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USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni

  • George LucasGeorge Lucas was nearly killed before he ever made a film. On the 12th of June 1962, a few days before his high school graduation in Modesto, California…
  • Bryan BurkBryan Burk was born on the 30th of December 1968 into a Jewish family. He grew up hearing stories that shaped his identity and later influenced his creative…
  • Kevin FeigeKevin Feige was born on the 2nd of June, 1973, in Boston, Massachusetts, into a family with a quiet thread connecting him to Hollywood before he ever set…
  • Ron HowardRon Howard was five years old when he stood on a set holding a toy turtle, pretending it was dead. He had to cry. The director helping him through the scene…
  • Rian JohnsonRian Craig Johnson was born on the 17th of December 1973, in Silver Spring, Maryland, and grew up to make one of the most divisive films in modern…
  • Howard KazanjianHoward Kazanjian is nowhere in the credits of The Empire Strikes Back. He took over that production partway through, after original producer Gary Kurtz…
  • John KnollJohn Knoll was born on the 6th of October 1962. He began his career as a motion control camera operator in 1986 for the film Captain EO.
  • John SingletonJohn Daniel Singleton walked into the Cannes Film Festival in 1991 as a 23-year-old first-time director, his debut feature Boyz n the Hood already drawing…
  • Irvin KershnerIrvin Kershner was born Isadore Kershner on the 29th of April 1923 in Philadelphia. His parents were Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants who filled his early years…
  • Ben BurttBen Burtt grew up in Jamesville, New York, and by the time he was a child he was already making films. His father taught chemistry at Syracuse University;…
  • Chris TerrioChris Terrio spent months trying to figure out whether Gatorade existed in December 1979. He needed to know if Tony Mendez could plausibly have made a joke…
  • Ludwig GöranssonLudwig Göransson was named after Ludwig van Beethoven. That fact alone, planted by his Swedish father and his Polish mother before he could walk, tells you…