CSUN rose to No. 20 on The Hollywood Reporter’s 2026 list of the nation’s top 25 film schools, making it the highest-ranked film program in the CSU.

When Abraham Martinez-Peña enrolled at California State University, Northridge as a film major, he knew the path he set out for himself — to be a professional comedy writer for film and television — would not be an easy one. Hollywood’s hiring reputation was more “who you know,” than “what you can do.”