A stacked cast of Panthers help new grads find success in showbiz

Carl Kurlander couldn't have scripted it any better.

The "St. Elmo's Fire" screenwriter turned Pitt professor was lecturing a group of students in Burbank, California, last summer, mere blocks from the studio lot where the movie had filmed more than 40 years ago, when he got a text message from one of its stars, Judd Nelson.

Nelson, the Brat Pack actor best known for his iconic portrayal of high school detention regular John Bender in "The Breakfast Club," had a proposal.

"How about I come talk to your class?" he offered.

So, in true John Bender fashion, Nelson rode his motorcycle over and sat in the back of the classroom telling colorful stories (or perhaps cautionary tales) about breaking into Hollywood. The Pitt students were enchanted - by Nelson, of course, but also by their professor's coming-of-age script that somehow holds up four decades on.

It was Kurlander's full-circle moment, one that, as he watched Nelson hop onto his motorcycle and drive away, he imagined would get a rousing ending credits theme song.

It's also the kind of tinsel-tinged serendipity that makes Pitt in LA a gem of the film and media studies program.

Pitt in LA launched in 2019 under the guidance of Kurlander and John Dellaverson (A&S '68), who joined Lionsgate in 2000 as executive vice president and helped to build it into one of the leading global entertainment companies. The goal was to give Pitt students a taste of life in Hollywood and help them make the connections that could jump-start a film career.

During the weekslong summer adventure, students join Kurlander for class, work at film-related internships, visit the Lionsgate offices and meet the Pitt alumni who have established themselves in the industry.

Adam Fasullo (BUS '11) is one of those alumni.

The summer after his junior year at Pitt, Fasullo scored an internship at "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." The sarcastic Scot took a liking to Fasullo and helped him snag a coveted agency job.

So sure is the path from agency mailroom to Hollywood success story that an entire book has been written about it ("The Mailroom" by David Rensin). And so it was for Fasullo. After several years at HBO and Paramount, he cofounded the production company Anomaly Pictures with Michael Waldron, the executive producer of "Loki" and cowriter of "Avengers: Doomsday."

Anomaly recently partnered with Glen Powell for the Hulu series "Chad Powers" and is currently in development on two more projects. Despite his packed schedule, Fasullo says that helping Pitt students navigate the industry is "such an easy yes."

"I will get on a Zoom with anyone who needs advice," Fasullo says. "I think a lot of people don't even consider asking for advice or don't know how, and that's the thing I can offer. Me showing up is saying, 'I'm here. What do you need? How can I be helpful?'"

Just last year, after sitting down with Pitt student Aden McGlynn (A&S '25) for a film and media studies podcast interview, an impressed Fasullo made a call on McGlynn's behalf and got the Hollywood wannabe an internship at - you guessed it - a talent agency.

"I want to be that Pitt alum who helps start that pipeline from Pitt to Los Angeles," Fasullo says.

But, as the star-studded photo on the opposite page attests, he's not the only one. Many of Kurlander's former students have lined up to mentor his current students, at Pitt in LA and beyond.

"The program is just 5 years old, but considering its age, it's been remarkably successful, with Pitt in LA alumni landing jobs at places like Skydance, 'Saturday Night Live' and Capitol Records," says Kurlander, who counts more than three dozen former Pitt students now working in Hollywood. "It's a cutthroat industry, but these kids keep paying it forward. It's Pitt students helping Pitt students; it's like a real-life 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.'"