Filmmaker Educator Innovator
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Collis has also taught at ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, Loyola Marymount’s School of Film and Television, and University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, where he earned his M.F.A. in production. Additionally, Collis earned his M.B.A. at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and has a B.A. in Religion from Duke University.
As a filmmaker, Collis directed the 20th Century Fox feature, Sunset Strip, starring Simon Baker (CBS’s The Mentalist), Anna Friel (FOX’s Monarch), Nick Stahl (Terminator 3), Adam Goldberg (Fargo, Saving Private Ryan) and Oscar- winner Jared Leto. He directed Car Dogs, starring Patrick J. Adams (Suits), Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), comedian George Lopez, and Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer. In 2014, he produced a feature for Fox and Tubi.
Within the framework of filmmaking and teaching, Collis has been part of ASU’s historic rise as the most innovative and inclusive university in the country. Repeated ranked #1, ASU’s collaborative and entrepreneurial culture empowered Collis’ strategic mindset, allowing him to fuse his filmmaking and education careers in ways that have dramatically impacted the trajectory of the Poitier film school and the careers of hundreds of his students. Notable students include Dan Tantalean (producer of Sundance Film Festival’s 2024 Grand Jury Winner, In the Summers), David Breschel (producer of 2 Student Oscar nominated shorts, including Mammoth, which went on to win the Student Oscar.
When Collis arrived at ASU in Fall of 2009, the film area had about 100 students. Today, the ASU Sidney Poitier New American Film School serves over 1,000. In 2009, Collis and the film faculty taught in a small warehouse with no soundproofing. Today, the film school has a brand new $100MM home that includes state-of-the-art sound stages, production equipment, and post facilities. In 2009, ASU did not have a presence in Los Angeles. Today, ASU operates out of two historic buildings in downtown LA, the historic Herald Examiner Building and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, where the university continues its mission to create access to Higher Education. During this entire period, Collis has lived in LA, flying to Arizona to teach his classes. Recognizing ASU’s desire to connect with Los Angeles, he found strategic ways to leverage his experience and relationships in Hollywood for the benefit of ASU and his students.
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Collis produced and directed an independent feature film in Arizona, Car Dogs, which simultaneously gave 85 ASU students the opportunity to learn filmmaking on set from an Oscar winning cast and crew. The Car Dogs production created a “teaching hospital for aspiring filmmakers”.
After its theatrical release, Car Dogs played on Netflix, DirecTV, Amazon Video, Apple+. Three more features were made at ASU using this model. Notably, USC School of Cinematic Arts reached out to former student and Car Dogs co-producer David Breschel for advice on how to build a similar educational production model. Soon after, Breschel was accepted and enrolled in SCA’s graduate production program where he produced two features using the Car Dogs model.
In 2014, Collis produced the low budget thriller, The Sintern, for FOX and Tubi. It had nearly two dozen alumni working side by side with currentstudent interns.
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After the success of Car Dogs, ASU asked Collis what he wanted to do next. His answer focused on what the students and film program needed most: a best-in-class professional development & industry relations program. In Fall of 2015, with support from visionary arts educator Jake Pinholster, Collis founded ASU Film Spark, which President Michael Crow and the Trustees of ASU established to help create ASU’s first presence and connection with the entertainment industry. Over its seven years, Film Spark gave hundreds of ASU students opportunities to 1) learn from top level Film & TV creatives and executives; 2) prepare for their professional lives; and 3) take their first steps into their careers.
Film Spark was based in Santa Monica and developed a two-way corridor between ASU and Hollywood. Top filmmakers, both studio and independent, came to Arizona for master classes. Students came to LA for career fairs and professional development boot camps. ASU alumni were galvanized into a Hollywood Sun Devil community. In addition, Film Spark connected ASU with LA highschoolers and community college students, creating more awareness of ASU’s film program.
An apex moment for Film Spark occurred in February of 2020 when approximately 150 ASU film students traveled to Los Angeles for the Film Spark Career Fair. There, they met almost 125 alumni at a special Hollywood Sun Devil mixer at the historic Culver Hotel. At the event, Lionsgate Vice Chairman and ASU alumnus, Michael Burns, gave the welcoming remarks. Since then, the Hollywood Sun Devil ecosystem has taken root, expanding beyond Film Spark. At least three feature films have been made by individuals who met through Film Spark’s Hollywood Sun Devil community.
By 2022, Film Spark had connected ASU and its film students with 6 Oscar-winners, 6 Oscar-nominees, 8 studio chiefs, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the president of the Directors Guild of America, along with dozens of industry executives, blockbuster producers, A-list department heads, and award-winning directors… all in service to ASU and the many students who participated in Film Spark’s programs.
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Collis brought Dreamscape Immersive CEO, Walter Parkes, to ASU for a two-day symposium on the future (Inventing the Future All Over Again). The symposium featured the team of futurists Parkes had assembled in 2000 to help Steven Spielberg envision the futuristic world of Minority Report. Collis cultivated the relationship with Parkes over the next three years. This led Collis to suggest an ASU-Dreamscape partnership to his supervisor, Jake Pinholster and ASU President Michael Crow. The result was Dreamscape Learn, a transformational virtual reality education experience born from Parkes’ groundbreaking entertainment platform and Crow’s vision for higher education.
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At the request of the ASU Foundation, Collis reconnected Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns with his alma mater. Over a 7-year period, Collis made the case to Burns that ASU had transformed into the most innovative and inclusive university in the world. The relationship resulted in many class visits with students, an ASU special event with President Crow at Lionsgate HQ, and a very special semester-long case study of a Lionsgate feature film - one that had not yet been released to theaters. For the case study, and during each week leading up to the release, Burns sent over a new Lionsgate executive to talk about their role on the film. The movie was the surprise hit of winter 2017, Wonder, which students got to see at a special screening arranged by Lionsgate. Subsequently, Mr. Burns had the idea of asking Sidney Poitier to bequeath his name to ASU’s film school. He followed through by personally asking the family on behalf of the school.
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Do the Right Thing was the movie that inspired Collis to become a filmmaker. Further, Collis saw Spike Lee speak at both Duke and USC. So it was with great joy when Collis brought Lee to a sold-out audience of over 3,000 attendees at ASU’s Gammage Hall. For this event, Film Spark worked in association with the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. The event was strategically scheduled during the 3 Million Stories national conference for arts educators hosted by Steven Tepper, the Dean of ASU’s Arts and Design Institute. The event served as a highlight for Dean Tepper’s Projecting All Voices initiative and demonstrated ASU’s fundamental commitment to inclusion. Collis facilitated meetings between Lee and President Michael Crow as well as with ASU’s head basketball coach, Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devil men’s basketball team.
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Collis worked with The Third Floor Visualization (Gladiator II, Guardian of the Galaxy, Avatar: The Way of Water) and The John Hughes Institute, founded by Oscar-winning visual effects legend John Hughes (Babe, The Golden Compass, and Life of Pi) to give students the opportunity to learn Virtual Production, Visual Effects and Pre-Viz from the world’s best. The partnership also empowered students to learn cutting edge technologies and complete Capstone projects during the challenges of Covid.
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Collis collaborated with Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) during Covid on their Black Joy & Resilience film screening and talkback series. By this time, ASU had made the decision to have a larger presence in Los Angeles. Keeping ASU’s advancement into Los Angeles in mind, Collis matched six notable ASU scholars with six of the filmmakers for the post screening conversations, showcasing the scholars in this highly visible Los Angeles program.
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Collis sought out leadership at Santa Monica College’s film and media production programs so that SMC film students could sit in on Collis’ weekly ASU film classes. This provided ASU with superior recruitment opportunities and immediate access to prime candidates for ASU’s film school.
For instance, Collis arranged a special Black Panther screening for SMC and Film2Future students. Additionally Collis set up a screening of the 2024 Sundance Grand Jury winning feature film, In the Summers with a Q&A featuring his former student, the producer of the film, Dan Tantalean, at SMC. The conversation was led by ASU alumnus, producer Michael Helfant, former President and COO of Marvel Studios.
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A 3,500 attendee Jumbotron Screening of Into the Spider-Verse at Sun Devil Stadium in partnership ASU Cultural Affairs. Spiderman masks were given to all the children watching, and a movie screening was transformed into a powerful demonstration of ASU’s commitment to inclusion.
A 1,500 attendee Jumbotron stadium screening of feature film, Sorry to Bother You, followed by a live interview with visionary director Boots Riley.
A dual-site LA-Tempe screening of Black Panther with an LA-Tempe Zoom connected Q&A with producer Nate Moore.
A 150 person "Sing-A-Long" screening of La La Land with the casting directors of the film.
A day-long Master Class featuring all of the major players who worked on the movie JUNO, including Director Jason Reitman. The 2012 event leveraged what is now Jurassic video conferencing technology (Cisco Telepresence - which at the time was very innovative). This allowed students from four other universities across the country (UCLA Anderson, Duke, University of Montana, and Quinnipiac University) to participate in the conversation.
A 250-person sold out screening of Our Quinceañera with the director, Fanny Grande.
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3-time Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning producer Ted Hope, whose films have received 25 Oscar nominations and three wins. Hope lectured on new horizons for independent films on two occasions, and, at the beckoning of Collis, taught two years at ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management.
The GM of Robert Rodriguez' El Rey Network, ASU alumnus Daniel Tibbets, who taught the business of entertainment.
Veteran television director and co-chair of the DGA Diversity Committee, Bethany Rooney who talked about directing actors.
The former President and COO of Marvel Studios, ASU alumnus Michael Helfant, who lectured on putting movie projects together.
Academy Award nominated Larry Sher, Cinematographer of Joker and The Hangover movies, who spoke on the art of lighting for Cinema.
Four-time Motion Picture Sound Editors award-winning sound editor and designer, ASU alumnus Hamilton Sterling (Master and Commander, Logan, Gangs of New York, War of the Worlds, The Dark Knight, There Will Be Blood, The Tree of Life) who taught Sound Design.
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Legendary Producers Chuck Roven (Oppenheimer), Nina Jacobson (Crazy Rich Asians), Matt Tolmach (Venom, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Top Hollywood Directors Patty Jenkins (Wonder Women), Jason Reitman (Saturday Night, Ghostburster: Afterlife, Up in the Air), Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange), Bennett Miller (Moneyball, Capote) and Jaume Collet-Serra (Black Adam, Jungle Cruise)
Distinguished Department Heads including Dion Beebe (Oscar-winning Cinematographer of Collateral), Matt Jensen (Cinematographer of Wonder Woman and Game of Thrones), Phil Messina (Production Designer of The Hunger Games and Ocean’s Eleven), and Cynthia Charette (Production Designer of The Mysterious Benedict Society and Austin Powers), and Peter Brown, (Sound Designer of Aquaman and Fast and Furious).
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In addition to engaging with Spike Lee, Boots Riley, Fanny and Nelson Grande, the General Manager of Robert Rodriguez’ cable outlet, and the producer of Black Panther, Collis maintains a consistent focus on underrepresentation in the industry. Most recently, he was offered and accepted the Race, Arts and Democracy Fellowship at ASU’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. In his RAD Fellowship, he will be exploring ways in which Cinema can examine the complex issues of democracy, racial diversity, and human connection. Additionally, Collis championed the Batgirl Disability Project, by bringing on producers Larry Franco and Greg Baxter who connected Industrial Light and Magic and The Third Floor to the project
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Collis trained under legendary USC directing and acting professor Nina Foch, whose work was memorialized in “The Nina Foch Course for Filmmakers and Actors", produced by George Lucas and Randal Kleiser. Collis learned Visual Storytelling from Bruce Block, another USC teaching legend who wrote the essential filmmaking text, The Visual Story. Later, Collis co-taught this subject with Block. Drawing on this M.F.A. training, Collis has taught the craft of film and television directing to hundreds of undergraduates. And drawing on his M.B.A experience, Collis has taught hundreds of filmmakers about the business of entertainment.
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After being assigned the internship placement leadership role for ASU’s Los Angeles campus in Fall 2022, Collis worked one-on-one with industry professionals and students to facilitate this essential professional development opportunity. In 2025 alone, Collis placed over 45 students in internships.
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ASU alum, Emmy nominated writer/producer, Howard Burkons designed a career bootcamp so that current ASU film students could learn the career skills that he did not have when he arrived in Hollywood. Comprised of 3 modules - professional presentation, pitching ideas, building professional relationships - the bootcamp instilled students with the professional skills required to succeed. Additionally, alumni and industry professionals worked with students one-on-one, giving each student a seedbed of meaningful relationships with which to begin their career.
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Each semester Film Spark welcomed over 150 ASU students who would trek 14 hours round trip to meet representatives from Warner Bros, HBO, Amasia Entertainment, Dreamworks Animation, FOX, Lionsgate, MGM, MarVista Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment, CAA, The Walt Disney Company and many others.
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Film Spark hosted Hollywood Sun Devil mixers after the career fairs so that students and alumni could mix, mingle, and build relationships. Mixer attendance was regularly over 250 people per event.
Notable Industry Guests
Matt Jensen
Director of Photography (Wonder Woman, Game of Thrones)
Lamont Magee
Screenwriter (Black Lightning)
Nadine Zylstra
Head of Kids and Learning for YouTube Originals, Producer
Patricia Cardoso
Director (Real Women Have Curves)
Hamilton Sterling
Sound Designer (Logan); Sound Effects Editor (The Dark Knight, War of the Worlds, Gangs of New York)
Lori Openden
Casting Director and Head of Casting at The CW
Jason Reitman
Director (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Juno, Up in the Air)
Kyle Harimoto
Writer/Co-Exec Producer, NCIS: LA; Writer/Co-Producer, Hawaii Five-0
Michael Apted
President of the Director’s Guild of America, Director (Gorillas in the Mist, Rome)
Mark Jonathan Harris
3x Oscar winning documentary filmmaker
Peter Sollett
Director (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Your Honor)
Eli Craig
Director (Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, Little Evil)
Dan Dubiecki
Producer (Up in the Air, Juno (Executive Producer))
Larry Franco
Producer (Jumanji, The Thing, Mars Attacks, Happy Gilmore 2)
Tom Sherak
Fmr President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
S. Leigh Savidge
Co-Producer (Sideways, Nebraska, The Descendants, About Schmidt, Election)
Palmer West
Producer (Requiem for a Dream)
Matt Parker
Co-Producer (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Torrey Speer
Writer (The Morning Show)
Cynthia Charette
Production Designer (Austin Powers, You, Jane The Virgin)
…and many others.
John Jackson
Casting Director (Sideways, Nebraska, The Descendants, About Schmidt, Election)
Nate Moore
Marvel Executive and Executive Producer (Black Panther)
Michael Burns
Vice Chairman, Lionsgate
Nina Jacobson
Producer (Crazy Rich Asians, American Crime Story, Hunger Games; fmr Pres. Buena Vista/Disney)
Chuck Roven
Producer (Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight, American Hustle)
Michael Helfant
Producer (The Call) and fmr. President & COO of Marvel Studios
Scott Derrickson
Director (The Black Phone, Doctor Strange)
Daniel Tantalean
Producer (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning feature, All the Summers)
Jaume Collet-Serra
Director (Black Adam)
Angela Courtin
Global Head of YouTube TV & Originals Marketing
Patty Jenkins
Director (Wonder Woman)
Ted Hope
3 time Sundance winning producer; fmr. Head of Movies, Amazon Studios
Bill Mechanic
Producer, Hacksaw Ridge; fmr studio chief, 20th Century Fox
Malcolm Spellman
Screenwriter (Captain America: Brave New World)
Scott Steindorff
Producer (Station Eleven, Lincoln Lawyer, Chef)
Bethany Rooney
Director (Bull, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Law & Order); Co-chair, Directors Guild of America Diversity Committee
Kim Williams
fmr. CFO of Warner Bros
Jen Hollingsworth
fmr COO Lionsgate
Susan Cartsonis
Executive Producer (Dear Zoe, What Women Want, Where the Heart Is)
Larry Sher
Director of Photography (Joker, The Hangover Trilogy)
Jeff Judah
Writer-Producer (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Night Shift, Freaks of Geeks)
Tom Verica
Head of Creative Production, Shondaland; (Bridgerton, Inventing Anna)
Robert Schenkkan
Screenwriter (Hacksaw Ridge)
Daniel Tibbets
CEO, Smosh; fmr. General Manager, Robert Rodriguez’ Rey Network
Julie Rogers
Editor (The Lego Ninjago Movie, UglyDolls)
Peter Brown
Sound Designer (Aquaman, Game of Thrones, Fast and Furious)
Jennifer Getzinger
Director (Westworld, Mad Men)
Richard Linklater
Director, (Dazed and Confused, Before Sunset, Boyhood)
Bennett Miller
Director (Moneyball, Capote, Foxcatcher)
John Landis
Director & Producer (The Blues Brothers, Weird Science, Michael Jackson’s Thriller Music Video)
Gary Ross
Writer & Director (Big (Writer), Seabiscuit, Pleasantville, The Hunger Games, Ocean’s Eight)
Bryan Burk
Producer (Star Wars: Episode VII, Star Trek, Lost)
Brunson Green
Producer (The Help, A United Kingdom)
Amy Rivera
Vice President of Motion Picture Production
Philip Messina
Production Designer (Oceans Eleven, Freaks and Geeks, 8 Mile, The Hunger Games)
