Attend an SCA Information Session
Upcoming Events
In-Person SCA Graduate Information Session
July 1, 2025 - December 24, 2025, Varies
SCA Courtyard and Online
Join the SCA Admissions staff for an in-person or an online information session to learn more about applying to the SCA graduate programs for the Fall 2025 semester. Topics will include an overview of the school, programs and facilities, financial aid, Q&A with staff and more!
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
December 3, 2025, 3:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Spanning three decades, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends — writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley. Originally produced on Broadway in 1981, then becoming an inventive cult-classic ahead of its time, Merrily We Roll Along features some of Stephen Sondheim’s most celebrated and personal songs.
THE TALE OF SILYAN
December 3, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
From the Oscar-nominated director of HONEYLAND comes a poignant and visually arresting story set in the heart of rural Macedonia. Nikola, a farmer grappling with the harsh realities of new government policies, finds himself unable to sell his land or crops. When his family leaves in search of a better life abroad, Nikola takes a job as a landfill attendant, where he encounters the injured white stork Silyan. As he nurses the bird back to health, an unlikely bond forms between man and animal. The result is a deeply moving film that touches on climate change, economic migration, resilience and the quiet power of connection.
ENGLISH TEACHER
December 4, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Season 2 of FX’s critically acclaimed English Teacher follows “Evan Marquez,” played by creator Brian Jordan Alvarez, as he continues to navigate his way through the political minefield known as the American high school. Back with Evan — though not always on his side — are his best friend “Gwen” (Stephanie Koenig), gym teacher “Markie” (Sean Patton), wild card guidance counselor “Rick” (Carmen Christopher) and constantly terrified “Principal Grant Moretti” (Enrico Colantoni).
MAGELLAN
December 4, 2025, 2:00 P.M.
The Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre, RZC 119, Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
At the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan navigated a fleet of ships to Southeast Asia, attempting the first voyage across the vast Pacific Ocean. On reaching the Malay Archipelago, the crew pushed to the brink of madness in the harshness of the high seas and overwhelming natural beauty of the islands, Magellan's obsession leads to a rebellion and reckoning with the consequences of power. A vast, globe-spanning epic from Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz (Norte, the End of History), MAGELLAN presents the colonization of the Philippines as a primal, shocking encounter with the unknown and a radical retelling of European narratives of discovery and exploration.
The Actor's Director Workshop
December 6, 2025, 11:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M.
The Michelle and Kevin Douglas IMAX Theatre, RZC 119, Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, 3131 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
There is that rare breed of Director that just “knows” how to get the best out of the actor -- giving them a sense of freedom, inspiring courage, and bringing clarity. The opportunity in collaborative storytelling is finding ways to bring out the best in each other. Discover the most important aspect of filmmaking and performance -- the communication between directors and actors.
ROOFMAN
December 8, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Based on an unbelievable true story, Roofman follows Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.
MISTRESS DISPELLER
December 8, 2025, 3:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bonds of marriage — and break up affairs — by any means necessary. Offering strikingly intimate access to private dramas usually hidden behind closed doors, Mistress Dispeller follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.
NO OTHER CHOICE
December 9, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
From director Park Chan-wook and based on Donald E. Westlake's novel THE AX, the story follows Man-su on his desperate hunt for a new job after his abrupt layoff from the paper company he served for 25 years.
Working with Archives: Protection, Preservation, and Storytelling
December 10, 2025, 7:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
In an archive, every recording, frame, song, and reel is a story worth retelling. But as formats change and technology evolves, how can you ensure that your archive’s stories are able to be shared long into the future? Join Andrea Kalas, VP of Media and Archival Services at Iron Mountain Media & Archival Services, and award-winning SCA alumni filmmakers Ross Dinerstein, Leslie Iwerks, and Ben Proudfoot, in conversation with SCA Professor Ted Braun, as they discuss the function and value of media archives both to safeguard the legacy of the past and to inspire stories in the future.
CTCS-469: BILLY WILDER'S HOLLYWOOD
January 13, 2026 - May 4, 2026, 10:00 A.M. - 1:50 P.M. on Tuesdays
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
This class will focus on the work of writer-director Billy Wilder, from the noir of Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd. to the comedy of Some Like It Hot and One, Two, Three, the biting satire of Ace in the Hole to the melancholy romance of The Apartment. As with any auteurist class, we'll explore Wilder's biography, influences, and stylistic and thematic preoccupations, including his status as a Jewish refugee of European fascism and his formative experiences in Weimar Germany. His background informed his supposed 'cynicism' but also his empathy for those on the margins of respectability and victimized by the powerful. We will also use his career as a means to explore larger phenomenon of the Hollywood Studio System including the absorption of European refugees, Classical Hollywood style, the studio system and its decline, film noir, the rise of independent production, gender and stardom, and the breakdown of the Production Code and censorship.
IML-499: Wanna Make Your Own DIY Music Video?
January 14, 2026 - May 6, 2026, 4:00 P.M. - 6:50 P.M. on Wednesdays
USC School of Cinematic Arts
Taught by Professors Evan Hughes and Michael Bodie. No D-Clearance Needed!
CTCS-464: CONS AND COMEDY
January 14, 2026 - May 6, 2026, 6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. on Wednesdays
Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Why do con stories fascinate us, and what makes them different from more pedestrian crime fictions? Why do cons work? What makes us susceptible to them, and how do they reflect the structure of our desires? How does the world of cons react to technological change, and how are certain cons made possible or impossible by specific material, technological, and media affordances? How are cons presented in films, and how has our image of the con changed in the past century? What do we find funny about them, and how have con stories been used to elicit comedy in film? Can we place the current golden age of technologically-aided cons in a longer trajectory? All these questions and more will guide our inquiry into the cinematic genre of the con and its somewhat contentious relationship with comedy.
IML-460: AI and Creativity
January 15, 2026 - May 7, 2026, 10:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. on Thursdays
USC School of Cinematic Arts
This hands-on exploration of AI introduces new tools and creative techniques while also examining the myriad controversies related to this paradigm-changing technology in a theory/practice format.
Social Change Film Festival - (Media Institute For Social Change)
February 12, 2026, 5pm
SCA 112
MISC Film Festival - DATE CHANGE!