Welcome to Film School
Mostly, it's just like college--the humor, the excitement, the drama, and, yes, the stress--but it's also been injected with the high-octane craziness that runs rampant in the Industry itself--the egos, the agendas, the love-triangles, the constant quotes from Back to the Future... It's their Freshman year at the Hollywood Fine Arts Academy, and this year's students are just getting acquainted with campus life, trying to get a grip on schedules, assignments, fellow students, teachers and the City of Angels all at once. Each Monday, a new episode will expose their attempts to survive the collegiate experience, but as the semester unfolds, they may find themselves competing for more than just good grades!
Matthew Goben
Executive Producer/Partner, H4O Entertainment
Matt. To define Matt is to define brilliance. He's another central-Illinois native, born and raised, and attended both Southern Illinois University (where the magic began) and later, Bradley University in Peoria, IL. He was drafted by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he declined because the glamour of PA work was too appealing, so he made the move to LA where his producing and business-moxy would be generally ignored.
Now, he works as a Production Assistant for the Ghost Whisperer on the Universal lot, and when he's not there, he spends most of his waking hours trying to wrangle the Milus brothers into actually doing something useful (which is harder than one might think), and the rest he saves for his "sweatpants time".
If you want to get to know him more, just watch the show. Try and guess which character was based on him.
Suzanne Milano
Executive Producer/Partner, H4O Entertainment
Suzanne hails from Fayetteville, North Carolina by way of Effingham, Illinois. As an Army brat, she moved frequently and constantly lost her social outlets. She quickly found that music, theatre, and movies were her salvation.
After high school, Suzanne decided to attend Southern Illinois University at Carbondale concentrating in Cinema/Photography and Radio/Television. This would prove to be an amazing decision as she met her future H4O partners within a week of starting her freshman year.
After years of creating short films, acting/producing in each others projects, and yes, many many arguments, the fighting foursome decided to take their initiative to a new level and created the web series, An Insider's Guide to Film School.
Suzanne aspires to one day own a coffee shop with mandatory open mic nights, but until then, she will continue to make experimental films, animations, and short narratives (as these are her passions). And of course, she will always be around to keep "the boys" in line.
Aaron Stewart Milus
Co-Creative Director/Partner, H4O Entertainment
Aaron broke the world record for "biggest baby-head ever born" way back in the day in Peoria, Illinois. Don't believe it? Check out the facebook group. It's there.
In some form or another, "show business" (or, "the biz" as the Hollywood types say) has been in his blood from day one, so a move to Southern Illinois University to focus on film production came as an enormous shock to no one. He has written and directed a variety of short films, and after working for a student-run, Emmy-winning PBS program called "alt.news 26:46" as both a host and editor, he began exploring post-production in his down-time. He lucked out on a day job as a graphics designer and animator for a post-production house called "Salt" in Culver City, California, where all sorts of visual goodies are made daily.
The Insider's Guide to Film School has been the most ambitious project for Aaron to date, and working with such a talented cast and production team has been both a privilege and an eye-opener... And in case you're wondering, the "big head" thing is literal, not figurative. He's pretty cool.
J. Michael Milus
Co-Creative Director/Partner, H4O Entertainment
Joshua, Aaron's little brother, was born in Peoria, Illinois in the same year the Great Ronald Reagan, America's Most Outstanding President, took power. He began attending school at Peoria Christian School, performing so well in the first grade that they asked him to come back for another round, just to set an example to the other First Years.
If graduating from high school was easy, graduating from community college was even easier: it only took 2.5 years. From there Joshua transfered to the prestigious Southern Illinois University, where he studied the cinema. He soon took up his thesis project "4th & Eternity," which caused quite a stir in the film department. So controversial was his project that it was almost not allowed to be made.
Joshua brought that raw in-your-face what-you-lookin'-at mentality to Los Angeles in the autumn of 2006, and it is no wonder that he landed positions on shows like Cashmere Mafia and Criminal minds, both quality programs that push the limits and get people thinking. In his free time (ha!), he unapologetically devotes himself to making The Insider's Guide to Film School as cutting-edge and thought-provoking as possible... just like Reagan would.