In the very early morning of Jan. 23, School of Cinematic Arts alum Alex Coco woke up to his three-month-old son Wynn. He couldn’t get back to sleep because of a growing sense of anticipation. As he watched Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott present the 97th Academy Award nominees on his phone, Wynn’s diaper needed a change, so he quickly averted his eyes to pay attention to his son. By the time he looked back, the screen suddenly read “Anora / Alex Coco” right next to “Nominees for Best Picture.”

Before his Oscar nomination and even before starting school at SCA, high school student Alex Coco sat in his Intro to Narrative Filmmaking elective watching David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” (1977), which “blew [his] mind.” 

“It made me feel horrible. I felt like I wanted to take a shower. I felt depressed. I was 14 years old, and I was just shocked by this film,” Coco said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “After recovering from the way that movie made me feel, I was just like, ‘Whoa. I didn’t know a film could do that.’”

Lynch has inspired Coco throughout his career. Coco received his Master of Fine Arts in film and television production from SCA in 2016, where he embodied the idea of being a multi-hyphenate by taking classes across disciplines and doing what he could to become a well-rounded filmmaker. This philosophy has stuck with him onto sets such as “Anora” (2024) to this day. 

“When I heard [Lynch] died, it was emotional for me because I credit him for inspiring me to getting me to this place and setting me on this path,” Coco said.

“Anora” tells the story of a sex worker from Brooklyn and her whirlwind romance and fairy-tale life with the son of a Russian oligarch before the reality of his parents hits and their world turns upside down. Coco and director Sean Baker have worked together on their last few projects, focusing on telling important stories based on reality. 

“As they’ve grown and progressed over the past decade or so, they’ve still retained that independent feel, but also they tackle very relatable, human subjects,” said Ethan Gomez-Zahnley, a senior majoring in film and television production. “Their films are very grounded, and they touch upon lots of types of people that you don’t usually see portrayed on film.”

Gomez-Zahnley feels this authenticity in their films is not without much effort from Coco and Baker. 

“I really love how [Baker] likes to tell these universal stories about people who haven’t had those stories told about them,” Coco said. “So taking real people and interviewing sex workers, doing a ton of research, bringing those people on board the project as well, whether that’s to be featured in the film, or to be consulted on the movie, or just working with them and trying to access that world.”

Coco first made contact with Baker at a screening and Q&A of “Tangerine” (2015), where Coco decided to approach Baker. Coco always brings a positive mindset to each film, from the beginning up until now, thinking no project is too small or difficult to handle.

“I just went up to him, gave him my email,” Coco said. “[I] was like, ‘If you need somebody, I’m here.’ … and fortunately, it all worked out.” 

Coco has been busy with more than “Anora” and a four-month-old child. Super Bowl viewers were also privy to his work in fast-paced racing ads centered around racers Josef Newgarden and Álex Palou. But that is exactly how he likes it, always taking on as much as he can and staying fast, almost as fast as Newgarden and Palou. 

He is an extremely busy person, whether he is running around working on the next big film, winning at the Producers Guild Awards or watching his favorite team win at the Super Bowl while watching his own ads. When looking at such an accomplished person in the film industry, it can be easy to forget about that high school student watching “Eraserhead,” but Coco stays true to everything he does, and everywhere he has been.

Just like at USC where Coco really enjoyed taking everything he holds true to that now, on set. “I do try to, bring a very versatile sort of, can- do, no job is too small, no job is something I can’t handle, kind of mentality to the project,” Coco said. “If anything needs to be done in whatever department, I just feel like I can sort of sub in and help out.”

Today, students at USC, such as Ella Janes, a freshman majoring in film and TV production, are getting to see the films that Coco worked on and are in awe of them.

“I thought that [Anora] was incredibly thoughtful filmmaking,” Janes said. “I got to see it at the AMC at the Grove and watch Baker give an interview after, and I felt like it was an incredibly thoughtful and authentic film, and the way they were able to put it together with such little budget was incredibly impressive and inspiring.”

Janes and Coco might be at different stages of their life and career, but the same spirit lies within both of them. In the same joyful and magical way Janes speaks to “Anora,” Coco remembers his own experiences, such as seeing the “Pusher” trilogy.  

“[I saw] all three in a row at the New Beverly on [35mm] when I first went to USC in an afternoon and seeing them back to back to back like that, that’s the way to see it.”

To students just starting out like Janes, Coco has some sound advice for making their way in such a busy and intimidating industry. 

“Always try to look to create your own path,” he said. “There [are] a lot of systems in place that’ll tell you that this is the way you do things, and this is the rigidness of how things are done. But I would say, learn those things, internalize them, and then go and break those rules. That’s just how I’ve always done it, and that’s how I’ve got to where I am.” 

The Oscar-nominated, PGA-winning, Palme d’Or winning producer is still at heart that same student who spent his time in SCA nearly 10 years ago. Coco is an incredibly accomplished producer, but he is also every place and person that got him there. While the Trojans cheer him on at the Academy Awards in March, he will be bringing with him the Palme d’Or and PGA wins but also his newborn son, his first bold approach to Baker, his time in the New Beverly, his time watching “Eraserhead” back in high school and of course his Trojan spirit.