Brian Kite is a producing artistic director, theater director, actor, professor, and academic administrator. He is the dean of the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

School of Theater, Film and Television. Kite has served as chair and theater directing professor at the UCLA Theater Department for five years prior to becoming the interim dean at

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

Education

Kite received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in theater from the

. He then earned a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in directing and theatrical production at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Career

Before becoming an interim dean at UCLA, Kite had an extensive directing career. Between 2008 and 2015 Kite served as producing artistic director of La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Where he directed such shows as ''

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age Comedy film, comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the fi ...

'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'', ''

American Idiot ''American Idiot'' is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on September 21, 2004, by Reprise Records. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo in collaboration with the group. Recording sessions for ''American ...

'', ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

'', '' Dinner with Friends'', ''

Steel Magnolias ''Steel Magnolias'' is a 1989 American comedy drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts. The screenplay by Robert Harling is based on hi ...

'', and ''

Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...

''. Kite began teaching as a visiting associate professor at UCLA in October of 2004. After 10 years of serving as a visiting associate professor Kite was hired in 2015 as a full time faculty member and the Chair for UCLA Theater Department at

School of Theater, Film and Television. In 2019, upon the departure of former Theater, Film and Television Dean, Teri Schwartz, Brian E. Kite was appointed Special Academic Senior Associate Dean in 2019 for 6 month before becoming the interim dean of the

in January 2020. Kite has spent of his career directing live theater across the globe. He has served as producing artistic director of La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts for 7 years prior to working as an associate director at La Mirada for over 3 years. He has closely collaborated with The Adam Mickiewicz Institute to direct the musical ''Virtuoso'' and ''Irena'' in Poznań, Poland. Kite served as the Chair of the Board of Governors of the L.A. Stage Alliance, holds an appointment as a visiting professor at the

Shanghai Theatre Academy Shanghai Theatre Academy () is a municipal public college for dramatic art education in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. History On December 1, 1945, the Shanghai Municipal Experimental Drama ...

. Brian E Kite's directing career has lasted over 30 years. Kite is the recipient of the L.A.'s Ovation Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his production of '' Spring Awakening'' and was again nominated for his productions of ''

'' and ''

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kite, Brian Living people UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television faculty American theatre directors Year of birth missing (living people)