Faculty Directory

Jason Marquette

Jason Marquette graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Performance credits include the original cast of the 1st National Tour of the revival of 42nd Street, The Musical, theme parks and regional theaters all across the country. In 2008 he mounted his self-produced NYC production The Next Step. His direction and choreography has also been seen in the SUNY New Paltz Production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, Wittenberg University’s Fall Dance Concert, Working Mother Media’s annual NYC Worklife Congress Gala as well as music videos, corporate events and various showcases in New York and around the world. He is the owner of Marquette Productions and MPower Dance Workshops.

Mr. Marquette is also on the judging and teaching faculty with Spotlight Dance Cup and GuiDANCE Experience. He has been teaching for over 20 years in cities across the US and internationally in Helsinki, Finland; Guayaquil, Ecuador, Guatemala City and Alberta, Canada. He’s on faculty with the DanceTeacherWeb Live Conference in Las Vegas for and appears on their website offering tutorials in Tap. Jason taught at the first annual SoFlo Tap Festival in Lake Worth, FL and was on the faculty of Resonance, a northeastern US based travelling tap festival. He was on faculty at various studios in New York City including New Dance Group, The Peridance Capezio Center and Broadway Dance Center for 6 years teaching Tap and Theater Dance and has taught at the Alvin Ailey School. He is currently on faculty teaching tap at the New York Film Academy, New York City campus; Jazz and Tap at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts as well as several other studios in the metro area. Jason keeps busy travelling to teach, adjudicate and choreograph all over the country.

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.

Jenna Mate Acting for Film Instructor

Jenna Mate is a director, actor, composer/lyricist, and audition coach who has worked extensively both in New York and Los Angeles. She holds a BFA in Acting from Syracuse University, a Masters in Educational Theatre from University of Houston, and an MFA in Directing from Stony Brook University. She was the Associate Producer for the Southampton International Theatre Festival, where her focus was supporting playwrights in the development of new works. Her original musical, ECO, was featured at New York Musical Festival in 2017. Recent directing credits include Lilith in Pisces (NY Summerfest) Art (Guild Hall) and A Steady Rain (Guild Hall.) She aims to create a nurturing, energetic environment where her students can explore and grow.

Dorottya Máthé

Dorottya Máthé [dorottja m’at’e] a native Hungarian is excited to produce narrative and non-fiction films in such a diverse city as New York, where she can pursue cross-cultural collaborations with international cast and crew orchestrating all aspects of the production from conception to completion in her projects.

Her 25+ credits include a female driven adventure-comedy, GOOD EGG with the goal to spark thought-provoking conversations about women’s courageous journey behind their reproductive choices; SHOULD WE KID OR NOT?, an interview-based documentary web series commissioned by PBS; IMPOSSIBLE MONSTERS, a psychological thriller starring Tony Award Winner Santino Fontana; THE INDEPENDENTS, a fictional folk ’n roll fable with Richard Kind and Tony Award Winner Kelli O’Hara in cameo-roles. Dorottya enjoys working across genres and produced an eclectic array of highly visible art projects for various institutions such as the prestigious Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Baryshnikov Arts Center and Here Arts Center.

Dorottya is a member of Women Independent Producers, a worldwide network of female producers, which supports the growth and success of its members. Dorottya has lectured at BMCC and has been a producing instructor for the Documentary Faculty at the New York Film Academy since 2010 mentoring emerging filmmakers. www.dorottyamathe.com

Anne McCaffrey

Having spent 35+ years in physical production, I take a very hands-on approach in my teaching methods, creating assignments and materials that are valid for real world application. My lectures are also geared for practical application, and I share them with my students, many of whom are International where English is not their first language. Having lived abroad, I easily relate to my foreign students, and I know how to assist them in my classes. I am very passionate about the Entertainment Industry, and I truly enjoy passing that knowledge on to my 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

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 Acting for Film Instructor

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.