MVM NATION

🎬🏆 CONGRATULATIONS Ludwig Göransson — 3-Time Oscar Winner for Best Original Score!

A Swedish kid fell in love with blues through his father’s John Lee Ho**er record. That love brought him to USC Thornton School of Music in 2008. There he met Ryan Coogler — and instead of letting race or background divide them, Ludwig chose cooperation over separation.

That decision changed both of their lives forever. From Fruitvale Station to Black Panther to Sinners — every major Coogler film has carried Ludwig’s music.

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Started music as a child in Sweden — father was a musician; inspired by everything from classical to Metallica
USC Thornton School of Music — where he met Ryan Coogler & scored 30 student films in one year
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 IN HIS OWN WORDS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❝ The most important thing is to know music at a deep level across many genres. That knowledge is what gives you a voice no one else has. ❞ — Ludwig Göransson, Occidental College Music Production Program, December 5, 2017

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📖 MVM LESSON #17 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ That is not just a beautiful story — that is MVM Lesson #17 in real life. “Use your matriculation to build your own MVM Team, so when you graduate you can beat the machine.” Ludwig and Ryan did exactly that. They used their time at USC to find each other, build together, and graduate with a creative partnership already in place.

The lesson for every USC Film and Music major — and every student in the A.I. era — is this: learn the tools, but protect your voice, build your team, and create work the machine cannot replace.

Show up, collaborate boldly, and say yes to every opportunity. Student projects can become career-defining work.

🏆 Honor the MVM in YOUR life! 🛒 Shop MVM shirts → www.themvmnation.com

— Professor “A” | MVM NATION Most Valuable Major

Before we close out Women’s History month we want to recognize this MVM of film. 🎬 AUTUMN DURALD ARKAPAW — MVM of Film 🏆 Best Cinematography | Sinners | 98th Academy Awards

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🎨 BA in Art History — Loyola Marymount University (2002); a single film class screening Raging Bull changed everything
🏫 MFA in Cinematography — American Film Institute Conservatory (2009)
📷 Built her career through music videos (Rihanna, Arcade Fire), indie films & an Emmy nomination for Loki
🎬 First woman of color on the cover of American Cinematographer magazine
🏆 FIRST woman to win Best Cinematography in 97 years of Oscar history — and the 1st female DP to shoot on IMAX 65mm
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❝ Believe in yourself more than anyone else. If you have confidence in yourself and your ideas, you can achieve your goals. ❞

— Autumn Durald Arkapaw Interview with Panavision On breaking barriers in cinematography — 2025

💡 A liberal arts education + technical skill = limitless power. Her art history degree taught her to see film the way no one else could.

🎓 Honor the MVM in YOUR life! 👕 Shop MVM shirts → www.themvmnation.com

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🎬 RYAN COOGLER — MVM of Film
🏆 Best Original Screenplay | Sinners | 98th Academy Awards

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🎓 EDUCATION & JOURNEY
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🏈 Football scholarship → Saint Mary’s College of California, then Sacramento State
📊 BS in Finance, Sacramento State (2007) — while taking every film class available
🎓 MFA in Film, USC School of Cinematic Arts (2011)
🌟 Age 26: Fruitvale Station won Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Cannes Best First Film
🦁 Directed Black Panther — the first superhero film ever nominated for Best Picture

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🎥 FOR USC FILM MAJORS IN THE A.I. ERA
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For USC film majors worried about A.I., Ryan Coogler is a reminder that tools do not replace vision, authorship, or relationships. He built work so valuable that Sinners reportedly came with a rare Warner Bros. deal that returns the film’s rights to him after 25 years.

“Ryan Coogler built early with fellow USC student Ludwig Göransson and turned that creative bond into part of his future professional crew. That is one reason Ryan has already applied many of the 40 MVM Lessons — especially MVM Lesson #17: ‘Use your matriculation to build your own MVM Team, so when you graduate you can beat the machine.’ That is the lesson for USC Film majors in the A.I. era: learn the tools, but protect your voice, build your team, and create work the machine cannot replace.”
— Professor “A”

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💬 IN HIS OWN WORDS
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“If I can get two hours of people’s time, I can affect them more than throwing a trash can through a window.”

— Ryan Coogler
Filmmaker Magazine interview
On why he chose film over activism

💡 Your major doesn’t define your destiny. Follow the subject that sets you on fire — then master it.

🎓 Honor the MVM in YOUR life!
👕 Shop MVM shirts → www.themvmnation.com

FilmStudents

🎭 MICHAEL B. JORDAN — MVM of Theater 🏆 Best Actor | Sinners | 98th Academy Awards

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🏫 Newark Arts High School — specialized performing arts school, Newark, NJ
🎬 Professional actor by age 12 — roles on The Sopranos & The Wire in high school
📖 Built his “degree” through 20+ years of relentless craft, discipline & reinvention
🎭 1st actor since Lee Marvin to win Best Actor playing dual roles in the same film
🌍 Named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (2020 & 2023)
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❝ Dream big, man. Be kind. Be honest. Pour into the universe and the universe will pour back into you. ❞

— Michael B. Jordan Backstage press room, 98th Academy Awards Dolby Theatre, Hollywood — March 15, 2026

💡 Bet on your gift. Find the environment that feeds your passion — then outwork everybody.

🎓 Honor the MVM in YOUR life! 👕 Shop MVM shirts → www.themvmnation.com

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Happy Birthday to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who we recognize as a Most Valuable Major (MVM) of Social Work (Honorary Level)!
Here are a few reasons why:

1944-Graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and was admitted to Morehouse College at age 15.
1948-Graduates from Morehouse College with a B.A. degree in Sociology.
1955-Received Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.

1995-Joins the bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1. On December 5, he is elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, making him the official spokesperson for the boycott.

1956-On November 13, the Supreme Court rules that bus segregation is illegal, ensuring victory for the boycott.

1957-King forms the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight segregation and achieve civil rights.

1958-King’s first book, Stride Toward Freedom, is published.

1963-On April 13, the Birmingham campaign is launched. This would prove to be the turning point in the war to end segregation in the South.

1963-During the eleven days he spent in jail, MLK writes his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

1963-On May 10, the Birmingham Agreement is announced. The stores, restaurants, and schools will be desegregated, hiring of blacks implemented, and charges dropped.

King attends the signing ceremony of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the White House on July 2.

1964-King is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10. Dr. King is the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35

1966-On January 22, King moves into a Chicago slum tenement to attract attention to the living condition of the poor.

1967-On November 27, King announces the inception of the Poor People’s Campaign focusing on jobs and freedom for the poor of all races.

1986-On November 2, a national holiday is proclaimed in King’s honor.