NYFA’s Administration

Michael J. Young President/CEO

Michael Young is the President and CEO of the New York Film Academy. Michael earned his Bachelor’s in Film and Visual Studies from Harvard University. His thesis film, McJew, was nominated for best documentary in the Student Academy Awards. After working as crew on films, commercials, and industrials in any role he could get, he went on to earn an MFA in Film Directing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He also studied acting for two years with the brilliant Meisner trained teacher, Suzanne Shepard. In 1992, NYFA founder Jerry Sherlock brought Michael to design its original curriculum of learning to make films by making films in an “intensive hands-on total immersion program,” and he helped start the school. In the years since, when not teaching or administrating at NYFA, Michael has worked on feature films, including as Cinematographer for the documentary Comrades and as Executive Producer on the documentary Turn Every Page, released in theatres in 2023 by Sony Pictures Classics.

David Klein Senior Executive Vice President/COO

Klein is the Senior Executive Vice President at the New York Film Academy. Klein received his Master of Fine Arts in Film Directing at New York University’s Graduate School of Film and Television in 1995. He has worked closely with NBC News, the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York City public schools to create innovative media arts programs. In his current position at the Academy, he oversees the operations, development, and delivery of programs in the various disciplines taught, including Acting for Film, Filmmaking, Musical Theatre, Broadcast Journalism, and Cinematography, at the Academy’s locations across the globe. As a film director and producer, Klein is a recipient of the Tisch Excellence in Producing Award for producing several short films, including Gone With the Moon and Butterfly Dance starring Vera Farmiga. He was awarded the Warner Brothers Post-Production Award for a film he wrote and directed titled To Dye For.

Dan Mackler Senior Vice President/CSO/Dean of NYFA Los Angeles

MFA, NYU Tisch School of the Arts; BA, Dartmouth College. Russian film scholar. Consulted on Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. Director of feature film The Karaoke King.

Elli Ventouras Dean of NYFA New York

MFA, Parsons School of Design. M.A., New York Institute of Technology – summa cum laude. Currently Ms. Ventouras oversees the day to day Academic operations in the New York location. Previously, she was the Founding Dean for the New York Film Academy in South Beach where she contributed to the development of the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree programs in Filmmaking and Acting as well as the Conservatory and short term programs.

As a director, producer and editor, her Award winning film Voices screened internationally at: Golden Gate Documentary Film Festival in San Francisco (Distinguished for Special Artistic Value), Festival Du Cinema de Bruxelles (winner for the La Realisation Integrale Award), Festival Du Court Metrage De Lyon (winner of Le Senario). Voices was also Semifinalist at Boston Motion Picture Awards and was requested and screened as part of the activities planned in Athens, Greece for the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Other screenings include The Queens Theater in the Park in Flushing NY, Panorama Film Festival in Thessaloniki, Greece; Drama Short Film Festival in Greece, Miami International Short Film Festival, Barcelona Short Film Festival, and the Hollywood International Student Film Festival. Her film Modern Greek Tragedy was nominated for best international film at the Drama Film Festival and screened at the Molodost Film Festival in Russia.

Maylen Dominguez Dean of NYFA South Beach

Maylen Dominguez started her career as an Agent Trainee at Endeavor Talent Agency, now William Morris Endeavor, in Beverly Hills, California, where she read and covered twenty scripts per week. She worked for Galan Entertainment, which produced content for Latin American television and films, such as The ALMA Awards, Los Beltran and Padre Alberto. Maylen then joined Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting, Gross Pointe Blank) and her production company, Two Drivers Production, as Director of Development, where she had the opportunity to develop film projects and well as work on the production sets of Return To Me, Beautiful and Slow Burn.

Maylen received a scholarship from NBC Universal for a television spec comedy script she wrote as a graduate student at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. She was also able to spend time on the sets of various sitcoms, notably Will and Grace. She received the Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in screenwriting, and was given the opportunity to interview actors, writers and directors, which were conducted in front of large studio audiences and filmed in the style of Inside the Actor’s Studio.

Maylen holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing for Screen and Television from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and Film from Yale University. She is one of the five original founders of the Orlando Film Festival and a member of the Advisory Board of the Florida Film Festival.

Sonny Calderon Vice President of Academic Affairs

MFA in Screen and Television Writing, USC. BA in Communications, University of Michigan. As co-founder, writer, and producer at Impressionista Films, created and produced award-winning branded entertainment for clients such as Hilary Duff, Miller Beer, DKNY, Ford Motor Company, Macy’s, DirecTV, and Martha Stewart.

Dr. Darrius Douglas Vice President of Enrollment

Dr. Darrius Douglas has more than two decades of strategic management and leadership experience drawn from a broad range of enrollment, financial aid and marketing positions in higher education. Previously, Darrius was a Director of Enrollment Management at Tulane University where he was integrally involved in developing key academic and enrollment initiatives that led to highest enrollment for an incoming class during the Fall 2020 term amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Darrius has also led efforts in creating financial literacy and programs targeted at retention and enhancing student success for first-generation students. He has also served in a variety of cross-functional executive and consulting roles surrounding leadership development workshops for college students and policy formulation and analysis.

Darrius has been widely recognized for contributions to communities where he has lived and worked. Among those honors were being named to the board of directors at Breaking Free, a non-profit agency dedicated to meeting the increasingly complex needs of today’s families. Darrius holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from DePaul University, a Master of Science in Project Management from Benedictine University and a Doctor of Education from Benedictine University.

Joy Zhu Executive Vice President for the China Region

Ph.D. in Higher Education Management, University of Pennsylvania. MA and BA in English Language and Literature, Heilongjiang University. Visiting Professor at Heilongjiang University, Beijing Film Academy, Sichuan University of Media and Communications.

Dr. Zhu has spent more than two decades cultivating international collaborations. Some of her responsibilities at NYFA include managing international student recruitment and creating localization strategies in China.

Prior to joining the New York Film Academy, Dr. Zhu was previously a faculty member at Harbin Institute of Technology. She has also served as President of U.S.-China Economic and Cultural Development Association, which aims to advance collaboration between American and Chinese educational institutions.

As a scholar-practitioner, Dr. Zhu’s academic interests include higher education internationalization and global engagement strategy. She co-authored American Film and Television Education and Works Research, published by All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Press, and Film and Television Production at Chinese and American Art Colleges, published by Communication University of China Press.

James S. Miller III Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Interim Executive Director, 10 ARTS Foundation

Jim Miller was a fashion industry entrepreneur before beginning his career in higher education at the Institute of International Education (IIE), where he served in various leadership capacities. Miller was the executive director of the Scholar Rescue Fund© (IIE-SRF), which has saved the lives and careers of over 900 threatened and persecuted scholars from 65 countries. Miller directed the Iraq Scholar Rescue Project, a public/private partnership, and was the architect of numerous innovative higher education and refugee programs including Camps to Campuses, the Artists Protection Fund (APF), and the Women’s International Network (WIN).

Miller leads NYFA training programs in cooperation with U.S. Embassies around the globe, in recent years with Embassies and Consulates in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Yemen, Nigeria, and South Africa. He has managed distinctive programs and proposals with partners, including NETFLIX, Freedom House, MultiChoice Foundation, International American Development Bank (IADP), United Nations, UNESCO, European Commission, USAID, NCIG, OSF, and more. In his various careers, Miller has overseen more than USD $125M in international-funded projects and programs in the fields of Higher Education, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Aid and Relief. For a decade, Miller was the senior executive of Studio Art College International (SACI), an art and archeology college in Florence, Italy. Jim serves on numerous boards and is the founder of the Medhen Orphan Relief Effort (M.O.R.E.) and Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) and served as a founding member of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). Jim has presented at higher education conferences around the world and has authored numerous articles, including in peer-reviewed journals. He is an Executive Producer of documentary films.

Sandra A. Schein, Ph.D. Associate Vice President of Student Health and Wellness, Dean of Students, New York Campus

BA University of Pennsylvania, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa; Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara. Licensed Psychologist in the State of New York. Previously held positions include Director, Counseling and Career Services, Oxford College of Emory University (recipient of the Emory University Award of Distinction) and Director, Eating Disorders Program, Kaiser Permanente, Atlanta, GA. Academic interests include positive psychology, strengths-based education, and leadership development.

Colonel Jack Jacobs Chair of Veterans Advancement Program

Colonel Jack Jacobs, the Chair of the New York Film Academy’s Veterans Advancement Program served in the U.S. military for more than 20 years and is considered a true American hero. Colonel Jacob is among the most highly decorated soldiers from that era, having earned the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest combat honor, two Silver Stars, and three Bronze Stars. After leaving the military in 1987, Colonel Jacobs had a successful career in the financial industry; he currently is the on-air military strategist for NBC and MSNBC. Jacobs was nominated for Emmys in 2010 and 2011 and was the recipient of the distinguished Edward R. Murrow Award for his NBC segment “Iraq: The Long Way Out.”

Crickett Rumley Senior Director of Film Festivals

Crickett Rumley received her MFA in Film at Columbia University, adapted projects for Killer Films and PBS, and authored the novel Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell. The founder and senior director of the New York Film Academy’s Film Festival Department, she is based in Los Angeles. With diversity, equity, and inclusion at the foundation of her work, Crickett regularly develops educational programs and festival strategy for both NYFA’s diverse student body and international organizations. She has hosted webinars with TV writers Boo Killebrew and Gail Lerner, Jordanian filmmaker Zaid Abu Hamdan, BAFTA, Oscar, and Student Academy Award winners and nominees, as well as moderated panels with staff from festivals such as New Filmmakers LA, Hollyshorts, Austin, and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora. A regular juror for the Forum on Life, Culture, and Society’s International Short Film Competition, Crickett also sat on the jury for the 2021 Tallgrass Film Festival, one of MovieMaker Magazine’s 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. You can find her doling out festival tips in Backstage Magazine and on Twitter at @Crickett_NYFA.

Barbara Weintraub Senior Director of Career Development and Industry Outreach

Barbara Weintraub is a leading Hollywood entertainment career counselor with a history of hands-on experience, working with many of the industry’s most acclaimed producers and directors.

Barbara’s first job was an actress on Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, which convinced her she wanted to work “on the other side of the camera.” She honed her production skills working with legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer on Beverly Hills Cop and Top Gun before joining the senior management team responsible for launching E! Entertainment Television, the first all-entertainment reporting cable channel.

Barbara started her own production company, producing television shows including an NBC comedy special with Kelsey Grammer, Jason Bateman and Tony Shaloub. She is also Vice President and Board Member of GreenLight Women.

Veronika Kurshinskaya Community Outreach Manager

Veronika Kurshinskaya is a writer, producer, and actress. She has a BFA in Political Science from Yaroslavl State University and MFA in Acting from NYFA Los Angeles. Veronika believes that through art we can inspire future generations to make the world a better place. Veronika’s passion is creating, organizing, and supporting outreach programs that help to reveal the beauty of storytelling to underserved kids.

Viktor Kerney Director of Student Life

With 20 years of experience in Student Affairs, Viktor has engaged with talented students and staff from different walks of life. He has a Master’s in Organizational Communication from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

He previously held professional positions at Occidental College, Loyola Marymount University, the University of Southern California, and Cornell University. Viktor is well-versed in developing and overseeing success initiatives for specific groups of students – particularly students of color, LGBTQIA+, transfer, and first-generation students. He has solid experience in student activities, student organizations, diversity and inclusion programming, student leadership development, and residential education.

Besides being a Higher Education professional, Viktor is a comic book writer and active board member of Prism Comics, an organization promoting the awareness of LGBTQIA+ creators, stories, characters, and readers in the comics industry. And a consistent panelist at WonderCon and San Diego Comic-Con, discussing diversity and inclusion in comics.

Sam Lingrosso Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator

Samuel Lingrosso began a career in higher education administration in 2002 as the Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs and Ethical Development at California State University, Long Beach where he served for three years. He served as Co-Director of New Student Orientation and Assistant Director of First Year Programs at Loyola Marymount University, and most recently has been serving as the Director of Student Conduct and Ethical Development at California State University, Northridge since 2007.

He received his B.A. degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and an M.A. degree from California State University, Long Beach with an emphasis in American Government and Public Law, and a second M.A. degree in Public Policy from Claremont Graduate University. He is currently in the dissertation proposal stage of a PhD at Claremont Graduate University, with an emphasis in Public Policy and Higher Education.

Additionally, he has been an adjunct professor at Los Angeles Valley College since 2006, teaching introductory courses in American government, comparative governments, and public administration, and has also taught introductory American government courses at El Camino College, Mount San Jacinto College, and the Tseng College of Extended Learning at California State University, Northridge. His public service background includes Big Brothers and Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Community Emergency Response Team (CSUN Chapter), and Community Crime Prevention Taskforce for the City of Simi Valley.

Dr. Susan Ashe Dean of Students, NYFA Los Angeles

Dr. Susan Ashe comes to NYFA from Cal Poly Pomona, where she served for 12 years. After completing her Master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University, Ashe became the associate director of recreation, programs and marketing at Cal Poly Pomona in 2005.

In 2010, Susan took on the role of Cal Poly’s director of student conduct and integrity. While there, she earned her doctorate from the University of Southern California in 2012. In 2014, she was presented with the Vice President’s Leadership Award for her dedicated service to the students and the division.

Prior to her career in higher education, Ashe held positions in the film and entertainment industry. As NYFA’s Dean of Students, Ashe will have the opportunity to merge many of her interests and talents in both supporting student success and educating students through visual storytelling.

Dr. Peter Bloland DVM, MPVM NYFA’s Public Health Consultant

Dr. Bloland served for 30 years with the U.S. Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He held a variety of scientific and leadership positions at CDC in the areas of malaria research and control, emerging infectious diseases, global public health systems strengthening and capacity development, and vaccine-preventable diseases. He has participated on US public health response teams in a variety of domestic and global emergencies, including refugee crises (Zaire, 1994) and urgent refugee relocations (Eritrea, Burundi, Liberia, Cambodia), SARS-CoV-1 (Taiwan, 2003), Rift Valley fever outbreaks (Kenya and Tanzania, 2007), Haiti earthquake (2010), and global polio eradication (2013-2019). He has published over 100 scientific articles. Dr. Bloland received bachelor’s degrees in Psychobiology (University of California Riverside) and Veterinary Science (University of California Davis), Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (University of California Davis), Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, (University of California Davis), and is an alumnus of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (CDC’s “disease detective” training program).

Prima Gonzalez Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Prima has been teaching domestically and internationally for 15 years, including locations such as India, France, Morocco, and Costa Rica. She is a consistent presenter at TESOL conferences and holds the level chair position on the CATESOL Board of Directors. She has years of curriculum development experience and shaped the academics of The ESL School at NYFA. As a native Angeleno, one of her goals is to connect students with the community via volunteering and cultural events.

Carlye Bowers Director of Campus Life and Title IX Coordinator

Carlye Bowers finally considers herself an “official New Yorker” after making the move from Texas in 2013. Since then, Carlye has spent the larger part of her professional career at the New York Film Academy developing and expanding the Student Life and Title IX Departments. Under her leadership, New York Film Academy has implemented a Student Ambassador program, New Student Orientation Week, and a robust ongoing prevention and awareness campaign, including the rollout of the Sexual Respect Training for the all students and employees. June through May, Carlye has the pleasure of taking on the role of Director of Teen Summer Camps.

Carlye holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Marketing from the Neely School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Radio, Film & Television. She is a lover of all things glitter, never says no to popcorn or ice cream, and enjoys a good snuggle from her siamese cat, Finn.

Diana Santi Programs Director at NYFA Florence

Diana Santi is an award winning short movies, and commercials director and producer. She graduated in Film Studies at the Università di Bologna with honors and worked as First AD on many big budget Italian commercials. In 2004 Diana moved to Los Angeles where she attended the New York Film Academy at the Universal Studios obtaining a diploma in Filmmaking. Since 2005, she is the Florence Programs Director for the New York Film Academy where her major duties and responsibilities include: being the liaison with the Italian Film Industry (Cinecittá, Gruppo Mediaset, Panavision, Euro Lab), as well as the Florence and Tuscany authorities, and establishing contacts with top Italian Film Directors and Actors Nanni Moretti, Vittorio Storaro, Dario argento, Giorgio Pasotti to name a few. In August 2011 Diana founded Purple Reel Productions and directed a 15 minutes short comedy titled “Florence in Love” with the support of the Tuscan Film Commission and the City of Florence that made it to the top 30 of the David di Donatello awards.

Michael J. Young President/CEO

Michael Young is the President and CEO of the New York Film Academy. Michael earned his Bachelor’s in Film and Visual Studies from Harvard University. His thesis film, McJew, was nominated for best documentary in the Student Academy Awards. After working as crew on films, commercials, and industrials in any role he could get, he went on to earn an MFA in Film Directing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He also studied acting for two years with the brilliant Meisner trained teacher, Suzanne Shepard. In 1992, NYFA founder Jerry Sherlock brought Michael to design its original curriculum of learning to make films by making films in an “intensive hands-on total immersion program,” and he helped start the school. In the years since, when not teaching or administrating at NYFA, Michael has worked on feature films, including as Cinematographer for the documentary Comrades and as Executive Producer on the documentary Turn Every Page, released in theatres in 2023 by Sony Pictures Classics.

David Klein Senior Executive Vice President/COO

Klein is the Senior Executive Vice President at the New York Film Academy. Klein received his Master of Fine Arts in Film Directing at New York University’s Graduate School of Film and Television in 1995. He has worked closely with NBC News, the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York City public schools to create innovative media arts programs. In his current position at the Academy, he oversees the operations, development, and delivery of programs in the various disciplines taught, including Acting for Film, Filmmaking, Musical Theatre, Broadcast Journalism, and Cinematography, at the Academy’s locations across the globe. As a film director and producer, Klein is a recipient of the Tisch Excellence in Producing Award for producing several short films, including Gone With the Moon and Butterfly Dance starring Vera Farmiga. He was awarded the Warner Brothers Post-Production Award for a film he wrote and directed titled To Dye For.

Dan Mackler Senior Vice President/CSO/Dean of NYFA Los Angeles

MFA, NYU Tisch School of the Arts; BA, Dartmouth College. Russian film scholar. Consulted on Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. Director of feature film The Karaoke King.

Elli Ventouras Dean of NYFA New York

MFA, Parsons School of Design. M.A., New York Institute of Technology – summa cum laude. Currently Ms. Ventouras oversees the day to day Academic operations in the New York location. Previously, she was the Founding Dean for the New York Film Academy in South Beach where she contributed to the development of the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree programs in Filmmaking and Acting as well as the Conservatory and short term programs.

As a director, producer and editor, her Award winning film Voices screened internationally at: Golden Gate Documentary Film Festival in San Francisco (Distinguished for Special Artistic Value), Festival Du Cinema de Bruxelles (winner for the La Realisation Integrale Award), Festival Du Court Metrage De Lyon (winner of Le Senario). Voices was also Semifinalist at Boston Motion Picture Awards and was requested and screened as part of the activities planned in Athens, Greece for the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Other screenings include The Queens Theater in the Park in Flushing NY, Panorama Film Festival in Thessaloniki, Greece; Drama Short Film Festival in Greece, Miami International Short Film Festival, Barcelona Short Film Festival, and the Hollywood International Student Film Festival. Her film Modern Greek Tragedy was nominated for best international film at the Drama Film Festival and screened at the Molodost Film Festival in Russia.

Maylen Dominguez Dean of NYFA South Beach

Maylen Dominguez started her career as an Agent Trainee at Endeavor Talent Agency, now William Morris Endeavor, in Beverly Hills, California, where she read and covered twenty scripts per week. She worked for Galan Entertainment, which produced content for Latin American television and films, such as The ALMA Awards, Los Beltran and Padre Alberto. Maylen then joined Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting, Gross Pointe Blank) and her production company, Two Drivers Production, as Director of Development, where she had the opportunity to develop film projects and well as work on the production sets of Return To Me, Beautiful and Slow Burn.

Maylen received a scholarship from NBC Universal for a television spec comedy script she wrote as a graduate student at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. She was also able to spend time on the sets of various sitcoms, notably Will and Grace. She received the Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in screenwriting, and was given the opportunity to interview actors, writers and directors, which were conducted in front of large studio audiences and filmed in the style of Inside the Actor’s Studio.

Maylen holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing for Screen and Television from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and Film from Yale University. She is one of the five original founders of the Orlando Film Festival and a member of the Advisory Board of the Florida Film Festival.

Sonny Calderon Vice President of Academic Affairs

MFA in Screen and Television Writing, USC. BA in Communications, University of Michigan. As co-founder, writer, and producer at Impressionista Films, created and produced award-winning branded entertainment for clients such as Hilary Duff, Miller Beer, DKNY, Ford Motor Company, Macy’s, DirecTV, and Martha Stewart.

James S. Miller III Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Interim Executive Director, 10 ARTS Foundation

Jim Miller was a fashion industry entrepreneur before beginning his career in higher education at the Institute of International Education (IIE), where he served in various leadership capacities. Miller was the executive director of the Scholar Rescue Fund© (IIE-SRF), which has saved the lives and careers of over 900 threatened and persecuted scholars from 65 countries. Miller directed the Iraq Scholar Rescue Project, a public/private partnership, and was the architect of numerous innovative higher education and refugee programs including Camps to Campuses, the Artists Protection Fund (APF), and the Women’s International Network (WIN).

Miller leads NYFA training programs in cooperation with U.S. Embassies around the globe, in recent years with Embassies and Consulates in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Yemen, Nigeria, and South Africa. He has managed distinctive programs and proposals with partners, including NETFLIX, Freedom House, MultiChoice Foundation, International American Development Bank (IADP), United Nations, UNESCO, European Commission, USAID, NCIG, OSF, and more. In his various careers, Miller has overseen more than USD $125M in international-funded projects and programs in the fields of Higher Education, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Aid and Relief. For a decade, Miller was the senior executive of Studio Art College International (SACI), an art and archeology college in Florence, Italy. Jim serves on numerous boards and is the founder of the Medhen Orphan Relief Effort (M.O.R.E.) and Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) and served as a founding member of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). Jim has presented at higher education conferences around the world and has authored numerous articles, including in peer-reviewed journals. He is an Executive Producer of documentary films.

Sandra A. Schein, Ph.D. Associate Vice President of Student Health and Wellness, Dean of Students, New York Campus

BA University of Pennsylvania, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa; Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara. Licensed Psychologist in the State of New York. Previously held positions include Director, Counseling and Career Services, Oxford College of Emory University (recipient of the Emory University Award of Distinction) and Director, Eating Disorders Program, Kaiser Permanente, Atlanta, GA. Academic interests include positive psychology, strengths-based education, and leadership development.

Dr. Susan Ashe Dean of Students, NYFA Los Angeles

Dr. Susan Ashe comes to NYFA from Cal Poly Pomona, where she served for 12 years. After completing her Master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University, Ashe became the associate director of recreation, programs and marketing at Cal Poly Pomona in 2005.

In 2010, Susan took on the role of Cal Poly’s director of student conduct and integrity. While there, she earned her doctorate from the University of Southern California in 2012. In 2014, she was presented with the Vice President’s Leadership Award for her dedicated service to the students and the division.

Prior to her career in higher education, Ashe held positions in the film and entertainment industry. As NYFA’s Dean of Students, Ashe will have the opportunity to merge many of her interests and talents in both supporting student success and educating students through visual storytelling.

Randall Dottin Chair of Screenwriting

Randall Dottin is a writer/director who works both in documentary and narrative fiction. His Columbia University MFA thesis film, A-ALIKE, was licensed for a two-year broadcast run by HBO and has won numerous awards, including the DGA Award for Best African American Student Filmmaker and the 2004 Student Academy Award for Best Narrative Film. In 2009, Randall was named by IndieWire Magazine as one of the Top Ten New Voices in Black Cinema. From 2012 to 2015, Randall wrote and directed branded content for AOL.COM, Toyota, and Essence Magazine. Randall’s short film Lifted, was sponsored by Fox Searchlight’s program for emerging directors, the Fox Searchlab. Lifted premiered on CBS in 2015. His documentary series The House I Never Knew is currently in production and explores how six families in Chicago, Houston, and Boston fight against becoming casualties of a housing segregation policy. The House I Never Knew (nee The Chicago Franchise) was chosen to participate in IFP’s Spotlight on Documentaries Program in 2018. Last year, the series received a grant from the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund.

Denise Hamilton DEI Los Angeles Education Chair

Denise Hamilton has over 30 years experience as a writer and producer for NBC, ABC and PBS network specials and syndicated programs. In the area of documentary and broadcast journalism, she was writer and field producer of four internationally-shot documentaries, including “NGONE’S STORY: A Tale of Africa’s Orphans”, which aired on NBC affiliate stations; as well as the feature “Hollywood Musicals: Singing and Dancing” which screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival and on PBS as a 4-part series. She was the coordinating producer on “For Peace Sake”, the 2-hour WNBC-TV special which won four Emmys, as well as the “Motown 40: The Music is Forever” documentary special for ABC-TV, and has been a segment producer for Discovery Channel, Fox TV, E! Entertainment, and the Odyssey Channel. She most recently served as series producer of “Where Cultures Collide”, a 5-part web series for KCETLink. She has served on the selection committee for the International Documentary Association’s Best Documentary awards, and is currently co-chairperson of the Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers-West. At present she is a producer on an independent feature, Seize The Day, currently in production.

Nick Sivakumaran Senior Directing Instructor

MFA in Film Production, USC School of Cinema/TV; BA in Biology and Psychology, University of Rochester. Writer/Director of award-winning short film, “Diwali.” Screened at over 30 international film festivals, a recipient of a Director’s Guild of America Student Film Award and invited to the 2002 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Showcase. Also won commercial contests for clients, Chevrolet and Lifestyles Condoms and recently wrote a stage musical that had a six-week run in Hollywood.

Andrea Swift Chair of Filmmaking

With over 20 years of filmmaking experience, Swift served as executive producer and director of PBS’ Emmy-nominated documentary magazine series, “In the Life.” Her films have been screened at the United Nations Earth Summit and honored by festivals around the world, including Berlin International Film Festival and Sundance’s Environmental Film Festival. She has created content for AMC, History, WE, the NY Knicks, Madison Square Garden, and Clearview Cinemas; and has written for and directed top talent including Oscar winner Susan Sarandon, Oscar nominees Laura Linney, Patricia Clarkson, and Lesley Gore, and Tony Award winners Alan Cumming, Harvey Fierstein, Denis O’Hare and Cherry Jones. Currently, Swift focuses on writing, story producing, and creative producing on a variety of documentary projects including “The Crossing Borders Project,” a featured program of National Geographic’s education wing. MFA, Columbia University.