USC graduate Bongiovi met Significant Productions CEO Forest Whitaker several years ago on a China-based production she was developing for him. A few months into their partnership, Whitaker asked her to come run his company—talk about a show of faith. Whitaker made the right decision, because one of Bongiovi’s USC professors, Jed Dannenbaum, heard she was working with Whitaker and told her about up-and-coming filmmaker Ryan Coogler. Bongiovi convinced Whitaker that they had to produce Coogler’s first feature, a bold move for any production company. The result was the 2013 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Fruitvale (now called Fruitvale Station). Fruitvale Station arrives in theaters in July, but already Bongiovi is working on a Richard Pryor biopic, and she’s COO of JuntoBox, the tech company where emerging filmmakers can showcase and share their work. A producer as chance-taking and dynamic as Bongiovi deserves to be on our radar.