Students often hear the names Candace Parker or Paula Zhan associated with the term alumni throughout the hallways of Central. However, the basketball starlet and the recognizable news anchor may have to make room for another alum on the wall as Mike Mauloff works to make himself a household name as an actor and screenwriter in Los Angeles.

The 2001 Central alumnus recently finished filming a pilot he wrote titled “Josh Jennings for Congress,” where Mauloff plays Josh, the character who he started to create while still attending Central.

The pilot tells of a slacking, un ambitious man still living under his parents’ roof. Jennings risks getting kicked out of the house if he doesn’t find a job and sees prospect in running against an incumbent congressman. Fellow cast members include Martin Cove from “The Karate Kid” and Sara E.R. Fletcher from Comedy Central’s “Secret Girlfriend.”

“I’ve seen some footage, and it looks great,” Mauloff said. “I think that the producers hope to shop it around to networks in a month or so.”

Mauloff did not immediately strike gold when he entered the entertainment industry, however.

“I went into 40 or so auditions before I got my first job as an actor,” he said.

Fresh out of college and bartending while acting in Chicago, Mauloff was offered a job with Comedy Central in Los Angeles, where he currently resides. He has been acting professionally for five years.

“I had never been to LA,” Mauloff said. “I landed with two suitcases and found my way, pretty much.”

However, Mauloff said that he hasn’t made a consistent living as an actor since his move to California.

“I work in the productions offices for some TV shows to make ends meet,” he said. “But a few commercials, a handful of TV appearances, and I’m grinding it out.”

Mauloff has appeared in television shows such as “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Parks and Recreation” and “The Forgotten.” His favorite role was in “The Forgotten” with actor Christian Slater, an actor he’d grown up watching.

Mauloff said that acting was not his childhood dream, but by high school he knew that entertaining people was something he liked and was good at. He participated in “more Theatre Central than you can imagine” while in high school, playing Dracula his senior year, as well as Oscar from “The Odd Couple.” Mauloff also was a lead character one of the four years he participated in the musical and won the state championship title senior year for Speech team.

“I could easily play older characters,” Mauloff said. “I’m a bigger guy and I was one of the only big guys acting; the rest were playing sports…I dove in, playing all those parts and rehearsing all the time. I think it really paid off in the end.”

After high school, Mauloff double-majored in theatre and English at Indiana University, a decision he credits toward his successes.

“I think education is really important, at least it has been for me,” he said. “There’s a lot you can bring to your work, such as acting, writing, or singing, songwriting, performing in any regard, that you wouldn’t be aware of without education. I don’t think I’d be half the actor I am without my English knowledge; it helps me understand and script so easily.”

Mauloff also credits his successes to networking.

“It’s completely true that it’s all about who you know,” he said. “My first two TV appearances were being in the right place at the right time and knowing someone…I was working as a production assistant, basically getting coffee, and one of my bosses knew I wanted to act and thought I was funny. An opportunity came up, and he suggested me to the director.”

Still, Mauloff believes that to be successful in the entertainment industry, one must be “thick skinned.”

“I hear 85 percent of the people that move to LA to be in the film business leave within three years, and that’s not surprising,” he said. “The business can chew you up and spit you out.”

To “make it,” Mauloff suggests putting yourself out there and working hard.

“If you can’t find a way to be in things getting made, then make your own stuff,” he said. “If you have ambition in the field of entertainment, make ambitious films. Push yourself to make good work, not just some goofy video of a cat or something.

“I got my agents out here [in LA] because of a video I had put online. You never know who is watching and what will go viral.”