ALUMNI IN THE ARTS

Vernon Lewis

Lewis is a shareholder with the Greenberg Traurig Law Firm, where he is a member of the Litigation Practice Group. He represents individuals and corporations accused of violations of state or federal criminal laws related to healthcare fraud, tax fraud, securities fraud, antitrust, environmental crimes, money laundering, import fraud, mail fraud, benefits fraud, wire fraud, and commodities fraud.

Andrea Liska Finkle

Andrea, valedictorian of her class, spent almost three weeks of her summer rehearsing for and appearing in a one-act play at a festival in New York City. This was a dream come true for her because she had spent many years performing in scholastic and community theater productions in Florida.

Jonathan Penson

Jonathan produced and directed a documentary, Made in Venice. It is the inside story of the streetwise skateboarders of Venice and their endless struggle to make the dream of a skate park come true.

Matthew Pearl

Best-selling author Matthew Pearl’s novel, The Dante Chamber, the sequel to his highly successful novel, The Dante Club, was published in May 2018.

His books have appeared both on international and New York Times bestseller lists. They have been translated into over 30 languages. You can often read Matthew’s non-fiction works in the New York Times and the Boston Globe.

Scott Weinger

Scott recently reprised the role of Steve Hale for the Netflix reboot, Fuller House, a role he originated on the '90s series Full House. Scott has worked steadily in the entertainment business as an actor, producer, and writer and is well known as the voice of Disney’s Aladdin. Scott majored in English and minored in French literature at Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Seth Yanklewitz

Seth is an Emmy-nominated casting director known for his work on New Girl (2011), The Hangover (2009), Blades of Glory (2007), and Fool’s Gold (2008).

Mandel Ilagan

Mandel was promoted to vice president of unscripted development for Nickelodeon. In his new position, he heads a team overseeing the network's new game show and reality show projects. He’ll also be seeking new ideas from production companies for future unscripted programming.

Mandel has been with Nickelodeon for a number of years and has developed and led production for shows including Paradise Run, React to That, and Webheads.  The network premiered JoJo Siwa: My World on Nickelodeon; Mandel was one of the executives overseeing this exciting project.

Alan Foreman

Congratulations to Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award-winner, Alan Foreman, Class of 1996, who spent the better part of the last two years directing Baby Shark's Big Movie! now streaming on Paramount Plus and airing on Nickelodeon. Baby Shark’s Big Movie! is a 2023 animated comedy film based on the popular song and TV series. The plot follows Baby Shark and his family as they leave Chomp City, the great city of sharks, and face a new threat from an evil pop starfish named Stariana who plans to steal Baby Shark’s gift of song in order to dominate all underwater music. All USchool Sharks (and Suns) should check out this great new movie based on our favorite small screen and now big screen Shark!

Adam Litwin

Adan is an entertainment and corporate attorney in Dallas, yet he still finds time to pursue his creative passions, including the film The Epoch and the film short Moxon’s Master. In 2017, Adam produced Frackers and was an Associate Producer on the film Bomb City.

Seth Gabel

2017 was a busy year for Seth who could be seen on TV in recurring roles on both Genius and Salem. Prior to these appearances, you might recognize him from American Horror Story or Arrow.

Josh Gad

Josh Gad, Class of 1999, will reunite with Andrew Rannells in “Gutenberg! The Musical!” The pair, who were the original co-stars of “The Book of Mormon,” will return to Broadway this fall in a two-man musical comedy. Josh is best known for voicing Olaf in the Frozen franchise, playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, and playing Le Fou in the live-action adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. And, of course, USchool’s stage productions of Fiddler on the Roof and Guys and Dolls and many more!

Shawn Snyder

A graduate of Harvard University and NYU Graduate Film School, Shawn is an independent filmmaker. He co-wrote and directed his first feature film entitled To Dust, which was released in 2018 and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Shawn has also worked as a sound editor and mixer, as well as a producer on several television and film projects. His pre-thesis film, Festus, won the 2014 CINE Golden Eagle Award for Best Student Drama, and he won the Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize of $100,000 to help produce To Dust.

Danny Ghitis

Danny is a Brooklyn-based editorial and commercial photographer and frequent contributor to the New York Times. His clients include Adweek, Billboard, Rolling Stone, TIME, and Vogue.

Danny recently decided to follow another of his passions—studying, understanding and helping people be the best they can be. He completed the coaching program at NYU and now helps clients make the pursuit of happiness rewarding and fulfilling.