View this story in the digital version of the 2020-21 Callboard magazine.

Class of 1970s

Andy Tennant BA ’77 directed the film The Secret: Dare to Dream. He also received two Emmys at the 41st Annual Sports Emmys for E: 60 Hilinski’s Hope and E: 60 The Squad: 44 Years, 41 Allegations, both on ESPN.

Class of 1980s

Todd Black BFA ’82 produced the film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He is also a producer for the film adaptation of the comic book The Kaiju Score and is the executive producer for the upcoming Peacock limited series Dr. Death.

Karen Zarish Covell BA ’80 is producing a feature film, a game show and writing her third book. She is the current head of the PGA Event Committee. She runs a non-profit called The Hollywood Prayer Network that mentors young female producers and supports the Hollywood creative community.

Tim Dang BFA ’80 directed a production of The Joy Luck Club by Susan Kim at the Sierra Madre Playhouse last fall and is featured in a new video game called Ghost of Tsushima. He is also the arts and culture leader of the L.A. County Economic Resiliency Task Force.

Cynthia DeCure BA ’88 is now an assistant professor of acting at the Yale School of Drama, teaching speech and dialects. Also, she co-edited Scenes for Latinx Actors: Voices of the New American Theatre, which was published in spring 2019 by Smith in Kraus.

Tate Donovan BFA ’85 narrated National Geographic’s special Expedition Everest and is in the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect.

Grant Heslov BFA ’85 produced the Netflix film Midnight Sky.

Steve Hoefer BA ’85 directed Henry Danger the Musical for Nickelodeon. He has directed the pilot episodes and series for iCarly, Victorious, Sam & Cat, Game Shakers and Henry Danger. Other series include Drake and Josh, All That, Zoey 101, Jesse and Boy Meets World. He started in television, working production for various series that included The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Coach, Charles in Charge and others.

Marguerite MacIntyre BFA ’84 serves as showrunner, writer and executive producer for the Stampede Ventures TV show Aftercare Instructions.

Jeff Parker BFA ’89 appeared as David, the Duke of Windsor, in the North American premiere of The King’s Speech — by David Seidler and directed by Michael Wilson at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Class of 1990s

Seth Cover BFA ’98 is the CEO of Mycotoo, Inc., a global leader in themed entertainment, live events and immersive brand experiences — including studio theme parks (Motiongate and Bollywood Parks) and award-winning brand experiences (SXSWestworld Experience and Game of Thrones).

James Lesure BFA ’95 is a series regular in the ABC TV series Rebel, scheduled for 2021.

Mykle McCoslin BA ’96 was elected President of the Houston-Austin SAG-AFTRA local and represented her members as a convention delegate at the 2019 SAG-AFTRA National Convention in Los Angeles.

Timothy Omundson BFA ’91 starred in the NBC Peacock television film Psych 2: Lassie Come Home.

J. August Richards BFA ’95 is in the film Pearl and the television show Council of Dads.

Anthony Sparks BFA ’94 was one of the honorees at the 2020 Television Academy Honors. He is developing a scripted series, Choir, based on the Detroit Youth Choir.

Danny Strong BA ’96 serves as writer and executive producer for the upcoming Hulu series Dopesick, and was executive producer of and featured in the series The Right Stuff.

Michael Uppendahl BFA ’98 directed and executive produced of the FX TV series Impeachment: American Crime Story.

Robin Veith BFA ’96 is developing the upcoming true crime TV series Candy for UCP.

Class of 2000s

Patrick J. Adams BFA ’04 stars in Disney+’s The Right Stuff.

Boni B. Alvarez MFA ’07 had the 2019 production of his play America Adjacent livestreamed with Skylight Theatre Company.

Beck Bennett BFA ’07 was seen in the film Bill & Ted Face the Music. He voices Austin Van Der Sleet in the upcoming Marvel animated series M.O.D.O.K. and is a cast member on SNL.

Charl Brown BA ’01 starred in The Doo Wop Project: Live In Your Living Room, a theatrical concert tracing the evolution of Doo Wop.

Ray Chase BA ’09 voices characters in an English dub of Pokemon Journeys: The Series Part 2 on Netflix and voices a character in a Fall Guys animated parody called Fall Guys: The Anime.

Chastity Dotson BFA ’04 founded the initiative “300 for 300” to empower 300 young women of color in Louisville, Kent.

Marja Harmon BA ’05 has performed as Angelica in the San Francisco company of Hamilton as part of the And Peggy tour.

Eric Ladin BA ’01 co-stars in Disney+’s The Right Stuff and has a recurring role on Bosch.

Kelli McNeil BA ’03 was featured in Literary Death Match for the first-ever kids edition.

Nick Rutherford BA ’06 is one of the producers of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty. The show received its Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for the episode “The Vat of Acid Episode.”

Jennifer Sarvas BFA ’06 founded a resume coaching business called “At Your Sarvas” that helps entertainment workers communicate their transferable skills and find new opportunities during the pandemic.

Peter Vack BFA ’09 is a series regular on HBO Max’s Love Life, starring Anna Kendrick. He appears in the Netflix anthology series Social Distance.

Deborah Ann Woll BFA ’07 is in the upcoming film Ida Red.

Class of 2010s

Claire Adams BA ’15 moved to New York in January 2019, where she participated in the Tommy Awards that year. After that, she played Snow White/Ensemble in the star-studded Into The Woods at the Hollywood Bowl and performed as Lauren in Kinky Boots at the Gateway Theatre in New York.

Nichole Bloom BA ’11 guest stars on season 3 of Disney XD’s Big Hero 6 The Series, voicing the character Olivia.

McKinley Belcher III MFA ’10 is a series regular in Showtime’s miniseries The Good Lord Bird, which stars Ethan Hawke and Daveed Diggs.

Amelia Brookens BFA ’15 was awarded The 2019 Madeleine Ginsburg Grant by the Associations of Dress Historians for her work at Shakespeare’s Globe Library and Archive in London. She catalogued the archive files containing fashion history research by costume designer Jenny Tiramani (2014 Tony Award).

Kara Connolly BA ’14 made the first-round ballot for the Grammy Award’s Best Pop Vocal Album for her album Life in Rear View. The music video “Other People” was nominated for best Independent Music Video at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and her song “Nice Guy” was nominated for Best Message Song/Social Impact. She is currently writing for Teddi Gold’s second EP and her own follow-up album.

Inda Craig-Galván MFA ’17 had one of her new works presented as part of Primary Stages’ Living Room Commissions. Her play Welcome to Matteson! received a staged reading at the Orlando Shakes PlayFest and was part of The Passage Theatre’s virtual season of play readings.

Allen Darby BA ’12 continued their third year of training at American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program in the fall.

Scott Felix BA ’16 has directed shows at Shia LaBeouf’s Slauson Rec Theater School. He also created Sunflower Pictures, a production company that focuses on independent short films. His poetry book, Mediocre Sunflower, was published by Barnes & Noble.

Kyle Fitz BFA ’16 performed in a drive-thru theatre experience called Secret Cinema in downtown L.A.

Amin El Gamal MFA ’11 had a recurring role in the TV series Good Trouble.

Briyana Guadalupe MFA ’19 was cast as a series regular in The Ms. Pat Show for Hulu.

Ellen Haun BA ’10 co-authored a humor book Cinderella and the Glass Ceiling and Other Feminist Fairy Tales with Laura Lane (Annenberg ’07), which was published by Seal Press/Hachette in March 2020. They ran a sketch comedy show called Femme Fairy Tales at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York, then sold the sketch show as a book.

Christopher Hawthorn MFA ’16 was in When They See Us.

Bella Hicks BA ’16 performed in a drive-thru theatre experience called Secret Cinema in downtown L.A.

Alison Jaye BFA ’18 played the recurring role of Nicole on Netflix’s Unbelievable and the recurring guest star role of Julia on Showtime’s Shameless. She was in two national commercials for Verizon and Jiffy Lube, and did voiceover for the video game Apex Legends.

Corey Johnson MFA ’14 was in the comedy feature Greener Grass.

Moronai Kanekoa MFA ’13 was a guest star on Bosch.

Courtney Lloyd MFA ’17 co-established a virtual protest: the #ArtForGeorgeFloyd project.

Kat Meister BA ’14 successfully transitioned to stage managing online and worked with the CA Democrats for their DNC Fest in August, as well as for Election Day events and Veterans Day celebrations. In addition, they have also worked with the Center for Constitutional Rights in their online activism work and celebrations — including “Justice Beats” and “From Stonewall to Minneapolis,” which included a conversation with Miss Major.

James Morosini BA ’14 was the grand prize winner for the 2020 ScreenCraft Comedy Screenplay Competition for his screenplay I Love My Dad.

Seira Murakami BFA ’19 was the stage manager for the world premiere of Defenders at Pandelia’s Canary Yellow Company. The play ran at the Broadwater Black Box Theatre.

Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx BA ’11 was the director for the production Toyota Symphonies for Youth: Copland’s America in collaboration with the LA Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Six USC alumni were in the cast and performed in and choreographed for the production.

Meredith O’Gwynn BFA ’16 has been the stage manager for the Jabbawockeez at the MGM Grand Casino and Resort, the assistant stage manager for O by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio Casino and Resort and a supervisor for the Bevertainment Program at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino.

Gabriela Ortega BFA ’17 starred in Associate Professor Luis Alfaro’s Electricidad, presented by Center Theatre Group and the Getty Center.

Elmira Rahim MFA ’15 and the Élan Ensemble, which comprises mostly of USC alumni, were the recipients of a Stage Raw Theater Award for best adaptation in 2019 — as well as nominated in multiple categories, including best production at the Stage Raw Theater Awards and LA Drama Critics Circle Awards.

Madhuri Shekar MFA ’13 received the Dramatists Guild of America’s Lanford Wilson Award, which is presented annually to a dramatist based primarily on their work as an early career playwright.

Calahan Skogman MFA ’19 plays Matthias Helvar in the upcoming Netflix series Shadow and Bone.

Karan Soni BA ’11 co-stars in Miracle Workers and voices the character Riff in the film Trolls World Tour.

Madigan Stehly BFA ’14 was nominated this year for two Emmy Awards — including Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Special for his work on the 62nd Grammy Awards and Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series for FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance. He has previously won two Emmy awards and two Emmy nominations.

Dee Dee Stephens MFA ’14 co-established a virtual protest: the #ArtForGeorgeFloyd project.

Sabina Zuniga Varela MFA ’11 starred in Associate Professor Luis Alfaro’s Mojada, which is currently presented on demand by Center Theatre Group in partnership with the Getty Museum. She was also in Madam Secretary.

Gideon Wabvuta MFA ’19 is the new literary manager at Echo Theatre Company.

Charlotte Mary Wen BA ’13 has performed in the cast of Hamilton in San Francisco for the And Peggy tour.

Colin Woodell BFA ’14 is a series regular on HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, starring Kaley Cuoco. He recently starred in Disney’s Call of the Wild, opposite Harrison Ford and Dan Stevens, and performed on stage in the off-Broadway production of Dying City at the Second Stage Theatre.