What do students take away from the UCLA Extension Entertainment Studies Program? Many find community in the classroom, and go on to work as collaborators in the industry. Others cherish the required deadlines so that they can finally finish their screenplays and films. Even more learn a fresh skill that can open new doors.

The results of all those stories and more were projected on the screen May 9 during the culmination the 10th annual UCLAxFilmFest at the Los Angeles Theatre.

“We want to create a stronger bridge between UCLA and the creative communities that power this city. And we want to demonstrate that access to UCLA should not be limited by geography, background, or traditional pathways. That is why UCLAxFilmFest exists,” said Eric Bullard, dean of the Division of Continuing Education and UCLA Extension. “I am incredibly proud to welcome the student filmmakers selected for the UCLAxFilmFest 2026. Their work reflects the diversity, creativity and ambition that define both Los Angeles and the future of storytelling itself.”

Hard work pays off

Approximately 175 Entertainment Studies students and alumni from 25 countries submitted short films to the 2026 UCLAxFilmFest. Of those offerings, 21 were chosen and screened at the Los Angeles Theatre.

“This was our culmination,” said Erin Kaufman Gabrieloff, director of the Entertainment Studies portfolio at UCLA Extension. “So many of you have been here all week and it’s been great to celebrate these filmmakers.”

She then took a moment to introduce Cale Thomas from the local advocacy group Stay in LA to attendees, before handing out the award hardware.

“I care about filmmaking in Los Angeles and UCLA Extension supports filmmaking in Los Angeles,” Kaufman Gabrieloff added.

This year’s winners were:

• Best Film: “My Only Friend is a Robot Named Beans”
• Best Director: Peter Hoffman Kimball for “Millstone”
• Entertainment Studies Award: “Baggage”
• Best Unique and Artistic Film: “Debbie Walks Her Duck”
• Audience Choice Award: “A Peculiar Moment” and “I Don’t Care”

“It’s such an honor to be recognized at a festival put on by UCLA Extension, and by people who respect the craft of filmmaking really deeply,” said Anika Kan Grevstad, writer and director of ‘My Only Friend is a Robot Named Beans.’ “And also, it is so fun to be in this theater. I’ve never been here before and it is so beautiful. To see our films in such an historic, stunning building is so cool.”

Grevstad’s film follows an isolated young woman in a not-too-distant future who is gifted a robot programmed for friendship.

“I’ve always loved sci-fi and a lot of what I grew up on is very dystopian,” she said. “We read a lot about the ways technology can go wrong. I’m interested in imagining futures that I want to see and putting those on screen. A big creative drive for this film is, ‘What if there is technology that is meant to bring the best out of humans, and that’s all it is there for?’”

Grevstad has taken two screenwriting classes at UCLA Extension, which have helped motivate her on several projects.

“Working day jobs in the industry, it’s been really nice to carve out that time where this is my thing and I’m going to work on my projects,” she said. “Especially with screenwriting, which is such a lonely pursuit most of the time, it’s so nice to get this built-in community, mentorship, structure and deadlines to take things to the next level and get your ideas on the page.”

UCLA Extension actually helped Nikki Braendlin finish “Debbie Walks Her Duck.” The film is a sharp satire that follows, very closely, a woman walking her wooden duck while something about the world around her seems very off.

“I’m usually a writer/director, but I took an editing class at a little school called UCLA Extension in order to make ‘Debbie,’” she said. “I took that in order to edit this film and also to conquer some of my technology fears because I do self-identify as a luddite. It was fantastic. I learned all the mechanics of editing and it made me more confident as a director too.”

“The fact that this win was for unique and artistic puts me over the moon,” she added. I’m so thrilled. The eight-year-old in me is absolutely ecstatic, because she always tried to be the weirdest one in the room, so I feel like I finally accomplished that.”

For Mike Nielsen and Brian Leitten, the fact that they took home one of the two audience awards for “I Don’t Care,” was a point of pride – especially because their film shines a light on the challenges of caretaking, and sparks discussion on a tough topic.

“It’s very hard to take care of someone else who is very sick,” Nielsen said. “And the amount of people who have come up to me just during UCLA’s film festival alone, just today – they understand what I went through and the factors in the short film that were based on real stories. We’ve made those connections. Thank you, caregivers.”

“Anyone can connect with it, whether a parent, sibling or practitioner,” Leitten said. “There is just something human about caring for another person. Everyone has a shared experience that we’ve been able to put into our film.”

Nielsen and Leitten found each other at a special UCLA Extension class about pitching. Their bond only grew strong from there.

“We just automatically connected in that course over the four days,” Leitten said. “We stayed friends. We started hanging out. And we shared our work.”

And now that work was shared with hundreds of others at the UCLAxFilmFest.

A weeklong celebration

UCLAxFilmFest celebrated its 10th year with a week of programming. On May 3, organizers kicked the festival off with a virtual screening of all nine past Best Film winners.

A Music in Film panel led May 5 programming. Experts discussed commercial music licensing, production company wrangling and originally composed music.

“If music can support the narrative – that’s what old great films and new great films do alike,” said Steve Rothstein, composer and UCLA Extension instructor.

“It’s so important to think about this ahead of time,” said Ryan Kofman, creative director of music for Fox Entertainment. “Music is not an afterthought.”

Afterwards, entertainment lawyer Dina LaPolt detailed her rise to prominence. The former UCLA Extension instructor kicked an addiction and became a powerful lawyer known for her activism and defending the rights of artists.

She talked about the work being done now to protect artists from adverse effects of artificial intelligence.

“The law has to catch up with what is happening in technology,” she said.

UCLA Extension hosted a Trends in Independent Film Financing panel before a special rooftop reception at UCLA Downtown on May 6. Then film enthusiasts gathered again on May 7 for a Directing in an Evolving Industry panel. Directors discussed topics like whether they had a “big break,” artificial intelligence and the burgeoning genre of verticals – the latter two of which they implored the audience to be pioneers in new creative spaces.

“This is a show me business,” said Tiffany Hsu, writer and director with credits at HBO, Neflix and more. “You have to be able to show what you do. Show your voice and what you bring to the table as clearly as possible.”

After the panel, about a dozen filmmakers got up on stage and previewed their films in a conversation with filmmaker, content creator and UCLA Extension instructor Bill Watterson. When that concluded, all that was left was to show an eager audience those 21 films on Saturday.

“This is the best week I could have hoped for,” Kaufman Gabrieloff said.