Graduates of Cal State L.A. have pursued career paths in the entertainment industry in everything from screenwriting to acting to post-production. Our alumni include prominent actors, highly sought-after visual effects artists and major award winners. Here’s a sampling:
Alan Arkin (’52) is a prominent actor with a career that spans decades. His most notable roles are in films such as Catch-22 (1970), Argo (2012), and Little Miss Sunshine (2006), for which he received an Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actor.”
Billy Barty (’49, ’75) was a longtime TV and film actor appearing in Willow (1988).
Kara Brock (’98) is a television and film actress best known for her recurring role as Regina Foster on the TV series, The Parkers.
Wendy Carrillo (’05) is host of Knowledge is Power, a highly recognized public affairs and news program that airs on 105.9 KPWR-FM Sunday mornings at 6 a.m.
Carmen Cuba (’94) is a casting director and producer. Cuba won an Emmy Award for casting of the HBO movie, Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.
Tracy Carness (’89) worked as an associate producer on Major Payne (1995).
Thomas M. Dangcil (’92) is a lighting technician and electrician working on such films as Iron Man 2 (2010), The Master (2012) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Ben Diskin (’07) has been acting since childhood appearing in films such as Kindergarten Cop (1990). More recently, Diskin lends his voice to video games and animated TV shows, like Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Edy Enriquez (’92) is a visual effects producer working on films like Spider-Man 3 (2007) and Hancock (2008).
Kyle Galvez (’13) works as an assistant editor at Tiny Hero, an advertising/production company that produces trailers and spots for Lionsgate, ABC and the Disney Channel.
Julian Gomez (‘88) is an editor and sound editor for World Race Productions, Inc. and works on The Amazing Race, for which he has received three Emmy Awards.
Barry Gordon (’86) is a film, television and voice actor and political talk show host. Among his most notable voice roles were Donatello and Bebop in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. Gordon, who served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1988-1995, teaches acting and voice classes in Cal State L.A.’s Department of Television, Film and Media Studies.
Celia Hamel (’88) has worked as an assistant producer for Carmen: A Hip Hopera and the Lifetime show Army Wives. She was assistant editor for From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (1999).
Roger Huynh (’92) is a visual effects specialist working on films such as Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004).
Elbert Irving IV (’09) has been the visual effects coordinator for dozens of films including In Time (2011) and 12 Years a Slave (2013).
Josh Jacobs (’98) is the producer of The Frank Sontag Show, afternoons on 99.5 KKLA-FM.
Matthew Jacobson (’87) works in the camera department and was director of photography for CSA: The Confederate States of America (2004).
Florina Kendrick (’91) played Dracula’s bride in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
Johnny Kirk (’03) has directed several short films including Shine and Beyond the Ropes. He is the creative director and founder of Dark Blu Productions, a digital film production company that has produced several local projects.
Daniel Knauf (’82) is a screenwriter, comic book writer, director and producer best known as the creator of the HBO series Carnivàle. He is an executive producer for NBC’s Dracula.
Harry Lowell is an executive producer and senior agency producer for NiteLite Pictures, executive producer and senior agency producer. Lowell is best known as the producer of Modern Marvels on the History Channel.
Ruben Marquez (’04) is a production assistant working on such films as Get Smart (2008) and Avatar (2009).
Carlos Morales (’01) is a visual effects compositor working on films including The Master (2012) and Iron Man 3 (2012).
Jeffrey C. Mygatt (’88) is the director of photography at Entertainment Partners. Mygatt has had a long and successful career working as the cinematographer for TV and film, including 24, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Terra Nova and Prison Break. He won two Emmy Awards for director of photography for a stunt sequence for 24 (2004 and 2005).
Edward James Olmos is a major actor and director, appearing in films like Stand and Deliver (1988) and TV shows including Dexter and the Battlestar Galactica reboot from 2004-09.
Brandon Ortega (’09) is the weekend sports anchor for KRGV-TV in Weslaco, Texas.
Rouslan Ovtcharoff (’08) was a production associate for The Expendables (2010).
Randy Paik (’88) has worked for several decades in the camera department for dozens of films, including additional assistant camera on Batman Returns (1992) and assistant camera on Cliffhanger (1993).
Marlon Parry (’90) was the producer of Karla (2005).
Norma Roque (’92) is a reporter for KMEX 34, Univision Communications, Inc.
Joseph Silva (’09) is a visual effects artist working on such projects as TRON: Legacy (2010), Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part II (2011), and the upcoming Maleficent (2014).
Phil Snyder (’12 M.F.A.) is an actor, writer, producer and animator. Snyder is an active voice-over actor, currently providing the voice of Jiminy Cricket for Disney Home Video and the Kingdom Hearts video games.
Ray Tostado (’87) worked in camera department for Harry and the Hendersons (1987) and Dumb & Dumber (1994).
Robert Francis Vaughn (’56, ’64 M.A.) is an actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His vast catalog of roles for TV and film include Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and one of the title characters in The Magnificent Seven.
Joseph Wambaugh (’68) is a bestselling author. He was involved in the film production of his books The Onion Field (1979) and The Black Marble (1980).