Alumni

Film and Media Arts graduates enjoy careers as directors, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers, media executives and artistic directors. Their work ranges from documentaries and short and feature length films to videos and online digital videos. Their awards include The Telly Award for videography, Daytime Emmys and Academy Awards for sound mixing. SMU graduates can be found at Sony, Universal, Playtone Company, HBO, the Dallas Video Festival, the New York International Fringe Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. Their work includes Attraction, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, New Kansas, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Ant Bully, Barney & Friends, Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Oz, King of the Hill and X-Men.

Alumni Updates

Tim Balderston (2009)
“I am in Cameroon. I joined the Peace Corps last year and just started my service of two years here. I’m an agro forestry volunteer, far removed from my CTV days I know, but I had wanted a change for a long time. Until then I was still working in production and living in Chicago. Things actually started to pick up after I got my P.C. confirmation. The link is my brand new blog so you can keep up with things if you’d like. And check out my flicker page for lots of picks.”
Read Tim's blog

Brad Conlin (2009)
Brad Conlin is currently working for DigiSynd, part of The Walt Disney Company. He holds the positions of assets coordinator, editor, and animator, and is responsible for maintaining and creating image and video materials for clients such as Pixar Animation Studios, Disney Interactive Software, and Walt Disney Animation Studios. In his spare time he produces cartoons using Flash, and illustrating for the literary zine, John Asparagus.

Larry Causey (2003)
“2009 marked my fifth year working for the hunting TV show, Where in the World is Colorado Buck?. It’s pretty funny, but yes, it’s a real TV show and I have gotten to practice my trade learned at SMU, get paid a little, and experience so many places I’d never dreamed of. I am also doing part time work in McKinney (Tex.) serving with Cornerstone, a non-profit group home for people with special needs. I really love it and am so grateful for all the opportunities I have been given.”
Colorado Buck intro on YouTube
Cornerstone Ranch

Winston Cutshall (2004)
“I’m back in Dallas right now, but I’m still developing reality shows for my company, Idiomatic Entertainment, which is based in L.A. and represented by William Morris. We’ve got a show in development at Discovery and one that they are considering.”
Idiomatic Entertainment

Katie Dean (2008)
“I am currently working as the marketing assistant at Studio Movie Grill. Also, I am still active with Dallas International Film Fest (formerly AFI Dallas).”

Jennifer Dyal (2004)
Jennifer lives in Los Angeles and recently finished her second year as executive assistant to legendary television producer Peter Engel. Peter Engel Productions ended 2009 with numerous projects in development, two pilots, and a return to production on Last Comic Standing. She also was the talent coordinator for Celebrity Apprentice 3 for Mark Burnett Productions. Jennifer has kicked off 2010 as comic coordinator for Last Comic Standing - Season 7.

Leslie Fleming (2008)
“I’m a graduate student at NYU studying ‘Children’s TV’ in NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. I’m graduating in May and am currently working on my thesis, ‘Integrating Music Literacy into Children’s TV,’ where I’m creating a children’s TV show that encourages music literacy as the basis of its educational curriculum. While in NYC, I’ve interned for Sesame Workshop, Teen Nick, and Nickelodeon. Now, I work part-time for Sesame Workshop (Sesame Street and The Electric Company) and for the Kidz Bop website.”

Letty Gallegos (2005)
“Most of my work in 2009 has been on reality television shows.”

Jonathan Hawks (2007)
“I’ve been in Los Angeles since August 2007. Currently, I am an international DVD project manager at Warner Bros. in Burbank. My job consists of putting together all assets and materials needed for a DVD release, while coordinating region-specific featurettes, languages and subtitles. I also consult with the art department for the box art and booklets that accompany our new Blu-Ray editions of classic films such as North by Northwest, Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. 2010 is going to be very exciting, as we are developing easier ways to distribute high-definition content digitally. I’m also working on some amazing special editions of classic films that people have long waited to see on Blu-Ray.”

R. Kyle Hiemenz (2005)
“I script-supervised a pilot talk show for Cason Kressley called Carson Break for Lifetime. It didn’t get picked up, sadly. That was in L.A. It was probably the toughest job I’ve ever done since I had to not only script-supervise a live-to-tape show, I had to spend every day in meetings hammering out and rewriting the script. I came back to Dallas and worked as a script supervisor for Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team 4. Right after that I fell into The Deep End, a television series for ABC, produced by FOX and starring Billy Zane. I worked as a production assistant. In 2010, I am waiting to start on the other series coming to Dallas called Jack and Dan.”

Tammy Nguyen Lee (2000)
“The passion project that I produced/directed with my non-profit, ATG Against The Grain Productions, had its world premiere at the Vietnamese International Film Festival in April, winning the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film. We’ve been getting lots of positive feedback, and it’s a wonderful feeling to see the effects of nearly 5 years’ work. We’re gearing up for another busy festival season and community outreach screenings next year, and then preparing to go to DVD. Our non-profit hosted two charity events that raised over $5,000 for orphanages in Vietnam. You can check out what we’re doing at AgainstTheGrainProductions.com or TheBabylift.com. On the work front, I celebrated my second anniversary as director of development for original programming at AMS. We completed three more documentaries and have one more in production about Nando Parrado. Our pilot, Girl Meets Gown, aired in March on WEtv and was green lit for a six-episode series. We also have three other major cable network pilots in development/production. All should air next year, so stay tuned.”
Learn more at www.AMSPictures.com

Dan Carillo Levy (2009)
Dan will present his first feature film as a producer at the 2010 Dallas Film Festival. The film, Sin Ella, is directed by Jorge Colon (Tired of Kissing Frogs), distributed by Buena Vista and produced in association with Miravista (Disney Mexico). With legendary award-winning producer Marcos Cline, Dan formed Creative Capital Funds, a company that currently funds, allocates, and produces the two films he will direct this year: the epic historic film about Mexico’s Independence, Mujeres Patria, with Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza (Babel), and the mockumentary Pancho’s Tours.

Wade MacDonald (2004)
“I’ve been working as a freelance DP/Camera Op for the last couple years, shooting mostly commercials and music videos, along with the occasional short film. I own all my own gear, and have a set of Cooke S4 lenses and a RED camera, which I’ve had since they were first released (I beta tested a lot of its functionality).”

Bert Mueller (2004)
“Since graduating from SMU I have worked for various production and post-production companies in the Dallas area. In 2006 I started my own production company, Mueller Media. I’ve worked on a few short film projects since SMU – but have been paying the bills by making documentaries and commercials, as well as all sorts of corporate videos. Mueller Media is a turnkey production and post-production company that has had steady business since the start.”
www.MuellerFilms.com

Ken Morris (2008)
He produced the film Obselidia, which was chosen to screen at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival; it won the Best Cinematography award and the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Prize, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

Dax Phelan (1997)
“I took advantage of my downtime in 2009 by going to New Orleans for several months and working on Anonymous, a drama that I was planning to direct in Dallas over the summer. In February, I was hired to do revisions on Medium Cool, a spy thriller that’s being produced by Thom Barry (Cold Case). My research for Anonymous led me to Houston and, while I was there, I was hired to co-write an untitled wedding comedy that’s being produced by Scottish producer-director Martin Strachan (Who Goes There) through Ripped Pictures. As a result, it was time to return to L.A. In June, after deciding that the script for Anonymous wasn’t yet ready to go out, I decided to do a quick rewrite of Jasmine, a dramatic thriller set in Hong Kong that I’d been planning to make as my feature directorial debut for the last several years. The project is being produced by Stratton Leopold (Mission: Impossible III, Marvel’s upcoming Captain America), actor-director Jason Tobin (Better Luck Tomorrow), and myself. In July, I was hired to write Laughing Buddha, a comedy that’s being produced by HK-based producers Glen Chin (Hollywood Hong Kong) and Roberta Chow (Rumble in the Bronx). I returned to Hong Kong in early October to begin pre-production on Jasmine. We wrapped principal photography on December 1. The film stars Jason Tobin, Eugenia Yuan, Sarah Lian, Glen Chin, and Byron Mann. Post-production recently began in Los Angeles. I hope to have it completed in the spring.”

Kayla Reis (2009)
“I’ve been working for an ABC affiliate here in Oregon as a production assistant. I operate cameras, and am a floor director (which is like an assistant director) and audio board operator. It’s so much fun and the fact that it’s live has helped keep my skills sharp. For this upcoming year I hope to have a script or two written.”