"Well one of the things SF State did for me is encourage the spirit of experimentation," Ethan Van der Ryn said.
Even if you don't know Van der Ryn by name, you know his work. Already a two time winner, Van der Ryn is nominated for sound editing in Transformers.
Actually, San Francisco State has quite a good record in the Oscars. It has had nominees 13 straight years.
"It must be something in the water," Pat Jensen said.
Daniel Bernardi, who runs the department, believes students from succeed because the program is less commercial.
"We don't try to be Hollywood filmmakers, we teach them to express themselves creatively and artistically," Bernardi said.
