USC Comedy boasts an award-winning faculty that includes Jack Epps Jr. (The Secret of My Success, Legal Eagles, Top Gun) Barnet Kellman (Murphy Brown , Mad About You, George Lopez) David Isaacs (Cheers, Frasier, M*A*S*H*), John Bowman (Saturday Night Live, In Living Color), Dave Goetch (The Big Bang Theory), Andy Cadiff (Home Improvement), Tim Marx (Young Sheldon), Mort Nathan (Golden Girls, Kingpin) to name just a few.

PRINCIPALS

Jack Epps, Jr. is an award-winning writer and filmmaker who first became involved in making films while an undergraduate at Michigan State University. His student film The Pigs vs. the Freaks, was purchased by NBC and made into a Movie of the Week, re-titled Off Sides. Epps joined forces with his screenwriting professor from Michigan State University, Jim Cash, and their first produced screenplay, Top Gun, went on to become the #1 world wide box office hit in 1986. Within eleven months, the writing team of Cash & Epps had three produced screenplays in the theaters: Top Gun, Legal Eagles, and The Secret of My Success. As a screenwriter, Mr. Epps co-authored over 25 screenplays and eight produced motion pictures including Dick Tracy, Turner & Hooch, and Anaconda. He is the author of the book, Screenwriting is Rewriting, published by Bloomsbury Books.

Epps was recently honored as the recipient of the first Victoria and Jack Oakie Endowed Chair in Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts. Epps is a thirty-five year member of the Writers’ Guild of America, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

David Isaacs has worked as a TV and Screen Writer and Producer for over 35 years. He has been credited as a writer, co-producer or creative consultant on M*A*S*H*, Cheers, Wings, Frasier, Becker and Mad Men. His writing credits also include episodes of The Simpsons, The Tracey Ullman Show and The Jeffersons.

Isaacs has been nominated eight times for the Writers Guild of America Award and won three times for Cheers and Mad Men. He has six Emmy nominations with one win for co-producing the first season of Cheers. He was also nominated for the Humanitas Award and received a Peabody Award as a member of the staff of Frasier.

Barnet Kellman directed the feature film comedies Straight Talk (Disney), Key Exchange (Fox) and Stinkers (Sony). His highly regarded work on television includes directing the pilots of the network series Murphy Brown, Mad About You, Suddenly Susan, Something Wilder, The George Lopez Show and My Boys. His work on television has been recognized with two Emmy Awards and seven Emmy nominations, a Directors’ Guild Award and three nominations, and a Monitor Award. He has directed twenty-one pilots that became on-air series, and continued with many of them as Executive Producer/Director. In addition, he has directed episodes of the award-winning series Alias, Ally Mcbeal, Once And Again, Felicity, E.R. and The Middle.

He graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University in 1969. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he was a recipient of the prestigious Danforth Graduate Fellowship, and the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. He attended the Yale School of Drama, and received a Ph.D. from The Union Institute. Kellman holds the Robin Williams endowed Chair in Comedy.

FACULTY

Larry Balmagia - M.A.S.H.  Cheers

Mary Lou Belli -  Girlfriends, One World

John Bowman– Saturday Night Live, In Living Color

Bruce Block -  What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give, The Naked Gun

Bonnie Bruckheimer -  Hocus Pocus, Beaches, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Andy Cadiff - Home Improvement, Spin City

Jacque Cofer Edmonds – Martin, Between the Lines, Let's Stay Together

Bruce Finn - 8 Simple Rules, The Hughleys 

Nancy Forner ACE -  Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Law&Order:SVU, The Vampire Diaries

Dave Goetsch – The Big Bang Theory

A. Laura James - Bizaardvark, Austin & Ally

Tim Marx– Baby Daddy, Arli$$, Entourage

Mort Nathan -  Golden Girls, Kingpin

Joe Nussbaum - Just Add Magic, Awkward

Daphne Pollon - Sullivan and Son, Murphy Brown

FJ Pratt -  Ellen,  Sullivan and Sons

Phil Ramuno -   Charles in Charge, Throb 

Rob Schiller - The King of Queens, Two and a Half Men 

Linda Teverbaugh– Drew Carey

Robert Townsend - Hollywood Shuffle, Eddie Murphy: Raw, The Parent 'Hood 

Sonja Warfield– Will & Grace

Chase Winton – The Groundlings