Aric Avelino ’99

Aric Avelino is an LMU alumnus, class of 1999, and an award-winning filmmaker whose work has ranged from television commercials, films to music videos. He is currently a director, writer, photographer and founding artist for SHEPHARD/HOUSE Studios.

In 2005, his directorial debut, American Gun, starred Linda Cardellini, Donald Sutherland and Academy Award-winners Forest Whitaker and Marcia Gay Harden. The film was featured at SXSW and Toronto Film Festivals and was nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards including "Best Feature Film."

In 2017, Aric was selected as a fellow for the Sundance Institute TV Episodic Lab for his script "Hope, AR" and was also accepted into the 2018 Warner Bros. Directors' Workshop, where he later directed an episode of Blindspot for NBC. In 2018, he directed Behind the Movement, a film about Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. It was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards including "Outstanding Television Movie, Limited-Series, or Dramatic Special." Most recently Aric worked as a writer on season 3 of the television series, "American Gods," adapted from the Neil Gaiman novel.