Faculty Directory

Ben Maraniss

Ben has worked extensively with Spaceman Media and Scrollmotion, creating dozens of short films, commercials, and interstitials, for companies such as AMC, Comedy Central, MTV, and Super Deluxe. He received his MFA in Film and Television Writing from the University of Southern California. First Things Last, a narrative iPhone application he co-created at Scrollmotion, was featured at the American Film Institute’s 2009 DigiFest. The International Screenwriters Association named Ben’s one-hour drama Weimar the Pilot Grand Prize winner in the 2015 TRMS competition. Another hour-long drama, Secret & Confidential, was listed on the Tracking Board as one of the 100 best pilots of 2016. Currently, Ben is working with producer Fredrica Drotos on an original series Ivan’s Hammer. His articles on cinema and pop culture have been featured in the N+1 Film Review Supplement.

Peter Marciano

Peter Marciano is a New York-based actor and teacher from Syracuse, NY. He has been teaching at The New York Film Academy since 2015 and currently serves as the Head of Acting for The Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre and Head of Voice for the Acting For Film program. He is a Designated Linklater Teacher, having studied voice and Shakespeare under master teacher, Kristin Linklater, in Orkney, Scotland. He trained with Louis Colaianni and is a Certified Colaianni Speech Practitioner, specializing in phonetics and dialects. He has most recently performed in St. Lucy of the Eyes, Richard III, If Stars Are Lit, and Twelfth Night. He has taught voice, movement, and acting on three continents, and coached actors appearing on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and National Tours. He is a Co-Founder of Purple Ribbon Shakespeare, a NYC based nonprofit theatre company. He holds an MFA in Acting from The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University.

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.

Bart Mastronardi

BA, Hunter College, Film Studies. Cinematographer of commercials and numerous short films along with feature films: The Blood Shed; Crossed; Gallery of Fear: Far Cry From Home and By Her Hand; documentary for Bravo TV Unlocking The Hope, Vidal Sasson; and Shear Genius Season 1 casting NYC. Bart is also the director, cinematographer, writer and producer of the horror feature film Vindication, which is released by RSquared Films.

Burton Mazzone

Burton began performing in New York AEA productions at age nine, with credits including Gypsy, Oliver!, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Boyfriend, Phantom, Ragtime, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Camelot, and Pirates of Penzance. He has performed and directed internationally in Rome, Tahiti, Toronto, Easter Island, Basel, Madeira, Mallorca, and Geneva, and his TV/film work includes seven years on NBC’s 30 Rock, appearances on SNL, Vinyl, The Sopranos, Law & Order: SVU, and roles in projects directed by Woody Allen, Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. A graduate of the Hartt College of Music, Burton has also run a successful private voice studio in Bermuda since 2002 and in Zurich from 2008–2009. He is now teaching at NYFA, honored to work with its brilliant faculty and inspiring students.

Carolyn McDonald

Carolyn McDonald has worked in the publicity division of Warner Bros Television, served as a Creative Executive at Cinecom Entertainment, and served as Exective Vice President of Danny Glover’s Carrie Productions. She was the executive producer on TNT’s Emmy & Image Award-nominated Freedom Song (written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson) and HBO’s American Dream, which featured Wesley Snipes and won 4 Cable Ace Awards and an NAACP Image Award for Best Made-For-TV Movie. McDonald also produced, co-wrote, and directed P.N.O.K., featuring Elle Fanning and co-wrote Return Of The Sweetbirds for 20th Century Fox. She also adapted the book The Color Of Hope for her directing debut. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Online Screenwriting, Adaptation, Story Generation, and the Business of Screenwriting.

Gil McDonald

MFA in Screenwriting, American Film Institute; BA in Radio/TV/Film Production, Minor in Psychology, Howard University. Award-winning writer, producer, and director on “Motel Paradise,” a short film selected and screened at the prestigious AFI Theatre.

Suki Medencevic, ASC

Suki Medencevic, ASC is a cinematographer actively working in a film industry for over a 25 years.

For his work he has received numerous awards.

Since 2010 he has been a member the American Society of Cinematographers, ASC world’s most prestigious cinematographers organization.

For his distinguished accomplishments in academic field and education of new generations of cinematographers, he was given the Honorary Doctorate Degree, Dr.h.c.

George McGrath

George began his career as an actor in New York. He performed with the Groundlings in Los Angeles from 1983 – 1992, where he also taught, directed the Sunday Show, and directed and created the long-running “Your Very Own TV Show.” He was one of the original writers of “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” and was a series regular on that show. He was inducted into the TV Theme Song Hall of Fame for co-writing the series theme song. He co-wrote the Paramount film “Big Top Pee-wee,” and created and starred in Nick-at-Nite’s first original late night series, “On the Television,” which he also co-executive produced. He co-starred with Tom Hanks and Sally Field in the feature film “Punchline.” He wrote the FOX TV movie “Based on an Untrue Story,” and had a recurring role on HBO’s “Tracey Takes On,” a series he also wrote and produced. Other TV appearances include “Whose Line is It Anyway?” (the London and New York productions). He has received four Emmy nominations – for writing “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” writing and producing “Tracey Takes On,” a series for which he also won a GLAAD Award.

Hazel McKibbin

Kathleen McLaughlin

Kathleen received her MFA in Photography from Virginia Commonwealth University and is an artist with a passion for teaching critical concepts in the arts and the history of photography. Her current research project is on British Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. In 2019 Kathleen wrapped up her 20-year photographic project in Romania and received several awards based on this project. She has been awarded a Fulbright Specialist Grant (2019), Fulbright-Hayes Grant (2015), Romanian Cultural Institute Grant (2013), U.S. Department of State Grant (2012), Houston Center for Photography Fellowship (2004), Fulbright Senior Scholarship (2003), and a National Endowment for the Humanities IREX grant (2003). Kathleen’s images have appeared in National Geographic Traveler, LensWork, Rangefinder, B&W Magazine, Black + White Photography (UK), and The Times Saturday Magazine (UK). Her photographs have been exhibited both nationally and internationally and are in the permanent collections at the Museum of Photographic Art in San Diego, Western Virginia Museum of Art, and the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest.

Genia Michaela

Attended North Carolina School of the Arts, MIT and Yale, where she studied physics, opera, screenwriting and theatre, and played Division1 ice hockey. She is a SCUBA divemaster and has worked as a stunt freediver.

Stephen Miele

JD, Glendale University College of Law; BA, State University of New York, Albany. A practicing lawyer for more than 25 years, with clients including songwriters, musicians, actors, business and personal managers, producing companies, banking institutions and manufacturers. Appointed and acted as judge pro tem for the Los Angeles Superior Courts.

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. At NYFA, he serves as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and is the Interim Executive Director of the 10 ARTS Foundation.

Mark Mocahbee Chair of Acting for Film

Mark Mocahbee has over 35 years of professional experience as a director, writer, actor, and producer. His extensive work on both sides of the camera includes numerous film and theatre productions with such distinguished artists as Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Jory, Edward Albee, David Petrarca, and Rebecca Miller. Mocahbee holds his BS and MFA degrees from The University of Miami, and has worked at many of the nation’s premier theatre venues, including the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shakespeare & Company, and Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. Mocahbee has served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Xavier University, and Miami University at Oxford.

Matthew Modine

Actor Matthew Modine became a star for his performances in Full Metal Jacket and other successful films. Matthew moved to New York City as a teenager to pursue an acting career and studied at the Stella Adler School. He hit his stride in the 1980s with starring turns in such films as Birdy (1984), Vision Quest (1985) and Full Metal Jacket (1987). Matthew remains busy with a variety of film, television and theater roles, and is an avid environmentalist.

Matthew made his feature film debut in John Sayles’ Baby it’s You (1983), soon becoming one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors with his contributions to three Vietnam War-era films. The first was Robert Altman’s Streamers (1983), in which he played a soldier preparing for decampment to battle, followed by a starring turn as the mentally unstable titular character of Alan Parker’s Birdy (1984). In perhaps the most recognizable role of his career, he narrated the horrors of war as the independent-minded Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987). During this period, Modine also starred as a high school wrestler in Vision Quest (1985), and as an FBI agent in Married to the Mob (1988).

Re-teaming with Altman, Modine played Dr. Ralph Wyman opposite Julianne Moore in Short Cuts (1993), which won a Golden Globe for best ensemble performance. He earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Dr. Don Francis in the HBO movie And the Band Played On (1993), and received another Golden Globe nomination for his role as Sammy Ayers in the Hallmark movie What the Deaf Man Heard (1997).

Matthew made his feature directorial debut with the crime drama If … Dog … Rabbit (1999), and earned recurring parts in the television series The Bedford Diaries and Weeds in subsequent years. He also became more active on the stage, portraying legendary playwright Arthur Miller in Finishing the Picture during the Goodman Theater’s 2004-05 season, and tackling the iconic role of Atticus Finch in a Hartford Stage production of To Kill a Mockingbird in 2009. He made his Broadway debut in the revival of The Miracle Worker in 2010, and contributed supporting roles in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and the Sundance darling Jobs (2013).

Most recently, Matthew won the SAG Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series award for the role of Dr. Martin Brenner in the Netflix original series Stranger Things, and appears in the Sicario sequel Soldado, the thriller 47 Meters Down, and the British comedy of manners The Hippopotamus.