Faculty Directory

Stephen Tapert

Stephen Tapert earned his M.A. from The University of Chicago and his B.A. from The Evergreen State College. He worked for eight years at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where, as a museum researcher, he provided foundational work for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. He subsequently curated an exhibition on the Best Actress Oscar winners at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin, Italy, and at the Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin, Germany. His illustrated coffee table book, “Best Actress: The History of Oscar-Winning Women” was published in 2020 by Rutgers University Press. Featuring a foreword by feminist critic Roxane Gay and endorsements from Andie MacDowell, Liza Minnelli, Susan Sarandon, and Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera, the book offers a historical, social, and political examination of the first 75 women – from Janet Gaynor to Emma Stone – to have won the Best Actress Oscar over the span of 90 years.

Jonathan Thomas

Jonathan Thomas is a two-time graduate of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program (Studio + Critical Studies) and has an MA in Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society from the University of Minnesota. He is the editor and designer of CALIGARI (caligaripress.com), a multimedia periodical of cinema, arts, and letters, and co-founded and was Editor in Chief The Third Rail, an international arts and cinema periodical archived by the Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, LACMA, Walker Art Center, and the Getty Research Institute. Here at NYFA he teaches courses on the history of cinema, the history of cinematography, screenplay analysis, and special topics seminars including Cinema Now and The Social Thriller.

Martin Thompson Acting for Film Instructor

Martin Thompson earned his BFA in Acting at East Carolina University, before going on to study with Uta Hagen at HB Studio in New York, The Actors Studio, American Theatre of Actors, and with Wynn Handman at The American Place Theatre. He has appeared in over 100 productions on the New York stage, and in regional theatres nationwide. His motion picture credits include starring with Kevin Costner in The New Daughter, opposite Paul Rudd in Wanderlust, and with Colin Firth in Main Street (the final screenplay by the legendary Horton Foote.) On television, he has appeared on NCIS: LA, Criminal Minds, Scorpion, Comedy Bang Bang, Uncle Buck, and the first season of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels for Showtime.

Cle Thompson Acting Instructor

BA in English, Beloit College. Extensive acting experience in off-Broadway productions, national tours, and feature films including A 2nd Before Hell Freezes Over, VS, Funny Valentines and Beyond the Blue. She has worked with legendary film composer/arranger Elmer Bernstein, sung in clubs from New York to Los Angeles.

Edward Timpe

Edward Timpe is a highly experienced film and TV producer with nearly 20 years of experience in the industry. After earning a BS in Kinesiology from Indiana University, he went on to pursue a master’s degree in Film Production from Chapman University. He has taught at NYFA – Los Angeles since 2010.

Currently, he is focused on developing new content that pushes the boundaries of storytelling and engages audiences in new and exciting ways. With a passion for innovation and a deep understanding of the industry, Edward is committed to creating content that resonates with viewers and leaves a lasting impact.

Igor Torgeson

MFA Film, Boston University; BA Journalism, George Washington University. Freelance editor and actor in Los Angeles. Has edited for clients including the Gameshow Network, National Lampoon, McGraw-Hill Publications, Southern California Gas Company, and Cessna Aircraft. Commercial credits include campaigns for Citibank and Brighthouse Networks.

Matthew Toronto Acting for Film Instructor

MATTHEW TORONTO – After a two-year stint on Netflix, Matt’s coming-of-age feature, FACE 2 FACE, which he wrote and directed, continues to inspire audiences on Paramount +, Epix and several other platforms. Besides an array of award-winning features, shorts, pilots and web series, Matt recently directed two features to be released by Artist View Entertainment in 2023 and is scheduled to direct two more this year. Matt earned his MFA in directing from Penn State University where he later joined the faculty and taught acting, directing and musical theatre for eight years. On stage, Matt directed the world premiere of the widely renowned musical ORDINARY DAYS as well as a long list of plays and musicals in New York City, Los Angeles and across the country. He began his professional career as an actor, performing in national tours, Off-Broadway and in celebrated regional theatres. He also spent five seasons in the RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR dancing alongside the Rockettes! A father of three, Matt loves to tell stories that reveal humanity in unexpected ways.

Alan Trezza

BA, Film & Television, Fordham University
Alan Trezza wrote and produced the zombie comedy Burying the Ex, which was directed by Joe Dante and starred Anton Yelchin and Ashley Greene. He wrote and executive produced the thriller We Summon the Darkness starring Alexandra Daddario and Keean Johnson. Alan has sold screenplays to Miramax Films and Paramount Pictures, and has developed projects for such Hollywood legends as Drew Barrymore, Tony Scott, and Ridley Scott. He is currently casting his next script Sanctuary, a supernatural horror film that will be directed by John Leonetti and produced by Joel Silver. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, he teaches Script To Screen, Feature Workshops, Adaptation, Rewriting, and Story Generation.

Nebojsa Vulovich

Andrew Todd Wankier

Award-winning screenwriter Andrew (Andy) Wankier joined NYFA after teaching English Composition full-time at UCLA. Prior to this, he also taught screenwriting at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He firmly believes that in order to better write creatively, one must learn to write academically and is known for his friendly Socratic approach, encouraging students to become more comfortable in finding their own writing voices. Andy is a freelance journalist and blogger.

Selyna Warren

Selyna Warren makes up one half of the multi-hyphenate team S&M, along with Marissa Read. They are writers and directors who act in their own material. They sold our first show, Foursome, to ATV/Youtube Originals and continued to showrun the series which ran for four seasons, breaking the network’s record. They worked with CounterBalance and Sony on the 1/2 hour comedy, Bad Apple. In the feature space they are writing an *NSYNC love letter alongside Rachel Bloom for Tristar. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, Selyna teaches Comedy Writing, Acting as part of the Script To Screen course, TV Workshops, and Web Series.

Christina Weir

MA in Mass Communications/TV Production, Emerson College.
Christina has worked in television, comics, film, and games for over two decades. Along with her writing partner (Nunzio DeFilippis), she was a writer/producer on HBO’s Arliss and wrote for the Disney Channel series Kim Possible. They have had features optioned at Hollywood Pictures, Process Media, and Humble Journey Films, and developed a video game at Sony and a TV movie at Oxygen. She and her partner have written for the comics New X-Men, Adventures of Superman, Batman Confidential, and Dragon Age, among many others. They created the comic franchises Bad Medicine (developed at Closed On Mondays with NBC), The Amy Devlin Mysteries (developed as a TV series at E!), and Frenemy of the State (co-created with Rashida Jones, optioned as a feature film by Imagine Entertainment/Universal Pictures.) For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Thesis Workshops, TV Pilot, Sequential Art, Transmedia, Interactive Narrative, Character Workshop, and Story Generation.

Liz Fania Werner

MFA in TV and Screenwriting, USC
Liz Fania Werner, originally from the Bronx, NY, got her MFA in TV and Screenwriting from USC where she earned an Annenberg Fellowship. She went on to write on television drama RPM MIAMI for Mun2 network, a member of the NBC/Universal family; to develop the feature adaptation of the novel Babylon Sisters by Oprah Book Club author Pearl Cleage and to pen a biopic about WNBA player Abby Bishop for Sentient Entertainment. “Into the Uncanny Valley,” the award-winning short film that she wrote and co-directed with Carlos Montaner, was featured in 11 film festivals, including L.A.’s Screamfest and HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival. Most recently, she wrote and co-directed her first feature film, WAKING KARMA, a psychological thriller starring Michael Madsen, distributed by XYZ Films. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Thesis Workshops, Feature Workshops, Story Generation, Character Workshop, Adaptation, Script To Screen, and Genre Studies.

Naomi White

Naomi White is a feminist, artist, activist, and educator invested in ideas at the intersection of political ecology and photography. She is the winner of PDN’s Objects of Desire award and has exhibited throughout North America and Europe, including the Center for Creative Photography, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, GE World Headquarters; CAMP Gallery, Scope Miami, and Photo LA. She has been awarded residencies at Jentel Arts and Artist Residencies in Motherhood.

Her work has been published in PDN, The Brooklyn Rail, Uncertain States, and On Art & Aesthetics. White holds an MFA in Photography and Related Media from SVA in New York, and a BA in English Literature from San Francisco State.

Mike Williamson

MFA in Cinematography, AFI. Award-winning cinematographer living in Los Angeles. Shot four independent feature films, including “Bilal’s Stand”, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Photographed TV & web series including “30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust” for Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures. Additional credits as gaffer on independent features, shorts and commercials.

Danielle Wolff

MFA in Screenwriting, UCLA
Danielle Wolff is a writer of fiction, stage, and screen. Her credits include animated work (Kyle XY Continuum, Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, Marvel Rising, Tarzan and Jane) and live action work (Wicked Wicked Games with Tatum O’Neal, and American Heiress). Her stage credits include Weightless, and she wrote the radio play Huntsville (broadcast on NPR). Wolff’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in publications such as the Chiron Review and Popcorn Fiction, and she recently published her debut Her Story collection, Mass Ave. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches TV Workshops, Playwriting, and Story Generation.