100 Notable alumni of
California Institute of the Arts
Updated:
California Institute of the Arts is 246th in the world, 107th in North America, and 102nd in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from California Institute of the Arts sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Tim Burton
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1981
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorpoetdesigneractor
- Biography
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Timothy Walter Burton is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. Known for popularizing Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his gothic horror and dark fantasy films. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and three BAFTA Awards. He was honored with the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 and was given the Order of Arts and Letters by Culture Minister of France in 2010.
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Alison Brie
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 2005 graduated with bachelor's degree in theatre
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwritertelevision actorstage actortelevision director
- Biography
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Alison Brie Schermerhorn is an American actress, writer, and producer. She earned recognition for playing Trudy Campbell in the drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), and had her breakthrough starring as Annie Edison in the sitcom Community (2009–2015). She then voiced Diane Nguyen in the animated comedy series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020) and potrayed Ruth Wilder in the comedy drama series GLOW (2017–2019), receiving nominations at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for the latter.
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Ed Harris
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 1973 graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- film actorcharacter actorscreenwriteractorstage actor
- Biography
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Edward Allen Harris is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in Apollo 13 (1995), The Truman Show (1998), Pollock (2000), and The Hours (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations.
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Katey Sagal
- Occupations
- singeractortelevision actorsinger-songwriterfilm actor
- Biography
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Catherine Louise Sagal is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Peggy Bundy on Married... with Children (1987–1997), Leela on Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present), Cate Hennessy on 8 Simple Rules (2002–2005), Gemma Teller Morrow on the FX series Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2011, and Louise Goldufski-Conner on The Conners (2018–present).
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Sofia Coppola
- Occupations
- film directoractorscreenwriterdirectorwriter
- Biography
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Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Golden Lion, and a Cannes Film Festival Award. She was also nominated for three BAFTA Awards, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award.
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David Hasselhoff
- Occupations
- television actordirectorbusinesspersonfilm actortelevision producer
- Biography
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David Michael Hasselhoff, nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on The Young and the Restless (1975–1982), playing the role of Dr. Snapper Foster. His career continued with his leading role as Michael Knight on Knight Rider (1982–1986) and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in Baywatch (1989–2000). He also produced Baywatch from the 1990s until 2001 when the series ended with Baywatch Hawaii.
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Paul Reubens
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwritertelevision actoractortelevision producer
- Biography
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Paul Reubens was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.
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Don Cheadle
- Occupations
- television producerpoker playerfilm directorwriterfilm producer
- Biography
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Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. is an American actor. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received multiple accolades including two Golden Globe Awards, two Grammy Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards. He is one of a few actors to have received nominations for the EGOT.
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Alexandra Breckenridge
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Alexandra Breckenridge is an American actress. She began her career with supporting roles in the teen comedy films Big Fat Liar (2002) and She's the Man (2006). She later played reporter Willa McPherson in the FX series Dirt and had a supporting role in the short-lived series The Ex List. She starred as a young Moira O'Hara in the first season of FX's American Horror Story, and played Kaylee in the third season. She played Jessie Anderson in the AMC series The Walking Dead and Sophie in the NBC series This Is Us. She is also the voice of various characters in the animated comedy series Family Guy. Since 2019, she has starred as Melinda "Mel" Monroe in the Netflix series Virgin River.
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Michael Richards
- Occupations
- screenwriterstand-up comediansingerdancervoice actor
- Biography
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Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor and former stand-up comedian. He achieved global recognition for starring as Cosmo Kramer on the NBC television sitcom Seinfeld from 1989 to 1998. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first entering the national spotlight when he was featured on Billy Crystal's first cable TV special, and went on to become a series regular on ABC's Fridays.
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Stephen Hillenburg
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- 1989-1992 graduated with Master of Fine Arts in experimental film
- Occupations
- animatorpaintercomics artistuniversity teachertelevision producer
- Biography
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Stephen McDannell Hillenburg was an American animator, voice actor, and marine biology educator. Hillenburg was best known for creating the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants for Nickelodeon in 1999. Serving as the showrunner for its first three seasons, and again from season nine until his death, the show has become the fifth-longest-running American animated series. He also provided the original voice of Patchy the Pirate's pet, Potty the Parrot.
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Cecily Strong
- Occupations
- actorcomediantelevision actor
- Biography
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Cecily Legler Strong is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022. She is the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's history.
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John Lasseter
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 1979 graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- directorscreenwriterfilm producerexecutive producerfilm director
- Biography
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John Alan Lasseter is an American film director, producer, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, as well as the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering, and has served as the head of animation at Skydance Animation since 2019.
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Brad Bird
- Occupations
- directorvoice actorscreenwriterfilm producerfilm director
- Biography
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Philip Bradley Bird is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and live-action.
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Michael Cudlitz
- Occupations
- film actorvideo game actortelevision actorfilm directortelevision director
- Biography
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Michael Cudlitz is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/TNT drama series Southland for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013, Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, and Sergeant Abraham Ford in the AMC horror series The Walking Dead.
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James Mangold
- Occupations
- film produceractorscreenwriterdirectorfilm director
- Biography
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James Allen Mangold is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Noted for his versatility in tackling a range of genres, Mangold made his debut as a film director with Heavy (1995), and gained recognition for the films Cop Land (1997), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Identity (2003), Walk the Line (2005), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and two films in the X-Men franchise with The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017), the latter of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Alex Hirsch
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision writertelevision produceractoranimator
- Biography
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Alexander Robert Hirsch is an American animator, writer, producer, and voice actor. He is best known as the creator of the Disney Channel and Disney XD animated series Gravity Falls, for which he voices its characters Grunkle Stan, Soos Ramirez, and Bill Cipher, among others. The show has won several BAFTA and Annie Awards.
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Eliza Coupe
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Eliza Kate Coupe is an American actress, comedian and model, known for playing Jane Kerkovich-Williams in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings, Denise "Jo" Mahoney in the final two seasons of the medical comedy-drama Scrubs, her starring role as Tiger on the Hulu comedy series Future Man, and her recurring role as Hannah Wyland in Quantico. She starred in the Fox comedy Pivoting in 2022. Most recently, she had supporting roles in the Netflix series Murderville and the CBS legal drama So Help Me Todd.
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Bill Irwin
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwriteractorcircus performerstage actor
- Biography
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William Mills Irwin is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He has made a number of appearances on film and television, and he won a Tony Award for his role in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He also worked as a choreographer on Broadway and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography in 1989 for Largely New York. He is also known as Mr. Noodle on the Sesame Street segment Elmo's World, and he appeared in the Sesame Street film short Does Air Move Things? He has regularly appeared as Dr. Peter Lindstrom on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and had a recurring role as "The Dick & Jane Killer" on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. From 2017 to 2019, he appeared as Cary Loudermilk on the FX television series Legion.
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Laraine Newman
- Occupations
- film actorstage actortelevision actorwritervoice actor
- Biography
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Laraine Newman is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Newman was part of the original cast of NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980.
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Pete Docter
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorfilm producerscreenwriterexecutive producer
- Biography
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Peter Hans Docter is an American filmmaker and animator, who has served as chief creative officer (CCO) of Pixar since 2018. He has directed the company's animated films Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Soul (2020). From his nine Academy Award nominations, he is a record-three time recipient of Best Animated Feature for Up, Inside Out and Soul. Docter has also won six Annie Awards from nine nominations, a BAFTA Children's Film Award and a Hochi Film Award. He describes himself as a "geeky kid from Minnesota who likes to draw cartoons".
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Andrew Stanton
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwriterfilm directordirectoractor
- Biography
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Andrew Ayers Stanton is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990. His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's A Bug's Life (1998), directing Finding Nemo (2003) and its sequel Finding Dory (2016), WALL-E (2008), and the live-action film, Disney's John Carter (2012), and co-writing all five and directing the upcoming latter in Toy Story films (1995–2026) and Monsters, Inc. (2001).
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Pendleton Ward
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directoractoranimatortelevision producer
- Biography
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Ward Taylor Pendleton Johnston, known professionally as Pendleton Ward, is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Frederator Studios, and Netflix Animation. He created the series Adventure Time, the Internet series Bravest Warriors, and the adult animated interview series The Midnight Gospel.
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Henry Selick
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterdirectorfilm directoranimator
- Biography
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Charles Henry Selick Jr. is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic horror films and for directing the stop-motion animated films The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Monkeybone (2001), Coraline (2009), and Wendell & Wild (2022). Selick is also known for his collaborations with the late voice actor and artist Joe Ranft.
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Ariel Pink
- Occupations
- musiciancomposersinger-songwriterguitarist
- Biography
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Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded albums proved influential to many indie musicians starting in the late 2000s. He is frequently cited as "godfather" of the hypnagogic pop and chillwave movements, and he is credited with galvanizing a larger trend involving the evocation of the media, sounds, and outmoded technologies of prior decades, as well as an equal appreciation between high and low art in independent music.
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Butch Hartman
- Occupations
- television producerfilm directorpodcasteranimatorfilm producer
- Biography
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Elmer Earl "Butch " Hartman IV is an American animator, illustrator, writer, producer, director, and actor. He is best known for creating the animated television series The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, T.U.F.F. Puppy, and Bunsen Is a Beast for Nickelodeon. He founded the company, Billionfold Inc. in 2003, to produce the shows. Hartman was an executive producer on The Fairly OddParents for the entirety of its 16-year run.
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J. G. Quintel
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directoractorscreenwritertelevision producer
- Biography
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James Garland Quintel is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, writer, producer, and voice actor. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network series Regular Show, in which he voiced Mordecai and High Five Ghost, and the HBO Max series Close Enough (2020–2022), in which he voiced Josh.
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Chris Sanders
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorvoice actordub actorconcept artist
- Biography
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Christopher Michael Sanders is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. His credits include Lilo & Stitch (2002) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010), both of which he co-wrote and directed with Dean DeBlois; The Croods (2013) with Kirk DeMicco; The Call of the Wild (2020); and The Wild Robot (2024). He created the character Stitch in 1985, wrote the film's story, and voiced Stitch in almost all his media appearances. He also received nominations for the Academy Awards.
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Peter Sohn
- Occupations
- directorvoice actorscreenwriterstoryboard artistfilm director
- Biography
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Peter Sohn is an American filmmaker, animator, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for his work at Pixar, including directing the short film Partly Cloudy (2009) and the feature films The Good Dinosaur (2015) and Elemental (2023), the latter of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also voiced Emile in Ratatouille (2007), Squishy in Monsters University (2013), Ciccio in Luca (2021), and Sox in Lightyear (2022).
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Maneesh Sharma
- Occupations
- assistant directorscreenwriterfilm directordancerdirector
- Biography
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Maneesh Sharma is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema.
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Craig McCracken
- Occupations
- television producercartoonistscreenwritertelevision directoranimator
- Biography
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Craig McCracken is an American cartoonist, animator, director, writer, and producer known for creating Cartoon Network's The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Disney Channel and Disney XD's Wander Over Yonder, and Netflix's Kid Cosmic.
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Chris Lemmon
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Christopher Boyd Lemmon is an American actor and author.
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Gail Ann Dorsey
- Occupations
- guitaristbacking vocalistsinger
- Biography
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Gail Ann Dorsey is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she performed regularly in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's last tour in 2004.
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Rob Minkoff
- Occupations
- screenwritercharacter animatorfilm directorfilm producer
- Biography
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Robert Ralph Minkoff is an American director, animator, and producer. He is best known for co-directing The Lion King (along with Roger Allers), and live-action films including Stuart Little (1999), Stuart Little 2 (2002), The Haunted Mansion (2003), and The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). In recent decades, he returned to feature animation with Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022). His wife, Crystal Kung Minkoff, was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
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Mageina Tovah
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorfilm directoractor
- Biography
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Mageina Tovah is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Glynis Figliola in the television series Joan of Arcadia (2003–2005), as Ursula Ditkovich in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Zelda Schiff, the head librarian in The Magicians.
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Lauren Faust
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorfilm producerpainterscreenwriter
- Biography
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Lauren J. Faust is an American animator, writer, director, and producer. She is known for developing the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and DC Super Hero Girls. Faust has collaborated with her husband Craig McCracken on his four animated series The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Wander Over Yonder, and Kid Cosmic.
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Natalia Cordova-Buckley
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Natalia Cordova-Buckley is a Mexican-American actress. She is best known for starring as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez / Slingshot in the ABC superhero drama series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020).
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Julie Taymor
- Occupations
- theatrical directorscreenwriteropera directorfilm directordirector
- Biography
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Julie Taymor is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for her direction and costume design. Her 2002 film Frida, about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Original Song nomination for Taymor's composition "Burn It Blue". She also directed the 2007 jukebox musical film Across the Universe, based on the music of the Beatles.
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Tom McGrath
- Occupations
- television producervoice actorscreenwriterfilm actorfilm director
- Biography
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Thomas McGrath is an American voice actor, animator and filmmaker. He is known for the DreamWorks animated film Madagascar, which he co-wrote and directed with Eric Darnell while voicing the character of Skipper the Penguin. The film spawned two direct sequels, along with a spin-off animated series and film based on the penguins in which McGrath reprised his role as Skipper. McGrath also directed the DreamWorks animated films Megamind (2010) and The Boss Baby (2017), the latter of which received an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nomination. McGrath returned as director for its 2021 sequel.
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Diona Reasonover
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision actorfilm directoractor
- Biography
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Diona Reasonover is an American actress. She starred as Charmaine Eskowitz in the television show Clipped, and since 2018 has portrayed Kasie Hines in the crime drama series NCIS.
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Deborah Joy Winans
- Occupations
- stage actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Deborah Joy Imani Winans is an American actress and singer, and member of the musical Winans family. She starred as Charity Greenleaf-Satterlee in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf.
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John Maus
- Occupations
- composermusicianrecord producer
- Biography
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John Maus is an American musician, composer, singer, and songwriter known for his baritone singing style and his use of vintage synthesizer sounds and Medieval church modes, a combination that often draws comparisons to 1980s goth-pop. His early lo-fi recordings anticipated and inspired the late 2000s hypnagogic pop movement. On stage, he is characterized for his intense displays of emotion while performing. He is also a former teacher of philosophy at the University of Hawaii, where he later earned his PhD in political science.
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Condola Rashād
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Condola Phylea Rashad, also known professionally as Dola Rashad, is an American actress best known for her work in the theatre. She first broke out with a critically acclaimed performance in Lynn Nottage's off-Broadway play Ruined (2009), which won a Pulitzer Prize.
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Chris Buck
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorconcept artistcharacter designeractor
- Biography
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Christopher James Buck is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter known for co-directing Tarzan (1999), Surf's Up (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature), Frozen (2013), which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2014, Frozen II (2019), and Wish (2023). He also worked as a supervising animator and story artist on Pocahontas (1995) and Home on the Range (2004).
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Mary Costa
- Occupations
- film actorvoice actoropera singeractor
- Biography
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Mary Costa is an American retired actress and singer. Her most notable film credit is providing the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty. She is the last surviving voice actress of the three Disney Princesses created in Walt Disney's lifetime and was named a Disney Legend in 1999. She is a recipient of the 2020 National Medal of Arts.
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Rich Moore
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorvoice actortelevision directoractor
- Biography
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Richard L. Moore is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. He is best known for serving as a director on primetime animated television series such as The Simpsons, The Critic and Futurama as well as directing the films Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Zootopia (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner, a three-time Annie Award winner and an Academy Award winner.
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Glen Keane
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1974
- Occupations
- film directorconcept artistcharacter designeranimatorcartoonist
- Biography
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Glen Keane is an American animator, director, author and illustrator. As a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 38 years (1974–2012), he worked on feature films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Tangled. He received the 1992 Annie Award for character animation and the 2007 Winsor McCay Award for lifetime contribution to the field of animation. He was named a Disney Legend in 2013, a year after retiring from the studio.
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Tony Anselmo
- Occupations
- actordub actorcharacter animatorclean-up artistvoice actor
- Biography
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Tony Anselmo is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of Donald Duck since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor, Clarence Nash. He has also provided voices for Donald's triplet nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
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Walt Dohrn
- Occupations
- writerscreenwriteractoranimatorstoryboard artist
- Biography
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Walter Dohrn is an American writer, director, animator, musician, and actor. He performed the voice of Rumpelstiltskin in Shrek Forever After (2010), as well as various characters in Shrek the Third (2007). He co-directed the film Trolls (2016) and directed its sequels, and voiced various characters in the franchise. He is directing Shrek 5, set for release in 2026. Dohrn has also worked as writer, director, and storyboard director in Season 2 of SpongeBob SquarePants, and he also worked on 2 episodes from Season 3. In 2020, Dohrn signed a deal with DreamWorks Animation.
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John Musker
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwritercharacter animatordirectorfilm director
- Biography
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John Edward Musker is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director Ron Clements and is best known for writing and directing the Disney animated films The Great Mouse Detective (1986), The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997), Treasure Planet (2002), The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Moana (2016).
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Michael Fitzpatrick
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Michael Sean "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, known professionally as FITZ, is a French-American musician, singer and songwriter, who is the lead vocalist of the indie pop/neo-soul band Fitz and the Tantrums.
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Chris Miller
- Occupations
- voice actorscreenwriterstoryboard artistfilm actorfilm director
- Biography
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Christopher Matthew Miller is an American animator, director, and voice actor employed by Paramount Animation and formerly DreamWorks Animation. He is best known for directing Shrek the Third and Puss in Boots (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination) and for voicing The Magic Mirror from the Shrek film series and Kowalski the penguin in the Madagascar film series.
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Michel Ocelot
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorpainterscreenwritermanufacturer
- Biography
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Michel Ocelot is a French writer, designer, storyboard artist and director of animated films and television programs (formerly also animator, background artist, narrator and other roles in earlier works) and a former president of the International Animated Film Association. Though best known for his 1998 debut feature Kirikou and the Sorceress, his earlier films and television work had already won Césars and British Academy Film Awards among others and he was made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur on 23 October 2009, presented to him by Agnès Varda who had been promoted to commandeur earlier the same year. In 2015 he got the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb.
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Patrick McHale
- Occupations
- creative directorscreenwriterstoryboard artistcomics writerfilm director
- Biography
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Patrick Nolen McHale is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, director, and musician. He is well known for creating the animated television miniseries Over the Garden Wall.
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Brenda Chapman
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorfilm produceractorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Brenda Chapman is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and director. In 1998, she became the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio, DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt. In 2012, she directed the Disney/Pixar film Brave with Mark Andrews (and co-direction from Steve Purcell), becoming the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
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Mike Mitchell
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorfilm directoranimatorvoice actor
- Biography
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Mike Mitchell is an American film director, writer, producer, actor and animator. He is known for directing Sky High, Shrek Forever After (2010), Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), Trolls (2016), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), and Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024).
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Ed Ruscha
- Occupations
- artistarchitectural draftspersondesignerphotographerdraftsperson
- Biography
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Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. He is also noted for creating several artist's books. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California.
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Julia Holter
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 2009 graduated with composed musical work
- Occupations
- record producermusiciansongwritersinger
- Biography
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Julia Shammas Holter is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist, and academic, based in Los Angeles. Her work has received critical acclaim and incorporates elements of art pop, chamber pop, baroque pop and ambient. Following three independent album productions, Holter released Tragedy as her first official studio album in 2011. Ekstasis followed in 2012. After signing with Domino Records in 2013, she released the albums Loud City Song (2013), Have You in My Wilderness (2015), the live-in-the-studio album In the Same Room (2017) and the double album Aviary (2018).
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Amanda Aday
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorstage actorfilm directortelevision actor
- Biography
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Amanda Lee Aday is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring role as Dora Mae Dreifuss on the first season of the HBO series Carnivàle (2003–05).
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Ravi Coltrane
- Occupations
- jazz musicianrecord producersaxophonist
- Biography
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Ravi Coltrane is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.
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Arlene Klasky
- Occupations
- animatorfilm producerproducergraphic designerscreenwriter
- Biography
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Arlene Phyllis Klasky is an American animator, graphic designer, producer and co-founder of Klasky Csupo with Gábor Csupó. In 1999, she was named one of the "Top 25 Women in Animation" by Animation Magazine. She is most known for her work with Nickelodeon in the 1990s and 2000s. She, along with her ex-husband Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain, co-created the animated series Rocket Power and the series Rugrats as well as the 2021 revival series of the same name.
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Adrian Molina
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorscreenwriterfilm screenwriterstory artist
- Biography
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Adrian Molina is an American animator, storyboard artist and screenwriter who works for Pixar. He co-wrote the screenplay and story of Coco (2017), which he also co-directed.
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Kelly Asbury
- Occupations
- voice actorscreenwritercharacter designerconcept artistfilm director
- Biography
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Kelly Adam Asbury was an American film director, writer, voice actor, and illustrator. He was best known for directing the animated films Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), Shrek 2 (2004), Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), and UglyDolls (2019).
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Douglas Rushkoff
- Occupations
- journalistwriter
- Biography
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Douglas Mark Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture and his advocacy of open-source solutions to social problems.
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Peter Chung
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1979-1981
- Occupations
- film screenwritercharacter designerscreenwriterfilm directoranimator
- Biography
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Peter Chung is an American animator and director. He is best known for his unique style of animation, as well as for being the creator and director of Æon Flux and for his character design for Reign: The Conqueror (Alexander Senki).
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Skyler Page
- Occupations
- animatorscreenwritervoice actoractor
- Biography
-
Skyler Dale Page is an American former animator, writer, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network animated series Clarence, as well as for his tenure as a writer and storyboard artist on the series Adventure Time.
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Kolleen Park
- Occupations
- music directoractorconductor
- Biography
-
Kolleen Park is an American-born South Korean-Lithuanian musical director, conductor, and actress, and is also a judge on the Korean talent show Korea's Got Talent.
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Savage Steve Holland
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorcasting directorscreenwritertelevision producer
- Biography
-
Savage Steve Holland is an American film and television director, writer, producer, animator and voice actor most known for directing Better Off Dead (1985) and One Crazy Summer (1986), starring John Cusack. He also directed the film How I Got into College (1989), and animated the "Whammy" on the game show Press Your Luck. He later went on to create and produce Eek! the Cat and The Terrible Thunderlizards for Fox Kids.
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Arturo Márquez
- Occupations
- composerconductor
- Biography
-
Arturo Márquez Navarro is a Mexican composer of orchestral music who uses musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporates them into his compositions. His best known work is Danzón No. 2.
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Tom Lin Shu-yu
- Years
- 1976-.. (age 49)
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriter
- Biography
-
Thomas Lin Shu-yu is a Taiwanese director and screenwriter. After the critical success of his first two features, Winds of September (2008), for which he won Best Original Screenplay at the 45th Golden Horse Awards, and Starry Starry Night (2011), he has been considered a leading filmmaker of his generation. His films often deal with autobiographical elements.
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Don Bachardy
- Occupations
- screenwriterartistpainter
- Biography
-
Donald Jess Bachardy is an American portrait artist. He resides in Santa Monica, California. Bachardy was the partner of Christopher Isherwood for more than 30 years.
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Mike Rianda
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorfilm directoranimatorvoice actor
- Biography
-
Michael Rianda is an American cartoonist, director, screenwriter, and voice actor. He is known for his work on Gravity Falls as a creative director and writer for season 1, and creative consultant for season 2. He is also known for directing, co-writing, and co-starring his feature directorial debut The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
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Mark Osborne
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorfilm producerscreenwriterfilm screenwriter
- Biography
-
Mark Randolph Osborne is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He is best known for directing the animated films Kung Fu Panda (2008) and The Little Prince (2015), the former of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also directed the stop-motion short film More (1998), which was nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
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Robert Williams
- Occupations
- visual artistpaintercomics artistgraphic designerillustrator
- Biography
-
Robert L. Williams, often styled Robt. Williams, is an American painter, cartoonist, and founder of Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine. Williams was one of the group of artists who produced Zap Comix, along with other underground cartoonists, such as Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin, S. Clay Wilson, and Gilbert Shelton. His mix of California car culture, cinematic apocalypticism, and film noir helped to create a new genre of psychedelic imagery.
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James Lapine
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts in design
- Occupations
- theatrical directorscreenwritertelevision directorfilm directordirector
- Biography
-
James Elliot Lapine is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.
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Mark Bradford
- Occupations
- draftspersonvisual artistconceptual artistsculptorartist
- Biography
-
Mark Bradford is an American visual artist. Bradford was born, lives, and works in Los Angeles and studied at the California Institute of the Arts. Recognized for his collaged painting works, which have been shown internationally, his practice also encompasses video, print, and installation. Bradford was the U.S. representative for the 2017 Venice Biennale. He was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2021.
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Thor Freudenthal
- Years
- 1972-.. (age 53)
- Occupations
- directorfilm directorscreenwriter
- Biography
-
Thor Freudenthal is a German film director, screenwriter, animator and special effects artist best known for his work on Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.
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Gary Trousdale
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1974
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directormusic video directorvoice actortelevision director
- Biography
-
Gary Trousdale is an American animator, film director, screenwriter and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing films such as Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). He frequently works with Kirk Wise and Don Hahn.
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Aaron Johnson
- Occupations
- composerrecord producer
- Biography
-
Aaron Howard Johnson is an American music producer. Aaron has produced and mixed many artists including Alpha Rev, Secondhand Serenade, Katie Herzig, Adam Jensen, and Eve 6, but he is best known for producing hit albums for the Denver-based rock band the Fray.
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Eliza Hittman
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorfilm producer
- Biography
-
Eliza Hittman is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer from New York City. She has won multiple awards for her film Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which include the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award—both for best screenplay.
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Kyle Balda
- Occupations
- animatorfilm director
- Biography
-
Kyle Balda is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films The Lorax (2012), with Chris Renaud; Minions (2015) and Despicable Me 3 (2017), with Pierre Coffin; and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. He previously worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic before moving to Pixar where he worked on three of their films.
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Robert Stromberg
- Years
- 1965-.. (age 60)
- Occupations
- designerfilm director
- Biography
-
Robert Stromberg is an American special effects artist, designer and filmmaker.
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Eric Darnell
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directoractoranimatortelevision producer
- Biography
-
Eric Darnell is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, screenwriter, songwriter and occasional voice actor best known for co-directing Antz with Tim Johnson, as well as co-directing and co-writing Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted with Tom McGrath, as well as the spin off Penguins of Madagascar (2014) with Simon J. Smith.
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David Hammons
- Occupations
- paintervisual artistprintmakerarchitectural draftspersonvideo artist
- Biography
-
David Hammons is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s.
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Jorge R. Gutiérrez
- Occupations
- production designervoice actorscreenwriterfilm directorpainter
- Biography
-
Jorge R. Gutierrez is a Mexican-American animator, painter, and voice actor. He co-created with Sandra Equihua the Nickelodeon animated series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, co-wrote and directed The Book of Life, Son of Jaguar for Google, and Maya and the Three for Netflix Animation.
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Mark Andrews
- Occupations
- animatorscreenwritervoice actorfilm director
- Biography
-
Mark Elliott Andrews is an American filmmaker, animator, and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing (alongside Brenda Chapman) the 2012 Pixar feature film Brave. He was the story supervisor for The Incredibles, directed the short film One Man Band and co-wrote the short films Jack-Jack Attack and One Man Band.
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Eric Fischl
- Occupations
- art educatordraftspersongraphic artistsculptorprinter
- Biography
-
Eric Fischl is an American painter, sculptor, printmaker, draughtsman and educator. He is known for his paintings depicting American suburbia from the 1970s and 1980s.
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Catherine Opie
- Occupations
- photographeracademicfilm directoruniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Catherine Sue Opie is an American fine art photographer and educator. She lives and works in Los Angeles, as a professor of photography at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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Tony Bancroft
- Occupations
- film producercharacter animatorfilm directoranimatorvoice actor
- Biography
-
Tony Bancroft is an American animator and film director who frequently collaborates with Disney. He is the founder and owner of the faith-driven animation company Toonacious Family Entertainment. Tony is the Executive VP Creative Development and Production for DivideNine Animation Studios.
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Lorne Lanning
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1987-1989
- Occupations
- writervoice actorfilm directorvideo game developer
- Biography
-
Lorne Lanning is an American game designer, director, writer and voice actor. He is also co-founder and president of the video game developer Oddworld Inhabitants. He is best known for creating the Oddworld series including the games Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! and Oddworld: Soulstorm.
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Mark Edward
- Occupations
- stage magician
- Biography
-
Mark Edward was an American mentalist and author. He wrote books on mentalism and séance theory and production, including Psychic Blues (2009), where he discussed working for the Psychic Friends Network. Wilson made appearances on television as both primary consultant and on-air performer in programming such as ABC's The Con, A & E's Biography: "Houdini, the Great Escape", NBC's The Other Side, and Psychic Secrets Revealed, the Sci-Fi Channel's Mysteries, Magic and Miracles, Disney's Forces Beyond, as well as two episodes of the Learning Channel's Exploring the Unknown. His featured segment as a spirit medium on the pilot episode of Showtime's Penn & Teller's Bullshit! series, titled "Speaking with the Dead", helped secure an Emmy Award nomination for that episode in 2002. He coined the term "grief vampire" as a description of alleged psychic mediums who prey on vulnerable people. Edward was a fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
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Jill Culton
- Occupations
- animatorfilm directorscreenwriterdirectorvisual artist
- Biography
-
Jill Culton is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and screenwriter. With her directorial debut on Sony's first animated film, Open Season, she became the first female principal director of a big budget, computer-generated feature.
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Sam Doumit
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
-
Samia "Sam" Doumit is an American actress.
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Mark Henn
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1978
- Occupations
- character animatoranimator
- Biography
-
Mark Alan Henn is an American animator and film director. His work includes animated characters for Walt Disney Animation Studios films, most notably leading or titular characters and heroines. He served as the lead animator for Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), Young Simba in The Lion King (1994), the title character in Mulan (1998), and Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). Since all these characters except Simba became Disney Princesses, he came to be known as the "princess guy" around the studio. He directed the short films John Henry (2000) and D.I.Y. Duck (2024). Henn spent a total of 43 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, from 1980 until his retirement in 2023.
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Laura Rizzotto
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 2013
- Occupations
- composerguitaristsingerpianistsinger-songwriter
- Biography
-
Laura de Carvalho Rizzotto is a Latvian-Brazilian singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist. She released her debut studio album Made in Rio in 2011 through Universal Music Brazil, which included the single "Friend in Me". In 2014, she independently released her second studio album Reason to Stay, and independently released the extended play RUBY in 2017.
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Tony Oursler
- Occupations
- paintervisual artistvideo artistdraftspersondirector
- Biography
-
Tony Oursler is an American multimedia and installation artist married to Jacqueline Humphries. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the California Institute for the Arts, Valencia, California, in 1979. His art covers a range of mediums, working with video, sculpture, installation, performance, and painting. He lives and works in New York City.
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Nate Wood
- Years
- 1979-.. (age 46)
- Occupations
- jazz bassistjazz musicianjazz drummerjazz singerjazz guitarist
- Biography
-
Nate Wood is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist. He has performed with Wayne Krantz, Kneebody, Tigran Hamasyan, Louis Cole, The Calling, and Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders.
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Stephen Anderson
- Occupations
- voice actorscreenwriterstoryboard artistfilm screenwriterfilm director
- Biography
-
Stephen Anderson is an American storyboard artist, screenwriter, film director, and voice actor.
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Andrew Ahn
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts in film directing
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directordirectorfilm producer
- Biography
-
Andrew Ahn is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed the feature films Spa Night (2016), Driveways (2019), and Fire Island (2022).
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John Duncan
- Occupations
- musiciantelevision producer
- Biography
-
John Duncan is an American multi-platform artist whose body of work includes performance art, installations, contemporary music, video art and experimental film, often involving the extensive use of recorded sound. His music is composed mainly of recordings from shortwave radio, field recordings and voice. His events and installations are a form of existential research, often confrontational in nature. Duncan currently lives in Bologna, Italy.
