STORY AND CHARACTER: An Evening with Celine Song

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Celine Song '14SOA

Join Columbia University Entertainment (CUE), Columbia’s alumni network for professionals in film, television, and entertainment, in partnership with the School of the Arts, for a special evening focused on craft and career with Academy Award-nominated writer-director and playwright Celine Song ’14SOA, MFA in Theatre (Playwriting).

Designed for Columbia’s working and emerging entertainment community, this fireside chat, moderated by CUE President and Columbia College alumna Katherine Chang, will explore Song’s journey from playwright to filmmaker.

Introduction by Sarah Cole, Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts.

A reception will follow, offering alumni the opportunity to connect and continue the conversation.

Check-in begins at 6:30 p.m. ET. The panel will run from 7-8 p.m., followed by a reception from 8-9 p.m.

Tickets are non-refundable.

Please note: This event may be photographed or recorded. By attending, you grant Columbia University Entertainment permission to use your likeness in event photos or recordings for promotional, archival, or educational purposes.

Celine Song ’14SOA is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and filmmaker whose signature blend of emotional depth, intelligence, and humor has established her as an essential voice in today’s entertainment landscape.

Most recently, Song presented her highly anticipated sophomore feature, MATERIALISTS, which released internationally in 2025 through A24 and Sony Pictures. Written, directed, and produced by Song, the film follows Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a young, ambitious New York City matchmaker torn between the perfect match (Pedro Pascal) and her imperfect ex (Chris Evans).

Released by A24 in Summer 2023 following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Song's feature debut PAST LIVES has received widespread critical acclaim. The film earned Academy Award® nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture, alongside numerous other honors including the Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film, Best Feature Film at the 2023 Gotham Awards, the Film Independent Spirit Award for both Best Picture and Best Director, as well as Golden Globe®, Critics’ Choice, and BAFTA nominations.

As a playwright, Song is best known for ENDLINGS, which premiered in 2019 at American Repertory Theater and had its New York debut in 2020 at New York Theatre Workshop. She has been a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and a semifinalist for the American Playwriting Foundation's Relentless Award. Song also wrote on the first season of Amazon series THE WHEEL OF TIME.

Katherine Chang is a writer-producer and independent film consultant. She co-wrote and produced the Hallmark Channel movie A Brush with Love, and her producing and consulting credits include Jane Got a Gun, starring Natalie Portman, and Escape Plan, starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A 2024 Aspen Summer Words Screenwriting Fellow, she teaches Entertainment Financing at UCLA Extension. She is currently working on a book about creative resilience featuring interviews with leading feature film screenwriters and television showrunners.