What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 10pm Tuesday 10am - 10pm Wednesday 10am - 10pm Thursday 10am - 10pm Friday 10am - 10pm Saturday 10am - 10pm Sunday 10am - 10pm

Carsey-Wolf Center at UCSB

Home
United States
Santa Barbara, CA
Carsey-Wolf Center at UCSB

Directions Website Contact the school

The Carsey-Wolf Center at UCSB supports research, teaching, and public programming about media.

The Carsey-Wolf Center supports research, teaching, and public programming about media. Reflecting the vision of our founding benefactors Marcy Carsey and Dick Wolf, our goal is to foster informed dialogue, critical skills, historical understanding, and new forms of literacy for a global and interconnected world. Presenting screenings, discussions and more at the beautiful Po***ck Theater at UCSB.

10/12/2026

TOMORROW! Join us on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:00 PM for a theatrical screening of PRABHASH CHANDRA’s film HEARTH AND HOME (ALAAV), with the director in attendance for a post-screening Q&A with moderator Bhaskar Sarkar (Film and Media Studies, UCSB).

Prabhash Chandra’s 2024 film Hearth and Home (Alaav) follows Bhaveen Gossain, a 63-year-old son caring for his ailing 95-year-old mother, Savitri, in their quiet suburban home in New Delhi, India. Rarely leaving the house, Bhaveen devotes himself entirely to his mother’s care, from the moment he wakes until he goes to sleep. Through long, static shots and an observational approach, the film transforms the routines of caregiving—eating, cleaning, and bathing—into intimate and meditative rituals. These moments capture Bhaveen’s tenderness, playfulness, patience, and devotion alongside the struggles, frustrations, and resentment that caregiving can entail. Dispassionate yet intimate, Hearth and Home (Alaav) offers a complex portrait of love, caregiving, and family obligation, as well as what it means to care for someone until the very end.

Director Prabhash Chandra will join moderator Bhaskar Sarkar (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Hearth and Home (Alaav).

Click the link in our bio for more details and to reserve tickets!

10/09/2026

50th Anniversary Screening! Join us this Halloween season on Thursday, October 29 at 7:00 PM for a special anniversary screening of Brian De Palma's CARRIE, with a pre- and post-screening discussion between SHELLEY STAMP (Film & Digital Media, UC Santa Cruz) and moderator Kyna McClenaghan (Film and Media Studies, UCSB).

The Carsey-Wolf Center is proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Carrie with a special screening and discussion. In Brian De Palma’s chilling adaptation of Stephen King’s 1974 novel, a troubled teen (Sissy Spacek) grappling with her telekinetic powers is pushed to terrifying extremes by an abusive mother (Piper Laurie) and high school bullies. As a canonical horror film about a witch, Carrie has inspired scholars to reflect on the powers of horror and the monstrous feminine, as well as the appeal of the genre to women. The film lives in popular memory as a coming-of-age story about a repressed teenager who exacts revenge in a climactic ending that has been referenced and parodied countless times. But the enduring power of Carrie lies in its confrontation with misogyny and the monstrous-feminine figure.

Shelley Stamp (Film & Digital Media, UC Santa Cruz) will join moderator Kyna McClenaghan (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a pre- and post-screening discussion of Carrie and its legacy.

Click here for more details and to reserve tickets: https://www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/pollock-events/cwc-classics-carrie/

10/07/2026

TOMORROW! Join us on Thursday, October 8 at 7:00 PM for a theatrical screening of the hit series FALLOUT with UCSB alumnus and Emmy Award-winning director FREDERICK E.O. TOYE in attendance for a post-screening discussion of Season 2, Episode 1 with moderator Miguel Penabella (Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB).

The Carsey-Wolf Center is proud to welcome director and UCSB alumnus Frederick E.O. Toye to the Po***ck Theater for a special screening of his season two premiere episode of the retrofuturistic TV series Fallout. The episode returns to the wasteland of post-nuclear America, expanding the world of the acclaimed videogame franchise and introducing the titular setting of Fallout: New Vegas. The season picks up with former vault dweller Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) pursuing her father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), determined to uncover the truth about his past and hold him accountable for his actions. Along the way, she reluctantly joins forces with the notorious outlaw known as The Ghoul (Emmy-nominated Walton Goggins), who is himself searching for clues about his pre-apocalypse life and the fate of his wife and daughter. Meanwhile, newly knighted Brotherhood of Steel soldier Maximus (Aaron Moten) struggles to reconcile his sworn allegiance to the increasingly militaristic organization with his own uncertain sense of purpose.

Director Frederick E.O. Toye will join moderator Miguel Penabella (Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB) for a screening and discussion of Fallout episode “The Innovator” (Season 2, Episode 1).

Click the link in our bio for more details and to reserve tickets!

10/06/2026

LATER THIS MONTH! Join us on Saturday, October 24 at 2:00 PM for a matinee screening of the breakout horror hit BACKROOMS, featuring a pre- and post-screening discussion with producer KORI ADELSON and moderator Ross Melnick (Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB).

Backrooms (2026) follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a furniture store owner who discovers that a mysterious doorway has appeared in the basement of his showroom, leading him into an endless maze of eerie, nondescript rooms. After Clark disappears, his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) enters the doorway in search of him, confronting a disorienting liminal space where the boundaries between reality and perception begin to collapse.

Inspired by a single eerie photograph of an empty, fluorescent-lit room, the backrooms started out as an anonymous imageboard post with no established mythology or narrative. Online communities soon expanded out the initial post into a larger internet phenomenon, collaboratively developing a sprawling archive of fan art, “creepypasta” short stories, amateur videos and animations, and online games. In 2022, 16-year-old director Kane Parsons adapted the viral image into a series of acclaimed found-footage short films on YouTube and rapidly found a devoted audience. Backrooms producer Kori Adelson brought Parsons and the project to A24, which subsequently greenlit its feature film adaptation, bringing this distinct slice of internet culture to mainstream cinema. The journey of Backrooms from online post to one of this year’s most successful (and talked about) theatrical releases raises compelling questions about where films and directors now originate, who gets to make them, and how audiences encounter cinematic worlds.

Producer Kori Adelson will join moderator Ross Melnick (Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB) for a pre- and post-screening discussion of Backrooms.

Click here for more details and to reserve tickets: https://www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/pollock-events/storytelling-for-the-screen-backrooms/

10/05/2026

TOMORROW! Join us on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00 PM for a theatrical screening of THE WEIGHT, the new film from director PADRAIC MCKINLEY, who will join moderator Ross Melnick (Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center) for a post-screening discussion of the film.

The Weight (2026) is the debut feature from filmmaker Padraic McKinley. When Samuel (Ethan Hawke) is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal prison in Oregon, Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) offers him a high-stakes proposition: smuggle gold out of a remote mine with a dangerous crew of prisoners in exchange for his freedom. But as the group journeys into the unforgiving wilderness, the real threat isn’t the terrain—it’s the betrayal and violence festering within their ranks. Surrounded by greed, suspicion, and danger, Samuel must risk everything to reunite with his daughter. Influenced by the introspective action cinema of the 1970s but set against a stark Depression-era landscape, The Weight explores the lengths one is willing to go for family and freedom.

Director Padraic McKinley will join moderator Ross Melnick (Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center) for a post-screening discussion of The Weight.

Click the link in our bio for more details and to reserve tickets!

10/02/2026

THIS OCTOBER! We’re thrilled to welcome a panel of special industry guests on Saturday, October 17 at 2:00 PM for a discussion event on the creation and development of reality television. In this panel event, we will be joined by SOL DEAN (reality television personality, Love Island USA), JEFF JENKINS (president of Jeff Jenkins Productions; producer, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives), JOHN POLLY (co-executive producer, RuPaul’s Drag Race), JD ROTH (founder of 3 Ball Productions and GoodStory Entertainment; executive producer, The Biggest Loser), and moderator Hunter Hargraves (California State University, Fullerton).

What goes into the development of your favorite reality television shows? This special panel discussion event brings together producers and personalities from some of television’s most popular reality shows for a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation about the craft of the genre. Featuring professionals who have worked on such shows as Love Island, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Biggest Loser, Bar Rescue, and many others, the discussion will explore the creative and editorial decisions that shape these programs, and the experiences of those who appear on them. Presented in the spirit of our benefactors Marcy Carsey and Dick Wolf, two major television producers who believe in opening up thoughtful conversations about the medium of television, this panel offers a rare opportunity to hear from the reality television professionals on the complex process of crafting reality for the screen.

Click here for more details and to reserve tickets: https://www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/pollock-events/reality-tv-confessions-from-the-inside/

10/01/2026

35mm FILM SCREENING! Join us on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 PM for a special 35mm film print screening of David Lynch's MULHOLLAND DRIVE, featuring a pre- and post-screening Q&A with JOHN TRAFTON (author of Los Angeles and Film: A Cultural History of 20th-Century Hollywood) and moderator Miguel Penabella (Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB).

The Carsey-Wolf Center is proud to present a special 35mm film screening of David Lynch’s 2001 masterpiece Mulholland Drive, a dreamlike vision of Los Angeles and the seedy underbelly of the film industry. Newly arrived in Hollywood with hopes of becoming a movie star, plucky young ingénue Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) encounters an enigmatic woman (Laura Harring) suffering from amnesia. As the two attempt to uncover the woman’s identity, their investigation leads them into a nightmarish conspiracy that plunges them deeper into the city. Meanwhile, filmmaker Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) finds himself caught in a series of increasingly ominous circumstances while casting his latest film. Originally conceived as a television pilot for ABC, Mulholland Drive transformed into a feature after the project failed to move forward. Its episodic structure remains visible in its fragmented, surreal narrative. The film garnered numerous accolades, including a win for Best Director at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Named after the titular road that stretches from the Hollywood Hills to the Santa Monica Mountains, the film carries the weight of the city’s cinematic mythology. As Lynch observed, “You feel the history of Hollywood in that road.”

John Trafton (author of Los Angeles and Film: A Cultural History of 20th-Century Hollywood) will join moderator Miguel Penabella (Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB) for a pre- and post-screening discussion of Mulholland Drive.

Click here for more details and to reserve tickets: https://www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/pollock-events/cwc-classics-mulholland-drive-in-35mm/

09/30/2026

JOIN OUR STUDENT STAFF! Applications for student staff positions for 2026-27 are open until Friday, October 2 by 11:59 PM. If you’re passionate about film and television and eager to build skills in theater management and digital video production, a staff position at the Carsey-Wolf Center could be a great fit for you! Student staff at the CWC play a key role in supporting the Center’s work helping create a memorable moviegoing experience for Po***ck Theater patrons. Staff gain hands-on experience in a wide range of tasks, from pre-event promotion and live event production to multi-cam shooting, editing, and publishing event videos.

Applicants should have strong leadership and customer service skills, be highly organized, and show a willingness to learn media equipment, with a passion for film, television, and digital media. Student staff are encouraged to engage actively with Carsey-Wolf Center programming and treat their position as a meaningful learning opportunity. Prior production experience is not required, though it is welcome. On-the-job training will be provided to support all production-related responsibilities.

Click the link in our bio to learn more and apply!

09/28/2026

🚨Low ticket warning!🚨 Reserve your tickets now for SURFILMUSIC, screening this Saturday, October 3 at 12:00 PM noon with a post-screening discussion between director Emmett Malloy and moderator Alex Champlin (Film and Media Studies, UCSB).

The documentary SURFILMUSIC (2026) chronicles UCSB alumnus Jack Johnson’s evolution from surfer to filmmaker to world-renowned musician. Jack’s early years making surf films with close friends became a foundation for a much broader creative life, capturing moments in and out of the water that later surfaced in his songwriting. Blending rare footage from those formative surf films and Jack’s personal and family archives with present-day reflections, the film weaves together how lived experience, friendship, and exploration shaped the sound and stories behind the music. SURFILMUSIC features Jack Johnson, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Gerry Lopez, Chris Malloy, G. Love, Ben Harper, John Florence, Kim Johnson, and more, with a beautiful score by Jack Johnson and Hermanos Gutiérrez.

Director Emmett Malloy will join moderator Alex Champlin (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of SURFILMUSIC.

Please note the special time for this event: the screening will begin at noon.

Click the link in our bio for more details and to reserve tickets!
emmett/brendan Jack Johnson

09/24/2026

NEXT MONTH! Join us for a screening of HEARTH AND HOME (ALAAV), featuring a post-screening Q&A with director PRABHASH CHANDRA and moderator Bhaskar Sarkar (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:00 PM.

Prabhash Chandra’s 2024 film Hearth and Home (Alaav) follows Bhaveen Gossain, a 63-year-old son caring for his ailing 95-year-old mother, Savitri, in their quiet suburban home in New Delhi, India. Rarely leaving the house, Bhaveen devotes himself entirely to his mother’s care, from the moment he wakes until he goes to sleep. Through long, static shots and an observational approach, the film transforms the routines of caregiving—eating, cleaning, and bathing—into intimate and meditative rituals. These moments capture Bhaveen’s tenderness, playfulness, patience, and devotion alongside the struggles, frustrations, and resentment that caregiving can entail. Dispassionate yet intimate, Hearth and Home (Alaav) offers a complex portrait of love, caregiving, and family obligation, as well as what it means to care for someone until the very end.

Director Prabhash Chandra will join moderator Bhaskar Sarkar (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Hearth and Home (Alaav).

Click here for more details and to reserve tickets: https://www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/pollock-events/cwc-global-alaav/

Address

4429 SSMS, UCSB
Santa Barbara, CA
93106

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 10pm
Tuesday	10am - 10pm
Wednesday	10am - 10pm
Thursday	10am - 10pm
Friday	10am - 10pm
Saturday	10am - 10pm
Sunday	10am - 10pm

Website

http://www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Carsey-Wolf Center at UCSB posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Carsey-Wolf Center at UCSB:

Want your school to be the top-listed school/college in Santa Barbara?