Skip to Content

Category Archives: Alumni

Reports from our talented Alumni at work, including successes and congratulations

Dodge College Students, Faculty and Staff Arrive at Sundance 2013

As the winter starts to ease up in Southern California, dozens of Dodge College students, alumni, staff, and faculty head to the icy peaks of Park City, Utah, to celebrate the love of filmmaking together in this year’s Sundance Film Festival.  Read on to learn more about our expanded travel course for current students, and  Continue Reading »

Alumni Kickstarter Highlight: “The Phoenix Project”

Dodge College student Lillian Wojcik, who is currently enrolled as a senior majoring in Public Relations, is working on an exciting film project in collaboration with a large group of recent Dodge College alums.  One of the huge advantages of our unique setup as a media arts school, that is, encompassing both the production and  Continue Reading »

Dodge College Alumna Caylee So Wins Big at the DGA Student Filmmaker Awards!

A huge round of applause is in order for Caylee So, a recent alumna from the 2012 Graduate MFA Film Production program, (directing emphasis), who was just named one of the best student directors in America from the Director’s Guild of America.  Read on to see Caylee’s acceptance speech, and for more details on her  Continue Reading »

Alumnus Jason Wise’s Documentary “SOMM” Profiled in WSJ

The Wall Street Journal engages filmmaker Jason Wise on the challenges associated with getting his feature documentary, SOMM, off the ground and into the opening slot of the Napa Valley Film Festival.

Orange County Register Profiles Award-Winning “Axle” Game Designers

The mobile platformer graduated from the Digital Arts department, catching the attention of local press with its endearing graphics, creative gameplay, and nearly-funded Kickstarter campaign.

Alumnus Film “Humble the Poet” Profiled in Wall Street Journal

As part of a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal, collecting some of the more exciting film festivals taking place in New York this season, our own Television/Broadcast Journalism grad, Brendan Nahmias, and his film, “Humble the Poet,” are cited as major draws for the festival.

[Photos] College to Career Night 2012

Recently, the class of 2013 gathered in Los Angeles for “College to Career Night,” an annual networking event for young professionals. Click past the break to see photos and learn more about the event!

Alumni Kickstarter Highlight: AXLE, a digital arts Android-based Videogame

You may remember the fantastic success enjoyed by a team of Digital Arts students last Spring, when their videogame Axle won a trophy for Chapman at a major independent gaming event here on campus.  After being nominated for a Cecil Award, then graduating, the alumni have been hard at work preparing the game for release,  Continue Reading »

Alumni Interview: Katie Chilson

TV Professor Ross Brown interviews a recent grad, Katie Chilson, who majored in Television and Broadcast Journalism, who now works for ABC.

Alumnus Joseph Ruggieri Lands Distribution for Feature Film “Joy”

Congratulations to alumnus Joseph Ruggieri (MFA ’04) and his production company, Red Love Film, whose newest feature film, Joy, is now released through Amazon.com and other retailers like Best Buy and Barnes & Noble.  Joseph wrote to us recently, sharing the success his film is achieving.  Read on!

TV Is Good 4U: Prof. Brown Interviews Jillian Arnold About Filming in Space

Chapman Alumna Jillian Arnold, professor of Cinematography, describes the process of filming in space, which she recently had the opportunity to do as a cinematographer for NASA.

Dinner and a Movie: “She Wants Me” Screening with Alums Rob Margolies and Jeremy Schott

Tuesday September 18th marks the cable release of Dodge College alumnus Rob Margolies’ (BFA/FTV’05) romantic comedy, She Wants Me (2012).  Last week, we celebrated this milestone by arranging a free screening followed by a question and answer session with Margolies, and fellow alumnus/producer Jeremy Schott (BFA/Film Prod. ’08) and lead actress Kristen Ruhlin.

Alumni-Produced Thriller “Mzungu” Impresses Kickstarter, IndieWire

A pair of Chapman Alums are returning to the crowdfunding space for the production of their most recent film “Mzungu,” a low-budget thriller set in Africa.  Their Kickstarter campaign is currently seeking backers, and most recently landed a huge spot in IndieWire’s “Project of the Day.”

Dodge College Films to Screen at LA Shorts Film Festival

The Toronto Film Festival may be starting in Canada this week, but a more important festival for short films is happening here in LA., the L.A. Shorts Festival!  Many of our student films will be playing this year.  Read on for more info!

Special Screening of “She Wants Me” with Special Guest Rob Margolies

Dodge College invites you to join us for a screening of the romantic comedy She Wants Me, followed by a Q&A with the director alumnus Rob Margolies (BFA/FTV’05) on Thursday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m. in Folino Theater.

Alum Jason Wise Opens Wine Country Fest With Wine-Tasting Film

The new short full-length film from Alum Jason Wise (BFA Film Production, ’04), SOMM, was recently named the opening film of the Napa Valley Film Festival, and received a glowing write up in The Hollywood Reporter.

Broadcast Journalism Student Whitney Drolen Now In the News – Literally!

Alumna Whitney Drolen is now reporting live on CBS in Dallas, TX.  With visions of working on TV fueling her young high school career, the Chicago native brought her dreams to life by leveraging the medium itself – by winning her tuition through a TV game show!

Dodge College Film “Shoot The Moon” at Stony Brook Film Fest

More film festival successes for Alexandar Gaeta’s undergraduate thesis film, Shoot The Moon, recently admitted to the prestigious Stony Brook Film Festival in New York.  Our own Film Coordinator Derek Horne, mastermind behind much of Chapman’s successful film festival campaign, was invited by the film’s creatives to attend the event. [-JP]

Dodge College Grads Recognized in the Emmy Nominations

Dodge College has hundreds of incredibly successful alumni working in the professional world, but it’s always nice when certain outstanding folk are recognized at the national level, as happened in last week’s Emmy nominations.  Click here to get the scoop on our renowned grads!

Dodge College Alum Justin Simien’s Screenplay Gains Traction in Social Media

A recent article in the Washington Post highlights the work of provocative screenplay graduate Justin Simien, who has creatively used social media to create an exciting following for his screenplay — paving the road to production.

Dodge College Student Films Win Top Prizes in Film Festivals Across the US

Dodge College’s student films are making tremendous strides on the indie festival circuit! “Shoot The Moon,” “Election Day,” “Among Giants,” “Incest! The Musical,” and “Palm County” are some of this season’s biggest successes.

Distinguished Alumnus Chris Marrs Piliero’s Dodge College Thank-You

Winner of the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award, Chris Marrs Piliero (’01), director of several incredibly popular music videos, recently wrote the following post thanking Dodge College for the recognition, celebrating the community, and offering some advice for recent graduates.

Alumnus Thesis Film “Mamitas” Hits Theaters as Feature

Alumnus Nicholas Ozeki (’08) is getting some fantastic mileage from the short thesis film he produced during his final year at Dodge College, “Mamitas,” and his success is turning heads throughout the industry. The film is a coming of age story, set in East Los Angeles, revolving around a pair of friends and their misadventures  Continue Reading »

Dodge College Alumni Sell Hollywood Feature “The Babymakers”

Dodge College alumni have scored a major distribution deal for The Babymakers, making headlines in indie news circles.

“First Cut” Visits New York City!

Loading slider...

Just returned from an exciting few days in New York City for our annual First Cut screening at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Manhattan! As we did for our screening in the fall in Los Angeles, we screened our four top thesis films from last year as well as a clips reel highlighting  Continue Reading »

Chapman Grad wins Seeflik Competition

Film site SeeFlik has announced the winners of its fall 2011 film competition. Grads of Chapman University and Arizona State helmed the honored shorts. Chapman alum David Jibladze's drama "Beholden" was selected as Judges Choice by SeeFlik's panel, which included Michael London, Shane Black and Luis Guzman. Arizona State grad Ryan Steiner won the Fan's  Continue Reading »

Chapman team cooks up award-winning Campbell Soup ad in MOFILM contest

Five film students from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, have won the grand prize for MOFILM Live’s first U.S. college competition for an ad they created for Campbell Soup, depicting a child feigning sickness to get a bowl of soup. The team beat 12 other competing schools schools, including teams from  Continue Reading »

Kickstarter alert: “Feeding Mr. Baldwin”

Alert: 9 days left to fund this awesome looking Kickstarter campaign, raising money for a Dodge alumni-produced film.  Check out the teaser intro they’ve created for the hilarious film at their Kickstarter campaign page.  With 151 backers, and $23,000 pledged already, this is quite a serious undertaking that’s getting a lot of attention.  So take  Continue Reading »

Dodge College alumnus audio drama nominated for Audie Award

The Audio Publishers Association yesterday announced the contenders for the 2012 Audie Awards. There were a record-breaking 1,250 nominees, and new this year are a separation of the SF and Fantasy categories and the Paranormal category, which was added as a special judges category last year, is now permanent. The winners will be announced at  Continue Reading »

Alumnus Justin Folk Needs Your Votes Today!

I recently found out about this hilarious, offbeat entry into the Doritos "Crash the Superbowl" contest.  It's Chapman made, hilarious, and has been selected as a top 5 finalist out of thousands! Alumnus Justin Folk, who graduated in 2000, has put together some awesome works in the past, but there's something about this particular film  Continue Reading »

“Like Crazy” review

Events assistant Ashlee Abernathy writes a guest post on our recent screening of Like Crazy: Like Crazy screened just a little over a week ago in the Folino Theater at Dodge, and I think I can speak for nearly everyone in the audience when I say that this film went above and beyond expectations. The  Continue Reading »

Emmy-winning digital team includes Chapman alumna

 Lindsay D. Mayer (BA/COM/A ’05), a producer under ABC Digital Studio, was part of the Disney/ABC Television Group’s Digital Media team that took home an Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media for its Oscar® Digital Experience. The team won for its creation of a digital experience that gave fans a live look at  Continue Reading »

Alumnus wins Emmy Award for weather reporting

Sam Argier (’03) has won his second Emmy Award for weather news reporting. Argier is the morning meteorologist at KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, the CBS affiliate in Seattle.   “With so many talented broadcast meteorologists in the Northwest, this is a tremendous honor,” Argier said. “It means so much to be recognized by my peers,”  Continue Reading »

Alum James Smith’s new film DRIVE

A big congratulations is in order to former Dodge College student James Smith (’01, FP), who has just landed his first major credit on a feature film! Co-producing the new thriller starring Ryan Gosling, James has certainly made it to the big time.  Not only is this a major Hollywood feature with a substantial budget  Continue Reading »

Alums Share Tips on Landing Your First Job

The Prime Time TV Club held its annual “Foot in the Door” night where five recent alums told students the inside story on how to land that all-important first job in film or TV.