October 2019 College News

1 With Dea McAllister (center) and Anna Choudhury 2 With Greg Toohey (center), on the set of Te Herd with Colin Cowherd 3 With Rita Garcia, co-host of Good Day LA 12 | October | College News LA CONNECTIONS On October 21-23, I traveled with Anna Choudhury (University Advancement) to re-connect with some College of Fine Arts and Communication alumni in the L.A. area. In El Segundo we caught up with Dolores “Dea” McAllister (Teatre 1972). Dea has enjoyed a multi-decade career as an actress, writer, director, and producer in theatre, flm, television, and commercials. [ 1 ] Next, we visited Greg Toohey (Electronic Media 1998) on the lot of Fox Studios. Greg has worked for Fox Sports for the past 15 years and is currently the Executive Producer of Te Herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports; Greg invited us on set to watch the show and to tour some of the Fox Sports facilities. [ 2 ] We also lunched with Rita Garcia (Electronic Media 2006). [ 3] She is currently the co-host of Good Day LA . For more of Rita’s story, see p.11 and this link. In the evening, we hosted alumni at the historic Redbird restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. Tere we got catch- up with a wide range of alums from the College. Organizing support, as well as guest speakers, were alums Lori Merkle (Teatre 1994) and Matt Ford (Teatre 1992). Matt is a two-time Emmy Award-Winning Lighting Designer as well as the co-founder of Magic Lantern Creations, Inc. Lori is the co-founder and CFO of Magic Lantern Creations, Inc. Tey also created a legendary Haunted House in L.A. Erin Broadhurst (Comm Studies, '04) [ 5 ] has been a writer/producer on NCIS: Los Angeles for the past four years. Prior to her involvement with network television, she interned at both Walt Disney World and Nickelodeon Movies and earned an M.A. in Comm Studies at California State University Long Beach. Jenny Butler (Journalism 1985) [4] had a long career as a reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines in Texas and Los Angeles. Later, she transitioned into editorial technology, and retired very recently from Tribune Publishing. Khara Cloutier (Communication Design 2003) [ 5 ] has worked with a wide range of clients and has been featured in Print magazine as well as the Pixels of Identities group exhibit in Venice. She now also teaches Typography and the History of Design at California State University— Long Beach and Long Beach City College. Danny Lutman (Teatre 2002) has trained and performed with all the major improv comedy companies, including his current gig with Second City. Danny also produces numerous non-scripted shows, including Reasonable Doub t, Man vs. Shark , and Te Holzner Files . David Moore (Communication Studies 1992) [ 5 ] serves as Assistant Vice President for Legacy Planning at Chapman University in Orange, CA. He is the primary development ofcer for Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, ranked one of the top 10 flm schools in the country. Melanie Pleasure (Teatre 1983) recalled fond memories of playing Viola in Twelfth Night ; it was a delight seeing the article and photos from the original University Star article. She has worked in real estate with CBRE, and since 2003 she has been the owner of Training with Pleasure. Emily Reas (Teatre 2016) works with acting coach John D'Aquino as a coach, in-house producer, and coordinator. She is also in post-production for a short she wrote, directed, and acted in, producing her frst feature, and is in pre-production of a slate of more projects flming in 2020. Charlie Rodriguez (2018) [4] works for Klubhouse Arts, an immersive experience company providing comedic entertainment for private events as the company and operations manager. After working as a high school theatre teacher, E. Colleen Saro (Teatre 1987) moved to Los Angeles, where she has enjoyed a long career as a props master, working on shows such as Veronica Mars , Bosch , and Te Good Place . In addition to acting, Charlie Werner (2015) works as a Stunt/FX Coordinator; his most recent FX project Bobby is in post-production. He also coaches volleyball at New Roads School; they recently advanced to the CIF Quarterfnals. Dickie Wrightsil (Electronic Media 1985) [ 5 ] worked in the media world for about 15 years before taking the leap for his dream. For the last 15 years, he has worked in Hollywood as an actor, with Red Dead Redemption II , being one of his more recent roles. 4 Alums Jennifer Butler and Charlie Rodriguez 5 From left, alums David Moore, Khara Cloutier, her husband Ray Cobo, Dickie Wrightsil, and Erin Broadhurst 6 Te Dean sharing some remarks about the College College of Fine Arts and Communication | 13