The USC School of Cinematic Arts congratulates our alumni and students with projects accepted at the 2025 Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals!
The USC School of Cinematic Arts and USC Trojan Entertainment Network invite alumni to a Post-Sundance Reception in West Culver City on Tuesday, February 11, 2025! Updated event details and registration link will be sent on 1/22/25. Invitations are non-transferable and space is limited.
If your project was selected to screen at the 2025 Sundance and/or Slamdance Film Festivals, please share the details with us here so we can include your work in our publications.
Sundance 2025 Award Winners
U.S Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast
Plainclothes
Carmen Emmi ’12
Writer/Director
Vanessa Pantley
Producer
Alessandra Ford Balazs ’12
Cast
Kim Patrick ’12
Sound Designer
Jonathan Pope ’13
Title Designer
Kelly Nygaard ’13
VFX Coordinator
Matt Galuppo ’12
VFX Coordinator
Erik Vogt-Nilsen ’16
Editor
Garrett Thompson MFA ’05, PhD ’11
Executive Producer
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic
Twinless
Drew Pinniger ’89
Assistant Property Master
Festival Favorite Award
Come See Me in the Good Light
Susan Yeagley ’93
Executive Producer
Brandon Somerhalder ’14
Director of Photography
NEXT Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast
Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)s
Joel Alfonso Vargas
Writer/Director
Sundance 2025
U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Plainclothes
Carmen Emmi ’12
Writer/Director
Vanessa Pantley
Producer
Alessandra Ford Balazs ’12
Cast
Kim Patrick ’12
Sound Designer
Jonathan Pope ’13
Title Designer
Kelly Nygaard ’13
VFX Coordinator
Matt Galuppo ’12
VFX Coordinator
Erik Vogt-Nilsen ’16
Editor
Garrett Thompson MFA ’05, PhD ’11
Executive Producer
Love, Brooklyn
Lanaria Johnson ’07
Associate Producer
Twinless
Drew Pinniger ’89
Assistant Property Master
PREMIERES
Last Days
Ben Ripley ’95
Writer
Nathan Alexander ’19 (Thorton)
Composer
The Wedding Banquet
Connor Flanagan ’12
Associate Producer
Geraud Brisson ’96
Editor
Middletown
Lawrence Everson ’03
Supervising Sound Editor & Re-recording Mixer
Come See Me in the Good Light
Susan Yeagley ’93
Executive Producer
Brandon Somerhalder ’14
Director of Photography
Oh, Hi!
Marcello Dubaz ’12
Supervising Sound Editor
Folktales
Nathan Punwar ’07
Editor
Deaf President Now!
Sara Fenton ’17
Production Supervisor
Train Dreams
Karl Stieg ’12
Additional Editor
PREMIERE FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Free Leonard Peltier
Mato Wayuhi ’20
Musical Composer
Sara Fenton ’17
Field Producer
It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Doug Blush ’88
Story and Edit Consultant
MIDNIGHT
Didn't Die
Meera Menon ’11
Writer/Director/Producer
Paul Gleason ’11
Writer/Producer/Director of Photography/VFX Supervisor
Joe Camerota ’12
Producer
Luke Patton ’13
Producer
Marcello Dubaz ’12
Re-recording Mixer
Opus
Poppy Hanks ’95
Producer
Rabbit Trap
Julia Evans MFA ’23
SpectreVision Coordinator
NEXT
By Design
Mireia Vilanova ’20
Co-producer
Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)s
Joel Alfonso Vargas
Writer/Director
U.S. FICTION SHORT FILMS
Swollen
Lily Rosenthal ’20
Producer
Anjoum Agrama ’16
Editor
The Things We Keep
Joanna Fernandez ’24
Writer/Director
Andrea Riba ’22
Executive Producer
Lilith Mo ’23
Producer
Tim Truesdell ’23
Producer
Yaxing Lin ’23
Producer
Daeil Kim ’24
Cinematographer
Marie Lessel ’22
Editor
Cristina Headrick ’23
Assistant Editor
INTERNATIONAL FICTION SHORT FILMS
Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?
Bec Pecaut ’18
Writer/Director
EPISODIC
Chasers
Daniel Rashid ’15
Actor
Avi Kaye ’15
Visual Effects Supervisor
Hal & Harper
McKinley Carlin ’21
Editor
Slamdance Film Festival
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Fanboy
Adnan Siddique ’09
Producer
Portal to Hell
Lucas Ford ’19
Producer
Under the Burning Sun
Christopher Ma MFA ’19
Editor/Associate Producer/Cast
EPISODES
I Need Your Love
Jayne Sullivan ’19
Producer
Mombomb, Part 1
Patricia Beckmann Wells MFA ’97, EdD ’13
Director/Producer/Cast
UNSTOPPABLE SHORTS
Iron Lung
Andrew Reid ’17
Director
Audio Description
Luke Salewski ’23
Writer/Director/Producer
Witness
Omar Al-Dakheel MFA ’17
Producer
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Apt Mgr
Billy Bjork ’19
Producer
Your Harvest May Be Delayed
Zayd Lahham ’23
Producer
DIGITAL, INTERACTIVE AND GAMING
Somewhere Unknown in Indochina
Feng-Ting Tsou ’17
Director
PROJECT INVOLVE SHORTS
A Violent Noise
Michael Yuchen Lei ’13
Director
Just Wait
Blaine Morris ’22
Director
Julia Evans MFA ’23
Writer
We apologize if we missed anyone. Please contact us at alumni@cinema.usc.edu for more information or updates.