Alumni Accomplishments
We are proud of our alumni accomplishments. Our alumni are working in elite universities, off-Broadway productions, regional theatres, local and national commercials, local and national news networks, television sitcoms, episodic dramas, independent films and major studio films. They are serving as directors, producers, scriptwriters, animators, news anchors, talk show hosts, actors, journalists, researchers and professors. Many of our graduates have started thriving businesses or have successful careers as freelancers.
Meet some of our Alumni graduates:
1. William Ball
Hollywood veteran William Houston Ball has more than 15 years professional experience working primarily in visual effects on more than twenty-five feature films. This 2001 Regent graduate's list of credits includes Starship Troopers, Contact, Godzilla, Stuart Little, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, The Incredible Hulk, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and, most recently, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. In addition to feature films, Ball has worked on television commercials, live musical concerts and videos, and in theater. He currently serves as the effects/lighting technical director at Rhythm and Hues Studios in Los Angeles, Calif. Ball has received much acclaim for his work in visual effects, including an Academy Award in 2008.
2. Daniela Beyruti
Daniela Beyruti is the current president of the Brazilian Television System (SBT) network, which is one of the top-ranked Brazilian television networks. A 2005 Regent graduate, Beyruti's accomplishments include hiring nationally known presenters to the network and running popular shows such as Squadron Fashion, 10 Years Younger, What's Your Talent? and You Remember That?. She was also the executive producer of the Brazilian version of American Idol. Beyruti has an advertising contract with Corinthians, one of the most popular soccer teams in Brazil.
3. Sharon Weston Broome
A 1985 graduate of Regent's M.A. in Communication program, Louisiana State Senator Sharon Weston Broome has served as an elected official for nearly 20 years and was cited as one of Baton Rouge Business Report's "Top 25 Most Influential Women—Leading The Way In The Capitol City." In addition to serving for five years as a reporter for the ABC affiliate WBRZ-TV, Broome has made various television appearances, including The Montel Williams Show, The 700 Club, Court TV's Your Turn and CTN Live!
4. Ben Edwards
Christian Broadcasting Network Vice President Ben Edwards' mission is to communicate the Gospel to unreached people groups around the world. After graduating from Regent in 1985 with a M.A. in Communication, his career at CBN steadily climbed through various roles in production, editing and directing. Today, Edwards is a leader of WorldReach, CBN's international thrust committed to developing strategic partnerships to carry the Gospel worldwide through mass media, primarily television broadcasts.
5. Tony Hale
Actor Tony Hale is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Byron "Buster" Bluth on TV's Arrested Development, a role that has twice landed him nominations for Screen Actors Guild awards. Hale's acting career also includes roles on NBC's Andy Barker P.I., Chuck and Showtime's United States of Tara, as well as major motion pictures Stranger Than Fiction, Because I Said So and The Informant!. After graduating in 1995 from Regent's School of Communication and the Arts, Hale lived in New York City for nearly a decade, where he founded The Haven, an artistically minded Christian ministry.
6. Nicole Johnson
Miss America 1999 Nicole Johnson is an international diabetes advocate, travelling extensively to promote awareness, prevention and intensive management of the condition she has battled for 15 years. This 1998 Regent M.A. in Journalism graduate is the Telly Award-winning host of the weekly CNBC diabetes talk show dLifeTV and has written four books, including her autobiography Living With Diabetes. Nicole also formed the Nicole Johnson Foundation to help address gaps in diabetes education.
7. Wes Llewellyn
Wes Llewellyn has been a filmmaker for more than 20 years and is credited with hundreds of productions in film and television. A 1988 Regent Cinema-Television graduate, his career has embraced the roles of director, cinematographer, writer and producer. Credits include producing and directing the film shorts Unbound and Up in Air, three seasons of the syndicated television show Sid Roth's, It's Supernatural, and his critically acclaimed feature films The Moment After and The Moment After 2. Llewellyn is a three-time winner of the Best Film award at the 168 Hour Film Festival and has received numerous other awards for documentary, shorts, television and music videos. His production company, Llewellyn Films, is in Burbank, Calif.
8. Cheryl McKay
A winner of Art Within Labs (2006-2007), a national program for great screenwriters of faith, Cheryl McKay '95 holds a master's degree from Regent and has been a professional writer for more than a decade. McKay wrote the screenplay for The Ultimate Gift, an award-winning film adaptation released by Fox in 2007 starring James Garner, Brian Dennehy and Abigail Breslin. McKay also wrote for the Gigi: God's Little Princess video, the Wild & Wacky Totally True Bible Stories audio series, and several books with best-selling Christian author Frank Peretti. Her screenplay, Never the Bride, was adapted into a novel for Random House Publishers and released in June 2009.
9. Chris Mitchell
Christian Broadcasting Network's Chris Mitchell delivers timely reports from a closely followed region of the world—the Middle East. He first began reporting on the Middle East in the mid-1990s, after graduating from Regent in 1988 with his M.A. in Cinema-Television. Mitchell's reporting style brings Biblical and prophetic perspective to daily news events. His report on the "holy laughter" revivals in Toronto and London was named CBN's "Focus Story of the Year" in 1994. That same year, Mitchell also earned a Short Story of the Year award for his examination of religious coverage in network news. In addition to his reports for The 700 Club, Mitchell is a regular contributor to Christian World News, a weekly 30-minute newscast that airs nationally in multiple markets. While a student at Regent, Mitchell anchored Newsight, a student-produced Christian news program.
10. George Thomas
George Thomas began his career at CNN when he was selected from more than 500 applicants to intern. He made his mark on the industry when he reported and produced a number of successful stories on Islamic extremists. Despite his professional success, Thomas decided to go back to school and earned his M.A. in Journalism from Regent in 1995. After graduating from Regent, Thomas turned down a senior reporter job at CNN. Instead, he chose to co-anchor for CBN News, a division of the Christian Broadcasting Network. There, he has been able to cover such compelling stories as the 2005 elections in Iraq, the war on terror from Afghanistan and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Our alumni are superbly equipped—professionally and spiritually—to return integrity to the fields of communication and the arts. Graduates have been placed in prominent positions in such organizations as:
| American Broadcasting Company (ABC) Family | Microsoft Network/National Broadcasting Company (MSNBC) |
| American Movie Classics (AMC) Cable Network | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |
| Ball State University | Norfolk State University |
| Baylor University | Operation Blessing |
| Cable News Network (CNN) | Paramount Pictures |
| Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) | Pepperdine University |
| Cox Communications | Rhythm & Hues Studios |
| Cox Media | Sony Corporation |
| Department of Homeland Security | STRANG Communications |
| Discovery Communications Inc. | The Inspiration Network (INSP) |
| Duke University Medical Center | The Walt Disney Company |
| ESPN, Inc. | Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Superstation, a division of Time Warner |
| Focus on the Family magazine | Tyndale House Publishers |
| Fox Broadcasting Company | Universal Studios |
| Georgetown University | University of Texas |
| Harvard University | University of Virginia |
| Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) | Wake Forest University |
| Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm Ltd. | Wheaton College |
| Joyce Meyer Ministries | WorldReach |
| Liberty University | World Vision |
