NYFA
Faculty Directory

Faculty Directory

Jonathan Appell

Sound instructor Jonathan Appell has had an unusually diverse career. His work can be heard on TV shows like Ed and The Dana Carvey Show; movies like First Wives Club and Coyote Ugly; recordings by legendary artists like Carole King, Bette Midler, Billy Porter, and Grover Washington, Jr.; anime cartoons like The Gokusen and Shura No Toki; and literally hundreds of television and radio commercials – including several for which he also provided the voiceover (we said he’s diverse!).

In addition to his ongoing freelance audio work, Jonathan has also been teaching for the last 15 years. Beyond his impressive resume, his credentials include a Bachelor of Science in Audio Technology Instruction from SUNY Empire State College, an AVID Certified Pro Tools Instructor, a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), and an active member of the Audio Engineering Society (AES).

David Armstrong

David A. Armstrong has more than 35 years of film industry experience and holds an MFA in Cinematography from the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI) and a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Starting as a camera assistant, he has risen through the ranks to become a cinematographer. He has over 100 feature film and television productions to his credit.

He is the first recipient of the ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) Student Heritage Award, and his AFI short film John received the Student Academy Award Gold and the AFI’s Franklin J. Schafer Award. He served as director of photography for James Wan (The Conjuring, Aquaman) on the Saw film franchise (Saw I-VI). As a key team member of the Saw franchise, he helped to create the Guinness Book of World Record for largest-grossing horror film franchise in history.

Armstrong also directs feature films, and has directed actors including Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Peter Stormare, Common, Justin Chatwin, Stephen Lang, Michael Chiklis, Nikki Reed, and Martin Csokas. His most recent feature, The Assassin’s Code, a neo-noir thriller starring Peter Stormare (Fargo) and Justin Chatwin (Shameless), premiered at the 42nd Cleveland International Film Festival in April 2018, with theatrical release by Gravitas Venture and VOD in May 2018.

Piero Basso, AIC Chair of Cinematography

Born in northern Italy, Piero Basso graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, Cinema, from the University of Turin. During his career, exceeding two decades, Basso has photographed 17 feature films, and TV series, along with numerous documentaries, short films, music videos and commercials.

His work has been honored at some of the most prestigious film festivals around the globe, including Venice (Una Famiglia, Competition), Locarno (Seven Acts of Mercy, Competition), Cannes (Darker than Midnight, Semaine de la Critique), Berlin (Dafne, Panorama – Fipresci Award as Best Feature Film), Turin (Santina, Competition), Oberhausen (Zakaria, Competition), Clermont-Ferrant, Busan, Huesca, Marrakech, Santa Barbara, and several others. He recently received a Best Cinematography Award at the 23rd Beverly Hills Film Festival. In 2009, he was invited to join the AIC, the exclusive Italian Association of Cinematographers.

John Briscoe

Editor of multiple commercials broadcast both in Western Pennsylvania as well as Los Angeles. Worked as a freelance contractor on various independent films, webisodes and commercials. Editor of an 8-episode “war time” style documentary independently and aired locally in Los Angeles. Director, Producer and Editor of various segments airing on Pennsylvania television including a commercial for Hyundai, as well as various local food establishments and businesses.

Anthony Cook

Anthony Cook is a filmmaker from Cincinnati, Ohio. He earned an internship with POW! Entertainment which was owned by the legendary comic book writer Stan Lee. He earned his MFA degree in Filmmaking at New York Film Academy in Burbank, CA.

For his thesis project he directed/wrote/produced his first feature film “Wal-bob’s”. Anthony went to the American Film Market and sold “Wal-bob’s that is currently available to watch on Tubi. Anthony produced a web-series for Lionsgate and Kevin Hart titled “Dead House” working with Andrew “King Bach” on that and other projects since 2011.

When Anthony isn’t on set he teaches at New York Film Academy in Burbank in the Cinematography Department. He teaches writing, directing and producing since 2013.

The latest project is a feature film entitled “This Land” in which Anthony was a Producer of the film. Here is a link to the film’s official site: https://www.terrorfilms.net/film/land

Anthony’s website is www.anthonyjohncook.com and IMDB credits are under Anthony Cook

Javier Costa

Steadicam operator with over 10 years professional experience in the camera department. Active member of the Society of Camera Operators, The Steadicam Guild, and IATSE Local 600. Credits include commercials for clients such as McDonald’s and Target, music videos for artists such as Ice Cube and Megadeath, operating Technocrane on the documentary “Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron”, and television shows including “Survivor”.

Rick Greenwood

As a writer, director, producer and cinematographer his works have appeared in over 50 film festivals and earned 13 awards. Currently in pre-production for his directorial feature debut with Therapy Pictures. MFA in Filmmaking, New York Film Academy; BFA in Fine Art, University at Albany, NY.

Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC

Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC, is a cinematographer and photographer born in Warsaw,
Poland. After graduating from the Polish National Film Academy with a degree in
Cinematography, Jacek left for the United States and made his home in New York City,
where he worked for BBC TV working on many documentaries. While in New York he
also worked on numerous music videos with the Academy award winning director
Zbigniew Rybczynski, as well as for SNL with director Jonathan Demme.
There he shot his first feature film Parting Glances directed by Bill Sherwood
After moving to Los Angeles he worked with the directors such as Donal Petrie Sr,
(Square Dance), Robert Altman (The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal), Michael Pressman,
(Quick Sand, Frankie & Johnny are Married, and the series The Guardian)
The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal earned Jacek the 1989 American Society of
Cinematographers nomination for the Outstanding Cinematography. In 1996 Garden of
Redemption directed by Tom Donnelly, a WWII drama earned Jacek his second A.S.C
nomination. In 1997 Jacek co-lensed a full-length documentary Colors Straight Up. The
film was nominated for a 1998 Academy Award. In 2007 Jacek shot Jerry was a Man
directed by Academy Award nominee Michael Tolkin.
In 2000 Jacek became a member of The American Society of Cinematographers.
In 2011 Jacek became a member of the Polish Society of Cinenamtographers.
Jacek has traveled the globe, shooting films in Canada, Portugal, New Zealand, Italy,
Lithuania, Japan, Nepal, India, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Peru.
Jacek’s second passion is photography. He has participated in two group shows, Still
Moving at the gallery in Los Angeles and in 2006 Photographs by the members of the
A.S.C. at the Academy of Motion Pictures. In April 2008 he held his first solo exhibit at
the WM Gallery in Amsterdam.
Over the course of the past five years Jacek has taught cinematography at a number of
colleges including, The American Film Institute, USC School of Cinematic Arts,
California Institute of the Arts, and The Maine Photographic Workshop.
Jacek speaks Polish, English and French.

Paul Laverack

Paul has an MFA in Screenwriting and MA in Mass Communication from Cal State Northridge, and a BA in Theater from Elmira College in New York. He has toured the country as a performer in musical theater as well as educational shows for kids, worked as Video Producer for the Families in Schools foundation, and has created over 100 episodes for his YouTube channel, Read Aloud with Mr. Paul.

Pascal Lebegue, AFC

Pascal studied cinema at the IDHEC (aka FEMIS) in Paris at a time when Henri Alekan, Ricardo Aronovitch and Nestor Almendros were sharing their immense knowledge and passion for cinematography. He met cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn straight out of school and assisted him for the 5 following years. French director-producer Claude Berri offered him his first movie to operate and Pascal Thomas his first TV to shoot.
Pascal fondness for lighting and filming -especially in black and white- found expression with the advent of music videos. He worked with such talented directors as David Fincher, Francis Lawrence, JB Mondino and brilliant artists as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Don Henley, Rihanna, Jay-Z, to name a few.
Pascal’s work on music videos earned him awards and recognition, including two MTV Awards for Best Cinematography (Madonna’s Vogue and Don Henley’s Boys of Summer), Silver D&AD Awards (Sting’s Russians), and a KODAK Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinematography in the Music Videos category.
Pascal shot most of his feature films in France. His collaborations with Roman Polanski and Alain Corneau were defining moments. Pascal worked on a string of movies, including films with Gerard Pires, Jean-Marie Poirier, Pierre Granier-Deferre and Etienne Chatilliez’ Life is a Long and Quiet River.

Bryant Lemelle

Bryant Lemelle is a graduated of Pitzer College (member of the Claremont Colleges) with a BA in Film Production Studies. His MFA degree in Cinematography is from the American Film Institute. Bryant is a 20 year + member of the International Cinematographer’s Guild. He is an award-winning cinematographer with credits in feature film, TV and commercials. In his decades long career Bryant has well over 50,000 hours on set. As an instructor, Bryant seeks to help his students cultivate their passion and knowledge for the art and craft of cinematography. “I want to help prepare a new generation of cinematographers to meet the artistic and technological demands of an ever-changing business.”

Natasha Leonnet

Upon seeing her first film from the French New Wave as a nine-year-old, Natasha Leonnet was swept up into the world of film. Today, her passion remains undiminished. A Senior Colorist at Company 3, Natasha has worked on over 100 features and received the Hollywood Professional Alliance (HPA) Award for Outstanding Color grading of Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse in addition to an amazing eight HPA nominations. Leonnet has recently branched into streaming and is endlessly fascinated by the new projects and technologies she encounters. She has a BA from Brown University in Media/Culture and loves her time teaching Color Theory at New York Film Academy where she finds the students to be very inspiring.

Her credits include Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse, La La Land, Whiplash, Sin City, Hidden Figures, Defiance, Juno, Blood Diamond, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Up In The Air, Star Wars: Episode II, the Ice Age franchise, First Man, and Good Luck Chuck.

Rebecca Louisell

Rebecca Louisell graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in Studio Art (photography, mixed media) and an M.F.A. in Production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts (USC). While at USC, she was awarded several scholarships and a College Television Award for her producing and directing work. Moving between indie narrative, documentary and new media projects, Louisell has served as Associate Producer on Limited Partnership: a documentary about love, marriage and deportation which was awarded the IDA Humanitarias Documentary Award 2014 and showed on PBS’ Independent Lens, and You See Me, which screened at Dances With Films and Docutah Film Festivals. She is Producer-Director on an upcoming web series, LA Picker.

Bruce MacWilliams

Bruce MacWilliams (AKA: Brewster MacWilliams) is an award-winning film director that started directing commercials at Biscuit Filmworks in 2002. He now works as an independent director at Fast Rocket Films. He is a member of the DGA.

Bruce MacWilliams is honored to be featured alongside super star film directors, Fredrik Bond and Daniel Kleinman, in Tom von Logue Newth’s excellent book about TV commercial production; The Ad-Makers.

At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Bruce was selected by the Saatchi & Saatchi Agency as one of the best new commercial directors in the world. In 2004, Shots Magazine (London), Grand Prix Awards Edition, ranked Bruce MacWilliams the 3rd best new commercial director in the world.

Bruce has now directed more than 100 TV commercials (in America, UK, and Canada) and PSAs (Public service announcements) to bring awareness to horrific conditions in Haiti, Darfur, Uganda, working with many stars including Kobe Bryant, Channing Tatum, James Franco, Ludacris, and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has also filmed and interviewed: Senator Mitt Romney, and President Barack Obama.

In 2006, NBC / Universal Studios hired Bruce MacWilliams to write and create a half hour comedy TV series titled, AD DADS. In 2011, Bruce directed a commercial campaign for Cox Communications that aired on the Super Bowl and won Bruce a Mark Award for best direction.

Bruce MacWilliams earned his BA studying architecture, photography, and creative writing at Cornell University. He studied filmmaking at Columbia University. He went on to write and direct an independent feature film, The Last Hand, (AKA: After the Game) which was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival. Lions Gate Entertainment distributed The Last Hand domestically and internationally in 2000.

Scott Marshall

BFA in Film, Northwestern University; MFA in Directing, American Film Institute. Music video director for bands including Smash Mouth and Guided By Voices. Directed second unit for Runaway Bride, The Princess Diaries, Valentine’s Day, and New Year’s Eve. His feature debut, Keeping Up With the Steins with Jeremy Piven was released by Disney/Miramax.

Rebecca Martos

Rebecca Martos is a filmmaker and Academic All-American Scholar who earned her MFA from New York University (NYU) where she was mentored by critically acclaimed director, Spike Lee. She was also privileged to study location sound under Peter Schneider, New York-based sound-mixer and co-owner of Gotham Sound and Communications, Inc. During her time at NYU, Rebecca ran the Chair’s Workshop series, where she facilitated weekly workshops with industry professionals such as Todd Solondz, Alan Taylor, David Fincher, Peter Dinklage, Elodie Keene, and Scott Frank. Rebecca then worked for many years in both the capacity of a freelance boom operator and sound mixer in New York. Rebecca has since worked as an animation producer with Pulitzer Prize Winning editorial cartoonist, Matt Bors, and legendary adult animation studios, Augenblick Studios and PFFR. Prior to NYU, Rebecca studied experimental art and sound design under Guggenheim Fellow Composer, and sound artist, Richard Lerman at Arizona State University, and also managed TallCat Studios, a music recording studio based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Currently, Rebecca is developing multiple children’s animation series, feature films, and recording her self-titled studio album “BEXX” in collaboration with drummer / songwriter, Keith Walker, from the 90’s alternative band, “Power of Dreams.”

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