Congratulations to the Tisch alumni named on the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 List! The annual list highlights today’s brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders, and stars.
This year, ten Tisch alumni were recognized across four categories: Art & Style, Hollywood & Entertainment, Music, and Social Media. See the Tisch alumni below and click here for the full list.
Art & Style
Sophia Wilson (Photography & Imaging)
Since starting her photography career at 13-years-old, Sophia Wilson has contributed her images to publications such as The New York Times, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. She is one of the youngest names to shoot for brands like Nike, Meta, and Google, also shooting for events like the Met Gala and the Grammy’s. She stars in a Hulu Original series titled ‘The Come Up’, and is also the face of campaigns for Coca-Cola, Sephora, Urban Outfitters, and Nike.
Hollywood & Entertainment
Jesse Light grew up “obsessed” with reality TV and, at 22 years old, pitched her first original show to production shop Haymaker East. That concept never became a series, but Light impressed Haymaker founder Aaron Rothman. He gave Light a job as an executive producer and, at 26, became the company’s head of development. She’s since produced series and specials for Bravo, Prime Video, Hulu and others.
Please Don’t Destroy – Martin Herlihy ’19 & Ben Marshall ’17 (BFA, Kanbar Institute, Film & TV)
Please Don’t Destroy is a sketch comedy group — composed of Ben Marshall, Martin Herlihy, and John Higgins ’18 (CAS) — that first formed in 2017. Together, they write and star in frequently viral videos for “Saturday Night Live.” This November, their debut film, “Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain,” will be released on Peacock.
Emma Seligman ’17 (BFA, Kanbar Institure, Film & TV)
Director Emma Seligman first broke onto the scene with their debut feature–the queer, Jewish, indie comedy, “Shiva Baby,” starring Rachel Sennott–which earned them the 2022 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award. This summer they reunited with Sennott for their first studio film: the lesbian teen sex comedy, “Bottoms,” which premiered at SXSW to rave reviews.
Rachel Sennott ’18 (BFA, Drama)
After dazzling critics in Emma Seligman’s “Shiva Baby,” actor Rachel Sennott went on to co-star in HBO’s series The Idol and A24’s slasher film “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.” This summer, she reunited with Seligman to lead “Bottoms:” the lesbian teen sex comedy which she also co-produced and co-wrote. While she’s been outspoken about her own ambitions to direct, next she’ll star alongside Nicole Kidman in Prime Video’s “Holland, Michigan.”
Celeste Yim ’20 (MFA, Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing)
Celeste Yim is the first-ever out trans writer at “Saturday Night Live” and this past season, they became the show’s first AAPI writer to be promoted to Supervising Writer. At “SNL,” Yim has produced over 70 sketches, with many pertaining to race, gender, and sexuality. Some notable, and hilarious, examples include “It Gets Better” with Dan Levy and “Pride Month Song” with Anya Taylor-Joy.
Music
Jasper Lee Harris (Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music)
The Grammy-winning 25-year-old behind Jack Harlow’s runaway smash “First Class,” Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar’s “Family Ties” and Lil Nas X’s “Montero” worked his way up the music industry ladder, starting on the ground floor as a janitor for production duo and Under 30 alumni Take a Daytrip. Taking out the trash turned into a full-on mentorship, and in 2022, Harris founded his own publishing company, to which he’s signed four producers and an artist. Lately, he’s putting the finishing touches on albums for Camilla Cabello and Tate McRae, climbing the charts with the latter’s “Greedy,” “Pretty Girl” by Ice Spice and Rema, and “Too Much” by Kid Laroi, Central Cee and Jungkook.
Madison Love ’17 (BFA, Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music)
Some of your favorite songs might be written by Madison Love, the award-winning tunesmith behind Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello’s “Bad Things,” which went No. 1 on Pop Airplay charts and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Ava Max’s “Sweet but Psycho,” which reached No. 10 on the Hot 100. Her songs have earned her accolades including the MTV Europe Music Award, a BMI Pop Award and ASCAP Pop Award. She’s also the founder of the Madison Love Future Fund, which awards scholarships to high-achieving, high-need young artists every year.
Social Media
Sidetalk – Trent Simonian ’23 (BFA, Kanbar Institute, Film & TV)
Sidetalk — yes, it sounds like “sidewalk” on purpose — is a one-minute, on-the-street show and web series in New York that highlights some of the city’s most interesting characters. Founders Jack Byrne (GAL) and Trent Simonian, recent graduates of NYU Tisch, describe Sidetalk as a “show that captures the unique vibrancy of the city” through comedic street interviews and event recaps. Sidetalk is perhaps best known for the viral “Bing Bong” trend of 2021 — which got so big that President Biden and the Jonas Brothers recreated the video to boost awareness of the Covid vaccine. Byrne and Simonian have welcomed Drake, A$AP Rocky, Cardi B and Eli Manning as guests on the show. Sidetalk has also collaborated with Spotify on “Sidetalk Sound,” an exclusive branded playlist, and with Live Nation on concerts and events featuring big-name headliners and rising New York City artists alike. Sidetalk has also given back to its community, last year launching its inaugural Sidetalk Holiday Drive to raise money for homeless women and children in New York (through Win NYC).
*We apologize for any omissions. Please send edits or additions to tsoa.alumni@nyu.edu.
