Posts by Brad Lemack | Today at Elon | �þ��

The Groundlings award-winning improv training comes to �þ�� Los Angeles

Brad Lemack — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:48:18 +0000

Summer students at �þ�� Los Angeles, joined by a group of students from other summer LA study away programs, had the opportunity to participate in a new and innovative workshop that teaches students how to think on their feet in a variety of situations. From an internship interview, to a job interview, to social and classroom situations, “thinking on your feet” training can benefit them in myriad of ways.

�þ�� Los Angeles Director Brad Lemack moderated a conversation about the history and styles of improv with The Groundlings improv coach Andres Parada.

The “Never Be at a Loss for Words” workshop idea was created through a partnership between �þ�� and The Groundlings, an industry improv training leader in Los Angeles. The workshop was led by actor, improv performer and The Groundlings improv coach Andres Parada. Parada has spent many years �þ�� actors critical communication skills that prepare them for anything that comes up in an audition, in a live performance or on a film set. Actors Will Ferrell, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph and Lisa Kudrow are among the many well-known alumni of The Groundlings.

Now, Elon LA students have learned how to apply those techniques to benefit them along both their career and personal journeys ahead.

�þ�� Los Angeles, offered by Elon’s ��Ի��National �þ�� Programs, offers spring and summer immersive experiences for students that feature academic courses taught by instructors who are working professionals in their fields and on-site experiential learning at internship sites across the city. The Elon LA experience also includes alumni engagement, community service and unique professional development opportunities.

Based in historic Hollywood, applications are now being accepted for the spring 2027 semester.

Improv coach Andres Parada brought “think on your feet” improv exercises to �þ�� Los Angeles.

Laughter and skill building were the orders of a night of improv training for non-actors at �þ�� Los Angeles.

Elon Los Angeles summer students learned how to “Never Be at a Loss for Words” at a fun, new, innovative improv workshop.

U.S. Soccer comes to �þ�� Los Angeles

Brad Lemack — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 13:20:31 +0000

Atlanta-based Elon alumna Abbie Skladan ‘23, who is the manager of sporting and specialty retail development at U.S. Soccer, reunited with her �þ�� Los Angeles roots during a visit with summer Elon Loss and local alumni to discuss Angeles student U.S. Soccer’s initiatives in retail partnerships and community engagement. Skladan spent a semester at Elon Los Angeles during her academic career at Elon.

Abbie Skladan ’23 serves as manager of sporting and specialty retail development at U.S. Soccer.

Los Angeles has been serving as one of the key U.S. locations for the FIFA World Cup 2026; Skladan’s work responsibilities have brought her to LA for the duration of the games this summer.

�þ�� and alumni guests had the opportunity to learn about her impressive career in sports so far and her journeyposition to her current . “It is wonderful to be back at Elon LA’s home base at The Preserve, in the same space where my classes were held and from where I began the journey to launch my post-graduation professional career,” Skladan told the gathered group.

Each semester, �þ�� Los Angeles brings together alumni and students for conversations that benefit emerging young professionals in a wide variety of career fields. The program offers an exciting, immersive and robust spring semester and summer program experience in the heart of historic Hollywood through Elon’s ��Ի� National �þ�� Programs. Applications are now being accepted for the spring 2027 semester.

Abbie Skladan ’23 chats about her work with U.S. Soccer with a group of summer �þ�� Los Angeles students.

Mentoring sets the tone for �þ�� Los Angeles summer ‘Alumni Wisdom’ event

Brad Lemack — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 19:10:29 +0000

Elon alumni Landon Kestlinger ’19, Dezirae Zaman ‘24, Frankie Campisano ‘16 and Cierra Seawright ’18 returned to Elon Los Angeles with a wide variety of personal experiences to share with students during a panel in June.

Elon alumnus Frankie Campisano ’16 talks with Elon Los Angeles summer student Hammond Sherouse.

From production, post-production, content creation, producing, writing, directing and performing, the panel offered a wide range of information to students of diverse majors who are in Los Angeles this summer for a unique core capstone course, experiential learning, alumni engagement and community service.

Zaman, who works at the post-production house Picture Shop, shared the excitement of being in the middle of the artistry of post-production. Among Picture Shop’s most recent projects was providing color correction work on Steven Spielberg’s current film “Disclosure Day.” She is also a first-time site supervisor, mentoring summer student Hammond Sherouse at a first-time Elon Los Angeles Picture Shop internship.

Campisano, who served as a selection committee member for the first �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Grant Competition last fall, spoke about the wide range of professional creative opportunities that await students who return to Los Angeles after graduation. Campisano is an award-winning filmmaker who often turns to the Elon Los Angeles alumni community when staffing and casting projects.

Kestlinger is a Physical Production Manager for television and feature films at SK Global Entertainment. Seawright, an actor, model, and entertainment and brand marketing specialist, currently performs at Disneyland Resort.

�þ�� Los Angeles offers an exciting, immersive spring semester and summer program experience in the heart of historic Hollywood through Elon’s and National �þ�� Programs. Applications are now being accepted for the spring 2027 semester.

Elon alumna Dezirae Zaman ’24 with Elon Los Angeles summer faculty-in-residence Doug Kass.

Elon alumnus Landon Kestlinger ’19 talks with students following the Alumni Wisdom Panel session discussion at the �þ�� Los Angeles home base, the historic property The Preserve, in Hollywood.

Elon Los Angeles area alumnae to premiere award-winning short films at inaugural Elon Los Angeles film festival July 22

Brad Lemack — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:57:15 +0000

Elon alumna Bex Evans, Julia Boyd and Mirai will have the world premieres of their Elon Los Angeles grant-funded short films at the first �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Festival.

Tickets are now on sale for the inaugural �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Festival on Wednesday evening, July 22, at 6:30 p.m., at the historic Sony Pictures Studios lot, in Culver City, California.

The festival will feature the world premieres of short films from three Elon Los Angeles area alumna who were recipients of last fall’s �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Grant Competition funds.

Julia Boyd ’15, Bex Evans ’16 and Mirai ‘07 each received grants of $3,000 for the production of their original short films. Their projects were selected for funding from among numerous submissions received. A selection committee comprised of industry professionals and Elon alumni reviewed, ranked and voted on all of the submissions received; Boyd, Evans and Mirai’s projects were the three top selections from this process.

The short film festival will also feature a conversation with Elon alumni Lindsey Emerson, vice president of streaming, global strategy & operations at Paramount Skydance and Alex Stevenson, account lead at Creative Artists Agency, about the current state of the entertainment industry and the impact these shifts are having on students transitioning from college to the professional world, as well as how current working professionals might navigate the new landscape for new opportunities.

A reception will follow the festival presentation with the opportunity for current Elon Los Angeles summer students to connect with Elon alumni and other industry professionals.

Limited availability tickets for the film festival are $25 each, with 100% of all ticket revenue designated to support next year’s grant competition.

For information and ticket purchases, and for contributions to the grant competition fund, please visit the .

Grant recipients near completion of films in �þ�� Los Angeles Short Film Grant Competition

Brad Lemack — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:01:12 +0000

Production is well underway and nearing completion by all three of the �þ�� Los Angeles-area alumna who were recipients of the 2025-26 �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Grant Competition. Filmmakers Julia Boyd ‘15, Bex Evans ‘16 and Mirai ‘07 are all expected to wrap their productions by the end of the month.

For Mirai, her short film shoot was an opportunity to both produce her original script and bring together several Elon alumni for a Hollywood reunion. Serving in various production capacities on her “#StopAsianKate” were Lauren Gadd ’06, who worked camera, Katie Laurence ’24, who worked as assistant camera, Alicia Reynolds ’07, who acted in the film, Stevie Kloeber ’07, who traveled to Los Angeles from Minnesota to serve as script supervisor, and Dean Karasinski ’06, who worked in production design, art department, craft services and as producer.

All three short films, Boyd’s “The Life and Time of …,” Evans’s “Shadow Dusk” and Mirai’s “#StopAsianKate,” will have their world premieres at the first �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Festival, in late July.

�þ�� Los Angeles students spend an evening ‘Inside the Writer’s Room’

Brad Lemack — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:53:22 +0000

A group of �þ�� Los Angeles spring students spent March 18 “Inside the Writer’s Room” in a unique, creative learning experience led by television and film writer Matthew Antonelli.

This new, customized workshop also presented an opportunity for Elon LA students to learn from and share the creative process with a group of students from other study-away LA colleges and universities, who, along with �þ�� Los Angeles, are members of a coalition of nearly 20 schools that offer semester-in-LA programs. Each semester, Elon LA and these other schools share professional development opportunities for students, allowing them to mix, mingle, network and learn together.

Television and film writer Matthew Antonelli introduced �þ�� Los Angeles students to the life of a working writer in a special professional development workshop opportunity.

Each semester, Elon students explore and discover Los Angeles and the diversity of professional career opportunities that await them through academic classes with professors who work in the industries that align with their courses, immersive, site-based experiential learning, alumni engagement and community service.

Applications for the Study USA Los Angeles spring 2027 Creative Industries & Community Experience open on April 1. �þ�� can visit the to learn more and to begin the application process.

Elon Los Angeles students celebrate Elon Day in LA

Brad Lemack — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:16:53 +0000

�þ�� Los Angeles spring semester students had the opportunity to mix, mingle and connect with Elon Los Angeles-area alumni at the packed Elon Day LA event on March 5, hosted by LA alumni chapter Co-Presidents Cameron Jackson and Taylor Martin.

The gathering, held at The Belmont in West Hollywood, brought together an enthusiastic group of alumni, many of whom had participated in the Elon LA semester experience during their Elon academic journeys.

Current students shared internship and academic class experiences with their new Elon connections. Many took advantage of the opportunity to request meetings later this semester with individual alumni as a part of the Elon Los Angeles “Coffee with an Alumnus” program.

Elon LA spring semester students Kevin Reda and Jackson Bennett connected with Elon alumnus Jordan Roman ’15 (center) at the Elon Day event in Los Angeles.

The immersive Study USA Los Angeles semester and summer experiences offer students opportunities for alumni engagement, community service, unique academic classes with industry professionals, and site-based experiential learning. for Spring 2027 open April 1.

Elon Los Angeles film grant recipients meet with students to share project insights

Brad Lemack — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:25:39 +0000

The three Los Angeles area Elon alumna who are recent recipients of �þ�� Los Angeles 2025-26 Alumni Short Film Grant Competition awards met with spring LA students last week to talk about their grant-funded short film projects.

In accordance with the terms of their grants, alumna Bex Evans ’16, Julie Boyd ’15 and Mirai ’07 have each created opportunities for spring students to participate in and/or observe both their pre-production process and on-set work.

Elon LA alumna short film grant recipients Bex Evans ’16, Julia Boyd ’15 and Mirai ’07 met with spring LA students to talk about opportunities to get involved with their productions this semester.

Pre-production of all three short films is slated to begin this week, with production to start shortly thereafter. Production of all three films will be completed by the end of the Los Angeles spring semester in April. The three short films will have their world premiere this July at the first �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Festival.

Through Study USA��Ի��National �þ�� Programs, �þ�� Los Angeles offers an immersive spring and summer semester of academic classes, experiential learning, professional development and community service opportunities for students with a variety of majors. For information about the Los Angeles experience and 2027 opportunities, please visit the ��Ի��National �þ�� Programs��ɱ��ٱ��.

Julia Boyd ’15 talked with spring LA students about her short film project “The Life and Times of …”.

Spring 2026 kicks off in style at �þ�� Los Angeles

Brad Lemack — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:42:05 +0000

The spring 2026 semester at �þ�� Los Angeles kicked off in January bringing together an enthusiastic cohort of students and a dedicated industry-experienced faculty team that includes two new instructors.

Spring students discovered the world class Getty Center during the first LA excursion of the semester.

A Saturday morning orientation introduced students to the Elon Los Angeles home base at The Preserve, in Hollywood, and included presentations by all of this semester’s faculty about their courses and the content of their classes.

Returning instructors include director and long-time Elon LA professor Boris Schaarschmidt, who is once again �þ�� a directing masterclass. Entertainment attorney Daniel Spitz has returned to teach Media Law and Ethics, and writer and longtime Elon LA professor Matthew Antonelli has returned to teach a unique, one-evening master seminar in March, called Inside the Writer’s Room.

New to the Elon Los Angeles faculty team this semester are art historian and educator Charles Peterson, who is �þ�� a course in Los Angeles art and architecture history, and award-winning global strategist, thought leader and educator Brandon Shamim, who is �þ�� “Principles of Management,” with a Los Angeles focus.

The historic LA Farmer’s Market was a student favorite during their first LA discovery experience.

�þ�� Los Angeles director and long time industry professional Brad Lemack is once again �þ�� the experiential learning course this spring, which focuses student internship experiences on work culture, industry shifts and transitions, and professional development.

Elon Los Angeles program assistant and Elon alumna Macy Mills ‘23 led students on their first excursion this semester after orientation, with an immersive day of LA experiences at the world class Getty Center, followed by a visit to the historic Los Angeles Farmer’s Market and The Grove, at Third and Fairfax.

In addition to unique academic classes and internships, this spring semester experience for students will also include a day of community service at the Hollywood Food Coalition, alumni engagement gatherings and the opportunity to participate in and/or observe the production of the three short films being produced by the Elon LA-based alumni recipients of the 2025-26 �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Competition.

Through and National �þ�� Programs, �þ�� Los Angeles offers immersive spring and summer semester programs for students with a variety of majors. For information about the Los Angeles experience and 2027 opportunities, please visit the and National �þ�� Programs websites.

Elon Los Angeles Program Assistant and Elon alumna Macy Mills ’23 talks with students about the semester ahead and navigating LA at Saturday’s orientation.

�þ�� Los Angeles announces the recipients of 2025-26 Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Grant competition funds

Brad Lemack — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 14:24:51 +0000

Three Los Angeles-area Elon alumni have been selected to receive a $3,000 grant each for the production of their original, unproduced short films.

Bex Evans ’16 is one of three Los Angeles-area alumni to be awarded a short film production grant from �þ�� Los Angeles.

Mirai ’07 has been awarded a 2025/2026 grant for the production of her short film “#StopAsianKate,” one of three grants awarded to LA-area Elon alumni by �þ�� Los Angeles.

The 2025-26 Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Grant competition was open to all Los Angeles-based Elon alumni to submit proposals this past fall for consideration for production funding. A selection committee comprised of both industry professionals and Elon alumni was assembled to read, review and rank all proposals received. From those rankings, the top three highest-ranked projects were selected to receive grants. Grant funding was made possible, in part, by the financial support from members of the Elon Los Angeles alumni community and others.

The three grant recipients are Julia Boyd ’15, for her short film “The Life and Times of …”, Mirai ’07, for her short film “#StopAsianKate” and Bex Evans ’16, for their short film “Shadow Dusk.”

Production of these funded projects will commence in early 2026. As a component of the grant requirements, filmmakers will make opportunities available to �þ�� Los Angeles Spring 2026 students to participate in their projects through direct set experience and/or production observation. Elon Los Angeles program assistant and alumna Macy Mills ’23 and alumnus Jordan Roman ’15 were co-chairs of this year’s grant competition.

Elon alumna Julia Boyd ’15 has been awarded one of three 2025/2026 short film production grants to LA area alumni from �þ�� Los Angeles.

The selection committee members included Emmy Award-winning writer, producer and showrunner (“Lost,” House,” “The Good Wife”) Elon parent Leonard Dick P’20 (father of Julie Dick ’20), Emmy Award-winning producer Marsha Posner Williams (“The Golden Girls”), actor Eric Rollins, and LA-based alumni Frankie Campisano ’16, Mia Ginae Watkins ’16, Lauren Duncan ’18 and Alyssa Needham ’19.

The three short films funded will have their world premieres at the first �þ�� Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Festival in late July 2026.

Posts by Brad Lemack | Today at Elon | �þ���

The Groundlings award-winning improv training comes to �þ��� Los Angeles

U.S. Soccer comes to �þ��� Los Angeles

Mentoring sets the tone for �þ��� Los Angeles summer ‘Alumni Wisdom’ event