Award-Winning Faculty

Wilbur T. Blume's 1955 Oscar for The Face of Lincoln.

Faculty members at the School of Cinematic Arts have achieved a remarkable level of worldwide acclaim, winning a variety of prestigious awards, including the Oscar, Emmy, Peabody and Golden Globe. Many have had their work recognized at major film festivals, including Cannes, Sundance, and Venice. In addition, many play prominent roles in professional organizations, such as the American Society of Cinematographers and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Dates reflect the faculty member's time at the School of Cinematic Arts.

Note: In some cases, (e.g. Executive Producers) listings reflect the faculty member's work on a winning project and not the award itself.

Tom Abrams, Writer-Director

Associate Professor (1989 - present)

Emmy Award - 1992
Rugrats
Best Children's Television Series
Montreal World Film Festival - 1987
Shoeshine
First prize
Cannes International Film Festival - 1990
Performance Pieces
Special Award

Kate Amend, Editor

Adjunct Professor (1992-present)

Eddie Award - 2001
Into the Arms of Strangers
Best Edited Documentary
International Documentary Association - 2005
Outstanding Documentary Editing Award

Mitchell Block, Producer, Director-Writer

Adjunct Faculty (1979 - present)

Academy Award - 2006
Big Mama
Best Documentary Short
Emmy Award - 1978
No Lies - A Woman's Special
Best Community Service Program
Emmy Award - 2008
Carrier
Best Cinematography
Library of Congress National Film Registry - 2008
No Lies
Selected
Broadcast Film Critics Award - 2008
Stealing America
Best Documentary
University Film & Video Association - 1996
Elected Life Member
International Documentary Association - 1992
Elected Life Member

Ted Braun, Writer-Director

Assistant Professor (1995-present)

International Documentary Association - 2007
Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
National Board of Review - 2007
Darfur Now
Top Five Documentaries of The Year
NAACP Image Award - 2008
Darfur Now
Outstanding Documentary

Wilbur T. Blume, Producer

Lecturer (1948-1959)

Academy Award - 1955
The Face of Lincoln
Best Short Subject (2 Reel)

Frank Capra, Director

Lecturer (1934-1935)

Academy Award - 1934
It Happened One Night
Best Director
Academy Award - 1935
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Best Director
Academy Award - 1938
You Can’t Take It With You
Best Director

Patricia Cardoso, Director, Writer, Producer

Adjunct Professor (2006-present)

Sundance Film Festival - 2002
Real Women Have Curves
Audience Award
National Board of Review - 2002
Real Women Have Curves
Excellence in Filmmaking
Humanitas Award - 2002
Real Women Have Curves
Smithsonian Institute - 2006
Latino Recognition Award

P. David Ebersole, Producer

Staff (dates unknown)

American Film Institute’s Franklin J. Schaffner Award - 1993
Ding Dong
Best Film, Best Director

Howard Estabrook, Writer

Lecturer (1936-38)

Academy Award - 1931
Cimarron
Best Writing, Adaptation

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Actor-Producer

Guest Lecturer on February 6, 1929

Academy Award - 1940
Honorary Award (posthumously)

Sheridan Gibney, Writer

Adjunct Professor (1974-79)

Academy Award - 1937
The Story of Louis Pasteur
Best Original Screenplay

Don Hall, Sound & Post-Production

(1996-present)

Emmy Award - 1967
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing
Emmy Award - 1970
Tribes - Movie of the Week
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing
BAFTA - 1970
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
The Best Sound Track
Cinema Audio Society -1970
Patton
Outstanding Achievement in World of Sound
Cinema Audio Society - 1971
The French Connection
Outstanding Achievement in World of Sound
Cinema Audio Society - 1974
The Towering Inferno
Outstanding Achievement in World of Sound
Cinema Audio Society - 1975
Young Frankenstein
Outstanding Achievement in World of Sound
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award - 1971
Patton
Best Sound Editing
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award - 1972
The French Connection
Best Sound Editing
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award - 1973
The Poseidon Adventure
Best Sound Editing
Peabody Award - 1976
M*A*S*H Television Series
Outstanding Contribution to Production
BHS Hall of Fame - 2002
Outstanding Graduate
Inductee for Career Achievement
Motion Picture Sound Editors [MPSE] - 2004
Career Achievement Award
Academy Award - 2006
John Bonner Award
Dedication & Service to AMPAS

Mark Jonathan Harris, Producer, Director, Writer

Professor (1978-present)

Academy Award - 1967
The Redwoods
Academy Award - 1997
The Long Way Home
Academy Award - 2000
Into the Arms of Strangers: Kindertransport
Best Documentary-Feature

Tomlinson Holman, Sound

Professor (1987-present)

Academy Award - 2001
Scientific & Technical Award
Technical Achievement Award
Audio Engineering Society - 1981
Fellowship
Audio Engineering Society - 2006
Silver Medal
British Kinematograph Sound & Television Society - 1991
Fellowship
Cinema Audio Society - 1997
Career Achievement Award & Honorary Membership
IEEE, Institute of Electrical& Electronics Engineers - 2007
Masaru Ibuka Award
IEEE, Institute of Electrical& Electronics Engineers - 2008
Fellowship
Motion Picture Sound Editors - 2000
Honorary Membership
Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers - 1987
Samuel L. Warner Medal
Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers - 1988
Fellowship
Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers - 1990
Eastman Kodak Gold Medal
World Technology Network - 1999
Fellowship & Finalist, World Technology Award

Ross Hunter, Producer

Adjunct Professor (1975-77)

Emmy Award - 1977
Arthur Hailey’s The Moneychangers
Producers Guild of America - 1959
Imitation of Life
Golden Laurel Award
Producers Guild of America - 1968
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Best Dramatic Award

Judy Irola, Cinematographer, Director, Producer

Professor (1992-present)

Cannes Film Festival - 1979
Northern Lights
Camera d’Or Award
Sundance Film Festival - 1994
An Ambush of Ghosts
Cinematography Award
Fargo Film Festival - 2007
Cine Manifest
Ruth Lanfield Award
American Society of Cinematographers - 1995
Membership
Montana Independent Film - 2007
Festival Documentary Award Best Feature

David James

Professor (1992-present)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - 2007
Film Scholar

Richard Jewell

Professor (1976 -present)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - 2008
Film Scholar

Sol Lesser, Producer

Adjunct Professor (1967-79)

Academy Award - 1960
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Lifetime Achievement

Jerry Lewis, Actor, Director, Producer, Composer, Writer

Adjunct Professor (1967-77)

Emmy Award - 2005
Governor’s Award
French Legion of Honor - 1984
Los Angeles Film Critics Association - 2004
Career Achievement Award
Venice Film Festival - 1999
Career Golden Lion

Jeremy Kagan, Producer, Director

D.C. Independent Film Festival - 2006
ACLU Freedom Files
Humanitas Award - 2004
Crown Heights
Directors Guild Nomination
Outstanding Children's Programming
NAACP Image Award
Best TV Movie
Parents Choice Award
GLADD Nomination - 2002
Bobbie's Girl
Best TV Movie

Emmy Award - 1996
Chicago Hope
Outstanding Directing in a Television Series
Golden Globe - 1994
Roswell

Leonard Maltin, Director, Co-Producer

Adjunct Professor/Lecturer (Unknown-present)

Caucus For Television Producers - 2007
Journalism Award

Mardik Martin, Writer

Senior Lecturer (1990-present)

Writer's Guild of America - 2006
Raging Bull
101 Best Screenplay List
ARPA Foundation - 2007
Lifetime Achievement Award

Bill Melendez, Producer-Director

Lecturer (1961-1970s)

Emmy & Peabody Award - 1967
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Outstanding Children’s Program
Peabody Award - 1984
What Have We Learned Charlie Brown
Outstanding Animated Program

Nina Menkes, Director

Adjunct Professor/Sr. Lecturer/Visiting Professor/Artist-in-Residence (1991-2001)

American Film Institute - 1986
Magdalena Viraga
Independent Filmmaker Award
Los Angeles Film Critics Association - 1986
Independent/Experimental Film & Video Award

William Cameron Menzies, Art Director

Lecturer (1951-53)

Academy Award - 1928
Tempest
Best Art Direction
Academy Award - 1929
The Dove
Best Art Direction
Academy Award - 1941
Gone With the Wind
Special Award, Production Design

Ben Shedd, Director, Co-Producer

Adjunct Professor/Lecturer (1979-1989)

Academy Award - 1978
The Flight of the Gossamer Condor
Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Mary Sweeney, Writer, Editor, Producer

Associate Professor (2007-present)

Wisconsin Film Festival - 2010
Baraboo
Best Feature
Best Director
Galway Film Festival - 2009
Baraboo
Best First Feature
British Independent Film Awards - 2000
The Straight Story
Best Foreign Film-English Language
European Film Awards - 1999
The Straight Story
Screen International Award
BAFTA - 2001
Mulholland Drive
Best Editing
César Award - 2002
Mulholland Drive
Best Foreign Film
NY Film Critics Circle Awards - 2001
Mulholland Drive
Best Film

Norman Taurog, Director

Adjunct Professor (1967-81)

Academy Award - 1930
Skippy
Best Director

Lawrence Turman, Producer

Professor (1991-present)

Producers Guild of America - 1999
Golden Laurel Award
Hall of Fame, Motion Pictures

King Vidor, Director

Adjunct Professor (1966-77)

Academy Award - 1979
Lifetime Achievement Award
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - 1977
Career Achievement Award
Venice Film Festival - 1982
Career Golden Lion

Jennifer Warren, Co-Executive Producer

Senior Lecturer (1991-Present)

Seattle & Boston Film Festivals - 1994
The Beans of Egypt Maine
Best Pick
Academy Award - 1989
You Don't Have To Die
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Cable Ace - 1988
You Don't Have To Die
Short Form Documentary
Cine Golden Eagle - 1983
Point of Departure
Film World Award - 1975
Night Moves
Theatre World Award - 1970
6 Rms. Riv. Vu

Darryl F. Zanuck, Producer

Guest Lecturer on March 30, 1938

Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - 1937
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - 1944
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - 1950
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Golden Globe - 1954
Cecil B. DeMille Award
Directors Guild of America - 1966
Honorary Life Member Award

Robert Zemeckis, Director

USC Widney Professor (2008 - Present)

Academy Award - 1994
Forrest Gump
Best Director
Directors Guild of America - 1994
Forrest Gump
Best Director
Golden Globe - 1994
Forrest Gump
Best Director