Acting for Film School

Lynda Goodfriend Creative Director of Acting for Film

Creative Director

Lynda received her BFA from Southern Methodist University. She has also studied with the legends, Lee Strasberg and Sandy Meisner​. Lynda is a veteran of both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions appearing in shows such as Good News, West Side Story, She Loves Me, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Boyfriend. She was a series regular​ on the iconic hit television show “Happy Days,” and on the series “Who’s Watching the Kids,”​and “Blanksy’s Beauties.” She guest starred on shows such as Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Vegas. She has also appeared in feature films such as “Pretty Woman,” “Taxi Driver,” “The Front,” “Beaches,” ​and “Nothing in Common.”​ Lynda was owner and principle instructor of the Actors Workout School for 15 years with locations in both Los Angeles and Orange County. Her theatre, the Actors Workout Theatre in NoHo, won numerous awards for its theatrical productions. She has also directed for television and film including a Disney pilot and the television movie Four Stars. Lynda opened her management company in 1983 and developed many actors’ careers until she became Chair of the Acting Department for NYFA in Los Angeles in 2011.

Josephine Wilson Chair of Acting for Film

Josephine Wilson is the Chair of Acting for Film at the New York Film Academy. She is a company member of the nationally-acclaimed Shakespeare & Co in Lenox, MA where she spent nearly 10 years acting, directing, and teaching. While there, she studied under Tina Packer and had in-depth training in Kristen Linklater’s work. Josephine has taught for and helped develop Lincoln Center Theatre‘s Shakespeare program. She is a member of The Humanist Project, a theatre company that devises new plays rooted in the classics. In New York, she has recently been a part of a five-person Macbeth, was a part of the Shakespeare Society’s exploration of Richard III, and co-created a physics-themed clown show called Quantum Fairy Tales. She has also written and developed her own show, Psyche, which she recently performed at Dixon Place. Regionally, she has performed as Annie in Table Manners, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Miss Jean Brodie in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She holds an MFA in Acting from Pennsylvania State University and is a proud member of Actors Equity.

Amy Van Horne Creative Director of Acting for Film

Creative Director of the Acting for Film Department in New York

Amy Van Horne is an actor, teacher, and professional on-camera audition coach. She holds an MFA from Rutgers University-Mason Gross School of the Arts where she studied under the tutelage of Master Teachers William Esper and Maggie Flanigan. Amy has been a professional film and television actress for over 20 years, working in both LA and New York. Having firsthand knowledge of the many technical challenges actors face working in front of the camera on professional film/TV sets, Amy developed and led on-camera acting technique, scene study, and audition technique classes that she taught for over 10 years in LA. Teaching actors to find freedom on camera became Amy’s passion, and she returned to New York in 2013 to train as a master teacher under her mentor Maggie Flanigan. Selected film/TV credits include: Cost of Living, The City, The Big Easy, Hitz, Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place, Push, Veronica’s Closet, Family Rules, The Beach Boys: An American Family, Judging Amy, Strong Medicine, Cold Case, and Final Sale. She has also appeared in dozens of national network commercials. Amy joined the New York Film Academy in 2017.