ALUMNI Quicktakes
These alumni are making power moves worth noting.
Brad Ableson ’97 will direct Shrek 5 for DreamWorks-Illumination, set to release in 2026.
Amy Adler ’11 was selected for the 2024 Sundance Screenwriters’ Intensive for her script Rag Dolls with co-director Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez. Lindsey Villarreal ’13 was also selected for the Intensive and the Sundance Institute Horror Fellowship for her script Woman Hollering.
Amazon MGM Studios signed an exclusive overall deal with Gary “Gaz” Alazraki ’01’s production company Maquina Vega. Under the deal, Alazraki is set to produce, write and direct a series for Amazon MGM Studios.
Eliana Alcouloumre ’17 was a recipient of the AFI Canva Fellowship for directing, one of the six disciplines at the AFI Conservatory.
Judd Apatow and Steven Spielberg are set to direct and produce the upcoming Coke vs. Pepsi film, Cola Wars, at Sony. The film is currently in development and being written by Ben Queen ’96 and Jason Shuman ’96.
Thomas Archer ’18 made his directorial debut with his short film, Be Specific, which premiered at the 55th Nashville Film Festival on September 19th-25th, 2024.
Martinos Aristidou ’05 was nominated for a 2024 Daytime Emmy Award in the Single-Camera Editing category for Searching for Soul Food (Hulu).
Ayana Baraka ’15 was selected as one of Variety’s 2024 Cinematographers to Watch.
Nick Benjamin ’18 wrote, directed, and produced the short film A State Of. The film was selected for various festivals, including Screamfest Horror Film Festival, and won several awards including Best Short Film Director at THE MAGIC OF CINEMA in Barcelona. Other USC alumni on the film included Marlon Galdamez ’19 (SCA/Dornsife) (Director of Photography), Calvin Chin ’18 (Editor), and Brandon Bacall ’18 (2nd AC/On-Set Photographer).
Writer/Director Christine Tian Berg ’09, along with her partner Simon Shterenberg, were 2024 Development Cohort Fellows in the Speranza Foundation Lincoln City Fellowship. They developed their Thai feature Born From Bamboo, joining a community of talented artists from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.
Nicolaas Bertelsen ’11 produced two films that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, Bang Bang and McVeigh.
Julio Bove ’00 at Bosco Entertainment will produce Argentine director Luján Loioco’s third feature film, Queen of the Woods, alongside NonStop Studios in Spain and Loioco’s Libre Cine.
Action film The Beast began principal photography in September, with Chris Bremble ’96 as Executive Producer.
Sabrina Brennan ’18 and Gordon Shoemaker Foxwood ’13 were selected to the Austin Film Festival's and MovieMaker's list of 2024 Screenwriters To Watch.
Lauren Ling Brown ’15 wrote her debut novel Society of Lies, which became a USA Today Bestseller and was featured as a Reese’s Book Club pick.
Xavier Burgin ’15, Wesley Rodriguez ’16, and Vee Saieh ’18 were selected for and participated in Season 2 of the STARZ #TakeTheLead Writers’ Intensive.
Trey Callaway ’89 signed with Independent Artist Group and Echo Lake Entertainment. He, along with Ron Howard, served as guest lecturers for The Singapore Film Commission and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency's EMERGE film development program in April.
Steven Caple Jr. ’14 is set to direct and serve as executive producer for Netflix's upcoming series Man on Fire.
Matthew Cervi ’98 produced the film The Island Between Tides, which had its world premiere at the opening night gala for Cinequest 2024 on March 7th.
Naveen Chaubal ’10 and Bryn Silverman ’11 were chosen as part of this year’s selection for Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter began development at Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures under screenwriter Linda Yvette Chávez ’07. Producers include Poppy Hanks ’95. The film is America Ferrera ’13 (Dornsife)’s directorial debut.
Stephen Chbosky ’92 is set to direct the new comedy-drama Weekend Warriors, starring Mark Wahlberg and produced by Apple Original Films.
Vince Cheng ’10 (SCA/Marshall) and Adriana Fernandez ’14 have joined Scott Derrickson ’95 and C. Robert Cargill’s production company Crooked Highway as President of Production and Director of Development, respectively.
Jon M. Chu ’03 will adapt his film Crazy Rich Asians as a Broadway musical.
Ryan Coogler’s ’11 new horror thriller Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan is set for a wide release on March 5th, 2025.
Akela Cooper ’06 will adapt the short story Don’t Look by Colin Bannon for Universal. Janelle Monae is set to star.
Screenwriter Julia Cox ’12 received a WGA Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for her film NYAD.
Teddy Dief ’12 directed the interactive TV series/video game We Are OFK, which won a 2024 Peabody Award.
Timothy Dowling ’96 is set to write the script for the upcoming action-comedy Loose Cannons, which is currently in development at Lionsgate and set to star Travis Kelce.
Joshua Erkman ’01's feature debut, A Desert, was launched for world sales by Yellow Veil Pictures ahead of its Tribeca Film Festival premiere in June.
Alejandra Espasande ’00 curated the gallery exhibition titled ¡HABLADA EN ESPANOL! The Legacy of Hollywood’s Spanish-Language Cinema (1929-1939). The exhibition was on display in June 2024.
Mahnoor Euceph ’21, Nate Gualtieri ’17, and Yoo Lee ’23 were selected for the inaugural Proof of Concept Accelerator program created by Cate Blanchett, Dr. Stacy L. Smith, and Coco Francini ’10. The program had over 1200 applicants and is designed to address long-standing gaps in the inclusion of women, transgender, and nonbinary people in film.
Paul Feig ’84 is set to direct the upcoming Lionsgate thriller The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. The film is being adapted from the novel written by Frieda McFadden.
Jonah Feingold ’13 is set to direct upcoming buddy comedy Busboys, starring David Spade and Theo Von.
Carrie Finn ’23 and Sarah Hamblin ’07 were selected for the 2024 Spring Session of the Stowe Story Labs TV Writers Room Program with their script, Black Water.
James Flannery ’18 was named in the 2025 Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in Hollywood & Entertainment.
Jessica Funches ’03 and Dahéli Hall ’02 were selected for the STARZ #TakeTheLead producers fellowship.
Julio Vincent Gambuto’s ’16 new book Please Unsubscribe, Thanks!: How to Take Back Our Time, Attention, and Purpose in a Relentless World was released globally. The book was selected as a Barnes and Noble's nonfiction “Pick of the Month” for August 2024.
Adam Goral ’11 was the director of photography for the short film Fish in a Barrel, written and directed by Nick DeRuve, which premiered in Los Angeles on Jan 6, 2024. Other alumni involved in the film include David Baldwin ’08, steadicam operator, and David Bostrom ’11, first assistant camera.
Alfred Gough ’94 and Miles Millar ’94 have signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures to develop films through the duo's Millar Gough Ink banner.
Imagine Entertainment co-chairmen Brian Grazer ’74 and Ron Howard entered into a multi-year co-financing and production partnership with Fifth Season and their co-CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice.
The International Cinematographers Guild selected Matthew Halla ’15 as an honoree for the 2024 Emerging Cinematographer Awards for his work on The Unreachable Star.
Jeannette Hill '87 (SCA/Marshall) became the head of business and legal affairs at Alcon Entertainment.
Haley Geier Hoffman '16 wrote and produced Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. She was nominated in the Writing for a Preschool Animated Program category at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards.
Night Whispers, directed by Ethan Hunt ’27, premiered at the 2024 Screamfest Horror Film Festival and the Telluride Horror Show. His project has won 12 awards, including Best Short Film at the Independent Horror Movie Awards.
Rian Johnson ’16 and Ram Bergman of T-Street Productions agreed to a two-picture producing deal with the Warner Bros Motion Picture Group. Johnson will write and direct the upcoming installment of the Knives Out franchise as well as upcoming feature Wake Up Dead Man, set to release on Netflix globally in 2025.
Tory Kamen ’17 was recognized as one of Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2024.
A multi-genre series about the Bollywood film industry is in development at Netflix, created and directed by Aryan Khan ’20.
Nahnatchka Khan ’94 signed another first-look deal with Universal TV, where she will continue to create, develop, write, produce, and supervise new projects for the network, including an adaption of the novel Killer Potential.
Sofian Khan ’11 was one of 10 recipients from the One House Filmmakers Fund selected by The Sundance Institute and Gold House.
Olivia Levenson Korchagin ’14 received an award from The Aspen Institute’s Planet Media Call for Pitches for her media company Global Tinker’s latest project Solar Punks.
The USC student project Body of Mine VR won the prestigious Producers Guild of America Innovation Award. It was led by Cameron Kostopoulos ’22 and involved over 10 USC students and alumni.
The American Foundation for the Blind presented Shawn Levy ’94 with the 2024 Helen Keller Achievement Award on April 18, 2024, for his work on the Netflix series All the Light We Cannot See that contributed to breaking down barriers for people with disabilities. Shawn was also recognized as Director of the Year at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
Four SCA students and recent alumni were selected as Student Academy Award semifinalists by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. They are Fiona Lu ’24, Luke J. Salewski ’23, and Robin Wang ’22. Robin won in the narrative category for his piece titled Neither Donkey nor Horse, which is eligible to compete for an Academy Award nomination.
George Lucas ’66 received the Honorary Palme d'Or during the closing ceremony of the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
Laura Malatos ’21 and her filmmaking partner tied for the Sally Stovall Award for Creativity in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest for their short film Throwaway Living.
Anthony Mandler ’96 is set to direct the upcoming sci-fi thriller Head Games, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Henry Golding. Principal photography began in October 2024.
Andrew Marlowe ’92 and his spouse, Terri Miller, have signed with IAG.
Thomas Mendolia ’19 made his writer-director debut with Henry’s Ebb, an indie horror-thriller. Production recently concluded in North Carolina.
Gina Lucita Monreal ’08 will serve as executive producer and co-showrunner of the new 2024-25 CBS drama, NCIS: Origins.
Kyle Mooney ’07 joined the cast of Platonic for season 2 on Apple TV+.
Paramount Pictures partnered with producer Neal H. Moritz ’85 to reboot the Scary Movie franchise, which began production in Fall 2024.
Hiro Murai ’06 is set to make his feature film directorial debut with samurai action-thriller Bushido in partnership with A24.
Roma Murphy ’20, Obiageli Odimegwu ’19 and Andrew Reid ’17 were selected to The Inevitable Foundation’s Winter 2024 Elevate Collective Cohort.
Kari Neumeyer ’97 produced Fish War, a documentary film that premiered at the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival.
Grace Mei Ng ’24 was selected as a GLAAD List finalist for her script Wingboy. The GLAAD List is a collaboration between The Black List and GLAAD aimed at highlighting exceptional storytelling through LGBTQ-inclusive scripts.
John Ottman ’88 will direct a dramatic biopic based on the life of world-renowned Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, which he is developing with David Franco.
Paula Patton ’97 is set to produce and star in the psychological drama Finding Faith.
Channing Godfrey Peoples ’11 is directing Otis & Zelma, a biopic about the late soul legend Otis Redding and his widow Zelma Redding.
Diego Perez ’13 won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special for Prey (Hulu) at the 75th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Christopher Bonis ’14 was the Sound Effects Editor on the project.
Ke Huy Quan ’99 is set to star in the upcoming Lionsgate Action Thriller Fairytale in New York.
Jason Reitman ’99 joined the National Association of Theater Owners in September 2024.
Shonda Rhimes ’94 was honored at Variety's Power of Women event for her collaboration with the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and received the 2024 Sentinel Award from the USC Annenberg Norman Lear’s Hollywood, Health, and Society program for Grey’s Anatomy's impactful depiction of the culture of health.
Charles Roven is producing Amazon MGM Studios' upcoming thriller Mercy, with star Chris Pratt and director Timur Bekmambetov, to be released in August 2025.
Mike Saksa ’92 wrote a new book, The Negotiation Edge, which was released on April 1, 2024.
I’m Still Here, directed by Walter Salles and written by Murillo Hauser ’15, received the Best Screenplay Award at the 81st Venice Film Festival.
Nneka Samuel ’03 was selected for Season 3 of the STARZ #TakeTheLead Writers’ Intensive. The intensive is a collaborative effort between STARZ, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, and The National Association of Latino Independent Producers.
Andrew Sandler ’10 will be making his directorial debut with Fade to Black, an entertainment/showbiz thriller produced by Legion M.
Writer/Director/Producer Ethan Shaftel ’02 won Best VR Works at the Annecy Film Festival for his work on Gargoyle Doyle.
Stacy Sher ’85, was honored with the Raimondo Rezzonico Prize at the Locarno Film Festival, and is also collaborating with Amazon MGM to produce a film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel Verity, starring Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway.
Abby Sherlock ’22 was named in the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Games.
Fred Anthony Smith ’02 directed and served as executive producer for Prime Video’s upcoming docuseries The Evolution of the Black Quarterback.
Richard Tucci ’05 won several awards at the 5th Roshani International Film Festival with his media company Greater and Grander, including Best Music Director award and Best Music Video for his project Dear Los Angeles.
Matt Venne ’00 sold his action spec script Test Drive to 20th Century Studios. The film was also selected to the 2024 Black List.
Franco Vidal ’25 received the ¡Tu Cuentas! Cine Youth Fest grand prize for his short film Hot Latin Nights at the Granada! The festival is put on by HITN-TV, the nation's leading Spanish-language public broadcaster.
Mireia Vilanova ’20 was accepted into the 2024 Sundance Producers Lab.
Cookie Walukas ’15, Kerry Furrh, and Olivia Mitchell ’14 (Thornton) won Best Narrative Short Film for their short film Ripe! at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Sean Wang ’16’s feature debut, Dìdi, which won the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance, was sold to Focus Features. The film premiered at film festivals and had a wide release on August 16th, 2024.
Hernando Cortes Watson ’13 was the Special Guest Alumni for the Sundance Collab Session that took place in February 2024.
Jordan Weiss ’15 sold an NFL-themed romantic comedy to New Line Cinema.
Michael Werwie ’03 sold an untitled adult thriller spec to Netflix, with Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan set to produce for Aggregate Films.
Sarah Winters ’17 was chosen as a participant in the 2024 AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women. The program aimed to equip emerging cinematographers with training and mentorship to advance their careers.
Joe Woo Jr. ’76 recently released his ebook and paperback memoir Life's Abyss Then You Dive about the making and post-production of The Abyss (1989).
Daphne Qin Wu ’11 will serve as Director of Photography on Jennifer Zhang's sci-fi feature-length anthology, Trüebadour.
Eugene Lee Yang ’08 co-chaired the 22nd Unforgettable Gala and Asian Pacific Entertainment Awards alongside Adele Lim. The event took place in December 2024.
Chris Yost ’02 is set to write the TV adaptation of the novel Dungeon Crawler Carl for Universal International Studios and Seth MacFarlane.
Sijia Zheng’s ’26 short film Cat Chaser was selected for awards and recognition for its integration of AI, including the LA Shorts International Film Festival, the Touchstone Independent Film Festival, the Cannes World Film Festival, etc.
Shengwei Zhou’s ’24 recent projects Perfect City: The Mother and Perfect City: The Bravest Kid received a combined 14 awards and nominations, and have been selected for over 80 international film and animation festivals globally.
A new procedural pilot has been picked up by CBS for the 2025-2026 programming schedule from director and executive producer Randy Zisk ’81.