Famous Savannah College of Art and Design Alumni: Shaping the World Through Art and Design

Before they achieved widespread recognition, many prominent figures in various fields were once students striving to make their mark. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has played a significant role in nurturing talent that has gone on to influence various industries. This article explores some of the most notable alumni from SCAD, highlighting their accomplishments and contributions to the world.

SCAD's Global Impact

SCAD's influence extends far beyond its Savannah, Georgia campus. EduRank places the institution at 1961st globally, 678th in North America, and 638th in the United States based on aggregated alumni prominence. This ranking underscores the significant impact SCAD graduates have made across various fields.

Notable Alumni

The following is a list of some of the most distinguished alumni from the Savannah College of Art and Design, recognized for their contributions to music, film, television, fashion, and more. This list is arranged to showcase the diversity of talent that SCAD cultivates.

Music

India.Arie: An American singer and songwriter, India Arie Simpson, known professionally as India.Arie, has achieved significant success in the music industry. Her debut album, "Acoustic Soul," was released in 2001, and since then, she has released six more studio albums. Arie has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album, solidifying her place as a prominent figure in contemporary music.
Peg Parnevik: Born in Sweden in 1995, Peg Parnevik is a Swedish-American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is well-known for starring in the Swedish reality show "Parneviks," which is mainly broadcast from their home in Jupiter, Florida.

Film and Television

Kayli Carter: An American actress, Kayli Carter has made a name for herself in both film and television. She portrayed Sadie Rose in the Netflix western TV series "Godless" and Amber McCarden in the film "Bad Education," alongside Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Her role in "Private Life" earned her a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female.
David Zennie: An American director and producer born in 1988, David Zennie is best known for his work with international artists, including Imran Khan, Mohammad Assaf, and Yo Yo Honey Singh. He divides his time between Los Angeles, California, and Dubai, UAE.
Leila Djansi: Born in India in 1981, Leila Afua Djansi is an American and Ghanaian filmmaker who began her film career in the Ghana film industry.
Madison Hamburg: A 2014 film and television BFA graduate, Madison Hamburg created the documentary "Murder on Middle Beach," a four-part series that premiered on HBO. The series investigates the 2010 cold case murder of his mother, Barbara, in Madison, CT.
Colin Levy: A 2011 SCAD graduate with a BFA in film and television, Colin Levy has taken his animation skills to the mainstream. His project, "Skywatch," is being developed into a television series with NBC’s Peacock.
Hailey French: Director Hailey French hired an all-SCAD crew, with 10 production teams led by women, for her film "The Light Breaks."
Tessa Thompson: An actor and producer and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Tessa Thompson's career took off at 18 following her professional debut in the Romeo and Juliet: Antebellum New Orleans 1836 theater performance, for which she received an NAACP Image Award nomination. She made her feature film debut in When a Stranger Calls and appeared in several more films and TV shows before breakout roles in Selma and Dear White People, earning a Gotham Award for the latter film. She followed these with blockbuster roles as Bianca in the Creed trilogy and as Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Miles Teller: Teller first garnered critical attention with James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and earned him the Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting. He soon followed with a breakthrough role in the Academy Award-nominated Whiplash opposite J.K. Simmons. He recently starred in The Gorge, Apple TV+'s biggest film debut to date, and Top Gun: Maverick, which eclipsed $1.4 billion at the global box office. His other film credits include Spiderhead, Thank You for Your Service, Only the Brave, War Dogs, Bleed for This, Rabbit Hole, That Awkward Moment, Divergent, Project X, Footloose, and 21 & Over.
Sydney Sweeney: A two-time Emmy Award-nominated actor and producer and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Sydney Sweeney has become one of the most sought-after talents of her generation, captivating global audiences with her many buzzworthy and critically acclaimed iconic roles. Sweeney received her Emmy Award nominations for her starring roles in the hit HBO series Euphoria and The White Lotus. She has also received a Critics' Choice Award nomination for her portrayal of whistleblower Reality Winner in the Peabody Award-winning film Reality. Her other film and TV credits include Echo Valley, Immaculate, Anyone But You, Madame Web, Americana, Eden, The Voyagers, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Nocturne, The Handmaid's Tale, Sharp Objects, and Under the Silver Lake.
Kristen Stewart: An Academy Award-nominated actor and director and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Kristen Stewart is an Academy Award-nominated actor for her portrayal of Princess Diana in the Pablo Larraín-directed Spencer. Stewart won 22 critic awards for her performance and earned additional nominations from the Critics' Choice Award and the Golden Globe Awards. In 2015, she became the first American actress to be awarded a Cesar Award in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria. In 2002, Stewart was introduced to audiences worldwide with her gripping performance alongside Jodie Foster in Panic Room. She broke through to stardom with her portrayal of Bella Swan in the hit Twilight franchise, which has grossed more than $3 billion worldwide.
Amanda Seyfried: An actor and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Pennsylvania native Amanda Seyfried started her career as a model before turning to acting, garnering early roles in As the World Turns, All My Children, Mean Girls, Nine Lives, Alpha Dog, and Big Love. Seyfried first captured the attention of audiences and critics alike in her breakthrough performance in Mamma Mia! Since then, she has starred in Chloe, Jennifer's Body, Dear John, Letters to Juliet, In Time, Les Misérables, Epic, Lovelace, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Ted 2, While We're Young, First Reformed, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Things Heard & Seen, A Mouthful of Air, and Seven Veils. In 2021, she received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her role in David Fincher's critically acclaimed Mank.
Benny Safdie: An actor, director, writer, and producer and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Benny Safdie is a New York-based director, writer, and actor whose projects include the recent The Smashing Machine, which earned him the Silver Lion at the 2025 Venice Film Festival; Showtime and A24's The Curse, which he co-created with Nathan Fielder, earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for acting and a WGA Award nomination for writing; and Uncut Gems, which he co-wrote and co-directed with brother Josh Safdie, winning three Independent Spirit Awards. As an actor, he has appeared in Good Time - earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for the film, which he also co-directed - Licorice Pizza; Stars at Noon; Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.; Oppenheimer; and Happy Gilmore 2. He has also directed the films Daddy Longlegs, Lenny Cooke, and Heaven Knows What and served as executive producer for Telemarketers, Thank You Very Much, and the Emmy Award-winning Pee-wee as Himself. He recently wrapped production on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey for Universal.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph: An Academy Award-winning actor and Tony Award nominee and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Da'Vine Joy Randolph captured audiences with her breakout role opposite Eddie Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name. Randolph has continued to shine on stage and screen, showcasing her talents across dramas, comedies, and musicals. For her starring role in the acclaimed film The Holdovers, Randolph earned prestigious accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Award, an Independent Spirit Award, and a BAFTA. Her diverse career spans roles in Netflix's Rustin, HBO's The Idol, and Paramount Players' On the Come Up. She most recently appeared in the films Bride Hard, Shadow Force, and Eternity, as well as the fifth season of Hulu's Only Murders in the Building.
Dylan O'Brien: An actor and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Dylan O'Brien is one of the brightest talents of his generation, with a body of work that speaks to his proclivity for championing unique and personal storytelling. Discovered via YouTube comedic shorts he directed, produced, and starred in, O'Brien first came to attention on the hit MTV television series Teen Wolf. Best known to audiences for his star turn in the popular Maze Runner franchise, his additional film and TV credits include Maximum Truth, Not Okay, The Outfit, Infinite, Love and Monsters, Flashback, Bumblebee, American Assassin, Deepwater Horizon, The Internship, The First Time, High Road, The Other Two, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Amazing Stories, Weird City, and New Girl. He also co-starred with Sadie Sink in Taylor Swift's short film version of her iconic song All Too Well.
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas: An actor and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Hailing from Norway, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas has established herself as a globally renowned artist with a captivating talent and a dynamic body of work. Lilleaas was nominated for the Amanda Award for Best Actress for her film debut in 2015's Women in Oversized Men's Shirts. She also starred in the award-winning TV series Young and Promising. Her other film and TV credits include Rekyl, Sjit Happens, and the Netflix film A Beautiful Life, which earned the No. 1 spot on Netflix's top films for the week of its 2023 release. Lilleaas will next star in Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value alongside Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, and Elle Fanning. Lilleaas' performance in the film, which won the Grand Prix at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, was lauded by IndieWire, Variety, Screen Daily, and The Hollywood Reporter, among other publications. A resident of Oslo, Lilleaas speaks three languages: English, Norwegian, and Portuguese.
Spike Lee: A director, producer, writer, and actor and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Academy Award winner Spike Lee's iconic body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on film and TV. Lee's career spans over 30 years and includes She's Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Old Boy, Chi-Raq, Da 5 Bloods, and Highest 2 Lowest. A five-time Oscar nominee, he won Best Adapted Screenplay for his 2018 film BlacKkKlansman and received an Academy Honorary Award in 2015 for his contributions to film. His outstanding documentary work includes the Emmy Award-winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, the Peabody Award-winning A Huey P. Newton Story, the Oscar-nominated 4 Little Girls, the four-part HBO documentary NYC EPICENTERS 9/11➔2021½, and his concert film American Utopia with David Byrne. Lee also created the Netflix series She's Gotta Have It, a modern update of his classic film.
Cassandra Kulukundis: A producer and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Cassandra Kulukundis is an esteemed casting director and partner in Unison Films. She has worked extensively with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, most recently on his acclaimed One Battle After Another starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti. Her previous work with Anderson includes the films Licorice Pizza, Phantom Thread, The Master, There Will Be Blood, Punch-Drunk Love, Magnolia, and Boogie Nights. In 2015, she received the Film Independent Spirit Awards' Robert Altman Award for her work casting Anderson's Inherent Vice. Kulukundis has also cast such lauded films as Brady Corbet's The Brutalist and Vox Lux, Spike Jonze's Her, David Mamet's Spartan, Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential and Ghost World, Danny Leiner's Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Billy Ray's Breach and Shattered Glass, and more. In addition to casting, she has also produced several films, among them Vox Lux, Ned Benson's The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby trilogy and The Greatest Hits, Ryan Eggold's Literally, Right Before Aaron, as well as A Late Quartet, The Elephant King, Jailbait, and more.
Rian Johnson: A director, writer, and producer and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Rian Johnson is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker known for Knives Out, Glass Onion, Looper, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. A graduate of University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, Johnson directed four short films and contributed to film projects like Omaha and May before making his feature directorial debut with Brick, starring frequent collaborator Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Johnson has also directed the film The Brothers Bloom and episodes of Terriers and Breaking Bad, winning a DGA Award for his work on the latter series. Johnson has received Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay for Knives Out and its sequel Glass Onion. Through his company T-Street, Johnson has co-created the hit series Poker Face for Peacock and executive produced the series 3 Body Problem as well as the films Fair Play and the Oscar-winning American Fiction. Wake Up Dead Man, the third part of his Knives Out trilogy, is his latest film.
Oscar Isaac: An actor and producer and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Oscar Isaac is a Golden Globe Award-winning and Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actor, producer, and musician whose enthralling performances have earned him a devoted fan base and critical acclaim. His film credits include Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year, Ex Machina, the recent Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Promise, Operation Finale, Triple Frontier, At Eternity's Gate, The Card Counter, Dune, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. His TV recent projects include Moon Knight and the HBO limited series Scenes from a Marriage and Show Me a Hero, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe.
Mark Hamill: An actor and voice actor and SCAD Savannah Film Festival honoree, Mark Hamill is a BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning actor whose face and voice have graced screens for over 40 years. Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movies, a role he has reprised in the film sequels and the TV series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. He has also appeared in the films Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Machine, and Brigsby Bear. Hamill's extensive voice acting work includes the Academy Award-nominated The Wild Robot, the Oscar-winning The Boy and the Heron, and a longstanding role as the Joker across Batman media - a role that commenced with Batman: The Animated Series and earned him a BAFTA Games Award for his voice role in Batman: Arkham City.
Regina Hall: An actor a…

Comic Arts and Illustration

Jacen Burrows: An American comic book artist, Jacen Burrows is best known for his work on various books from Avatar Press and Marvel Comics.
Tracy Yardley: An American comic book artist, Tracy Yardley is best known for his work with the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, originally published by Archie Comics.
Ngozi Ukazu: Ngozi Ukazu is an American cartoonist and graphic novelist who graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a master's degree. In 2013, she created the webcomic "Check, Please!," which later became a New York Times-bestselling graphic novel.
M. Alice LeGrow: Mary Alice "Marty" LeGrow, known by her pen name M. Alice LeGrow, is an American alternative comics artist. She is best known for her gothic, dark fantasy graphic novel series "Bizenghast."

Other Notable Figures

Bob Bland: Mari Lynn Foulger, known as Bob Bland, is an American fashion designer and activist. Bland co-chaired the 2017 Women's March but later resigned from the 2019 Women's March board. She is the CEO of Manufacture New York, promoting "ethical work practices and sustainable fashion."
Danny!: Daniel Keith Swain, known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer.
Benjamin Brian Castro: Benjamin Brian Castro, known as Sebastian Castro, is an American actor, singer, and YouTube sensation. He has a significant following in Southeast Asia.
Nabil Abou-Harb: Nabil Zouheir Abou-Harb is an American filmmaker, writer, producer, and director. He is also the co-founder of "Five on Fifty Films" and has directed and produced several commercials.
Ingrid Vanderveldt: Ingrid Vanderveldt is an American businesswoman, media personality, and investor. She was the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Dell and is the founder and current CEO of the Empowering a Billion Women by 2020 movement. Vanderveldt created and managed the Dell $100 million credit fund and was a member of the 2013 United Nations' Global Entrepreneurship Council.
Scott Blake: Scott Blake is an American artist who uses everyday images to produce his art, similar to pop art. His early works were based on creating images and art from barcodes.
Ligel Lambert: Born in Haiti in 1982, Ligel Lambert is a Haitian-born American interdisciplinary artist, entrepreneur, educator, and graphic designer. He primarily works in painting, collage, printmaking, assemblage (art), and sculpture. He is best known for his colorful, Fauvist, rhythmic, and abstracted interpretations of musicians and musical themes.

SCAD Savannah Film Festival

The SCAD Savannah Film Festival is a significant event in the film industry. As the largest university-run festival in the United States, it offers students the opportunity to showcase their work alongside leading filmmakers and actors. Since its inception in 1998, the festival has screened more than 125 Oscar-nominated films, making it a crucial stop on the awards circuit.

Paula Wallace, SCAD President and Founder, emphasizes the festival's role in career development, stating, "SCAD knows this is how careers get made."

Read also: SCAD Course Syllabi

SCAD Alumni at the Academy Awards

One hundred and thirty-seven alumni and students from SCAD have contributed to 18 different films nominated at the 97th Academy Awards. These individuals have worked on five Best Picture nominees, two Best Animated Film nominees, and all five films nominated for Best Visual Effects.

Notable alumni credits include:

Katerina Kojeva (B.F.A., production design, 2016): Costume concept artist for "Wicked," nominated for Best Picture, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design.
Alyssa Bracken (B.F.A., production design, 2012): Assistant costume designer on "A Complete Unknown," nominated for eight awards, including Best Picture and Best Costume Design.
Wyatt Garfield (B.F.A., film and television, 2007): Cinematographer for "A Different Man," nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Gray Marshal, SCAD Visual Effects Chair, notes, "At SCAD, we prepare our students to lead the industry, and this year’s Oscars are a testament to that."