100 Notable alumni of
California Institute of the Arts
Updated:
California Institute of the Arts is 253rd in the world, 109th in North America, and 104th 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
- designeractordirectorwriterfilm producer
- Biography
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Timothy Walter Burton is an American filmmaker, animator, and writer. He is known for pioneering goth subculture in Hollywood, with his films employing a distinctive style that blends gothic horror and dark fantasy aesthetics with whimsical and surreal elements. He has received numerous accolades, including one Emmy Award and 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 France's Order of Arts and Letters in 2010.
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Alison Brie
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 2005 graduated with bachelor's degree in theatre art
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision directoractorvoice actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Alison Brie Schermerhorn is an American actress, writer, and producer.
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Ed Harris
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 1973 graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- film directordirectortelevision actorvoice actortheatrical director
- Biography
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Edward Allen Harris is an American actor and filmmaker. Harris received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in Apollo 13 (1995), The Truman Show (1998), and The Hours (2002). He also directed and starred in Pollock (2000) and Appaloosa (2008), the former earning him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
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Sofia Coppola
- Occupations
- photographerfilm actorfilm directoractordirector
- Biography
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Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has won an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, 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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Katey Sagal
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorsinger-songwriterfilm actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Katey Sagal is an American actress, songwriter and singer. She is known for playing Peg Bundy on Married... with Children (1987–1997) for which she was thrice nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, Turanga 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 was nominated for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2010 and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2012, and Louise Goldufski-Conner on The Conners (2018–2025).
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David Hasselhoff
- Occupations
- businesspersonfilm actortelevision producervoice actorstage actor
- 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 soap opera 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 the crime drama series Knight Rider (1982–1986) and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the drama series 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
- television producertelevision directorvideo game actorvoice actorfilm screenwriter
- 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
- film directorwriterfilm produceractorfilm actor
- 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
- voice actoractorcomediantelevision actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor and 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
- television producerbiologistcartoonistanimatorvoice actor
- Biography
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Stephen McDannell Hillenburg was an American animator, writer, producer, director, voice actor, and marine biology educator. He was best known for creating the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants for Nickelodeon in 1999. The show has become the fourth 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
- film producerexecutive producerfilm directorfilm editoranimator
- Biography
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John Alan Lasseter is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, 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
- film producerfilm directoranimatoractordirector
- Biography
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Philip Bradley Bird is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He developed an interest in the art of animation early on, and completed his first short subject by age 14. Bird sent the film to Walt Disney Productions, leading to an apprenticeship from the studio's Nine Old Men. He attended the California Institute of the Arts in the late 1970s, and worked for Disney shortly thereafter.
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James Mangold
- Occupations
- film screenwriterfilm producerfilm directoractordirector
- 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), Knight and Day (2010), 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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Michael Cudlitz
- Occupations
- television actorfilm directortelevision directoractorvoice actor
- Biography
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Michael Cudlitz is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/TNT drama series Southland (2009–2013) 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 (2001), and Sergeant Abraham Ford in the AMC horror series The Walking Dead (2014–2018).
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Eliza Coupe
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Eliza 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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Alex Hirsch
- Occupations
- television writertelevision produceractoranimatorwriter
- Biography
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Alexander Hirsch is an American animator, writer, producer, and voice actor. He created the Disney Channel and Disney XD animated series Gravity Falls, and voiced its characters Grunkle Stan, Soos Ramirez, and Bill Cipher, among others. The show has won several BAFTA and Annie Awards.
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Laraine Newman
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision actorwritervoice actorfilm 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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Kathy Baker
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Katherine Whitton Baker is an American actress. Baker began her career in theater and made her screen debut in the 1983 drama film The Right Stuff. She received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance in Street Smart (1987). Baker also has appeared in over 50 films, including Jacknife (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Cider House Rules (1999), Cold Mountain (2003), Nine Lives (2005), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), Last Chance Harvey (2008), Take Shelter (2011), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
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Bill Irwin
- Occupations
- television actormime artisttheatrical directorclownplaywright
- 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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Pete Docter
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterexecutive producervoice actoranimator
- Biography
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Peter Hans Docter is an American director and animator. He 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 directordirectoractoranimatorvoice actor
- Biography
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Andrew Ayers Stanton is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films Finding Nemo (2003), WALL-E (2008), and Finding Dory (2016). He also directed and co-wrote the live-action film John Carter (2012) for Walt Disney Pictures and directed the live-action film In the Blink of an Eye (2026) for Searchlight Pictures. For Pixar, Stanton was additionally the co-director and co-writer of A Bug's Life (1998), the co-writer of each of the Toy Story films (1995-present) and Monsters, Inc. (2001), and occasional voice actor for various films, most notably Crush the Turtle from Finding Nemo.
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Henry Selick
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorfilm directoranimatorfilm producer
- Biography
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Charles Henry Selick Jr. is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his work in stop-motion animation and for directing the 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. For Coraline, Selick received an Academy Award nomination for the Best Animated Feature.
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Pendleton Ward
- Occupations
- film directoractoranimatortelevision producervoice actor
- 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 television series Adventure Time, the web series Bravest Warriors, and the adult animated interview streaming series The Midnight Gospel.
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Chris Sanders
- Occupations
- illustratorcharacter designerdirectorscreenwriteranimator
- Biography
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Christopher Michael Sanders is an American filmmaker, animator, writer, storyboard artist 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; and The Wild Robot (2024), receiving nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for all of them. In 2020, he made his live-action directorial debut with the adventure-drama The Call of the Wild. He created the popular Disney character Stitch in 1985, wrote the film's story, and voiced Stitch in most of his media appearances.
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Ariel Pink
- Occupations
- composersinger-songwriterguitaristmusician
- 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 the "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
- film directorpodcasteranimatorfilm producerscreenwriter
- Biography
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Elmer Earl "Butch " Hartman IV is an American animator, illustrator, writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He is best known for creating the animated television shows 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 its 16-year run.
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J. G. Quintel
- Occupations
- actorscreenwritertelevision producervoice actoranimator
- Biography
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James Garland Quintel is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, writer, producer, and voice actor. He created 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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Peter Sohn
- Occupations
- film directoranimatoractordirectorvoice actor
- 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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Chris Lemmon
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Christopher Boyd Lemmon is an American actor and author.
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Craig McCracken
- Occupations
- cartoonistscreenwritertelevision directoranimatortelevision producer
- 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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Mageina Tovah
- Occupations
- television actorfilm directoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Mageina Tovah is an American actress. She had roles as Glynis Figliola in the television series Joan of Arcadia, as Ursula Ditkovich in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 and Zelda Schiff, the head librarian in The Magicians.
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Gail Ann Dorsey
- Occupations
- backing vocalistsingerguitarist
- 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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Maneesh Sharma
- Occupations
- film directordancerdirectoractorfilm producer
- Biography
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Maneesh Sharma is an Indian filmmaker who is known for his work in Hindi films. He has directed films such as Band Baaja Baaraat (2010), Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (2011), Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), and Fan (2016).
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Lauren Faust
- Occupations
- painterscreenwritertelevision produceranimatorfilm director
- 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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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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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..
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Julie Taymor
- Occupations
- film directordirectorcostume designerscenographerfilm producer
- 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
- film actorfilm directoranimatoractortelevision producer
- 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, with McGrath reprising his role as Skipper in all cases. McGrath also directed the DreamWorks animated films Megamind 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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Condola Rashād
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- 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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John Maus
- Occupations
- record producercomposermusician
- 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 music church modes, a combination that often draws comparisons to 1980s goth-pop. His early lo-fi music 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 Hawaiʻi, where he later earned his PhD in political science.
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Deborah Joy Winans
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Deborah Joy 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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Mary Costa
- Occupations
- voice actoropera singeractorfilm actor
- 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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Walt Dohrn
- Occupations
- film directordirectormusiciantelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Walter Dohrn is an American writer, director, animator, musician, and voice 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. With Conrad Vernon, he is co-directing Shrek 5, set for release in 2027.
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Chris Buck
- Occupations
- concept artistcharacter designeractorcomposervoice actor
- 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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Rich Moore
- Occupations
- film directoranimatorfilm produceractorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Rich Moore is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter, producer 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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Chris Miller
- Occupations
- film actorfilm directoranimatoractorvoice actor
- 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. At Paramount Animation, he was the leader, director, and star of the Smurfs (2025), in which he provided the voices of Grouchy Smurf and Camouflage.
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Tony Anselmo
- Occupations
- dub actorcharacter animatorclean-up artistvoice actoractor
- 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, and his girlfriend, Daisy Duck.
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John Musker
- Occupations
- character animatordirectorfilm directorfilm producerscreenwriter
- Biography
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John Edward Musker is an American animator and filmmaker. 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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Glen Keane
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1974
- Occupations
- concept artistcharacter designeranimatorcartoonistwriter
- 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, 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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Michel Ocelot
- Occupations
- painterscreenwritermanufacturerdirectoranimator
- Biography
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Michel Ocelot is a French screenwriter, 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
- comics writerfilm directoranimatortelevision producercreative director
- Biography
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Patrick Nolen McHale is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, director, and musician. He is best known for creating the animated television miniseries Over the Garden Wall.
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Michael Fitzpatrick
- Occupations
- singersongwritermusician
- Biography
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Michael Sean "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, known professionally as FITZ, is a French musician, who is the lead vocalist of the indie pop/neo-soul band Fitz and the Tantrums.
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Brenda Chapman
- Occupations
- actorscreenwriterstoryboard artistanimatorfilm director
- 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 filmmaker, actor and animator. He is known for directing Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Sky High (2005), 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
- installation artistsculptorvisual artistpaintergraphic designer
- 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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Amanda Aday
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directortelevision actoractorfilm 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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Arlene Klasky
- Occupations
- graphic designerscreenwritertelevision produceranimatorfilm producer
- Biography
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Arlene Phyllis Klasky is an American retired 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 Rugrats, as well as the 2021 revival series of the same name.
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Ravi Coltrane
- Occupations
- record producersaxophonistjazz musician
- Biography
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Ravi Coltrane is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced music for pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.
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Adrian Molina
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm screenwriterstory artistlyricistanimator
- Biography
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Adrian Molina is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter and director. He is best known for his works at Pixar, including co-writing and co-directing Coco and Elio (2025), with the latter being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
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Julia Holter
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 2009 graduated with composed musical work
- Occupations
- songwritersingerrecord producermusician
- 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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Kelly Asbury
- Occupations
- character designerconcept artistfilm directoranimatoractor
- 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, professor, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, documentarian and podcaster. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems, his critique of technocapitalism, and his call to retrieve our humanity in a digital age.
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Peter Chung
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1979-1981
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directoranimatorfilm screenwritercharacter designer
- 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.
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Skyler Page
- Occupations
- screenwritervoice actoractoranimator
- Biography
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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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Savage Steve Holland
- Occupations
- casting directorscreenwritertelevision producervoice actoranimator
- Biography
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Savage Steve Holland is an American film and television director, writer, producer, animator and voice actor most known for directing Better Off Dead 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
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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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Kolleen Park
- Occupations
- conductorsingeractormusic director
- Biography
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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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Tom Lin Shu-yu
- Years
- 1976-.. (age 50)
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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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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Mike Rianda
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorfilm directoranimatorvoice actor
- Biography
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Michael Rianda is an American cartoonist, animator, 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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Don Bachardy
- Occupations
- painterscreenwriterartist
- Biography
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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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James Lapine
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts in design
- Occupations
- television directorfilm directordirectorlibrettistmusic director
- 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, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.
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Mark Osborne
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterfilm screenwriterexecutive produceranimator
- Biography
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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
- paintercomics artistgraphic designerillustratorvisual artist
- Biography
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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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Mark Bradford
- Occupations
- conceptual artistsculptorartistinstallation artistphotographer
- Biography
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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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Gary Trousdale
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 1974
- Occupations
- voice actortelevision directoreffects animatoractordirector
- 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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Thor Freudenthal
- Years
- 1972-.. (age 54)
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorfilm director
- 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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Eliza Hittman
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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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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Jorge R. Gutiérrez
- Occupations
- film directorpainteranimatortelevision producerproduction designer
- Biography
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Jorge Ramirez Gutierrez, also known as Super Macho is a Mexican animator, writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He co-created the Nickelodeon animated series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera with his wife Sandra Equihua, and co-wrote and directed the film The Book of Life and the television miniseries Maya and the Three. He and Equihua founded the production studio Mexopolis in 1994.
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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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Eric Darnell
- Occupations
- film directoractoranimatortelevision producervoice actor
- 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. Darnell now serves as co-founder and chief creative officer of Baobab Studios.
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Robert Stromberg
- Years
- 1965-.. (age 61)
- Occupations
- production designerdesignerfilm director
- Biography
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Robert Stromberg is an American special effects artist, production designer, filmmaker, and film director. He is best known for his work on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland (2010), for which he won consecutive Academy Awards, and for directing Disney's Maleficent (2014).
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David Hammons
- Occupations
- architectural draftspersonvideo artistdraftspersoninstallation artistconceptual 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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Mark Andrews
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorvoice actorstoryboard artistanimator
- Biography
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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 and Ratatouille, directed the short film One Man Band and co-wrote the short films Jack-Jack Attack and One Man Band.
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Catherine Opie
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- In 1988 graduated with Master of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- university teacherphotographerfilm director
- Biography
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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
- voice directorcharacter animatorvoice actoranimatorfilm director
- Biography
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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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Laura Rizzotto
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Studied in 2013
- Occupations
- singerpianistsinger-songwritercomposerguitarist
- 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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Jill Culton
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorvisual artiststoryboard artistanimator
- Biography
-
Jill Culton is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and screenwriter. With her directorial debut on Sony Pictures Animation's first animated film, Open Season, she became the first female principal director of a big budget, computer-generated feature film.
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Mark Edward
- Occupations
- 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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Andrew Ahn
- Enrolled in California Institute of the Arts
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts in film direction
- 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), Fire Island (2022), and The Wedding Banquet (2025).
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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 Basil, Dr. David Q. Dawson, and Olivia in The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Oliver, Jenny, and Dodger in Oliver & Company (1988), Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), Bernard and Bianca in The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), Young Simba in The Lion King (1994), the title character in Mulan (1998), Grace, Wesley, Rusty, and Pearl Gesner in Home on the Range (2004), Ronno in Bambi (2006), Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh (2011). Since many of these characters are 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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Sam Doumit
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Samia "Sam" Doumit is an American actress.
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Stephen Anderson
- Occupations
- film screenwriterfilm directoranimatoractorvoice actor
- Biography
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Stephen Anderson is an American animator and voice actor working for Walt Disney Animation Studios.
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Tony Oursler
- Occupations
- video artistdraftspersondirectorinstallation artisttelevision producer
- 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 of 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 47)
- Occupations
- jazz musicianjazz drummerjazz singerjazz guitaristjazz bassist
- 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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Ann Telnaes
- Occupations
- cartoonistanimatorjournalist
- Biography
-
Ann Carolyn Telnaes is an American editorial cartoonist. She creates cartoons in forms including animation, visual essays, live sketches, and traditional print. She worked for The Washington Post from 2008 until her resignation on January 3, 2025. She held a solo exhibition at the Great Hall in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in 2004.
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Sharon Robinson
- Occupations
- singersinger-songwriterwritercomposerrecord producer
- Biography
-
Sharon Robinson is an American singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for frequent writing and collaborating with Leonard Cohen, although she has written songs for a number of other artists including The Pointer Sisters, Aaron Neville, Brenda Russell, Diana Ross, Don Henley, Michael Bolton, Randy Crawford, Patti LaBelle, Roberta Flack, The Temptations, Bettye LaVette, and others.
