Faculty Directory

Blanche Baker

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Blanche Baker is an actress of stage, screen and television. After attending Wellesley College, Blanche made her television debut in the miniseries Holocaust, for which she won an Emmy Award. Her feature films include Sixteen Candles, The Handmaid’s Tale with Robert Duvall, Raw Deal with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Kevin Bacon HBO film Taking Chance. She was part of the Yale Repertory Theatre and Anna Sokolow’s dance troupe. Her theatre roles include Steel Magnolias and Edward Albee’s Lolita with Donald Sutherland. Blanche is Senior Faculty at the New York Film Academy where she teaches in both the Acting and Musical Theatre Departments. She wrote and directed the award-winning short films Streetwrite and Make America Safe.

Matthew Bellows

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Matthew Bellows is a classically trained actor with an MFA from the prestigious Old Globe. With over 50 current tv and film credits to his name, Matthew’s credits range from the professional stage in Anna Christie, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure (and more) to Television in The Mandalorian, recurring roles on New Amsterdam and Snowfall, and major roles on FBI International, United States of Al, Brooklyn 99, as well as big studio features, The Gray Man, Captain Marvel and Hereditary to name a few.

Lauren Ann Brickman CETL Director—NY Campus; LAS Associate Chair

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As an actor Lauren has appeared on screen in such projects as FBI: most wanted, Bull, Gloria Bell, Alterlatino, Stuffed with Lisa Lampanelli, and much more including being a former house performer at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade & a company member of The Story Pirates. As an educator Lauren has worked at Adelphi University, Montclair State, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough, and the University of Iowa where she earned her MFA in acting. Lauren is also a published writer for periodicals such as Glamour magazine & freelance director. She is also the 1/2 of the comedy duo we Stan together.

Lizzy Brooks

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Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lizzy is an Actor, Singer and Screenwriter. BA: Columbia University- Art History. MFA: Brown/Trinity Repertory (Acting, Directing and Playwriting). Select credits include Broadway: Macbeth (u/s Lady Macbeth, Banquo); Regional Theater: As You Like It (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Julius Caesar (The Hanover Theater) and Shoebox: A Roadside Picnic (ASF). Film and TV: The Storied Life of AJ Fikry (Hulu/Amazon Prime), New Amsterdam (NBC) and Hostages (NBC)

Todd Bruno

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Todd Bruno is an award-winning actor and producer, and a native of South Florida. He is a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York and has a Theater degree from Vanderbilt University. Best known for Stratagem (2017), Palace (2018) and Proximity (2013), he is a veteran of more than 40 film productions and 50+ stage productions. Todd is on faculty at New York Film Academy, and his latest film Corona Camp is set to release this year.

Christopher Cass

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BA in Theatre, University of Georgia. NY and LA credits include “Rounding Third,” “Jerusalem,” “Gaining Ground,” “RFK” (Off-Broadway), “Sleepwalk,” “Born in the RSA,” “Much Ado” (Central Park), “Henry V” (Off-Broadway) and “Macbeth.” Television credits include: “ER,” “Like Family,” “Tucker,” “Fired Up,” “Cedric the Entertainer,” “Night Court,” and many more.

Samrat Chakrabarti

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Samrat Chakrabarti is a prolific, international artist. He holds a MFA in Acting from the A.R.T/ Moscow Art Theatre School Program at Harvard University. He has appeared/recurred on countless American TV shows and films including Homeland (Showtime), The Sinner (USA), 30 Rock (NBC), Mr. Robot (USA), The Sopranos (HBO MAX), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, (NETFLIX), Sneaky Pete (AMAZON), Damages (FX), Blue Bloods (CBS) and Little Voice (APPLE TV+).

Samrat also works consistently in film, both in Hollywood and International projects, ranging from Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me” to Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House” to Sarah Colangelo’s “The Kindergarten Teacher” to Deepa Mehta’s film adaption of Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children”.

In addition to being an award-winning actor, Samrat is also an acclaimed musician and director.

Anna Maria Cianciulli

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Anna Maria’s work as an actor, director, writer, and producer has received nominations, awards, and recognition at many film festivals throughout the world, including Cannes.

Sanford Meisner personally assigned her the exclusive rights to bring out his seminal book, On Acting, in an Italian language edition (La recitazione – Dino Audino Editor 2007).

Anna recently played the co-star role of Juliana Chiari in the CBS series East New York, opposite Richard Kind, ended the filming of Maladaptive Daydreaming, and is currently filming My Mother is an Astronaut (2023).

She can be seen playing Gertrude on all major platforms in Hamlet/Horatio, a feature that has won 14 best film awards at festivals in the US and abroad. She also played a principal role in the Lifetime feature film Stealing Chanel.

Her solo-created short 33 Breaths was shot during the pandemic and was a finalist in the 2020 Single-Take Challenge.

Anna has produced, co-written, and coached the actors on the set of Life After Her, a multi-award-winning film shot in New York selected by the Short Corner of the Cannes Film Festival. Her film Stay has received a Special Mention from the Ouchy Film Awards Winter 2016.

As a theater director, actor, and producer she has worked with Kevin Bacon, the late Tony and Golden Globe-winner Brian Dennehy, the Academy Award winner Roberto Benigni, and the Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated Tony Danza.

Her work has been seen at: The Kitchen for a BAM event, Vanderbilt Hall of Grand Central Station, Joyce Soho, St. Peter’s Church, the American Museum of Natural History, and The Players Club.

Anna co-produced Tribeca in Rome – a cultural partnership between the Tribeca Film Festival and the Rome Film Festival, including the Steps and Stars Award received by Robert De Niro.

As an Acting Coach, she consulted with Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, Alessandra Mastronardi, Kick Kennedy, and Santigold, among others. She was the on-set Acting Coach of Yelo, a short film directed by Adrien Boublil (Cannes 2013).

Anna is also an Adjunct Professor at the Columbia University Film MFA Program and at the Feirstein School of Cinema MFA Program.

Maria Del Bagno

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Graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, apprenticed under renowned master choreographer, Jaime Rogers, and the “Father of Jazz Dance,” Luigi. Over 25 years of experience as a dance instructor. Named one of L.A.’s top choreographers by L.A. Jazz Dance Foundation.

Dave Demke

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Dave Demke earned a BA in Theatre from Minnesota State University, an MFA in Performance from the University of Maryland, studied Meisner Technique with Fred Kareman, and is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher. He is also the Artistic Director of Shakespeare On the Fly, and an Associate Faculty member at American Academy of Dramatic Arts. From 2000-2010 he was the Associate Director of Training for Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA; prior to that position he served as the Artistic Director of Stark Raving Theatre in Portland, OR. As an actor he has played many roles, favorites include Didi in Waiting for Godot for Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Dick in The Dick and the Rose at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Bottom in A Midsummer Nights Dream in Beijing, China. Other international experiences include teaching a voice workshop for the National Theatre of Ghana in Accra, and a Shakespeare intensive at 16th Street Studio in Melbourne, Australia.

John Dion

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MFA in Directing, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts; BA in Visual Arts-Media, University of California San Diego; 8-Week Program, New York Film Academy. Feature, series, and short film credits with Hallmark. Extensive film festival play including Palm Springs, Clermont-Ferrand, and Austin. BAFTA LA and Emmy Foundation College Television Awards student nominations. Short film television distribution on Canal+, Shorts International, and Mediaset.

Debra Dragotto

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MFA in Screenwriting, UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film, & New Media; BA in Drama, Hofstra University. Debra has studied Shakespeare at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, and Film Production at the School of Visual Arts, as well as private study with some of the leading names in the acting world. She has won numerous Drama-Logue Awards for stage directing, as well as the Jack K. Sauter Award for Artist Merit from UCLA, where she was also selected to direct her film after a year-long elimination process. Debra has credits in Acting, Directing for stage, film, and television, as well as for Casting Director, and Television Producer.

Kadina de Elejalde

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Kadina de Elejalde is an actress and Acting teacher who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, most notably in HBO’s Indictment: The McMartin Trial, Richard the Second, and The Haunting. She has also worked extensively in the theater in both Los Angeles and New York; Her credits include “Another Part of the House” by Migdalia Cruz at Classic Stage Company, and “Bicycle Country” by Nilo Cruz at The Strasberg Theater in Los Angeles. She is committed to working on new plays, and was the recipient of a Dramalogue award for her work in The Padua New Playwright’s Festival. Presently, she is an Acting Instructor at New York Film Academy, but has also taught at Columbia College Hollywood and Woodbury University in Los Angeles. She recently was interviewed on a podcast series called Best In Fest which is titled “The Essence of Character.” She holds a Masters Degree in Acting from the Yale School of Drama.

Tim Fannon

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MFA in Acting, Brooklyn College; BS in Theater, Skidmore College; trained at the Royal National Theatre and the British Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Extensive stage experience and commercials; film and television roles include “Kidnap”, “Bar Flies”, “After I’m Dead”, and “Review with Forrest MacNeil”. Founding member/artistic director of Fovea Floods Theater, and company member of Moving Arts.

Cathy Giannone Russo

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BFA from Strasberg Institute at NYU. Lifetime member of Actors Studio. Has taught at Artist Theatre Group and Third Street Theatre. Recipient of two Drama Circle Awards and four DramaLogue Awards. Cathy Giannone is known for her work on The Bogus Witch Project, CB4 and The Little Rascals Save the Day.

Maria Gobetti

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MA and BA in Theatre, UCLA. Artistic Co-Director at The Victory Theatre Center, with over 80 directing credits. Maria directed the critic’s choice world premieres of Jon Klein’s Suggestibility and Wishing Well. She also directed and produced the critic’s choice production of David Mamet’s Oleanna; the world premieres of American Iliad by Donald Freed. Maria was the 1992 recipient of Women in Theatre’s Outstanding Achievement In Theatre Award.