There’s no ‘no’

Mindy Kaling accepts inaugural Multihyphenate Award

BY CELINE KINER

“The Inclusion Playbook,” the first of the Multiyphentate Masterclass series, also marked the beginning of a partnership with USC’s internationally renowned Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The afternoon was led by SDA Professor Colman Domingo, an Emmy Award-winning actor-director-playwright-producer who epitomizes the multihyphenate profile and its power to make the entertainment industry more inclusive. Domingo described his own journey and fielded questions from an audience of students and alumni before moderating a panel of entertainment giants and then sitting down with Kaling to discuss her career.

Navigating the industry with resilience

Dean Emily Roxworthy presented the Multihyphenate Award to roaring applause from the audience, who cheered for each of Kaling’s impressive achievements. Kaling accepted the award with her signature hilarious charm, sitting down with Domingo for a conversation on her outstanding career and future trajectory. She attributed her perspective to growing up an outsider, constantly having to prove herself.

“I really come from a place of always thinking of myself as the underdog,” she shared. “But I was so overlooked that all I could do was surprise people.”

Kaling discussed her eight years at The Office, for which she wrote 26 episodes (more than any other writer). The subject matter for the show, she said, was not necessarily her passion. But being forced to work outside her comfort zone prepared her to write the stories she wanted to tell: stories centered on women of color.

Domingo observed Kaling’s ability to navigate the industry and make space for herself, asking about the origin of her unique resilience.

“I think the reason I am so resilient is because I have faced failure and rejection so much in my life,” she said. “There’s no ‘no.’ Everyone’s going to keep telling you that, so you have to find your way around it.”

The sentiment resonated with BA Theatre student Natasha Nutkiewicz. “The multihyphenate looks different ways, and their path is very different from others,” she said. “You’ve just got to carve and build your own.”

The story at the center

An impressive panel of multihyphenates joined Domingo to discuss their storied careers, including Franklin Leonard, Paula Wagner and artistic director of the Magic Theatre Sean San José. Topics ranged from the ethics of public influence to practical advice for project pitching and funding. Leonard and Wagner—who both recently joined SDA’s Board of Councilors—brought combined decades of business expertise: Leonard as a film executive and the founder of the Black List, and Wagner as a legendary film executive and producer of stage and screen hits.

“I think actors make great directors, excellent producers, writers—to me, I always see the world from an actor’s point of view,” Wagner shared, contextualizing her career with a strong acting background. She and Leonard dissected how their careers shifted across mediums, as well as stressing the importance of meaningful working relationships.

“Sometimes you find people who share your worldview and share your enthusiasm about advocating for talent, and you find yourself in a slipstream that allows you to do things you wouldn’t otherwise be capable of,” Leonard explained, crediting mentor and friend Rowena Arguelles for his entry into entertainment after working in several other fields.

San José, who is also Domingo’s longtime friend and collaborator, shared his perspective on reframing leadership and on oppressive systems in the performing arts space. The audience questions that followed focused on wielding the responsibilities of the multihyphenate, and how to balance passion and vision with the business of it all.

San José noted afterward that conversations like these with the students were vital—that the student body “is who you want to reach, because that’s who’s forming the real conversation.”

He also emphasized placing the story at the center, and allowing it to be the compass no matter what your role. He and the other panelists agreed that centering the story would keep ego in check.

“It really does come back to the zeroing place where you get in the room or on the stage…you put the story in the center of the table, and anyone bigger than the story…man, you need to walk. Because we’re trying to figure out something new,” he said.

On risk and taking leaps of faith

Throughout the afternoon, Domingo continuously attributed his prolific career to a combination of honesty and fearlessness, in which he was willing to “interrogate the script” no matter his assigned role on set.

“The thing I know for sure is that when someone hires me, they want all of me,” he said, encouraging the students to bring their entire self to the work in their acting, writing, producing, directing and beyond. Telling their stories could lead to many different expressions of their talent, but their pursuits would remain driven and united by honesty.

Domingo prompted the audience to change the system when they found it limiting. Whether it be starting a company or finding the resources for their script, he advised taking risks and being willing to fail, all in service of the work.

“Go for something that scares you a little bit, because you’re going to have to learn some superhuman skills to achieve that,” he challenged. “Start from the beginning, and break it down bit by bit.”

He took time to answer inquiries on maintaining professional relationships, navigating impostor syndrome and more. A few students asked about approaching projects that might be out of their comfort zones.

“I think that’s an exciting place to be,” Domingo offered. “I think there should be tremendous leaps of faith, and trial and error, and falling down with anything you want to create.”

Recent alum Gulet Isse BA ’21 said they would take Domingo’s fearlessness away from the session and into their career: “If there’s a story that needs to be told, it doesn’t matter if you’re afraid. You need to fly past that and make something of what you have. And you know, eventually you’ll come into community with people who get what you’re doing, and get behind you. But don’t settle for any less than that,” they shared.

“I hope students take away from this that their place in the industry is of their own making,” Dean Roxworthy said as the masterclass wrapped. “You’ve all got a vision of what needs to be told, and you can make that happen.”

Earlier in the day, Domingo had passed on a similar piece of wisdom from his mother, something she used to tell him when he was a young actor complaining about auditions. He extended the challenge to the students: “Don’t complain about it. Write about it. Change it.” 

Over the last two years, the USC School of Dramatic Arts has been thrilled to welcome the following esteemed new Board members whose range of expertise and background help advance the mission of SDA. These members offer vital advice and support for the next generation of multihyphenate dramatic storytellers setting out to change the face of the entertainment industry.

Lauren Booth

Booth is a contemporary artist exploring ideas through sculpture. She is currently working on several commissions which vary in scale, concept and materials. Booth works regularly with a wide range of media including bronze, neon, resin and LED. Booth’s solo show, Happy, opened at the Wilson Museum in 2019 and included site-specific outdoor sculptures at the Southern Vermont Art Center. In 2017, Booth created Electric Menagerie for the gorgeous grounds of Waddesdon Manor in the UK. For this show, Booth dreamt up 17 illuminated sculptures that took the viewer on a journey through the historic and enchanted grounds. In 2015, The Illumination Show premiered at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Conn. Booth’s work is featured in the Rothschild Collection at Windmill Hill, the Norman Foster Foundation Headquarters in Madrid and the Mattatuck Museum. It has been seen in Architectural Digest and is in distinguished collections around the world. Booth earned her BA in Theatre from the USC School of Dramatic Arts in 1991.

Grant Heslov

Heslov has been recognized as a producer, writer, director and actor. Together with George Clooney, he is a partner in Smokehouse Pictures. The company’s most recent projects are The Tender Bar, Midnight Sky and the documentary series Trial by Media. His recent work also includes the TV series Catch-22, On Becoming a God in Central Florida, and the films Suburbicon, Money Monster and Our Brand Is Crisis. A four-time Oscar® nominee, Heslov received his latest Academy Award nod and a Best Picture win for producing the historical drama and thriller ARGO. He has also been awarded a Golden Globe, BAFTA Award and Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award, among many others. Heslov previously earned an Oscar® nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2011 political drama The Ides of March. Among other credits, he served as co-creator and executive producer on HBO’s Unscripted, for which he directed half of the episodes, and a co-executive producer on HBO’s K Street. Heslov is also known for his acting work in both film and television. Heslov received his BFA from SDA in 1986.

Franklin Leonard

Leonard is a film and television producer, cultural commentator and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of the Black List, the company that celebrates and supports great screenwriting and the writers who do it. More than 400 scripts from the annual Black List survey have been produced as feature films, earning more than 250 Academy Award nominations and 50 wins including four of the last thirteen Best Pictures and eleven of the last twenty-four screenwriting Oscars® He has been a juror at the Sundance, Toronto and Mumbai Film Festivals, one of Hollywood Reporter’s 35 Under 35, Black Enterprise magazine’s “40 Emerging Leaders for Our Future” and Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business.” The recipient of the 2019 Writers Guild of America, East (WGAe) Evelyn Burkey Award for elevating the honor and dignity of screenwriters, he is also a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the Executives branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Cathy Sandrich

Gelfond

Sandrich Gelfond is an independent casting director who (along with her partner Amanda Mackey) has cast over one hundred and fifty feature films and television shows including The Fugitive, United 93, The Good Shepherd, The Proposal, The Adjustment Bureau, Non-Stop, Bad Moms, Hands of Stone and Those Who Wish Me Dead, along with Mayor of Kingstown, A Million Little Things, Claws and Hell on Wheels. She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2000, where she has served on the Casting Directors

Branch Executive Committee. During her time as a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, she was nominated for an Emmy for her work on The Normal Heart, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie. She is a member of the Casting Society of America where she has been nominated for 17 Artios awards for excellence in casting, and won for Smokin’ Aces. She is also a member of the Casting Directors union steering committee.

Anthony Sparks Sparks has worked in television over the last 19 seasons and professionally in the performing arts for 30 years. A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in television, theatre and film, Sparks served as the longtime Showrunner, Head Writer, and Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed OWN/Warner Bros. television drama Queen Sugar. He served as an Executive Producer and writer on the 2022 Hulu series Iron Mike. He is developing several new series with Blumhouse Television, and is also working with Endeavor Content and Legendary Studios on new television and streaming dramas. Sparks holds a BFA degree in Theatre, and MA and PhD degrees in American Studies & Ethnicity, all from the University of Southern California. Dr. Sparks is also a cutting-edge scholar of media, performance studies and African American politics and culture. He has consulted and written for Disney Imagineering and, when time allows, he has mentored and taught screenwriting, ethnic and cultural studies at Cal State Fullerton, Occidental College and USC.

Tracy Tutor

With over 22 years of experience, Tracy Tutor is one of the top agents at Douglas Elliman Beverly Hills and is an integral part of their Sports & Entertainment division. She has an undeniably strong presence and a confidence that has propelled her into the rooms of some of the most powerful people in L.A., representing noteworthy brands in real estate, as well as iconic architects such as Frank Gehry, John Lautner and Pierre Koenig. Tutor has consulted for the luxury five-star hotel and resort Amangiri in Canyon Point, Utah on the sales of over 400 million dollars in branded real estate. She is also a representative of one of the most exciting new developments to come to Los Angeles, the West Hollywood EDITION Hotel and Residences, designed by British architect John Pawson and created by visionary hotelier Ian Schrager. She is the U.S. Ambassador for the Royal Atlantis Resort and Residences in Dubai, and an Ambassador for Costa Palmas, on the East Cape of Los Cabos. Tutor is a graduate of the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

Paula Wagner

Paula Wagner has worked in the top ranks of the entertainment industry as a film producer, talent agent and studio executive. Currently, she is developing films, theatre and television through her production company Chestnut Ridge Productions (CRP). Wagner began her career at Creative Artists Agency and in 1993, she launched Cruise/Wagner Productions (C/W) with her former CAA client Tom Cruise. She and Cruise produced a wide range of pictures that earned numerous awards, widespread critical praise and global box office success. Wagner was co-owner and CEO of United Artists Entertainment, LLC from 2006 to 2008. Currently, Wagner is developing a feature on Sylvia Robinson, the mother of hiphop, and developing TV series, as well as a Broadway adaptation of Stanley Kramer’s High Noon. Broadway producing credits include the new hit Pretty Woman: The Musical, The Heiress starring Jessica Chastain and David Strathairn, Grace starring Paul Rudd and Michael Shannon and Terrence McNally’s Tony-nominated play Mothers and Sons. Wagner is a member of AMPAS, PGA, Broadway League and an ambassador of ReFrame for Women in Film, a formal action plan to further gender parity in the media industry.

Board Of Councilors

Michele Dedeaux Engemann

Founding Chair

Joshua B. Grode

Chair

Chris Andrews

Lorrie Bartlett

Todd Black

Lauren Booth

Connie Britton

Michael Chiklis

Michael Felix

Brad Fuller

Lori Furie

Kourosh Gohar

Grant Heslov

Gary Lask

Franklin Leonard

Alexander LoCasale

Dr. Steven Nagelberg

Byron Pollitt

Rik Reppe

Dean Emily Roxworthy

Linda Bernstein Rubin

Cathy Sandrich Gelfond

Anthony Sparks

Rik Toulon

Tracy Tutor

Blair Underwood

Paula Wagner

Noelle L. Wolf

ALUMNI LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Tomm Polos

Chair

Adrienne Visnic

Vice Chair

Taylor Allen

Adam Blumenthal

Kate Cannova

John Coffey

David Fickas

Lorena Estefania Gonzalez

Kendall Johnson

Jaclyn Kalkhurst

JP Karliak

Sean Lask

Alex LoCasale

Elizabeth O’Connell

Mona Raffle

Michael Schwartz

Pranav Shah

John Villacorta