Putting Faces to the Names…

Editor-In-Chief

A junior in the Division of Cinema and Media Studies with a minor in Russian Language and Culture, Micah is the founder and editor-in-chief of Spotlight and a self-described ‘Floridian New Yorker’. He enjoys Soviet cinema, the band The Mountain Goats, and classical Russian literature. He is also a member of ART/EMIS, KXSC Radio, and Trojan Filmmakers' Club. He dreams of one day inventing time travel.

Faculty Advisor, Editor

Lan Duong is Associate Professor in Cinema and Media Studies at USC. Dr. Duong's book, Transnational Vietnamese Cinemas and the Archives of Memory, examines Vietnamese cinema from its inception to the present day. She also serves as coeditor for the UC Press book series on Critical Refugee Studies and its website.

Executive Editor

Sophia is a third-year Cinema and Media Studies major Screenwriting minor from Campbell, CA, interested in color theory, symbolism and the slasher subgenre. In addition to Spotlight, Sophia is Co-President of USC's Latine Film and Media Association and a member of ART/EMIS' development team. She spends her free time making unnecessarily complex playlists and waiting for Halloween.

Social Media Manager, Staff Writer

RJ Edrolin is a Cinema and Media Studies major with a minor in Law and Social Justice. She is the Marketing Chair for Spotlight and a Staff Writer. In addition to Spotlight, RJ is also involved with the Prison Education Project and CAMS Fest. In her free time, she enjoys reading cringey romance books, trying to be funny with her letterboxd reviews (but failing), and being delusional.

Secretary, Editor

Gina Phu is a Junior (2025) CAMS major with a double minor in Entertainment Industry and ITP Computer Programming! She is an editor and Secretary for Spotlight! Her hobbies include video games, guitar, art, and like any other film major consuming way too much television and movies. She hopes that everyone enjoys the journal and appreciates all the hard work the staff and many other students put into it! :)

Publishing Chair

Rhian is a Junior majoring in Cinema and Media Studies and a minor in Fashion. She is the Publishing Chair for Spotlight. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Rhian's multicultural lens contributes to her unique perspectives and analysis of film. She's an avid Ari Aster and Sofia Coppola fan, but nothing brings her more joy than an animated television series or films like Rick and Morty. She is also a general member of SCene Magazine and is on the Photography team.

Writer / Publishing Committee

Avana Wang is a visual artist and a first-generation immigrant from Beijing, China. She is a Cinema & Media Studies major at the University of Southern California with a minor in Digital Studies. Avana is passionate about observing, documenting, and reflecting on details that add beauty and meaning to shared human experiences. She also aims to help amplify AAPI voices and immigrant experiences through her creative endeavors, whether it be through design, photography, videography, writing, or fine arts.

Contributing Editor

Emma is a junior studying Cinema and Media Studies with an Intermedia Arts and Screenwriting minor. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, her passions include film/tv (duh!), sports, and multimedia production. At USC, she is also involved in Dear Asian Youth, USC Rec Sports, and Trojan Vision’s live sports talk show, The Watercooler. Aside from her many media-based projects, she enjoys exploring LA with friends and keeping up with Kentucky sports.

Staff Writer / Publishing Committee

Colin is a freshman majoring in Cinema and Media Studies with a minor in Digital Studies. He enjoys watching, writing, and analyzing stories about incomprehensible people doing incomprehensible things. At the same time, he hopes to explore the bad habits and unspoken realities of being alive through horror and comedy. One day, he wants to live in a world where everything is made of cheese and humans act like animals.

Editor

Ben is a Freshman studying Cinema and Media Studies at SCA. While he loves watching movies, he also has a deep appreciation for reading books, doing crossword puzzles, and taking long walks on the beach. He looks forward to being able to work with some of USC's brightest critical minds to bolster Spotlight's already impressive catalogue.

Staff Writer / Editor (Contributing Editor)

Amy is a junior Economics and International Relations major studying at the University of Southern California. She is a climate journalist at the Annenberg Media Newsroom and a Global Policy Institute editorial fellow. She is passionate about studying geopolitics and peacekeeping strategies, climate resiliency and remediation pathways, and excited about the future of AI and machine learning. During a 10-hour flight, she can be found engrossed in contemporary poetry, jotting in her notes app, and catching up on the latest issues of Ms. Magazine and the MIT Tech Review.

Staff Writer

All glory to God! Jackson Miller likes to write things in notebooks sometimes. When he’s not doing that, you might find him outside folding the corners of old books, groaning about the Oxford comma or listening to Noah Kahan. Originally from Illinois, he is currently a first-year student at USC pursuing a BA in Narrative Studies. You can find him on Instagram @7acksonmiller.

Publishing Committee / PR Committee

A film and television production student from New Zealand, Rebecca carries a passion for showcasing diverse stories and perspectives through the lens of cinema. Dedicated to amplifying the voices of fellow students, Rebecca contributes to Spotlight in the publishing and PR departments.

Staff Writer / PR Committee

Quinn is a Cinema and Media Studies major (2027) with a Screenwriting minor. She is interested in realism, surrealism, comedy, and feminist film theory. Quinn enjoys memoirs, cooking shows, journaling, and music by Troye Sivan.

Publishing Committee

Evarist Bego is a junior at USC studying Business of Cinematic Arts. He was originally born and raised in Albania but moved to LA after graduating high school to make movies. He is born to produce content, from interning at Scripted TV for NBCUniversal to shooting his own movies with friends to producing Trojan Vision live shows (catch The SCoop at 10 AM every Thursday), nothing brings him more joy than getting to work on fun and exciting stuff!!

Editor

Ella Kilbourne is a Cinema and Media Studies major from Orange, California. Her holy trinity of media forms includes television, video games, and comics. She loves queer and queer-coded horror and action. She has a black cat named Bastet.

Contributing Editor / Publishing Committee

Bridget is a junior majoring in Art History and Comparative Literature. She is most drawn to films with beautiful landscapes and mundane happenings. In her free time, she enjoys baking, walking around the city, and taking photos for her food instagram.

Editor
Duncan E. Geissler is a sophomore SCA student in the CAMS department. Born and raised in northern Virginia, he is currently minoring in Folklore & Popular Culture and Classical Perspectives at USC. He loves sharing his awful opinions on the worst Letterboxd account known to man.

Editor / PR Committee

Edith is a freshman majoring in Cinema and Media Studies and Philosophy. Originally from Beijing, Edith enjoys the cinema of Mia Hansen-Løve and Christian Petzold, Anaïs Nin's diaries and metaphors.

Editor / Publishing Committee

Maizy Zenger is a Cinema and Media Studies major in the class of 2026 from Corpus Christi, Texas. She is passionate about the process of making an artistic vision become reality, and hopes to pursue a career in the Art Department and an additional fascination with cinematography.

Writer

Amani is a freshman majoring in Cinema and Media Studies. She was born in India but has since lived in Japan, the UAE, and Hungary. She loves to cover different film festivals and movie premieres. In her free time, Amani loves to read and go to concerts.

Editor

Alexis is a sophomore double-majoring in Cinema and Media Studies and Narrative Studies. She loves to give films 5/5 stars on Letterboxd, opening up blind boxes, playing Stardew Valley for hours at a time, and editing! She enjoys both cinema and writing as a means of storytelling, and aims to combine the two through film analysis and studies.

Writer

In 2020, Pau decided to follow their dream in the Academic field of cinema. Pau has been part of the film industry in Spain and Latin America since 2009, where they produced films such as "10,000 km", "Anchor and Hope," and "La Camarista," which represented Mexico in the Academy Awards in 2019. Currently, Pau is back to writing about the film industry for Spanish media outlets while they are pursuing an academic career in Film and Media Studies at the University of Southern California. Pau is a Voyager Scholar by The Obama Foundation and a Norman Topping Scholar by USC.