Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Film Director, Kung Fu Panda 2, DreamWorks Animation SKG

B.F.A. Illustration (1994)

Highest-grossing female film director with directorial debut of DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2.
First female to solely direct a full-length animation feature film.
Won the Annie Award—animation’s highest honor—in 2012 for directing Kung Fu Panda 2 and also in 2009 for Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production for Kung Fu Panda.
Immigrated from South Korea when she was four and grew up in Lakewood, Calif. Spent her childhood drawing, watching martial arts movies, and playing with cars with her two older sisters, who are also CSU Long Beach illustration graduates.
Other films worked on as either a storyboard artist or illustrator include Kung Fu Panda (2008), Madagascar (2005), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002).

Notable CSU Alumni in entertainment & media