Voices rising: UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television inaugurates Convocation with Celine Parreñas Shimizu’s vision

Celine Parreñas Shimizu laid out her leadership vision at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television’s first-ever Convocation ceremony on September 25, exhorting her community to embrace the notion that their voices, when raised together, can tell a powerful story of innovation and inclusion.

Addressing several hundred students, faculty, staff, supporters and alumni gathered in Freud Playhouse, the new dean pledged to uplift others and embrace a courageous spirit in times of challenge in a ceremony rife with moments of joyful levity and bold promises.

“You see this outfit? This walking cupcake dress, this Hershey's kiss hat? This is my declaration: I'm gonna be me so you can be you,” she said. “In a world trying to silence voices like mine — brown, woman, feminist, immigrant, free — and therefore yours too, I choose visibility that asserts critique and a better world we can make happen. Because when I take up space fearlessly, my goal is to make room for you.”

Parreñas Shimizu reflected on her time as a TFT student and how the school shaped her as a scholar and artist committed to making her Filipino community visible.

“I lead with the joy of an alumna and the responsibility of a steward,” she said. “I return 30 years later with a clear vision: to ensure UCLA TFT continues to transform lives and set the standard for how universities lead the arts, scholarship and innovation.”

How stories matter

Remarks from creative luminaries highlighted her career as both filmmaker and scholar, echoing the school’s new tagline: Your Voice, Our Story.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of "The Sympathizer" and Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at USC, recalled their days as Berkeley undergrads.

“She stood out for her charisma, her leadership, her intelligence, and, of course, her sartorial style,” he said.

(L-R) Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, and Viet Thanh Nguyen

Both came of age as children of political refugee families — his from Vietnam, hers from the Philippines. Nguyen reminded the audience of the gulf between “narrative scarcity” and “narrative plenitude,” and the global reach of American film and television.

“Dean Shimizu has talked about what it means to be Filipina and to be subjected to American soft power,” he said. “The result…is that we were acclimated to living in narrative scarcity– when almost none of the stories are about you.”

By contrast, narrative plenitude is “a form of privilege” when most stories reflect your image. “So when a story about you comes along and you don’t like it, you can dismiss it as ‘just a story’ because there are literally a thousand other stories about you,” he said.

But for communities like his and Parreñas Shimizu’s, “stories are literally a matter of life and death,” Nguyen said. 

“Our erasure, our silencing, our distortion in stories is often a sequel to and a prelude to killing us, or deporting us in real life,” he said. “So, for Dean Shimizu to become the Dean of one of the most important schools of film, television and theater in the country is enormously significant.”

Narrative plenitude, he added, requires not only diverse artists but also representation “behind the scenes, within institutions, among investors, producers, administrators and leaders.”

“UCLA is lucky to have Dean Shimizu, because she is very aware of the challenges facing artists and scholars, teachers and students, as they face an environment that can be and often is hostile to the arts, to diversity, to ideas and certainly to narrative plenitude,” Nguyen said. 

New paths, forged and forging

The dean’s sister Rhacel Salazar Parreñas is the Doris Stevens Professor in Women’s Studies and Professor of Sociology and Gender and Sexuality Studies at Princeton. She recalled their childhood in an immigrant family in Boston, including shifts together at Dunkin’ Donuts. (There was jelly-filling-skills envy involved, she joked). She also traced her sister’s energy and commitment to community back to their time at Berkeley together. 

“Celine always had this deep commitment to the arts,” she said. “She doesn’t just produce work, but creates a community around it. And she did it with very little resources as an undergrad at Berkeley.”

Parreñas Shimizu outlined new initiatives already underway for UCLA TFT, since her arrival on campus July 1. “Picture Start,” an annual intensive, will pair students with nonprofits to create narrative work, Olympic trailers, language-preservation videos, and more. It’s designed to help students build their reels while supporting communities, Parreñas Shimizu said. This year Picture Start will take the shape of a collaboratively created vertical short microdrama series about disability access titled “Melnitz and Macgowan.”

Other initiatives include the Next Generation Speaker Series, bringing alumni and industry leaders to campus, and Ripples of the L.A. Rebellion, a monthly screening series connecting pioneering alumni of the 1970s Ethno-Communications program with today’s rising stars. The dean also promised to expand scholarships, wellness and mentorship programs, and launch concerted efforts to revitalize learning spaces and expand technology access.

UCLA TFT dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu poses with new MFA students in directing and producing in the department of film, television and digital media.

Honoring arts advocates

TFT's inaugural Convocation also introduced the school's new Advocate Awards. Honoree Elizabeth Reiko Kubota Whitney, TFT alumna and supporter, spoke of giving back in memory of her late sister who helped fund her education.

Also recognized were Ana-Christina Ramón, director of UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative, and Darnell Hunt, UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. They are the co-founders of UCLA’s influential Hollywood Diversity Report, which makes the case that narrative plentitude is not only a moral imperative, but a financially sound business model for Hollywood. They encouraged students to invest in their creativity and lean on their community.

“Please go forth and create, and we will work right alongside you,” Ramón said.

Josslyn Luckett, associate professor in the Department of Cinema Studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, accepted an award for her creative practice and her book "Toward a More Perfect Rebellion," about the dedicated and farsighted faculty and students from UCLA’s Ethno-Communications Program during 1969-1973.

“It’s so exciting to me that TFT will have a leader as courageous and wise as Dean Celine to carry on this rebellious work…for new generations of theater, film, and media makers who seek to honor the stories of their elders and communities that have not yet been seen.“

A shared story

At the ceremony, commendations came from Mayor Karen Bass and Representative Ted Lieu. There were decorated cookies with a message, and a line dance to “The Wobble” led by the dean.

Parreñas Shimizu began the proceedings with a personal story. She spoke of her late son, Lakas, and three of his best friends, now UCLA students, seated in the audience. She acknowledged their shared mourning.

“Lakas would be 20 now, a sophomore at UCLA if he had lived,” she said. “He liked solos and would be in Musical Theater. As a grieving mom, I've learned the urgency of confronting suffering rather than letting it persist. That urgency shapes how I lead. By strengthening institutions so they never stand still, growing stronger through compassion, accountability, and relentless pursuit of excellence.”

Header image: (L-R) Darnell Hunt, Josslyn Luckett, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Ana-Christina Ramón and Elizabeth Reiko Kubota Whitney

Story by Jessica Wolf
All images by Eric Charbonneau of Le Studio Photography
Posted 09.30.25