Where Are They Now?
Our alumni have gone on to widely successful careers in film and television including shows like South Park, Glee, American Horror Story, Survivor, Blindspot, The L Word, and Heist. In recent years, their names are credited in films like Gone Girl, The Bling Ring, La La Land, Promising Young Woman, The Batman, Creed III, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Renfield, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Top Gun: Maverick, Barbie, and Joker: Folie à Deux. Recent credits include groundbreaking hits and award-winning television shows like Mad Men, WandaVision, Fargo, Russian Doll, Poker Face, and Only Murders in the Building among many others.
Alumni from CU-CINE are members of the American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.), the Producers Guild of America (P.G.A.), the Writers Guild of America (W.G.A.), and multiple branches of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) including the Motion Picture Costumers, the Set Decorators Society of America, and the International Cinematographers Guild. Alumni of this Department have been recipients of Emmys, Tonys, Peabody Awards, three Student Academy Awards, and multiple other honors. They also have been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, ACE Eddies and many other professional, industry, and guild-based recognitions. Yet others have pursued careers in film festivals, film and media archiving, preservation, game design, talent agencies, sports media, trade publications, journalism, law, education, academia, and many other successful careers outside the entertainment industries.
Here are what some of our CINE Grads are up to now (compiled from IMDb and LinkedIn):
(BFA, 1996) is a camera operator on various documentaries, including the Oscar winning film The Cove. Most recently he has worked as director of photography on documentary series like the Outdoor Channel’s Hollywood Weapons and A&E’s First Blood.
(MFA, 2015) is Teaching Associate Professor of Film Studies at Colorado State University.
(BFA, 2007) is the Vice President of Physical Production Animation at Nickleodeon Animation. She has previously worked as Production Executive for Netflix Animation, overseeing projects like the Oscar winning Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.
Sonia Amodeo (BFA, 2013) was a distribution assistant at Annapurna Pictures in Los Angeles.
(BA, 2013) was location coordinator on The Hateful Eight and a camera assistant on various seasons of NBC’s mega-hit show Survivor.
Adam Barenblat (BFA, 2008) was a motion graphics artist at Nintendo of America, now running causeandfx media LLC.
Thatcher Bean(BFA, 2011) is a senior media producer and director at MASS Design Group in Barcelona, Spain.
Cristina Benavente (BA, 2013) was an executive assistant at United Talent Agency in Los Angeles. She is now a development coordinator at Merman Branded Content Company in Los Angeles.
Natalie Bograd (BA, 2011; MA University of Texas-Austin) was a primary school teacher at Compass Academy in Denver. She is now Marketing & Communications Associate for “New York Cares,” one of the most visible and respected non-profits in the city.
Jennifer Brown (BFA, 2019) is Video Production Manager for the YouTube channel “Living in Colorado.”
(BA, 2010) is a film producer at Annapurna Pictures where he has credit on the films of Kathryn Bigelow and David O. Russell including Zero Dark Thirty, American Hustle, Joy, Detroit, and Amsterdam.
EJ Callahan (BA, 2003) is a Film & Video teacher at the International Baccalaureate Program at the American International School of Bucharest in Bucharest, Romania. He previously taught Film and Video at the IB Program at Western Academy in Beijing, PR of China.
Mathew Campbell (BA, 2008) was head Film Programmer and is now Artistic Director at the Denver Film Society.
Alaina Campbell (BFA, 2018) was Post Production for Coyote Ranch Films, and CueMotion Media, and is now Production Coordinator for the Denver Film Festival.
Jessica Carman (BA, 2020) is a producer at DayDreamer Media Group in Denver, CO.
Ted Chalfen (BFA, 2016) was a video editor for UCLA Women’s Basketball. He was a producer and editor at the NFL Network in Los Angeles. He is now an editor at Fox Sports.
Vanessa Cornejo (BFA, 2021) is Video and Social Content Creator at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
(BFA, 2006) was Head of Production at VICE Media in New York and is now Executive Producer at Cousins Media in New York. She previously worked in the camera and electrical department for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) and It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010).
(BFA, 2009) is a score composer recently nominated for the Emmy Award in the “Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary” category for The Social Dilemma (2021).
Melina Dabney (BA, MA 2017; MLIS San Jose State University) is a technical writer and software tester for CACI International Inc. She previously worked as the Director of Library Information at the Mental Health Institute of Colorado.
Daniel Dávila (BA, 2008; MD Northwestern University) is a surgery resident at Froedtert Hospital and Medical College of Wisconsin.
(BFA, 2019) was post production assistant on HBO’s Moonshot. She has recently earned screen credit on the feature films Jerry and Marge Go Large, and You Hurt My Feelings.
Taylor Dunne (MFA, 2014) is Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire.
Kristin Edwards-Brown(BFA, 2011) was Programming Coordinator at The Outdoor Channel in Denver, and advertising coordinator at National CineMedia in Centennial, CO. She is now Senior Content Operations Specialist of Programming at DISH Network.
Adam Elbeck (BA, 2017) is the Vice President of Sales at Nova Solar in Orem, Utah. He previously worked as a Production and Treatment coordinator at The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles.
Mathew N. Evans (BA, BFA 2005; MFA Columbia University) is assistant professor of screenwriting at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Elisabeth Farmer (BA, 2012; JD, Santa Clara School of Law) is a Research Associate in the head-hunting firm Russell Reynolds Associates in San Francisco.
Brett Forrest (BA, 2011; MS Columbia U.) was commercials and promotions producer at FOX 31, Denver, and a digital producer at TEGNA Broadcast Media in the Washington DC area. He is now a documentary producer/director for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in New York, and an Emmy-winning journalist and news anchor.
Sean Forrest (BA, MA 2010) is an Instructor of Film Studies and Film History at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
(BA, 2013) began her career at The Oceanic Preservation Society in Colorado, where her team produced Oscar winning and Emmy nominated Racing Extinction (broadcasted internationally to 220 countries and territories). Her work has appeared on outlets worldwide, including The National Geographic, NBC, Pac-12 Networks, the Discovery Channel, The New York Times, Vanity Fair and many prestigious film festivals around the world. Taylor's projects have resulted in nominations and wins for 5 Oscars, 9 Emmys, and 5 Golden Globes.
Alfonso Galindo (BA, 2021) works with media operations at NBC Universal.
Kimberlee Granholm (BA, 2009; MS UCLA) is a media archivist at Apple, Inc.
Danielle Gerber (BA, BFA, 2007) was a production executive at American Movie Classics, Hulu Networks, and WarnerMedia. She is now VP of Production at Endeavor Content, the company behind such hits as La La Land, The Two Popes, and Killing Eve.
Sarah Weber (NĂ©e Goode) (BA, 2010; MBA University of Denver) is Director of Marketing and Communications for Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
JR Greger (BA, 2014) works in Research Operations at Riot Games in Los Angeles.
Rachel Griego (BA, BFA, 2008) has worked as Creative Project Manager at high end companies like Playboy, Inc., Fender Music, and Kosas Cosmetics in Los Angeles.
Andrew Hafnor (BFA, 2013) is a line producer at Jigsaw Productions in New York. Previously, he was a Producer at Shoot To Kill, an advertising production company whose clients include GQ, New Balance, Condé Naste, and Under Armour.
Sheima Hassanlou (BFA, 2002) is an Emmy nominated commercial producer and a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She is a creative producer at Crimson + Cognac in Los Angeles.
(BA, 2010) was a script coordinator at Warner Bros. Television in Los Angeles. She was a script coordinator on the NBC hit show Blindspot and is now at Warner Bros. Entertainment.
(BFA, 2016) is assistant to the producer at Leverage Productions and has screen-credit on recent Mark Wahlberg films Infinite and Father Stu.
Jamie Herschel(BA, 2017) is TV Literary Assistant at Paradigm Talent Agency in Los Angeles.
Kate Hinshaw (MFA, 2021) is Assistant Professor of Film at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
(BFA, 2008) is a camera operator, focus-puller, and a proud member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE, local 600) and the Producers Guild of America (PGA). She has recently worked on films like La La Land, Battle of the Sexes, Annabel: Creation, A Wrinkle in Time, First Man, White Boy Rick, the hit TV show Good Girls on NBC, HBO’s The Dropout, and Apple TV’s Shrinking, starring Harrison Ford and Jason Segel.
Dawn Hollison (MFA, 2011) is Lecturer IV and Academic Advisor in the Department of Film, Television & Media at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
(BFA, 2005) is a film editor whose credits include HBO’s The Night of, Jonah Hill’s Mid 90s and many others. He has been Greta Gerwig’s film editor since her Oscar-nominated hits Lady Bird and Little Women, as well as her mega-blockbuster Barbie. He is a member of the prestigious, exclusive “American Cinema Editors.”
(BFA, 2000; MFA, Loyola Marymount) is a digital compositor in Hollywood with credit in such recent hit films as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Rogue One, Dr Strange, La La Land, Battle of the Sexes, The Predator, Jungle Cruise, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Haydn Jones (BA, 2012) is the head of Youth Talent/Young Adult Talent and Brand Partnerships at Luxe Talent Agency in Los Angeles, California.
Rachel Joseph (BA, 2016) is a production assistant at Mighteor Media, a production company specializing in web marketing.
(BFA, 2001; MFA San Francisco State) is co-founder and executive director of Cinefemme, a non-profit corporation that since 2002 has been mentoring, sponsoring, and raising financing to develop film and art projects made exclusively by innovative, diverse female and female-identifying artists and filmmakers. Industry credits include RuPaul’s Drag Race and Gay for Play, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.
Dana Kopenhefer (BA, 2014) is Director of Operations and Strategic projects at Team4Tech in Ventura, California.
Paul Lee(BFA, 1999) is an editor and videographer for Centre Communications in Denver.
Michelle Litton Ogaidi (BA, 2005) is the supervising P.A.C.E. teacher and Middle School Department Head at Forest Charter School in Nevada City, CA.
Katherine Lockridge(BA, 2023) is Programming Coordinator at Fathom Events in Denver.
Daniel LorĂa (BA, 2008; MA New York University) is Editorial Director at Box Office magazine and Box Office Media.
(BFA, 2000; MFA University of Miami) is an assistant production coordinator with credits in films such as The Fate of the Furious, Gone Girl, The Hateful Eight, X Men: First Class, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. Most recently he has recent credits on Black Adam, Top Gun: Maverik, Black Adam, and the Mission Impossible movies.
(BA, 2017) was an associate at Film Nation with credits on various productions including The Personal History of David Copperfield, and Promising Young Woman, and is now back to Showtime’s The L Word and The L Word: Generation Q.
David Marek(BA, BFA, 2004; MFA, 2009) is Lecturer III and Associate Chair in the Department of Film, Television & Media at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
(BFA, 2011) is a comedy writer for National Lampoon’s The Final Edition, assistant to the creator and executive producer, and a staff writer on the hit IFC show Stan Against Evil. She is now a proud member of the Writer’s Guild of America.
Mark McCoin (MFA, 2009) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Texas-San Antonio.
Andrew McGraw (BA, 2018) is a video editor for Crocs. He previously was a Data Operator at Vice News in NY, and was an Asset Coordinator for the International Marketing team at STARZ.
Jason Mercado (BA, 2006) is a Language Arts and International Baccalaureate teacher at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, CO.
(BA, 2017) was a VFX production assistant at Marvel Studios and worked on the films Ant Man and The Wasp and Venom. She is now visual effects coordinator at MFX Studios in Los Angeles.
Joseph Miller (BFA, 1994; MFA University of Kansas) is Associate Professor of English at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA.
(BFA, 2011) was an assistant editor on the hit NBC drama Blindspot and at BentoBox Entertainment in Los Angeles. Most recently she was an assistant editor with screen credit on the Amazon hit series A League of Their Own, and Illumination’s blockbuster The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Kate Mills (BA, 2007) is a senior product designer at SonderMind in Denver, Colorado.
Alyssa Moody (BA, 2008) is Casting Administrator at Disney General Entertainment in Los Angeles.
is working in art and props departments, most recently on the Joker sequel Folie Ă Deux, with JoaquĂn Phoenix and Lady Gaga, splattering into theaters in 2024.
Andrea Moreno (BA, 2013) is Content Marketing Coordinator of Original Programming at Hulu Networks in Los Angeles.
Kathleen Morisseau (BA, 2006; JD, Chapman University School of Law) is an Associate attorney at Korey Richardson LLC Law Firm in Los Angeles.
(BFA, 2015) has worked as locations assistant in HBO’s Watchmen, 21st Century’s The Gifted, Paramount’s Ghost Draft, and Sony’s Jumanji: The Next Level, Zombieland: Double Tap, and The Walking Dead.
Melissa Myser (BA, BFA, 2011; MFA, University of Illinois) was Assistant Professor of Communication Arts at Western Colorado University in Gunnison.
Erin Neitzel (BFA, 2019) is a filmmaker and professional 35mm projectionist at Metrograph in New York.
(BFA, 2005) is an editor and digital FX artist in Los Angeles. His film and TV credits include Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, House of Cards, Birdman, The Revenant, Mindhunter, co-editor credit in 2022’s The Batman, and solo editor credit in Creed III.
Marty O’Connor(BA, 2010; MBA Chapman University) is VP of Business Development for DIVERTCity in Los Angeles, and the Founder and Chairman of the Marty O’Connor Foundation for Progress.
Alexis Piñeiro (BA, 2015) is a video editor at KSL-5 TV in Salt Lake City.
Mary Beth Reed (BFA, 1999; MFA Bard) is Associate Professor of Photography and Film at Virginia Commonwealth University.
John Regalado (BFA, 2012) is the creative director for Jubilee Media, video company based in Los Angeles, California.
(BA, 2017) has been production assistant at Annapurna Pictures, and is now an executive assistant at Animal Pictures, the production company founded by Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyone. She has earned credits on the hit shows Russian Doll, Loot, Crush, and Poker Face.
(BFA, 2010; MFA Columbia University) is director of creative development and producer at Exposure Labs, the Boulder-based company behind the environmental documentary hits Chasing Coral, Chasing Ice, and The Social Dilemma.
Raine Roberts(BFA, 2019) is an archival assistant at Sutter Road Pictures. He was previously an assistant editor at Technicolor PostWorks in New York.
Danielle Salinas (BA, 2010; MS Metro State University) is a Mental Health Technician at Centennial Peaks Hospital in Denver.
(BFA, 1988) is a camera operator and second unit cameraman. His many credits include the TV series Gotham, and the feature films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and American Hustle.
(BFA, 2009) is an animator with recent stop-motion credits in The Boxtrolls, Booksmart, and Henry Selick’s Wendell & Wild. She is now VFX Coordinator for Laika Animation Studios in Portland, OR.
Shira Segal (BA, 2000; MA University of London; PhD Indiana) was the director of the Film Studies minor in the Department of Art & Art History at State University of New York, Albany. She is currently Collaborations and Engagement Manager at MIT OpenCourseWare in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Emily Scraggs (BFA, 2015) is an Account-Based Marketing Specialist at Broadcom Inc. in Boulder, CO.
(BFA, 2009; MFA Chapman) is a film editor and assistant editor; she recently had screen credit on the film Passengers, On the Basis of Sex, FX’s hit show Fargo, and the Netflix hit Pieces of Her.
Wenhua “Jimmy” Shi (BFA, 2005; MFA University of California-Berkeley) is Assistant Professor of Film and Video at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
(BFA, 1999; MFA Florida State) is a film editor with credits on hit “History TV” shows like The Curse of Oak Island, The Curse of the Civil War Gold, Ancient Aliens, and The UnXplained.
(BFA, 2009) is co-founder and president at the award-winning motion graphics company Mass FX Media in Denver. Their works include Chasing Coral, The Social Dilemma, Q: Into the Storm, and The Love Bugs, for which they won the Motion Award for documentary film graphics.
(BA, 2013) was a production assistant at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank. She has worked on such films as Zootopia, Moana, and Ralph Wrecks the Internet. She is now a production coordinator at DreamWorks’ Fast & Furious: Spy Racers.
Erin Steinke (BFA, 2009) is Program operations manager at NBC Universal Media.
(BFA, 2011) is a set decorator in New York and a proud member of IATSE Local 52 and the Set Decorators Society of America. Her recent credits include HBO’s The Flight Attendant, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Mike Mill’s C’mon C’mon, American Horror Story, and Hulu’s mega-hit Only Murders in the Building.
Katey St. John (BFA, 2020) is an Assistant Editor at Ark Media in Brooklyn, New York.
(BFA, 2009) is a producer with Peter Greenberg World Wide, the weekly travel show sponsored by the United Nations, featuring the NBC celebrity travel expert. Darra was a producer and associate producer on The Travel Detective and production manager on the podcast Solar, starring Alan Cumming and Helen Hunt.
(BFA, 1993) is an animator, director, voice actor, and co-creator of South Park and The Book of Mormon. He has won five Primetime Emmys and three Tony Awards for his work on South Park and The Book of Mormon.
(BFA, 1992) is a television and film producer and director and one of the creative partners of South Park. He was a producer of the hit film Team America: World Police, and he was the CU Boulder Commencement speaker in spring 2015.
(BFA, 2002; MFA Mass. Art) is an animatic editor at Nickelodean Animation. She previously worked as an animation editor for Netflix, Walt Disney Animation, and Cartoon Network where she worked on Gravity Falls, We Bare Bears, and Ben 10.
Allison Veneris (BA, 2014) is a talent manager at Authentic Talent and Literary.
(BA, 2007) is a costumer and costume designer, and a member of Motion Picture Costume Designers Local 705. Her recent credits include Ad Astra, Cristopher Nolan’s Tenet, and Michael Bay’s Ambulance. Most recently she earned assistant costume designer credit in the hit horror comedy Renfield.
Anna Vrieling (BA, BFA, 2013; MFA Savannah College of Art & Design) was a Senior Animator at Hi-Rez Gaming Studios near Atlanta, GA. She is now Senior Animator at Heart Machine Game Studio in Los Angeles.
Rachel Walkup(BA, MA 2022) is Advertising Operations Specialist at National CineMedia in Centennial, CO.
Shayna Weingast (BA, 2010; MA New York University) was an associate programmer and talent manager at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. She now works for Starz Network in program acquisitions.
Daniela Weinreich(BA, 2018) is a production assistant for the Telluride film festival 2 years in a row, the first woman long term PA at Sundance, and has also worked at the San Francisco International and Mill Valley Film Festivals among others.
(BFA, 2004) was postproduction coordinator on such hit films as The Lone Ranger, The Jungle Book, Divergent: Insurgent, A Wrinkle in Time, and was postproduction supervisor on Netflix’s Mindhunter and Marvel’s WandaVision.
Grant Wiedenfeld (BFA, BA 2002; MFA UW-Milwaukee; PhD Yale) is an Associate Professor of Media and Culture at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas and the author of the book Hollywood Sports Movies and the American Dream (Oxford University Press, 2022).
Jennifer Wild (BA, 1996; MA, PhD University of Iowa), was Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Chicago, and the author of the book The Parisian Avant-Garde in the Age of Cinema (1900-1923) published by the University of California Press. She is now Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Southern California.
Kristen Williams(BFA, 2019) is assistant editor at VICE Media in New York.
Hannah Wold (BA, 2017; MA UT-Austin) was assistant to the Executive Director, and later Denver Manager of Grants and Fiscal Sponsorship of the Denver Film Society. She is now Programs Coordinator at the Center for Entertainment and Media Industries in Austin, Texas.
(BA, BFA, 2002) is an Emmy Award winning television producer at Ryan Murphy Productions. She has producing credits on such hit shows as Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story, The People vs. O.J. Simpson (2016), The Assassination of Gianni Versace (2018), American Crime Story: Impeachment (2022), and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022). She has won three Emmys for her work on American Crime Story and The Normal Heart along with a BAFTA for Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
(BFA, 2012) was a set production assistant on Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. She was a studio operations executive assistant at Warner Bros. Entertainment in Los Angeles, and is a casting associate on the show Barmaggedon, and production coordinator with screen credit on Netflix’s Heist.
Andrew Young(BA, BFA, 2008; PhD University of California, Los Angeles) is an Assistant professor and was Associate Chair of Graduate Studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Katy Ziegler (BA, 2016) is Grants and Communications Coordinator for the Colorado department of Higher Education in Denver.