Keke Palmer just added another title to her resume — and this one comes with a classroom.
The Emmy-winning actress, entrepreneur, and founder of KeyTV Network is joining UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television as an artist-in-residence for the next five years. Starting this fall, she'll be on campus every quarter working directly with students — not just to inspire them, but to actually distribute their work.
That's the part that sets this apart from a typical celebrity partnership. KeyTV, Palmer's 100% BIPOC-creator-led digital media platform, has produced 29 original projects since launching in 2022. Under the new program — titled "From Blocking to Broadcast" — the platform will distribute at least three student projects every year. These aren't student films destined for a hard drive. They're going to real audiences.
Palmer will lead workshops on pitching, distribution, business ownership, and building a sustainable career in media. Starting in 2027-28, students will produce original content across formats — video podcasts, TV pilots, music videos, musical theater — through a fully sponsored studio course with Palmer as their mentor and KeyTV as their launchpad.
The I Love Boosters actress was direct about why she said yes. "It is no small feat to pursue higher education, especially at a prestigious institution," Palmer said in a press release. "I look forward to listening, encouraging and offering them more than one chance to succeed."
UCLA TFT Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu matched that energy. "People of color and the underrepresented have always made counter cinemas and birthed social movements grounded in cinema as technology of resistance," she said. "Bringing an artist of Keke's caliber into the spaces where our students are learning to develop their stories will inspire them to see and believe what is possible."
Palmer recently launched KeyTV Days at Special Academy — a six-week creative immersion program for young people from underrepresented communities. The UCLA residency is the latest move in what is clearly a bigger mission: making sure the next generation of Black and brown creators doesn't just make it through the door — they own what's on the other side of it.
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