Arts and letters Film and television •
Anne Archer 1969, actress •
Matthew Berkowitz, filmmaker •
Matthew Cooke 1996, documentary filmmaker •
Eric Douglas, actor and stand-up comedian, son of
Kirk Douglas, brother of
Michael Douglas •
Shatara Michelle Ford, director, writer and producer •
Dee Mosbacher, documentary filmmaker, gay rights activist, and psychiatrist
Writing •
Max Brooks 1994, author and lecturer, son of
Mel Brooks and
Anne Bancroft •
Dennis Cooper, novelist, poet, critic, and performance artist •
John Darnielle 1995, novelist and lead singer of
The Mountain Goats •
Amy Gerstler 1978, poet and winner of the 1991 National Books Critics Circle Award for
Bitter Angel •
Dana Levin 1987, poet •
Sandra Mitchell 1973, award-winning author, professor and philosopher of science •
Susan Patron 1969, children's author and winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal for
The Higher Power of Lucky •
Rob Magnuson Smith 1991, author •
Isabel Neal (poet) 2012, American poet and winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize in 2025
Journalism •
David Bloom 1985, anchor,
NBC News Music •
Tom Freund 1993, singer-songwriter and musician •
J.Lately 2009, rapper •
Jonah Matranga 1991, singer-songwriter and musician, former frontman for
Far and
Gratitude •
Matt Nathanson 1995, singer-songwriter and musician •
Michael Simpson 1986, Grammy Award-winning producer/composer; one half of the
Dust Brothers Government and law •
Michael Ceraso, political consultant and state director for the presidential campaigns of
Pete Buttigieg and
Bernie Sanders •
Kevin de León 2003, member of the
Los Angeles City Council and former member of the
California State Legislature •
Mablean Ephriam 1971, former prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles, television personality and actress •
Eli Erlick 2016, transgender activist, director of
Trans Student Educational Resources •
Steven González 1985, chief justice of the Washington State Supreme Court •
Matthew Karatz 1994, deputy mayor of Los Angeles •
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, member of the
U.S. House of Representatives from •
Fabian Núñez, former speaker of the
California State Assembly •
Debra Wong Yang 1981, former
United States attorney for
Central District of California; first female Asian-American U.S. attorney
Business •
Susan Feniger 1976, celebrity chef and restaurateur •
John Landgraf 1984, FX Network president •
Ashwin Navin 1998, CEO of Sambaa
Other •
Hunter Lovins, co-founder of
Rocky Mountain Institute •
Setha Low 1969, anthropologist, director of the Public Space Research Group •
Charles Martinez, university administrator •
Sharon Monsky 1975, founder of the
Scleroderma Research Foundation •
Nick Simmons 2011, reality television personality, son of
Gene Simmons and
Shannon Tweed •
Diana Vicezar 2023, Paraguayan entrepreneur ==Notable faculty==