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California Institute of the Arts

Alumni

School of Film/Video

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Graduates of the School of Film/Video go on to create, innovate, and make a significant impact in the world of cinema and media. Our alumni network includes some of the most visionary filmmakers, animators, and video artists of our time. Here are a few:

Character Animation

  • Mark Andrews (BFA 93), animation writer-director (Brave) -- Academy Award
  • Brad Bird (76), animation and live-action writer-director (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol), Pixar Brain Trust -- 2 Academy Awards, Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Nelson Boles (BFA 12), animation writer-producer (Clarence)
  • Chris Buck (78), animation writer-director (Frozen) -- Academy Award
  • Tim Burton (79), director (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood), artist, goth icon -- 2 Academy Award nominations, Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Brenda Chapman (BFA 87), animation writer-director (Brave, The Prince of Egypt, The Lion King) -- Academy Award
  • Pete Docter (BFA 90), animation writer-director (Inside Out, Up, Monsters, Inc.), Pixar Brain Trust -- 2 Academy Awards
  • Ralph Eggleston (86), animation writer-director (For the Birds), production designer (Inside Out, WALL?E) -- Academy Award
  • Lauren Faust (95), animation writer-producer (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, The Powerpuff Girls) -- Primetime Emmy Award
  • T.J. Fuller (BFA 11), animation artist (Maker Studios, Nix Hydra)
  • Mike Giaimo (78), animation art director (Frozen, Pocahontas)
  • Jennifer Hager (BFA 05), animation supervisor (Zootopia)
  • Don Hall (BFA 95), animation director (Big Hero 6) -- Academy Award
  • Alex Hirsch (BFA 07), animation writer-producer, creator of Gravity Falls
  • Jasmin Lai (12), illustrator (Cartoon Network, Google, Pearson Education)
  • John Lasseter (BFA 79), computer animation visionary, animation writer-director (Toy Story, Cars), chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios -- 2 Academy Awards, Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award, Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Minkyu Lee (BFA 09), visual development artist (Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph), writer-director (Adam and Dog)
  • Craig McCracken (92), animation writer-director, creator of The Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Wander Over Yonder -- 2 Primetime Emmy Awards
  • Rob Minkoff (83), animation and live-action director (The Lion King, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, The Forbidden Kingdom)
  • Rich Moore (BFA 87), animation director (Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, Futurama) -- 2 Primetime Emmy Awards, Academy Award nomination
  • John Musker (77), animation writer-director (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog) -- Academy Award nomination
  • Daron Nefcy (BFA 09), animation writer-producer, creator of Star vs. the Forces of Evil
  • J.G. Quintel (BFA 05), animation writer-producer, creator of The Regular Show -- Primetime Emmy Award
  • Shane Prigmore (99), character designer and visual development artist (The Lego Movie, The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon, Coraline), VP of Creative Affairs, Disney Television Animation
  • Alonso Ramirez Ramos (BFA 10), character designer, storyboard artist (Gravity Falls, Mickey Mouse) -- 2 Primetime Emmy Awards
  • Joe Ranft (80), animation writer and voice artist (Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Cars), Pixar Brain Trust -- Academy Award nomination, Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award, Disney Legend
  • Jerry Rees (77), story animation writer-director (The Brave Little Toaster), director of theme park multimedia and immersive experiences -- Sundance Special Jury Award, Primetime Emmy nomination
  • Peter Sohn (BFA 99), story animation director (The Good Dinosaur), voice actor
  • Anthony Stacchi (BFA 86), story animation director (The Boxtrolls) -- Academy Award nomination
  • Andrew Stanton (BFA 87), story animation and live-action writer-director (Finding Nemo, WALL?E, Finding Dory), Pixar Brain Trust -- 2 Academy Awards
  • Jacob Streilein (BFA 14), animation artist, Jib Jab Media
  • Genndy Tartakovsky (cer. 92), story animation writer-director (Hotel Transylvania), creator of Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars -- 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Ann Telnaes (BFA 85), editorial cartoonist, The Washington Post -- Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning
  • Shannon Tindle (99), story animation writer and character designer (Kubo and the Two Strings, The Croods, Coraline, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends) -- Primetime Emmy Award
  • Gary Trousdale (82), story animation writer-director (Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
  • J.J. Villard (BFA 04), story animation writer-director, creator of King Star King -- Primetime Emmy Award
  • Pendleton Ward (BFA 05), animation writer-producer, creator of Adventure Time -- Emmy Award
  • Kirk Wise (cer. 85), story animation writer-director (Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Experimental Animation

  • Jason Carpenter (MFA 06), animation director (The Renter) and designer (He Named Me Malala)
  • Peter Chung (81), animation director and designer, creator of AEon Flux
  • Eric Darnell (MFA 90), animation writer-director (Madagascar, Antz)
  • Paul Demeyer (MFA 77), animation writer-director, producer of Rugrats -- 2 Primetime Emmy nominations
  • Sara Gunnarsdöttir (MFA 12), independent filmmaker (The Pirate of Love Vol. I), experimental animation artist and designer (Diary of A Teenage Girl)
  • Jorge Gutierrez (MFA 00, BFA 97), animation writer-director (The Book of Life), creator of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera -- Emmy Award
  • Stephen Hillenburg (MFA 92), animation writer-producer, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants -- Daytime Emmy Award, 8 Primetime nominations
  • Glen Keane (74), animation maestro, character designer and supervising animator -- Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award, Disney Legend
  • Bo Sul Kim (MFA 09), multimedia performance director, video and animation designer, artist
  • Mark Kirkland (BFA 78), animation director (The Simpsons) -- 3 Primetime Emmy Awards
  • Amy Kravitz (MFA 86), independent filmmaker and animation artist
  • Kirsten Lepore (MFA 12), stop-motion animation artist
  • Miwa Matreyek (MFA 07), animation artist, director, designer, performer, co-founder of the multimedia performance company Cloud Eye Control -- Center Theatre Group Sherwood Award, TED Speaker
  • Mark Osborne (BFA 92), animation director (Kung Fu Panda, The Little Prince)
  • Joanna Priestley (MFA 85), experimental filmmaker
  • Christine Panushka (MFA 82), independent filmmaker and animation artist
  • Kathy Rose (MFA 74), animation, video and performance artist
  • Jen Sachs (MFA 01), independent filmmaker and animation artist
  • Allison Schulnik (BFA 00), painter, stop-motion filmmaker
  • Henry Selick (MFA 77), stop-motion animation director (Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas) -- Academy Award nomination
  • Beomsik Shimbe Shim (MFA 09), experimental filmmaker and media artist
  • Steven Subotnick (MFA 86, BFA 84), experimental animation artist
  • Brian Gothong Tan (BFA 05), commercial director, multimedia performance designer
  • Momo Wang (MFA 14), comics and animation artist, creator of internet cartoon character Tuzki
  • David Hildebrand Wilson (MFA 76), experimental filmmaker, founder and curator of the Museum of Jurassic Technology -- MacArthur Genius Fellowship
  • Benny Zelkowicz (MFA 02), supervising animator (Robot Chicken, SuperMansion), fantasy novelist (The First Book of Ore: The Foundry’s Edge)

Film and Video

Film Directing

  • Andrew Ahn (MFA 11), writer-director (Spa Night)
  • Christine Beebe (MFA 05), director of Non-Fiction Development at Lucasfilm; producer of Hal; director-producer of Felix Austria! 
  • Giulia Caruso (MFA 13), writer-director (Aurora Notte)
  • Scott Cummings (MFA 07), writer-director (Buffalo Juggalos)
  • Fabian Euresti (MFA 10), documentary filmmaker (Everybody’s Nuts)
  • Javier Fuentes-León (MFA 98), writer-director (Undertow) -- Sundance Audience Award, L.A. Outfest Award 
  • Rachel Goldberg (MFA 00), writer-director (Muted, Neighbors)
  • Aurora Guerrero (MFA 99), writer-director (Mosquita y Mari) -- Independent Spirit Award nomination
  • Eliza Hittman (MFA 10), writer-director (It Felt Like Love) -- Independent Spirit Award nomination
  • Xuan Jiang (MFA 07), actress, writer-director (August 15th)
  • Casey Kriley (MFA 98), executive producer (Project Runway, Top Chef), executive VP of Current Programming, Magical Elves -- Primetime Emmy Award
  • Cy Kuckenbaker (MFA 04), filmmaker, photographer, editor
  • Araceli Lemos (MFA 11), writer-director
  • James Mangold (BFA 85), writer-director (Walk the Line, Logan, Ford v Ferrari)
  • David Nordstrom (MFA 95), actor, writer-director (Sawdust City)
  • Andrea Pallaoro (MFA 09), writer-director (Wunderkammer, Medeas) -- Venice Horizons Award nomination 
  • Theron Patterson (MFA 99), writer-director (Dark Cloud), editor
  • Mason Richards (MFA 09), writer-director (The Seawall)
  • Maneesh Sharma (MFA 04), writer-director (Shuddh Desi Romance, Fan) -- National Film Award (India)
  • Tariq Tapa (MFA 08), writer-director (Zero Bridge) -- Independent Spirit nomination
  • Elia Urquiza (MFA 13), writer-director (Next)
  • Pacho Velez (MFA 10), experimental documentarian (Manakamana) -- Locarno Golden Leopard, Independent Spirit nomination