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.