Our work is shaped by a diverse and visionary Industry Advisory Board made up of:

● Artists and Fashion and Productions designers
● Performers and producers
● Engineers and technologists
● Entrepreneurs and CTE professionals
● Filmmakers and still photographers
● Dance Choreographer

This board advises curriculum design, hosts industry panels, offers mentorship, and connects students to real career opportunities.

Tony Phruishun Spires is a veteran filmmaker, television producer, singer/songwriter/recording artist, poet/spoken word artist, a longtime theater artist and teaching artist.

Tony’s feature films include: The romantic comedy, ​She Wins, the teen thriller, A Hot Night In The Valley, ​The Pan African Film Festival’s Best Feature Film nominated Tears Of A Clown, and the gritty, urban crime drama ​Two Degrees. His short films include: ​Joke Thief, The Three-Legged Crow and ​Marvin Road. He directed the 12-episode romantic web series, ​Pillow Talk and was the pioneering director of the experimental new media film, ​Necessary Drama, one of the first live-streamed movies ever filmed and screened simultaneously.

In television, he was executive producer for two seasons on the non-scripted comedy talkshow, ​Gimme Five. Currently, Spires is co-creator,
executive producer and director of the Los Angeles-based, non-scripted show, The SituationShift with Zo Williams, a relationship talkshow and is consulting producer on the stand up comedy series West Comedy Jam. In the world of Stand up Comedy, Tony is the Founder/Executive Producer of ​the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition & Festival​, which helped launch the careers of many of today’s leading comedic talents including:

​Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, Chris Tucker, D.L. Hughley, Sheryl Underwood, Nick Cannon, Don “D.C.” Curry, Mike Epps, Katt Williams, Mark Curry, Lil Rel Howery, Laura Hayes, Luenell, Deon Cole, Arnez J, Rodney Perry, Matt Rife, Nate Jackson ​and many others.

Along with his wife Rhonda Spires, he’s the Co-Founder of multi-disciplinary performing arts organization, ​Full Vision Arts Foundation​,
where he serves as​ Producing Artistic Director. ​Also a teaching artist, he serves as one of the original artists-in-residence and film instructors for ​Making Movies That Matter Youth Film Festival in Los Angeles.

 

Larry Batiste’s career in the entertainment industry spans over 40 years.  He has worked with some of the most successful legendary, and new artists of all time.  Batiste is best known for musical directing the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony (formerly known as the Pre-Telecast) and the TEC Awards at NAMM. He has a natural talent for understanding and working in all genres of music. He’s worked with various multi-platinum artists including Carlos Santana, Whitney Houston, Al Jarreau, Van Morrison, Huey Lewis & the News, Michael Bolton, Stevie Wonder, Pete Townshend, Jeezy, Trombone Shorty, John Lee Hooker Jr., and Slash. He has performed on tons of commercials including Wendy’s, Walt Disney, NBA Warriors Basketball, The California Raisons, Pepsi, Ford Motor Company, and Frito Lays Potato Chips. He’s lent his voice to the films, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, “Stuart Little”, “Snow Dogs”, Whitney Houston’s Biopic film, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”, and “Rent” (performer and contractor). In 2023, Batiste was nominated for Best Song Written for Television by the Guild of Music Supervisors for his song “Seduce & Scheme”, which is featured in Issa Rae’s comedy series, “Rap Sh!t” on HBO Max.

 

He has participated on multiple Grammy Award winning and nominated recordings and is the author of the recently released #1 best-selling book on Amazon, “The Art and Business of Songwriting” published by Oxford University Press. Larry Batiste is dedicated to mentoring and professional development for youth and independent artists, and participates with organizations who advocate for a better life for music creators.

 

Dov Hassan is an actor, director and teacher for film and theater. He received his B.A. in Theater Arts from UCLA and an M.F.A. in Acting and Directing in a conservatory training program at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. As a professional actor, Dov Hassan has appeared in a number of independent films, as well as working with many theater companies in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. He is a college professor and also teaches privately. The subjects Dov teaches include acting for film and for theater, movement, directing, film history and theory, text analysis, and voice over technique. Many of Dov’s students have gong on to work extensively in theater, film, television, and voice over.

 

Shannon Mirabelli-Lopez, MPhil: Fashion and design curator, educator, and historian with extensive leadership experience at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, and Parsons School of Design. Shannon is currently serving as Dean at Cilker School of Art & Design at West Valley College in Silicon Valley.