Updates and highlights on alumni activities and achievements:
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MFA/ Acting Alum Collin Bressie (2016) has recently completed a strong fear as an actor, director, and fight choreographer. He directed From the Mind of Shel Silverstein at Long Beach City College. He was Co-Fight Choreographer for Henry V directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliot and Geoff Eliot at A Noise Within in Pasadena. His worked was noticed with an Ovation Award nomination. He also was the fight choreographer for Sisters Three directed by Annie McVey at the Inkwell Theatre. He is returning to Cal State LA this spring as the fight choreographer for TAD’s production of She Kills Monsters. Bressie will also jump on the stage later this spring in A Noise Within’s production of Argonautika by Mary Zimmerman and directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliot. When not performing, Bressie runs the successful stage combat rental company, The West Coast Armory.
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MFA/ Performance Alum Ricky Pak (2013) is currently a teaching artists with the Tectonic Theater Project as well as an adjunct professor at University of Redlands. He recently finished a run in Valley of the Heart written and directed by Luis Valdez at Center Theater Group's Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Visit his website for more information about Ricky Pak's projects.
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Congratulations to MFA/Production Alum Moses Guerrero (2018) and MFA/Writing Alum Akanksha Prabhune (2018), who both worked on this film by The Inflitrators recently screend at Sundance and highlighted by Democracy Now.
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Congratulations to recent MFA in TVFT/Writing Option alumnus, Luis Sivoli (2018). Originally from Venezuela, Luis successfully defended his culminating project and report this Fall 2018, under the guidance of Prof. Ligiah Villalobos, who then helped Luis get a full-time position as a Writers PA on Reggie Rock Bythewood’s new show for Apple titled “Swagger,”, produced by Imagine (Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s company) with CBS Productions, loosely inspired by the life of Kevin Durant as a teen athlete amidst the oftentimes corrupt youth’s sports business. Another needed Latinx voice to the TV industry.
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Collin Bressie, MFA/Acting Option Alum (2016) and part-time instructor in acting and stage combat, is performing the role of Jussac in The Three Musketeers at the Norris Theatre with the Palos Verdes Performing Arts Center.
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Congratulations to MFA/Acting Option alum, Marissa Pitts Susel, (2017) who has been a part-time inst
ructor in the undergraduate Theatre program, and was selected as a Mind Matters Champion based on her contributions toward creating a culture of well-being at Cal State LA, exemplifying her successful integration of inner well-being into the framework of University life as a means of supporting student success. Recognized and presented with an award today by President William A. Covino and Dr. Debbie Covino at the annual holiday celebration for Cal State LA faculty and staff. In addition to this recognition, the Mind Matters Champions will be invited to have lunch with the President and First Lady Debbie Covino in Spring 2019. -
MFA/ Acting Option Randee Trabitz will direct John Fleck's One-Man show Blacktop Highway at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. The production will run from November 9-December 15.
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MFA/Acting Option (Spring '18), Yvette Herrera begins rehearsals for Remembering Boyle Heights at Casa 0101.
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MFA/Acting Option (Spring '12), Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni will be the Special Presentation Speaker at Conversations 2018, an event hosted by the YWCA of Greater Atlanta. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the website.
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Congratulations to MFA/Production Option Alum Moses Guerrero (Spring '18) and MFA/Writing Option Alum Akanksha Prabhune (Spring '18), who currently are working on the exciting new film, The Infiltrators, thanks to Professor Ligiah Villalobos' recommendations. Read more about the film in Variety's "Film News Roundup."
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Alumnus Kristin Mellian appears in the upcoming film Melody on Earth. See the trailer below: