Academy of Art University is proud to congratulate its list of alumni who are part of crews for Oscar-nominated films this year—including Borrowed Time, Doctor Strange, Silence, Moana, Suicide Squad, and more!

The journey from classroom to international awards stage is made possible by the Academy’s specialized schools in art and design. With educational backgrounds from the School of Animation & Visual Effects, School of Motion Pictures & Television, School of Illustration, and School of Photography, our alumni have made outstanding industry contributions achieving critical acclaim.

See the full list of Academy alumni recognized for their success in the film industry below! Be sure to tune in for the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 PST!

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Natapon Huangsakuncharoen (’09; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Senior Creature TD
Industrial Light and Magic

Borrowed Time

Charlie Ramos (’91; School of Illustration)
Layout Artist
Pixar Animation Studios

Doctor Strange

Yunmi Ahn (’04; School of Animation & Visual Effects
Sr. Roto Artist
Method Studios

Maragot Bodharamik (’07; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Animator
Industrial Light and Magic

Joseph Cavanaugh (’03; Computer Arts)
Head of FX Council
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Chih-Wen Huang (’15; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Model/Texture Artist
Luma Pictures

Nicholas Kim (’04; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Compositor
Method Studios

Heath Kraynak (’91; School of Advertising)
Senior Compositor
Industrial Light and Magic

Ryan Lang (’09; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Concept Artist
Marvel Studios

Kyoungsoo Min (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Hard Surface Model/Texture Artist
Luma Pictures

Mohammad Modarres (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Model/Texture Artist
Luma Pictures

Dan Nguyen (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Roto/Paint Artist
Luma Pictures

Rebekah Noulles (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
VFX Production
Industrial Light and Magic

Mauricio Valderrama (’08)
Senior Compositor
Method Studios

Evan Wen (’12; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Compositor
Method Studios

Mingquan Zhou (’12; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Character TD
Method Studios

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Brandon Blevins (’11; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Senior Compositor
Rodeo FX

Soomin Chon (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
FX TD / Artist
MPC

Brooke Dibble (’12; School of Illustration)
Assistant Modeller – Props Modelling
Warner Bros

Hacksaw Ridge

Mario Pace (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Matte Painter
Lindeman and Associated

Hail Caesar

Karl Burian (’11; School of Motion Pictures & Television)
Feature Film Assembly Editor
Universal Pictures

Hell or High Water

David Kim (School of Motion Pictures & Television)
VFX Producer
Vitality VFX

Kubo and the Two Strings

Gentry Davidson (’12; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Digital Paint Artist
Laika, Inc

Matthew Ellsworth (’09)
Facial Animator
Laika, Inc

Daria Eremina (School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Jr. RP Rigger
Laika, Inc

Tina T Hsu (’09; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Rapid Prototyping QA
Laika, Inc

Dhanad Islam (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Junior CG Modeler
Laika, Inc

Ovi Nedelcu (’99; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Story Artist
Laika, Inc

Desiree Ong ‘(13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Art Department – Production Assistant
Laika, Inc

Tarek Saleh (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Stereo Pain Artist
Laika, Inc

Moana

Sungjoon Bae (’15; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Lighting and Compositing Artist
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Youngjae Choi (’02; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Animator
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Serry DeLorme (’05; School of Illustration)
Senior Toy Designer
Jakks Pacific

Ryan Lang (’09; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Visual Development Artist
Sony Pictures Animation

Benjamin Min Huang (’03; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Senior Look Dev and Lighting
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Joey Ramos (’04; School of Illustration)
Sr. Designer
Jakks Pacific

Joey Shen (’04; School of Illustration)
Senior Toy Designer
Jakks Pacific

Richard Van Cleave (’05; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Character TD
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Shaofu Zhang (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Animator
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Passengers

Eva Kristjans (’09; School of Illustration)
DMP Artist
MPC

Vijay Selvam (’02; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Lead Compositor
MPC

Piper

Charlie Ramos (’91; School of Illustration)
Layout Artist
Pixar Animation Studios

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Maragot Bodharamik (’07; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Animator
Industrial Light and Magic

Cynthia Crimmins (’01; Computer Arts)
Line Producer/Production Manager
Industrial Light and Magic

Bridget Dash (’07; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Recruiter
Industrial Light and Magic

Ellery Ortiz (’03; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Sr. Matchmove/Layout Artist
Industrial Light and Magic

Tzuen Wu (’05; School of Photography)
Senior Compositor
Industrial Light and Magic

Silence

Karl Burian (’11; School of Motion Pictures & Television)
Associate Producer
Motive Creative

Phoenix Lee (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Freelance FX Technical Director
Post Mango

Star Trek Beyond

George Antz (’06; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Previs/Postvis Lead
Paramount

Matthew Boston (’96; Computer Arts)
Animator
Double Negative

Daniel Giron (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
3D Environment Artist
Atomic Fiction

Ingo Gudmundsson (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Previs Artist
Proof Inc

Chen Kuang Hsu (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Matchmove Artist
Atomic Fiction

Chih-Wen Huang (’15; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
CG General Artist
Prologue

Melissa Huerta (’04; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Roto/Paint Artist
Kelvin Optical/Bad Robot

Lea Antonette Irianda (’15; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Production Assistant
Atomic Fiction

Byunggun Jung (’00; Computer Arts)
Senior Lighting TD
Double Negative

Jeff Kim (’05; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Senior/Lead Animator
Double Negative

Chen Kuang Hsu (’14; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Matchmovie Artist
Atomic Fiction

Dan Kunz (’02; School of Fine Art)
Capture Supervisor
Double Negative

Jaymie Lam (’03; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Compositor
Double Negative

Patrick Louie (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Compositor
Atomic Fiction

Evangeline Torres (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Junior Compositor
Atomic Fiction

Shaun Tsou (’15; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Compositor
Atomic Fiction

Suicide Squad

Teddy Cheong (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Compositor
MPC

Soomin Chon (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
FX/TD Artist
MPC

Khizer Diwan (’11; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
3D Digital Matte Painter
MPC

Namjin Heo (’12; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Digital Compositor
MPC

Seung Hoo Ihm (’08; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Senior Character Animator
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Nadezda Kuzmina (’10; School of Illustration)
Concept Artist
MPC

Amanda Pamela (’07; School Animation & Visual Effects)
Senior Compositor
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Foram Pardiwala (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Digital Compositor
MPC

Ryan Saper (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Modeler
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Barbaros Sarisozen (’11; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Modeler
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Ali Tezel (’06; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Senior Layout TD/Artist
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Robby Wong (’09; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Layout
MPC

Sully

Soomin Chon (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
FX TD / Artist
MPC

Vijay Selvam (’02; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Lead Compositor
MPC

The Jungle Book

Gak Gyu Choi (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Modeler
Weta Digital

Eva Kristjans (’09; School of Illustration)
DMP Artist
MPC

Dan Kunz (’02; School of Fine Art)
Motion Editor/ Anmiator
Weta Digital

Andrew Leung (’02; School of Illustration)
Concept Artist
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Vijay Selvam (’02; School of Animation)
Lead Compositor
MPC

Roland Yepez (School of Animation)
Senior Animator
Weta Digital

Trolls
Minyu Chang (’02; School of Animation)
Senior CG Modeler
Dreamworks

Charles Ellison (’04; Computer Arts)
Head of Modeling
Dreamworks

Jonathan Gomez (’07; School of Animation)
3D Modeler
Dreamworks

George Ho (’97; Computer Arts)
Lighter
Dreamworks

Patrick Johnson (’08; School of Animation)
Assistant to Producer
Dreamworks

Anthony Meschi (’08; School of Visual Development)
Stereoscopic Compositor
Dreamworks

Brian Missey (’08; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Lead Character FX Artist
Dreamworks

Andrea Pun (’03; Computer Arts)
Senior Surfacing Artist
Dreamworks

Scott Raymond (’07; School of Visual Development)
Character Cycle Animator
Dreamworks

Ann Sidenblad (’03; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
3D Modeler
Dreamworks

Nikhil Sinha (’11; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Image Finaling Lead
Dreamworks

Zootopia

Katie Amanek (’11; School of Photography)
Production Office Manager
Walt Disney Animation Studios

DJ Byun (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Effects Animator
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Youngjae Choi (’02; Computer Arts)
Animator
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Christopher Erickson (’13; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Lighting Artist
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Benjamin Min Huang (’03; Computer Arts)
Look Development Supervisor
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Hiraoki Narita (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Effects Artist
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Richard Van Cleave (’05; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Character TD
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Ryan Winch (’12; School of Illustration)
Character Designer
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Shaofu Zhang (’10; School of Animation & Visual Effects)
Animator
Walt Disney Animation Studios