James Cameron

World-renowned director, writer, and producer, James Cameron has invented memorable worlds and fantasies that continue to make history. Cameron, the son of an engineer and artist, attended Cal State Fullerton after his family moved to California when he was 17. He majored in engineering; however, uncertain about his life path, dropped out of the university, married, and drove a truck to earn money that would eventually buy him filming materials. Cameron pursued his interest in cinematic art, after seeing Star Wars, and spent hours in the library at the University of Southern California studying filming techniques. After many difficult gigs under various directors, Cameron decided to take his ideas and make them his own. He finally got his big break with the 1984 film, The Terminator, and has been especially successful recently with his latest release of the hit, Avatar. Cameron has won over a dozen awards for his visionary work.

Kevin Costner

Despite having to move often, Kevin Costner finds his roots in Southern California. After several moves due to his father's work, Costner found himself back in California for college at Cal State Fullerton. He attended the university from 1973-1978, taking acting classes five days a week. Costner graduated with a business degree in 1978. Post-college he married and took a marketing job in Orange County where he was given advice to follow through with his passion for acting. After a rough career path of giving tours in Hollywood and working on a fishing boat, he finally got his big break when he was asked to film the 1985 film, Silverado. His career took off from there and Costner is now in the process of filming Django Unchained directed by Quentin Tarantino, along with a few other small-scale films.