaron Burr in the hit musical "Hamilton," kicked off UCLA's Get With The Times event, the first in an online video streaming series started by The New York Times to engage college students in a conversation about arts, politics and modern life.

Advice for seeing “Gifted” – bring a box of tissues. The film packs a surprisingly honest emotional punch, thanks to the earnest yet nuanced performances of the film’s cast and a refreshing plot that keeps the familiar family drama from feeling stale.

Renee Tajima-Peña, UCLA professor of Asian American studies, helped direct “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” which documents the murder of Chin, a Chinese man beaten to death by two white autoworkers, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz in Detroit in June 1982. Tajima-Peña discusses the modern-day significance of the film, her current documentary-short series and the role of documentary in the current political landscape.

Ryan Murphy's career as a writer, director, producer and show creator spans multiple genres – he followed his musical comedy “Glee” with the much darker “American Horror Story. Murphy discusses why he chose to speak to the UCLA "Overview of Network Network Television Management” class, the ways in which his career has changed over the years and advice he has for aspiring filmmakers.

The “we” in “When We Rise” is the most crucial part of the TV show’s title.

UCLA alumnus and Oscar-winning screenwriter of the 2008 film “Milk" Dustin Lance Black created ABC’s docudrama miniseries “When We Rise.” The show follows a group of real-life members of the LGBTQ community from the early 1970s until 2013, chronicling a comprehensive and untold history of the LGBTQ movement that begins with the 1969 Stonewall riots, a series of demonstrations following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar in New York City, and continues to the recent Supreme Court decision on the Defense of Marriage Act. Black discusses the importance of imbuing the series with authenticity, his position as an LGBTQ role model and the way in which he hopes the show will touch its audience.

In Hollywood, the only color that matters is green.  However, these aren't always the types of films that get made.  The 2017 Hollywood Diversity Report exposes the ways in which the entertainment industry is failing with regards to representation and diversity, seeking to draw attention to the inequity, change the conversation about representation in the media and shift the discussion from ethics to economics.

UCLA alum and head of feature casting at Sony Pictures Entertainment Tamara Hunter discusses differences in the casting process of “Hidden Figures” from her previous work, the cultural context for the film and the personal significance the story held for her.

“Hidden Figures” may lack CGI explosions and action-packed fight scenes, but make no mistake – it’s a superhero film.

Five Asian-American alumni in the entertainment industry returned to UCLA for “Asian-Americans in Hollywood & Entertainment,” a panel hosted by UCLA’s Lapu, the Coyote that Cares Theatre Company. The panelists discussed challenges they faced as Asian-Americans in the entertainment industry, sharing some of their own experiences and speaking on topics that ranged from the importance of developing a distinct voice to the pervasiveness of stereotypical characters.