Alessandro Ago is the Director of Programming and Special Projects at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he programs film screenings, festivals, guest speakers and special events. In addition to programming the popular undergraduate courses Theatrical Film Symposium, and Television Symposium, Ago also curates Outside the Box [Office], a screening series dedicated to bringing new international, documentary and independent cinema to USC.
Ago lectures frequently about Italian cinema at the Italian Cultural Institute in Westwood, California and has taught two undergraduate courses for the SCA Summer Program: Transnational Nightmares and Filmmaking, Italian Style. He co-produced the 2006 & 2007 editions of Los Angeles – Italia: The Film, Fashion and Art Fest at Mann’s Chinese 6-plex, as well as the 2006 Capri – Hollywood Film Festival in Capri, Italy. He also recently worked for the Sundance Institute as a judge in the International Narrative department, helping to select films for competition for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
An Italian and American citizen, he grew up in Washington D.C. and Rome, Italy. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Critical Studies division.