School of Visual Arts - Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni

Animation

• Bill Plympton – twice Academy Award-nominated animator
• John R. Dilworth - creator of Courage the Cowardly Dog
• Derek Drymon
• Chris Prynoski – animator
• Jerry Beck – animation historian
• Pres Antonio Romanillos – supervising animator at Disney and DreamWorks animation.
• Daisuke Tsutsumi – concept artist and art director at Pixar.
• Kal Parekh - actor
• Rebecca Sugar - storyboard artist and composer for Adventure Time

Cartooning

• Peter Bagge – underground cartoonist
• Kyle Baker – graphic novelist and animator
• Chris Batista – comic book artist on Legion of Superheroes and 52
• Matt Davies – Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist
• Dennis Detwiller – comic book artist, collectible card game illustrator (Magic: The Gathering) and video game designer (Scarface: The World is Yours)
• Steve Ditko – co-creator of Spider-Man, creator of The Question and others
• Bob Fingerman – alternative/underground cartoonist and creator of Minimum Wage and White Like She
• Drew Friedman – alternative cartoonist/illustrator known for his celebrity caricatures
• Rob Gilbert/Robby Gilbert – children's illustrator, animator cartoonist/illustrator known for his comic, "The Adventures of Ranger Rick"
• Archie Goodwin – longtime editor and writer for Marvel and DC
• John Holmstrom – founder of PUNK magazine, co-founder of Comical Funnies with Peter Bagge, and creator of Bosko, "America's Least Favorite Cartoon Character"
• Jamal Igle -– DC Comics Artist of Firestorm, Nightwing, Supergirl and Zatanna
• James Jean – 2001 graduate who became the cover artist for the comic book series Fables and The Umbrella Academy, for which he has won six Eisner Awards for "Best Cover Artist".
• Phil Jimenez – DC Comics writer/artist for Wonder Woman and artist for Infinite Crisis
• Kaz – underground cartoonist known for his strip Underworld
• John Paul Leon – comic book illustrator, known for work on Earth X, Static
• Mark Newgarden – underground cartoonist and creator of the Garbage Pail Kids
• Joe Quesada – Comic book illustrator, editor-in-chief and later Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Comics; majored in illustration and graduated in 1984.
• Lew Schwartz, founder of film department and former Batman artist and Emmy Award winning film-maker
• Carlos Saldanha – director and co-director of the films Ice Age, Robots, and Ice Age: The Meltdown
• Joe Sinnott – longtime Marvel Comics inker
• Gerard Way – lead singer of My Chemical Romance, artist of The Breakfast Monkey and author of The Umbrella Academy
• Graig Weich – creator of the short film "Ravedactyl: Project Evolution".

Computer art

• Laurence Gartel – digital art pioneer
• Nikita Mikros – independent game designer

Film and Video

• Chantal Claret – Founding member and lead singer of Morningwood
• Michael Cuesta – Director of L.I.E.
• Michael Giacchino – film composer
• Jared Leto – film actor (Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War, Fight Club) attended SVA for a BFA in Film and Video; during which time he directed and starred in a short film entitled Crying Joy. He has also directed music videos for his band 30 Seconds to Mars: "The Kill", "From Yesterday", "Kings and Queens", "Closer to the Edge", "Hurricane" under the alias of Bartholomew Cubbins, and also "A Beautiful Lie" under the alias of Angakok Panipaq.
• Jonathan Pontell - Emmy, Golden Globe, and George Foster Peabody Award winning television director, producer and editor
• Jesse Richards – painter, Remodernist filmmaker and founder of U.S. Stuckism center
• Harris Savides – cinematographer of the films Last Days, Elephant, Gerry, Zodiac, and Milk
• Bryan Singer – film director, attended SVA for two years before transferring to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles
• Dante Tomaselli – film director of Anchor Bay Entertainment's Satan's Playground
• Trevor Moore – comedian and founding member of the sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know
• Sam Brown – comedian and founding member of the sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know.
• Zach Cregger – comedian and member of the sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know.
• Joseph M. Petrick – writer and co-director of The Mother of Invention
• Andrew Bowser – co-director and star of The Mother of Invention
• Ti West – director of the horror comedy The Roost and Cabin Fever 2
• Kazuhiro Soda – director of observational documentaries "Campaign", "Mental", and "Peace"
• David Caspe – Creator of the ABC hit show Happy Endings. Also is a sought-after screenwriter, he penned the film That's My Boy, starring Adam Sandler. He graduated from SVA in 2005 with an MFA.
• Steve Carr – film director who directed the films Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Daddy Day Care, Next Friday, Are We Done Yet?, among other comedy hits.
• Randall Emmett – film producer who produced the films Rambo, Iron Man, and more. He has also worked as a personal assistant to Mark Wahlberg. He graduated SVA in 1995 with a BFA in Film and Video.
• Samuel Bayer – Music video and commercial director who has directed music videos for Green Day, Blink 182, Lionel Richie, and Sheryl Crow. He also directed the 2010 remake of The Nightmare on Elm Street. He graduated SVA with a BFA in Film and Video in 1987.
• Andrew Rona – Film producer and studio executive. He is the former co-president of Rogue Pictures. Since 2008, he has been the president of Silver Pictures. He has also produced the films Unknown, Scary Movie 3, Scream 2, Scream 3, Project X, and many more.
• Carlos Saldanha – director and co-director of the films Ice Age, Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Rio. His films have grossed over $2.6 billion dollars worldwide. According to box office mojo, he is the 38th most successful director of all time based on box office gross.
• Craig Gillespie - Film and commercial director who directed the films Lars and the Real Girl, Mr. Woodcock, and the 2011 film Fright Night, starring Colin Farrell. He is also a very prolific commercial director, he has been directing commercials for the past 16 years. His next film is set to star Will Ferrell and will be produced by Ben Stiller, it is titled "The Flamingo Thief".

Music

• Jared Leto – lead singer and co-founder of alternative rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, also actor and film director (see the previous category)
• Aurelio Voltaire Hernández – animator and comic artist who is also known as Voltaire (musician), artist of "BRAINS!", a song written for the Cartoon Network show The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy in the episode Little Rock of Horror.
• Mark McCoy – influential hardcore punk frontman, notable for Charles Bronson (band) and Das Oath, among a plethora of others.
• Gerard Way – lead singer and co-founder of alternative rock band My Chemical Romance, also writer of comic book The Umbrella Academy
• Chantal Claret – Founding member and lead singer of Morningwood

Fine arts

• Esao Andrews – painter and skateboard designer.
• Samuel Bayer – commercial and music video director for bands such as Nirvana, Green Day, The Offspring, Blink-182, The Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Metallica, and My Chemical Romance, as well as Green Day's concert film Bullet in a Bible. He has also directed many commercials for companies such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, Nike, and several commercials for the United States Army "Army Strong" campaign. He graduated from SVA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1987.
• Robert Beauchamp - Painter.
• Mark McCoy – print artist and photographer, notable for releasing on Heartworm Press
• Tom Burr – installation artist.
• Robin Byrd – adult film actress, who took art and sketching classes at SVA. To help pay for classes she did life form modeling.
• Gregory Edwards - New York City and Frankfurt, Germany painter/artist conceptual artist
• Inka Essenhigh – painter
• Neck Face – graffiti artist
• Derrick Fludd – painter and designer
• Laurie Elyse – fashion designer
• Andrea Fraser – performance artist
• Pamela Fraser – painter
• Barnaby Furnas – painter
• Keith Haring – attended SVA, but was expelled when he used the interior of an SVA building as a canvas for graffiti in a project with Jean-Michel Basquiat
• Gus Heinze – painter
• James Jaxxa – multimedia artist
• Reverend Jen – performance artist
• Vashtie Kola – also known as Vashtie or Va$htie, director, designer, artist, blogger, party promoter
• Joseph Kosuth – conceptual artist
• Robert Lazzarini – sculptor and installation artist.
• Dinh Q Lê – fine arts photographer
• Steve Mumford – painter
• Sol LeWitt – American artist working in multiple media
• Paul A. Paddock- painter
• Elizabeth Peyton – painter
• Andrew Cornell Robinson – multimedia artist
• Brian Rutenberg – painter
• Sarah Sze – sculptor and MacArthur Fellows Program ("Genius Grant") recipient
• John von Bergen – sculptor
• Charlie White – artist, working primarily in photography.

Graphic design

• Todd Radom – designer of logos for professional sports teams and leagues
• Cojo, Art Juggernaut – fine artist, commercial artist, cartoonist

Illustration

• Federico Castelluccio – Italian-born actor, most known for portraying Furio Giunta on the HBO series The Sopranos
• Paul Brooks Davis – Illustrator
• J. P. Targete – illustrator and concept artist.
• Tomer Hanuka – illustrator
• Yuko Shimizu – illustrator

Photography

• Lorna Simpson – artist
• Justine Kurland – fine art photographer
• Renée Cox – artist, photographer
• David LaChapelle – photographer
• Noah Kalina – art and editorial photographer
• Amy Stein – photographer
• David Carol - photographer

Other

• Sheila Lukins – cook and food writer who co-authored the The Silver Palate series of cookbooks and The New Basics Cookbook
• Manuel DeLanda – philosopher and writer
• Rahul Khanna – Indian actor