This post is brought to you by Southern California Institute of Architecture

Deeply embedded in the entertainment industry of Los Angeles, SCI-Arc’s postgraduate Master of Science program in Fiction and Entertainment has emerged as the place to tell new kinds of stories about the alternative realities of the 21st century. Now in its fourth year, the program has been developing the role of the architect as visual storyteller, the architect as world builder, and the architect as director. 

Originally conceived by program coordinator Liam Young as a way to bring students into contact with work world-renowned professionals in the realms of film, fiction, animation, games, and documentary filmmaking in order to build new forms of architectural practice, Fiction and Entertainment was a natural fit for SCI-Arc EDGE Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture. 

Our Automated Future: Science through Storytelling. Video © SCI-Arc Channel

Student work echoes far beyond the traditional reach of the architecture discipline. Throughout the yearlong program, students do not design singular buildings, but rather they animate scenarios, narrate stories, and visualize speculative worlds through which they can project new cultural trends and environmental, political, and economic forces. Engaging with popular media, students are able to broadcast critical stories about the developments that are changing the world to a wider public.

With the support of an unparalleled network of collaborators and mentors, Fiction and Entertainment graduates have already been contributing to a range of high profile projects in the entertainment industry. In the last year alone such program mentors and collaborators have included director Andrew Thomas Huang, known for his music video collaborations with artists such as Bjork and FKA twigs; Ane Crabtree, costume designer for The Handmaid’s Tale and Westworld; Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, film fund director of the Documentary Film Program for the Sundance Institute; and Mike Hill, concept designer for films such as Blade Runner 2049; among many others.

Jeremy Kamal Hartley: Mojo. Video courtesy of SCI-Arc Channel

As knowledge of the Fiction and Entertainment program grows, so is the demand for hiring its graduates. The program has developed a reputation for producing graduates not only with strong technical skills but also with critical, engaged, and exciting conceptual abilities. 

Lu Te-Hsing from the Fiction and Entertainment class of 2018 is now working for UNIT9 as a junior creative director. UNIT9 is an international production company that produces interactive experiences, including AR, VR, gaming, film, installations, and immersive theater. They work closely with teams from Nike, Vice, Tinder, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, Starz, Gucci, Chanel, Pandora, Netflix, Snapchat, Oculus to create unexpected and unique productions. 

During his time in the program, Lu developed a short film through the lens of fiction and documentary entitled Last Choice, which explored Hikikomori, the phenomenon of social withdrawal prevalent in Japan. Last Choice won Best Direction and Best North American Short Film in the Asia South-East Short Film Festival, and was nominated for the LA Independent Filmmakers Showcase. 

Lu Te-Hsing: Last Choice Trailer. Video courtesy of SCI-Arc Channel

Last year’s graduate Rick Farin has directed music videos and animated films for acclaimed artists and fashion designers. BREACH, the project he began within the Fiction and Entertainment program, premiered at the 2019 MIRA Festival in Barcelona this November. BREACH is an artwork built within a game engine that speculates on the interdependence between technology, materiality, and wildfire set in a climate change-transformed future Southern California. 

Rick Farin: BREACH. Video courtesy of SCI-Arc Channel

Since graduating, Rohini Jadhav has worked in art departments on a Netflix animated film, an HBO pilot, and a feature film currently being optioned to studios. She has had the privilege of working closely with renowned production designers like Oscar-nominated Guy Hendrix Dyas, Inbal Weinberg, and Lauren Fitzsimmons. Jadhav was also selected for the highly competitive Art Directors Guild’s Production Design Initiative and has designed and art directed multiple short films.

Fariba Shafiee has been working as a digital artist at Pixomondo, an international VFX company. Fariba has been working on blockbuster projects in a range of roles such as a designer on Star Trek, a 3D modeler on Westworld, and a concept artist on multiple short animations and music videos.

Through connections established in the program, Vivian Komati has worked with world builder and award winning production designer Alex McDowell on a series of research projects that apply the techniques of future thinking and visual storytelling to real world design problems. 

Viviane Komati: Valentine in Things City Teaser. Video courtesy of SCI-Arc Channel

Other recent SCI-Arc graduates who studied with Young and program faculty Alexey Marfin include Eva Huang, who interned at the Sundance Documentary Fund before becoming a screener for Sundance Film Festival's VR submissions. Now a production designer and producer, Huang launched her own production company with a client list that includes Google, Netflix, Interscope, Dead Oceans, Capcom, Adobe, and Sony. In addition to working with commercial clients, she has a narrative feature film in late development with Andrew Thomas Huang. Paul Krist worked as a compositor at Framestore in Los Angeles, one of the world’s most in demand postproduction houses. Paul had the opportunity to work on AAA games titles, Hollywood blockbusters, and various commercials like the cinematic trailer for Destiny 2. He has now transitioned to Framestore’s headquarters in London to work on concept designs and environment art for the National Geographic TV series Mars 2. 

In the ever-changing media landscape of Hollywood, the breadth of skills provided within the program has the industry taking notice. Projects from recent graduates are now touring film festivals and exhibitions globally. A preview of a range of these film, animation and VR projects can be viewed on the program’s website.

Enrique Agudo: The Pantheon of Queer Mythology. Video courtesy of SCI-Arc Channel

As the work of Fiction and Entertainment becomes established it has also attracted funding from some of the most significant bodies in the arts and sciences. For those students with a specific interest in creating projects focused on AI and automation, the past year saw the program awarded a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to bring scientists and technologists working on research into these topics in collaboration with students developing near future science fiction narratives. This interaction has generated a range of films, games, and VR experiences that are public facing, critical investigations of forthcoming technologies. A new documentary has just been released showcasing the results of these collaborations.  

The Fiction and Entertainment program is currently accepting applications for fall 2020. Visit the SCI-Arc website here to learn more about applying.