NYFA
Faculty Directory

Faculty Directory

Marissa Read

Marissa is a muli-hyphante who aims to create material she can direct and act in. She first accomplished this goal when she, along with her writing partner Selyna Warren, made their first sell to AwesomenessTV in the form of a half hour streaming show called “Foursome”. Foursome ran for four seasons, broke YouTubeOriginals’ record for longest running series, and garnered over 95 million views. Marissa then went on to sell television shows and features to Nickelodeon, Tristar, American High, Sony, and more. Currently, Marissa is working alongside Cobia Kai’s Counterbalance and Sony Studios on a True Crime dramady titled, Bad Apple. On the feature side, Marissa is in development with Jordan Kerner on a kids and family Halloween movie. Marissa and Selyna’s feature, Bat Mitzvah, was just announced as a finalist for Tribeca’s Untold Stories Million Dollar Grant. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, Marissa teaches Comedy Writing, Scene Study, TV Workshops, and Web Series.

Tim Redmond Acting for Film Instructor

MA in Theatre Arts, California State University Los Angels; BFA in acting, Kent State University. Regional credits include the American Conservatory Theatre, The Aurora Theatre Company, The Utah Shakespearean Festival and the Contemporary Irish Arts Center of Los Angles among others. His recent film and television appearances include American Crime Story, Station 19 and Dying Breed. Producer credits include “Only in Theatres” “LA Foodways ( Emmy nominated) and “The Bird Who Could Fly.”

Nikk Rich

Nikk Rich studied abroad at Savannah College of Art and Design in Hong Kong. With strong knowledge in lighting, post production, medium and large format, her work largely surrounds black women in beauty. Pulling from from her community and personal experiences, Nikk shares the nuance of these interactions in her work and actively uses her platform to influence a change in beauty standards.

With her distinct soft lighting, muted color palette and fine art approach to portraiture, Nikk’s specific style and aesthetic has led to multiple shows in China, Atlanta, and Washington DC. She currently resides in Southern California.

Anthony Richmond ASC, BSC

An accomplished Cinematographer whose career spans well over six decades, Tony Richmond worked as Assistant Cameraman on such films as From Russia with Love, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451, and David Leans’s Dr. Zhivago. The award-winning Cinematographer has had numerous collaborations with Director Nicolas Roeg, lensing five of his films: Don’t Look Now – for which Richmond won the prestigious BAFTA award; The Man Who Fell To Earth; Bad Timing; Heart Of Darkness; and Full Body Massage for Showtime. Some of Richmond’s other credits include: The Sandlot; Candyman; Stardust for Michael Apted; Playing God; Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights; Rough Riders for John Milius; and That’s Life and Sunset for Blake Edwards;

Richmond was also responsible for the photography of the seminal British music scene of the late 60s. He shot the Rolling Stones classic, Sympathy For The Devil for Jean-Luc Godard, and then collaborated with Michael Lindsey Hogg on The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus and the Beatles’ Let It Be. His other rock and roll credits include The Who’s The Kids Are Alright, and the documentary Glastonbury Fayre.

Richmond’s most recent credits include Good Luck Chuck; The Comebacks; Legally Blond; Ravenous; Men Of Honor; The Sweetest Thing; Someone Like You; Just Friends; John Tucker Must Die; Autopsy; Sex and Lies in Sin City; The Rocker; Alvin the Squeakquel; and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

John Riddle

John is a former Marine Corps. Sergeant, film editor, and teacher with over 15 years of experience in editing, graphic design, and motion graphic effects. He holds multiple degrees in film and graphic design, and has been teaching for multiple film schools for almost a decade. When John is not in the classroom, he spends his time with his wife and two daughters, as well as reading and drawing. John is currently finishing his debut novel.

Heather Ritcheson Associate Chair of Film Arts Department (Producing), Program Administrator of Media Arts Department

With over 30 years of experience in film and television, Heather Ritcheson has forged an impressive career path. She embarked on her journey as a projectionist at a post-production sound house, diligently climbing the ranks in various sound editing positions until ultimately finding her calling as an ADR Supervisor. Collaborating with renowned actors like Brad Pitt, Forest Whitaker, and Sandra Bullock, among other notable talents, earning recognition through a Golden Reel Award nomination for her work on the HBO film “Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault,” featuring Don Cheadle.

Transitioning to the production side of the industry, Heather effortlessly took on multiple management roles, assuming responsibilities as a Production Manager, Coordinator, Set Designer, and Production Accountant on numerous non-scripted television shows, including popular titles like “Clean House,” “Celebrity Wife Swap,” and “MasterChef.” However, an unfortunate on-set injury forced Heather to alter her career trajectory.

In 2016, Heather embraced a new journey as Senior Producing Coordinator and instructor for the Producing department at NYFA. With her mission to create safer working environments on film sets, she actively works with her students to help them understand the importance of safety and the measures for ensuring it.

Mark Ritcheson

Mark Ritcheson is a Visual Effects Producer, Writer and Story Editor who has worked in the industry for nearly 3 decades with top directors, producers and filmmakers. Mark headed the visual effects department of RIOT Santa Monica and Hollywood’s Complete Post. As a Visual Effects Producer, he has worked closely with top directors and visual effects supervisors including James Cameron and David Lynch to bring their vision to the screen. His credits include: Xmen 2, Failure to Launch, What’s the Worst That Can Happen? and The Stepford Wives.

David Robinette Associate Chair of Performing Arts Department

MA in Performance Theory/Playwriting, California State University, Northridge and BA in English/Creative Writing, Hunter College. Television actor with appearances on “The Young and the Restless,” “Law & Order,” “As the World Turns,” and “All My Children.” Film role in “Cry Funny Happy,” Official Selection at Sundance.

Christopher Rossiter, CSI

Christopher’s cinematography credits include the period war series “Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed” starring Peter O’Meara and Martin Sheen, the Arleen Sorkin series “How to Marry a Billionaire” and numerous commercials such as the “I Love New York” campaign. He has worked under many notable cinematographers such as Fred Goodich, ASC; Tom Houghton, ASC; Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC; to name a few.

In addition to being a cinematographer ranked member of the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG), Christopher was recently accepted into the Colorist Society International (CSI) for his work as a colorist. His most notable credits are “Iconic Vision: John Parkinson Architect of Los Angeles” that premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival and was EMMY nominated after airing on PBS in 2019, the documentary “The Art and Times of Frosty Myers” that also aired on PBS, a series for “La Palma Magazine: Niki Koss Fashion Story”, the feature film “Brahmin Bulls” starring Mary Steenburgen and “Hollyweird”.

For many years Christopher worked as a key grip and gaffer for union and non-union productions. Some highlights include Jon Favreau’s “Dinner for Five”, Ming Tsai’s series “East Meets West”, Yahoo Music video series, Dale Pon Advertising for Oxygen and Spike TV campaigns, Fedora Chocolate campaign, Apple Computers, and photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vogue Magazine.

Christopher is a graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cinematography. He is also a Cinematography peer group member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Christopher has taught cinematography at many programs including New York Film Academy, and his alma mater, the American Film Institute.

In 2023, his work was nominated and selected for honorable mention at the International Color Award.

James Rowe

James first stepped onto a film set at 18 as a British Red Coat in Michael Mann’s epic adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans, shooting outside his home town of Asheville, NC. That fall he entered UNC-Chapel Hill, where he would write and direct the jazz-inspired short film Sax Man. The short was purchased by PBS for their Southern Visions series and James was invited to join the American Film Institute as a Directing Fellow.
While at AFI, he optioned his first feature screenplay to Oliver Stone’s Illusion Entertainment. The resulting film, Blue Ridge Fall — starring Peter Facinelli (Twilight, Nurse Jackie) and Academy Award nominee Amy Irving (Traffic, Zero Hour) — was directed by James and released by HBO. It played the Los Angeles Film Festival, Austin Film Festival and Cine de Mar del Plata, Argentina, among others, and was given prominent placement on the Blockbuster Movie Awards.
“A taut drama,” proclaimed Film Threat, “extolling the bonds of friendship as well as the fragility and vulnerability of futures we wrongly assume are set in stone.”
James has since led filmmaking workshops for professionals around the world and continues to create in Los Angeles, as a screenwriter, director and educator.

Natasha Rudenko

Natasha Rudenko is a photographer and an educator, and has exhibited her work internationally. Her work was part of a few group shows in New York, Los Angeles, Moscow, Budapest and some others as well as a few annual publications of feminist and queer art, including Issues II and Femme Fotale Volume III Analog and Femme Fotale Volume IV Leafless.

In her work Rudenko interprets her personal experience as a human being. She addresses self-reflection and investigates the realm of her feelings and emotions. Through being honest and personal she aims to make people relate to the ideas explored in her work and provoke their own self-reflection. Rudenko also believes art education can change the world and make it a better place. MFA, New York Film Academy.

Crickett Rumley

The founder and Senior Director of the New York Film Academy’s Film Festival Department, Crickett Rumley received her MFA in Film at Columbia University. She has guided filmmakers to official selections and awards at festivals ranging from Sundance to Bronzelens and to nomination and shortlisting for the Student Academy Awards, the BAFTA Student Film Awards, and the College Television Awards.

Crickett has moderated both live and virtual events for the school, including Q&A’s with NYFA alum Mohamed Diab (director of Marvel Studios/Disney+ series Moon Knight) and TV writers Boo Killebrew and Gail Lerner as well as panels with staff from festivals such as New Filmmakers LA, Hollyshorts, Austin, and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora. Most recently, she hosted the Winter Film Awards International Film Festival’s Education Day on the NYFA campus in New York, presenting workshops on “Social Media for Creatives” and “How to Craft the Low Budget Screen Story”.

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. She now serves as their Panels Director.

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.

Paul J. Salamoff

Paul J. Salamoff has been working for over 30 years in Film, TV, Video Games and Commercials as a Writer, Producer, Director, Executive, Comic Creator, Storyboard Artist and Make-Up FX Artist. He was recently named one of The Tracking Board’s Top 100 up & coming Screenwriters and has developed projects with Mosaic Media Group, Hollywood Gang, Blumhouse, Wigram Productions, Silver Pictures, Valhalla Motion Pictures, Vertigo and Eclectic Pictures. Salamoff is the author of On The Set: The Hidden Rules of Movie Making Etiquette (Now in its 4th Edition) and the graphic novels Discord, Tales of Discord, Hired Guns, Logan’s Run and issues of Vincent Price Presents. His short stories and essays have been included in acclaimed anthologies including Midian Unmade: Tales From Clive Barker’s Nightbreed and The Cyberpunk Nexus: Exploring The Blade Runner Universe and he is a two-time Bram Stoker Award Nominee. Salamoff made his feature-film directorial debut with Encounter, a multi award-winning Sci-Fi/Drama based on his original screenplay that stars Luke Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Cheryl Texiera and Tom Atkins. Encounter won “Best Independent Film” at The 46th Annual SATURN Awards. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, he teaches Online Screenwriting, Genre Studies, Sequential Art, Script To Screen, and Feature Workshops.

Dr. Mary Samuelson Dean of General Education; Chair of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Dr. Mary Samuelson received her Ph.D. and MA degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and completed her undergraduate work in Cinema-Television and English Literature at the University of Southern California (USC). For the past four years, Mary has taught courses and advised students in the Cinema and Media Studies and Writing Programs departments at UCLA, the Cinema-Television department at Los Angeles Community College (LACC), and here at the New York Film Academy (NYFA). Her essays “Radical Moment: The National Recovery Administration and Hollywood’s ‘New Deal’” and “Wartime News Flow: Government and Studio Newsreels, 1941-1945” will come out in collections focusing on film and the law (September 2016) and the U.S. newsfilm (June 2016), respectively. Mary’s dissertation “The Patriotic Play: Roosevelt, Antitrust, and the War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry” is slated for book publication in Spring 2017.

Dr. Mary Samuelson Dean of General Education; Chair of Liberal Arts & Sciences

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