Faculty Directory

Boris Schaarschmidt

Boris Schaarschmidt is a director, producer, and writer with 15 well-recognized short films under his belt. Each of his films has won numerous awards at film festivals around the world. Boris holds a BFA in cinematography from the University of Applied Sciences in Dortmund, Germany, and a MFA in directing from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He has been awarded several prestigious scholarships and awards, among them the German Academic Exchange Service Scholarship (DAAD), and the Pat Hitchcock O’Connell Scholarship Award.

Throughout his career, Boris has worked with well-accomplished and recognized professionals in the film industry, among them German director Romuald Karmaker and Quentin Tarantino, for whom Boris worked on the post-production of “Inglorious Bastards.” Following the success of his short film “Haleema,” Boris went to Iceland for a three-month artist residency and shot the experimental film “Eldur a Himni” about the Northern Lights.

Robert William Schneider

Robert W. Schneider received his BA in Political Science from California Lutheran University and his MFA in Directing from Pennsylvania State University. He holds academic appointments at Penn State University, New York Film Academy, and Mt. Union. He has guest lectured at Yale University, Kent State University, UCLA, USC, and throughout London. Professor Schneider is one of the most recognizable figures in the field of online education. His new book, 50 Key Musicals, will be published by Routledge Press in 2022.
As a director, Robert has worked with such theatres as Center Theatre Group, Walnut Street Theatre, Manhattan Theater Club, York Theatre, Second Stage Theatre, and Lincoln Center Theater, as well as for PBS and Fox Seachlight. His work has been acknowledged with the Ovation Award, StageScene LA Award, BroadwayWorld Award, and the MAC Award.
In this capacity, he has also collaborated on projects with some of this century’s greatest artists including Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Audra McDonald, Emma Thompson, Seth McFarlane, Christina Aguilera, Bernadette Peters, Sutton Foster, Christopher Durang, Kristen and Bobby Lopez, Jason Alexander, Joe Iconis, Jane Lynch, and many others.

Nathan Schrader

Nathan Schrader is the Coordinator of the New York Film Academy’s English Language Lab, a unique position he has held since 2014. He is a graduate of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Hunter College in 2018 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Film Production. He is currently pursuing Doctoral studies in Education and Curriculum Design at Fordham University. The English Language Lab is a space for NYFA students whose first language is not English to practice and improve their English speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. His approach is collaborative and relies heavily on discussion for meaning. Language Lab is flexible, and students come on an as-needed basis.

Michael Selditch

Michael Selditch is a veteran documentary filmmaker. In non-scripted television, he’s been a creator, showrunner, producer and director, earning him two Emmy nominations. His four-part series, “American Style” aired primetime on CNN. His documentary series, “Architecture School” for the Sundance Channel, won the IDA Award for Best Limited Series and was named in Time Magazine’s List Issue as one of the Top 10 Television Series of 2008. He was a director on the original “Queer Eye,” and showran a season of “Catfish: the TV Show.” Selditch has produced for many networks and streamers on a multitude of topics.

Selditch’s narrative film debut, “Fixing Frank” was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. His follow-up documentary, “Eleven Minutes,” played in theaters in eight cities. His new feature documentary, “Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field” is having its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, 2023. He’s in development on his fourth film with a script he penned called, “In Burton’s Shadow,” based on a true story with Jared Harris and Alan Cumming attached.

Before his work in film and television, Selditch was a licensed architect, practicing architecture for 14 years in New York and Los Angeles, and teaching at Pratt Institute and Woodbury University.

Andreanna Seymor

Andréanna uses photography as a means of inquiry into social class, subculture, and counterculture. Her vivid color work captures the organized chaos of everyday people, and illuminates them in ways that prompt the viewer to think about what is occurring beyond the frame of the photograph. Taking her interest in understanding identity within subculture communities, Andréanna began exploring these individuals with the collodion process in order to create decidedly unperfected imagery, to bring to light the transformations of identity.

Born in Southhampton, New York, Andréanna earned her B.F.A. in photography from the School of Visual Arts, and her master’s in social sciences from Queens College. A seasoned photographer with over 20 years of professional experience, Andréanna has shot for numerous editorial publications and has been invited to participate in group shows throughout the United States. Her professional experience has included numerous publications in American and international publications including Blender, Bloomberg Businessweek, Discover, Fortune, Life, Marie Claire, Mother Jones, Newsweek, New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Teen People, O: The Oprah Magazine, Rizzoli, U.S. News & World Report, Wired, and Working Mother, among others. She has been assigned to shoot newsmakers from Bill Gates and Linda McMahon to Zach Galifianakis and Taylor Swift.

Andréanna’s first monograph, “Scars and Stripes: The Culture of Modern Roller Derby” was published by Schiffer Books in October 2014. Andréanna was also featured in the book “25 Under 25: Up and Coming American Photographers,” published in 2003 by Powerhouse with a foreword by Lauren Greenfield. In 2017, Andreanna’s images from “Scars and Stripes” were acquired by The Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Philip Shane

Philip Shane is an award-winning documentary producer, director and editor with over 25 years of experience. His film “Being Elmo” won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance. In a decade at ABC News, Shane edited programs including Ted Kopple’s “Tip of the Spear” (DuPont Award) and “Martin Luther King” (Emmy, Outstanding Historical Program). His short film collaboration with Peter Jennings, “Witness to History,” has become a part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum. Philip edited “Dancing in Jaffa” (Tribeca; Best Editing at DocAviv); produced, directed and edited “Einstein” (History Channel); and edited many films about performing artists, including “Wingspan” (with Paul & McCartney and director Alistair Donald), “The Beatles Revolution” (ABC), “Carly Simon” (Lifetime), “Bruce Springsteen” (Disney) and “The Boston Symphony” (NHK).

Jerry Shandy

MFA in Screenwriting, USC
Jerry is a writer-producer who has credits on such television series as Batwoman, Dominion, and Perception. In addition, he’s sold numerous pilots and feature film scripts. Jerry has taught at NYFA, both in the United States and abroad, across multiple departments, including Screenwriting, Producing, Filmmaking, and Acting. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, he teaches TV Workshops, Feature Workshops, Business of Screenwriting, and Online Screenwriting

Jan Epstein Schwaid

BFA in Writing for Screen and Television, USC/Cinema-Television
Jan has written for 15 years across games, podcasts, marketing, and short films. She wrote games for Aeria Games & Entertainment, PlayNext Inc, and Kayat Games/Singta Games. She was the head writer on Nosh: Bite Size Adventures, an animated children’s cooking show. Wrote the short film The Noodle Man, which is streaming on Amazon Prime. Has written for Glamour.com and Fox Digital. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Podcasting, and Story Generation.

Tony Schwartz

Tony began working in the film industry in 1986. He spent most of his career in production working as an assistant director and line producer in both feature films and network television. He has been a part of many critically acclaimed films and series, including One False Move, Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, and The Unit. Along the way, he has worked with luminaries such as Carl Reiner, David Mamet, Dan Petrie, Sr., Judd Apatow, Joss Whedon, Carl Franklin, and many others. Since leaving production in 2011, he has continued to develop original content with Kohler Schwartz Productions. He is currently working on a bio-pic about AIDS activist Marty Delaney.

Gilbert Shilton

GILBERT SHILTON

I have been working in the film and television industry for over forty years. In the course of my career I’ve worked on just about every discipline from crew technician to assistant director to cameraman to a three year stint as a television, film and theatre actor ultimately culminating in a multi decade writing and directing career in film and television.

In 1980, I began my freelance directing career shooting prime time network episodic television programs, pilots and mini series. In 1985 I sold my first network writing assignment. Since then I’ve has logged close to three hundred hours directing film and television, my directing assignments taking me all over the English speaking world.

In the process, I’ve garnered numerous award nominations sold both film and episodic screenplays to the major networks, production companies and studios.

In the last twelve years I’ve worked as a College lecturer/instructor with MFA film and television graduates. I’ve also worked international workshops and full semesters in Canada, France, Russia, Turkey, Qatar as well as throughout the United States.

Dr. Shlomo Sher

Shlomo is a Philosophy professor and professional ethics workshop facilitator committed to encouraging critical and ethical self-reflection in his students. He as a passion for practical ethical issues, which he seeks to extend to others both in and out of the classroom. He began his development as an educator as a trainer at the USC Marshall School of Business’s groundbreaking Experiential Learning Center. From 2003-2009. There he facilitated workshops on topics such as organizational communication, group decision-making, power dynamics, and cultural sensitivity. In 2007 he was asked by the center to apply my ethics expertise to such workshops, and in the next two years developed several multimedia-driven business ethics training workshops that have since been used by MBAs, undergraduates, and even high school students. From 2009 to 2011, he was a Fellow at the USC Levan Institute of Humanities and Ethics, where he became involved in the Institute’s events and projects aimed at engaging USC’s students, faculty, and staff with a wide range of ethical issues. Central to his pedagogical approach is the recognition that every single person cares about ethical questions, though they may not realize this or may lack the education necessary to clearly articulate and critically evaluate their beliefs. I has appeared as speaker in a variety of venues including ABC’s Lost and Fox’s Fringe. Education: USC, PhD, University of Warwick, MA, UCLA, BA.

Lisa Shreve

Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lisa Shreve has edited and produced over one hundred television documentaries, narrative films, and shorts of various genres. She has worked with such figures as Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Mike Wallace, Peter Jennings, and Michael Bay among others. Lisa earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film from NYU Tisch School of the Arts where Martin Scorsese was her professor. Prior to her filmmaking career, she acted in Off-Off Broadway theatre, worked as a still photographer, and sang backup in “The Stilettos”, a seventies New York rock group. Recent projects include producer/editor on the independent documentary Miracle on 42nd Street, winner of the 2020 New York Regional Emmy Award for Best Documentary. She was Associate Producer and Consulting Editor on Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words, a feature-length documentary that premiered in theatres nationwide and aired on PBS in 2020. Lisa also teaches documentary editing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the History and Theory of Film Editing at New York Film Academy.

Nicholas Sienkiewicz

Nick Sienkiewicz is a New York City based conductor and scholar. Nick received his Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Indiana University, and received his undergraduate degrees in voice and biochemistry from Western Michigan University. He studied conducting with Chris Albanese, Betsy Burleigh, Dominick DiOrio, Kimberly Dunn Adams, Walter Huff, Austin McWilliams, and Ted Sperling.

With significant experience in music direction, Nick’s proficiency behind the keyboard and at the podium has led him to working at several regional theatres including Farmers Alley Theatre, The Barn Theatre, and Timberlake Playhouse. Nick works actively as a keyboard programmer, with memorable projects including SpongeBob SquarePants, and the amateur premiere of The Other Josh Cohen. Nick made his NYC Music Directing debut in 2023 with “Live, Laugh, Lie” at the NYFA and has served as the music assistant for several NYC workshops including Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.

Nick’s research has led to presentations at national and international conferences including the College Music Society, the European Association for Music in Schools, and the American Choral Director’s Association. As an author, Nick has three published articles, currently within Choral Journal and Choral Scholar.

Fred Silverman

Fred Silverman is an award-winning journalist and communications specialist. He has an extensive background in producing news programs, non-fiction documentaries, and other information-based television programming for national and cable broadcast networks.

Silverman has produced documentaries, television series, and specials for networks including A&E, Discovery Channel, and History Channel. He was a regular contributing producer for the Fox program, America’s Most Wanted. He has produced live and taped television in 34 states and 10 countries.

He has won several prestigious awards including five regional Emmy Awards, the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and the Peabody Award.

Silverman is now offering his expertise to the next generation of journalism and communications students. He teaches in the Broadcast Journalism program at the New York Film Academy. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, the University of Miami’s School of Communications, and Barry University’s Department of Communications. His expertise includes multi-platform Journalism, film, social media, and podcasts. He is a frequent guest lecturer on topics that include effective oral and written communications, TV production, and trends in journalism.

Alex Simmons Screenwriting Instructor

Alex Simmons is an award-winning freelance writer, writing coach/teacher, and creative arts consultant.  He’s written for Disney Books, Penguin-Random House, and Marvel/DC/Archie Comics. Simmons is the creator of the acclaimed adventure book series Blackjack. He’s also developed scripts for plays, teleplays, documentaries, interactive live shows, and animation projects.  Simmons has taught creative arts masterclasses for students and educators in the US, West Indies, Africa, and Europe. He’s taught screenwriting at the New York Film Academy.  Simmons has been a guest speaker, served on numerous arts and education panels, delivered lectures on children’s entertainment mediums, and on empowering young people through the arts. He founded the annual family event, Kids Comic Con, and three comic arts exhibits, which have traveled abroad.

Matthew Singletary Acting for Film Instructor

Matthew Singletary is a freelance director of theatre and film currently residing in Los Angeles. He has directed over 70 plays at theaters in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and all over the United States. His short films have been seen at festivals across the country and internationally. ​Considered an “actors’ director,” Matthew has a passion for new play development. He has directed over 20 new plays for the American stage and worked with numerous playwrights in developing their plays from inception through staged readings and finally full production. For three years, Matthew served as a Festival Producer for The Road Theatre Company’s Summer Playwrights Festival in Los Angeles – the largest new play reading series in the country. He received a BA in Theatre from Alma College (MI) and an MFA in Directing from The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University (NJ). During his career, he has taught at colleges in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Michigan, Texas and California. He is currently a faculty member at The New York Film Academy in Burbank and at El Camino College in Los Angeles, CA.​