Estate Of Former UCLA Film School Dean Robert Rosen Financing Indie Feature ‘Charred Remains Of Heaven’

EXCLUSIVE: Cameron Cowperthwaite (Fallout) and Patricia De Leon (The Cleaning Lady) have completed production on Charred Remains of Heaven, an independent feature fully financed by the estate of former UCLA Film School Dean Robert “Bob” Rosen.

Sundance alum Christopher Bradley (Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss) wrote and directed the film, and lead creative producer Michael J. Shoel of Ariztical Entertainment (Eating Out franchise) packaged it. Veteran casting directors Michael Testa and Lisa Ystrom cast the film. The wider ensemble also includes Robert Pine (CHiPS), Mark Povinelli (GOAT), and Jeffrey Vincent Parise (The Rookie).

The film’s narrative is said to blend paranormal horror and magical realism amid a high-stakes military takeover of Los Angeles.

“What makes this project so compelling is its chilling, quiet exploration of institutional trauma,” Shoel said. “Much like The Handmaid’s Tale, the story uses a heightened alternative world to examine how easily authoritarianism can seep into ordinary civilian life.”

Rosen was the longtime Dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He passed away in 2024, aged 84. He also co-founded Outfest and was co-creator of the Sundance Collection at UCLA. In 2008, Rosen received The Film Foundation’s John Huston Award from Martin Scorsese at the DGA Honors.

Bradley, who shared a lifelong friendship with Rosen after meeting through UCLA’s MFA film program, shot the film on Rosen’s 4,000-square-foot Sunset Boulevard-style mansion before its sale this fall. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale will be permanently endowed as an ongoing grant to provide critical housing support for UCLA film preservation students.

“Bob Rosen spent his life building the foundations of the independent film community. To shepherd a project that serves as his final legacy and directly funds the future of UCLA filmmakers is an immense honor,” Shoel said.

Bradley added: “To bring this specific vision to life under the banner of Bob’s final wish, and to do so inside the very walls he lived in, makes this a deeply meaningful and creative milestone for everyone involved.”