USC Trojans in Hollywood

1. Will Ferrell

Producer | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

John William Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Betty Kay (Overman), a teacher, and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician. His parents were originally from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.

A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrell became interested in performing while a student ...

2. George Lucas

Writer | Star Wars

George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar ...

3. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

Despite popular belief, Steven Spielberg did not attend USC. He applied to USC film school three separate times, but was not successful. However, after Spielberg became famous, USC awarded him an honorary degree (Doctor of Fine Arts) in 1994 and in 1996 he became a trustee of the university.

4. Bryan Singer

Director | X-Men

Bryan Singer is an American film director and producer who got his start writing and co-directing the short film Lions Den with his classmates while he attended USC. He was hired by 20th Century Fox to direct X-Men, which helped kick-start the superhero renaissance. He later directed three sequels....

5. Ron Howard

Producer | Arrested Development

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1983), he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films.

Howard ...

6. Tom Selleck

Actor | Blue Bloods

Thomas William Selleck is an American actor and film producer, best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator "Thomas Magnum" on the 1980s television series, Magnum, P.I. (1980).

Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Martha (Jagger), a homemaker, and Robert Dean Selleck, a...

7. Deborah Ann Woll

Actress | True Blood

Deborah was born in 1985, in Brooklyn, New York, from Irish and German heritage. She took acting, piano and dance classes. She went to high school at Packer Collegiate Institute and graduated from the BFA program at the USC School of Theatre at the University of Southern California.

Deborah started ...

8. Paula Patton

Actress | Precious

Paula Patton was born in Los Angeles, California, to Joyce (Vanraden) and Charles Patton. Her father is African-American and her mother, who is caucasian, has German, English, and Dutch ancestry. Her family lived across the street from the 20th Century Fox lot when she was growing up and she was a ...

9. Kyra Sedgwick

Actress | The Closer

Kyra Minturn Sedgwick was born on August 19, 1965 in New York City to Patricia (Rosenwald), a family and speech therapist, and Henry Dwight Sedgwick V, a venture capitalist. Her mother was from an upper-class German Jewish family, and her father was from a wealthy Massachusetts clan of English ...

10. Patrick Schwarzenegger

Actor | Gen V

Patrick Schwarzenegger was born September 18, 1993, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. He graduated USC with a degree in Business and a minor in cinematic arts. Patrick started studying acting with Nancy Banks while at college. He is known for being GoldenBoy in GenV (2023), as ...

11. Miranda Cosgrove

Actress | Despicable Me 2

Miranda Taylor Cosgrove was born May 14, 1993 in Los Angeles, California, to Christina (Casey) and Tom Cosgrove, who owns a dry-cleaning business. She was discovered at a young age singing and dancing around a table in a restaurant, where an agent saw her talent and quickly signed her. Miranda's ...

12. Judd Apatow

Producer | Girls

Judd Apatow is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He directed The 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This is 40, Funny People, Trainwreck and The King of Staten Island. He also developed the television shows Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Girls, Love and Crashing. He is ...

13. Robert Zemeckis

Writer | Back to the Future

A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...

14. David Gallagher

Actor | 7th Heaven

David Lee Gallagher was born on February 9, 1985 in College Point, New York, to Elena (Lopez) and Darren James Gallagher. His stepfather is Vincent Casey. David is of Irish (father) and Cuban (mother) descent. At not even two years old, he landed his first print ad job and he has since done ...

15. Shonda Rhimes

Producer | Grey's Anatomy

Shonda Lynn Rhimes is an African-American producer, author and screenwriter. She is known for working on the Britney Spears and Zoe Saldana film Crossroads, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice, the Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and the Halle ...

16. Jon M. Chu

Director | G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Jon is an alumni of the USC School of Cinema-Television. There, he won the Princess Grace Award, the Dore Schary Award presented by the Anti-Defamation league, the Jack Nicholson directing award, and recognized as an honoree for the IFP/West program Project: Involve.

After making his student short, ...

17. James Gray

Director | The Immigrant

Writer/director James Gray made his first film Little Odessa (1994) at the age of twenty-five. The film, which starred Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell, received critical acclaim and was the winner of the Venice Film Festival's prestigious Silver Lion Award in 1994.

...

18. Josh Schwartz

Producer | The O.C.

Josh Schwartz was born on August 6, 1976 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The O.C. (2003), Runaways (2017) and Looking for Alaska (2019). He has been married to Jill Stonerock since September 20, 2008.

19. America Ferrera

Actress | Barbie

America Georgine Ferrera (born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her leading role as Betty Suarez on the American Broadcasting Company's comedy-drama television series Ugly Betty (2006) . Her acting garnered critical acclaim, and she won the Golden Globe Award for Best ...

20. Randy Zisk

Producer | Monk

Randy Zisk was born on January 3, 1959 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Monk (2002), Midnight Caller (1988) and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993). He was previously married to Jennifer Grant.

21. Jack Bender

Producer | Lost

Jack Bender was born on September 25, 1949 in the USA. He is a producer and director, known for Lost (2004), From (2022) and Alias (2001). He is married to Laura Owens. They have two children.

22. Brian Grazer

Producer | A Beautiful Mind

Emmy and Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer has been making movies and television programs for more than 25 years. As both a writer and producer, he has been personally nominated for four Academy Awards, and in 2002 won the Best Picture Oscar for A Beautiful Mind (2001). In addition to ...

23. Tim Doyle

Producer | The Kids Are Alright

Tim Doyle is known for The Kids Are Alright (2018), Breaking In (2011) and Better Off Ted (2009). He has been married to Ellen Svaco since February 15, 1997. They have one child.

24. Macy Gray

Soundtrack | Domino

Macy Gray was born on September 6, 1967 in Canton, Ohio, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Domino (2005), Training Day (2001) and The Paperboy (2012). She was previously married to Tracy Hinds.

25. Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Writer | Traitor

Jeffrey Nachmanoff was born on March 9, 1967 in Arlington, Virginia, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Traitor (2008), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and Replicas (2018).

26. Craig Zisk

Director | Halo

After graduating from The University of Southern California, Craig Zisk produced his first television series, COP ROCK, as the age of 25. A year later, he directed his first television series, BROOKLYN BRIDGE, on which he was also a producer.

He has executive produced several series including THE ...

27. Greg Beeman

Producer | Heroes

Greg Beeman was born in 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Heroes (2006), The Mysterious Benedict Society (2021) and Falling Skies (2011).

28. Matthew Weiner

Producer | Mad Men

Matthew Weiner was born on June 29, 1965 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Mad Men (2007), The Sopranos (1999) and The Romanoffs (2018). He has been married to Linda Brettler since January 1991. They have four children.

29. Adrian Morina

Actor | Red Butterfly

Adrian Morina is an actor, known for Red Butterfly (2014), Irma's Room (2014), Aleksandr's Price (2013), and Devoured (2012). Actor is based in New York City. Special skills include fluency in Albanian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and English languages. Authorized to work in United States. New York...

30. Don Murphy

Producer | Natural Born Killers

Don Murphy was born in April 1966 in Long Island, New York, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Natural Born Killers (1994), From Hell (2001) and Apt Pupil (1998).

31. Jon Landau

Producer | Titanic

Jon Landau is an American film producer from New York City who produced a lot of films that James Cameron made since 1997's Titanic. He produced the 2009 hit film Avatar, Solaris, Alita: Battle Angel directed by Robert Rodriguez and co-produced Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Dick Tracy. Titanic and ...

32. Brandon Sonnier

Writer | The Beat

Brandon Sonnier was born on April 27, 1982 in Houston, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Beat (2003), L.A.'s Finest (2019) and The Blacklist (2013). He has been married to Sarah Sonnier since September 3, 2005.

33. Tom DeSanto

Producer | X-Men

Tom DeSanto is the founding writer/producer behind some of the biggest franchises in movie history (Transformers, X-Men). DeSanto's films have grossed almost $6 billion dollars worldwide with billions more in licensing, merchandising, and video games.

The proud owner of more than 40,000 comic books ...

34. Jon Bokenkamp

Writer | The Blacklist

Jon Bokenkamp is known for The Blacklist (2013), Taking Lives (2004) and The Call (2013).

35. Joshua Donen

Producer | Gone Girl

Joshua Donen was born on August 10, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Gone Girl (2014), Love, Death & Robots (2019) and Priest (2011). He was previously married to Nicolette Bret Mount.

36. Scott M. Gimple

Producer | The Walking Dead

Scott M. Gimple was born on March 29, 1971 in New Jersey, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Walking Dead (2010), Fillmore! (2002) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011). He has been married to Julia Wackenheim-Gimple since August 2009.

37. Bryan Burk

Producer | Lost

Bryan Burk was born on December 30, 1968. He is a producer and writer, known for Lost (2004), Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) and Star Trek (2009).

38. Kam Miller

May

Kam Miller is known for May (2002), Killer Instinct (2005) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).

39. Aaron Kaplan

Producer | The Chi

Aaron Kaplan is an Executive Producer and the CEO of Kapital Entertainment, a production company he founded in 2009. Kapital Entertainment is a leading independent production company that produces a vast array of television and digital content for the broadcast, cable and streaming markets.

A ...

40. Chad Kultgen

Writer | Men, Women & Children

Chad Kultgen is known for Men, Women & Children (2014), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) and Bad Judge (2014).

41. Mark Rosner

Writer | The Rock

Mark Rosner is known for The Rock (1996), Dream Street (1989) and Crime Story (1986).

42. Nikki Toscano

Producer | The Offer

Nikki Toscano was born on June 4, 1975 in Newark, Delaware, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Offer (2022), Detroit 1-8-7 (2010) and 24: Legacy (2016).

43. Kim Tannenbaum

Producer | Two and a Half Men

Kim Tannenbaum was born on March 11, 1962 in Orange County, California, USA. Kim is a producer and executive, known for Two and a Half Men (2003), Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas (2021) and Home Economics (2021). Kim is married to Eric Tannenbaum. They have one child.

44. Chris Black

Producer | Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

Chris Black is known for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023), Severance (2022) and Outcast (2016).

45. Sanford Bookstaver

Director | Dexter: New Blood

Sanford Bookstaver was born on September 1, 1973 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Dexter: New Blood (2021), Jessica Jones (2015) and Power (2014). He was previously married to Rena Sofer.