Alumni Spotlight: Celine Song ’14
The Alumni Spotlight is a place to hear from the School of the Arts alumni community about their journeys as artists and creators.
Celine Song '14 is a playwright and filmmaker whose debut feature, Past Lives, opened to overwhelmingly high praise at its Sundance premiere. Loosely based on and inspired by Song’s own life experience, Past Lives, which she wrote and directed, was released by A24 in Summer 2023. The film is on many Oscar pundits' lists as the best of 2023 and has already earned two Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards for Best Indie and Best Screenplay.
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. During the New York Theatre Company’s virtual 2020 season, she presented live on Twitch, The Seagull on the Sims 4. Song also wrote on the first season of the Amazon series, Wheel of Time.
Was there a specific faculty member or peer who especially inspired you while at the School of the Arts? If so, who and how?
Yes, Chuck Mee and Anne Bogart changed my life and made me the writer/director that I am. Chuck taught me to have no heroes, only peers. He also taught me that if I am completely enthralled by my own work, since I am a human being and not an alien, there ought to be other human beings that are also completely enthralled by it. He also taught me how to parse through a piece of text to excavate the worldview of the author, which has proven completely invaluable. Anne taught me: "Show up on time. Pay attention. Speak from the heart. Have no expectations." These four things apply to everything in life. She also taught me that every "yes" is made up of an infinite number of "no's," and that the audience sees what the actors see.
How did attending the School of the Arts impact your work and career as an artist?
Completely! It was the first step towards becoming a professional artist.
What were the most pressing social/political issues on the minds of the students when you were here?
War. Oppression of every kind. Race, gender, and class. Pressing issues do not change.
What was your favorite or most memorable class while at the School of the Arts?
Collaboration.
What were the first steps you took after graduating?
Trying to feed myself, pay my rent, and stay sane while trying to write something of meaning with no prospects in sight. I sent my plays to every place with an open submission policy.
What advice would you give to recent graduates?
The first year after graduating is unbelievably difficult because of the crushing uncertainty re: whether you'll make it as a professional artist. You shouldn't try to delay it or escape it or you'll have the breakdown later and it'll only be heavier with the weight of the years you've wasted not letting it be as difficult as it is. Face it head on, let it be hard and let it suck. The only way out is by writing something great, so writing should become your #1 priority. You have to apply to everything knowing that you'll probably be rejected, and you have to try everything you can to keep yourself writing. It's never humiliating to try your hardest to write the best thing in the world. You are likely going to fail, but you also might succeed - either way, you have nothing to lose. You may have a trust fund, which I know helps, or you may have debt, which I know is tough - but we are all equals in front of the blank page.