NYFA
Faculty Directory

Faculty Directory

Sophia Bilynsky

Sophia is a respected leader in the design world with over 20 years of experience reshaping brand and business strategies across multiple sectors. Known for her innovative thinking, she blends classic design principles with new technologies and contemporary social insights to create branding that truly connects in today’s world. Growing up in Philadelphia to immigrant parents, Sophia weaves together global perspectives on art, identity, and culture to transform everyday ideas into meaningful experiences that speak to diverse clients and students alike. Throughout her career, she’s partnered with major companies, non-profits, and educational institutions to craft unique visual narratives that prioritize sustainability, accessibility, and ethical design—values she believes are crucial for preparing the next generation of creative talent.

Lea Tolub Brandenburg

Lea Tolub Brandenburg has been teaching, acting, and directing for over 30 years.

She’s worked in film, theatre, commercials, industrials, and voice-over. Currently, she teaches Directors Craft in NYFA’s
online short-term programs. She’s directed seven original short films and hundreds of scenes/shorts in her acting for film classes. As a casting director, she’s cast two features and a number of commercials. She wrote, directed and produced the short: And Again. The film was an official selection of the Big Apple Film Festival and GenCon. She is the co-author of “The Actor’s Workbook: How to Become a Working Actor”. In 2015 she received an MFA in Film from Vermont College of Fine Arts demonstrating that you never stop learning and growing as an artist.

Kyle Branzel

KYLE BRANZEL is a highly sought-after musical theatre coach, trusted by some of Broadway’s most thrilling performers. Drawing from a wide variety of theatrical experience as Director, Music Director, Actor, and Pianist, Kyle empowers actors in NYC and around the world to develop their artistry holistically and navigate their careers with integrity. His innovative approach to physical acting training and physiological vocal coaching have helped many clients and students book roles in films, TV shows, Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, national tours, regional productions, and cruise ships. Current teaching appointments: Musical Theatre Instructor at New York Film Academy, Musical Theatre and Movement Instructor at Jen Waldman Studio, Guest Lecturer of Musical Theatre at Western Illinois University, Head of Acting at Omaha Conservatory of Music’s SoundWaves Summer Institute. Previous: Hartt School of Music, Roosevelt University. Founder: Rock U, a comprehensive and dynamic approach to performing popular music. Member: Actors’ Equity Association. BFA Musical Theatre: Roosevelt University. kylebranzel.com

Lauren Ann Brickman

As an actor Lauren has appeared on screen in such projects as FBI: most wanted, Bull, Gloria Bell, Alterlatino, Stuffed with Lisa Lampanelli, and much more including being a former house performer at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade & a company member of The Story Pirates. As an educator Lauren has worked at Adelphi University, Montclair State, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough, and the University of Iowa where she earned her MFA in acting. Lauren is also a published writer for periodicals such as Glamour magazine & freelance director. She is also the 1/2 of the comedy duo we Stan together.

Lizzy Brooks

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lizzy is an Actor, Singer and Screenwriter. BA: Columbia University- Art History. MFA: Brown/Trinity Repertory (Acting, Directing and Playwriting). Select credits include Broadway: Macbeth (u/s Lady Macbeth, Banquo); Regional Theater: As You Like It (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Julius Caesar (The Hanover Theater) and Shoebox: A Roadside Picnic (ASF). Film and TV: The Storied Life of AJ Fikry (Hulu/Amazon Prime), New Amsterdam (NBC) and Hostages (NBC)

Amanda Brzezowski Associate Chair of Filmmaking

Amanda Brzezowski received her MA in Film Studies from Columbia University. She has presented papers at multidisciplinary conferences held at Emory University in Atlanta and the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Previously Amanda worked at POV, the longest-running documentary series on PBS, screening documentaries in consideration for the series, and coordinating the annual Editorial Committee Meeting with programmers and independent filmmakers. Since 2013, she has screened documentary films in consideration for festivals including DOC NYC, Camden International Film Festival, and Tribeca Film Festival. Amanda has also directed short documentaries for local nonprofits to help raise money for community programs supporting children, seniors, cancer survivors, and musicians. Currently, she teaches in the Documentary Traditions & Aesthetics courses for the NYFA Documentary Conservatory programs and is the Associate Chair of Filmmaking.

Todd Buonopane

Todd Buonopane is an award winning actor, singer, director and story-teller. On Broadway, he starred as Jean-Michel in Cinderella, Amos in Chicago, Roger in Grease, and many characters in …Spelling Bee. He appeared Off-Broadway in The Butter & Egg Man, Henry & Mudge, and The New Yorkers at Encores! Touring audiences have seen him in The Play That Goes Wrong, Godspell, & Chicago (which he also performed in Tokyo, Seoul and Dubai.) Regionally, he has performed at the Alliance, The Old Globe, Asolo Rep, MUNY, Signature, Pasadena Playhouse, 5th Avenue, Ordway, Papermill Playhouse, Goodspeed, Maine State, the Argyle, North Shore and Barrington.TV credits include “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Braindead”, “Law & Order:CI”, and “30 Rock” (as Weinerslav). Todd is also a director, having directed productions of The Prom, Urinetown, Legally Blonde and Spelling Bee. toddbuonopane.com

Nancy Burson

Acclaimed artist/photographer Nancy Burson’s work is shown in museums and galleries internationally. “Seeing and Believing”, her traveling 2002 retrospective originating at the Grey Art Gallery, was nominated for Best Solo Museum Show of the Year in New York City by the International Association of Art Critics. She has served as a visiting professor at Harvard and was a member of the adjunct photography faculty at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for five years.

Her work is included in museums worldwide including the MoMA, Metropolitan Museum, and the Whitney Museum in New York City, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, the LA County Museum of Art, and the Getty Museum, MoMA (San Francisco), the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, as well as many others. She has collaborated with Creative Time, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Deutsche Bank in completing several important public art projects in NYC.

Michael Thomas Cain

Michael Thomas Cain is a writer, director, and producer for film and theatre. Michael is the founder of Forgotten Artist Productions (a full service production company), and in the last few years, this production company has produced several film projects (all written and/or directed by Michael) that have been screened at prominent international film festivals and collected numerous film awards and nominations at these festivals. The current movie Not Approved For Cancer Treatment, also written and directed by Michael, was recently screened at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, gaining 4 award nominations. In May of 2022, Michael wrote and directed the play version of “Not Approved For Cancer Treatment” in the New York Theater Festival. Recently, Michael’s play ENOUGH’S ENOUGH! was presented by the UR Here Theater Company in Fresno, California. In recent years, Michael wrote and directed WHERE ART LIVES (performed at UNDER St. Marks Theater) and “Eliminated” (performed at Manhattan Repertory Theatre) for the stage. In 2012, Michael wrote, directed, and produced ENOUGH’S ENOUGH! at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club as part of the NY International Fringe Festival. Michael has earned an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Adelphi University and a B.A. in Communications/Theatre from Augusta College.

Derrick Cameron

Derrick Cameron is a native of Chicago, IL. Upon seeing “Do The Right Thing” at the age of 11, he set out on a path to his chosen profession. He graduated from Morehouse College in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. He then matriculated to the graduate school of film at Florida State University, where he graduated in 2002 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts.

Derrick has written and directed four acclaimed short films entitled “The Man,” “Caroline,” “Cherry Hook,” and “It Never Entered My Mind.” “Caroline” screened at the Toronto Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, and the RAI channel in Italy. “It Never Entered My Mind” is currently on the festival circuit, having screened at the Cannes Short Film Festival, Chicago South Side Film Festival, Portland Film Festival, and won Best Short at the Malta Film Festival. Derrick has produced three short films, most notably the short film “ANTS,” which won first place in the comedy category at the 2003 College Television Awards and screened at the Cannes Film Festival, both of which Derrick attended. Several of Derrick’s screenplays have won awards, specifically his original pilot “The Saint of Striver’s Row” and his spec Western “The Widower,” which placed in the top 10% of the Nicholls Fellowship. He was also featured in the February 2004 issue of Vanity Fair magazine as one of Budweiser’s New Discovery Filmmakers. Finally, Derrick also wrote and directed the 2008 feature film, “Right on Louise.”

Derrick is a past Executive Director at Ghetto Film School (GFS) in the South Bronx, NY. He left GFS to pursue personal projects and resume his career in academia as an adjunct professor of filmmaking at New York Film Academy.

Nick Cartell

Nick recently completed a two and a half year run as prisoner 24601, aka Jean Valjean on the National Tour of Les Misérables. He was previously seen in Paramour, the first musical produced on Broadway by Cirque Du Soleil, where he was a standby for and performed the three male lead roles. He also appeared in Scandalous the Musical, written by TODAY show host Kathie Lee Gifford, about the life and trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, and can be heard on the Original Broadway Cast Recording. Nick made his Broadway debut in the Tony-nominated 2012 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, understudying the roles of Jesus Christ, Judas Iscariot and the High Priest Annas, all three performed. He has also toured the U.S. and Canada in The Phantom of the Opera.

Nick has sung with the South Coast Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony and as a member of the critically acclaimed group The Broadway Boys. In March 2019 he performed his first solo show, Bringing it Home, to a sold out room at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Nick and his wife Christine are also the creators of Broadway Fights Ovarian Cancer, a benefit organization raising awareness and funds for Ovarian Cancer research.

A graduate of Arizona State University with a BFA in Theatre, Nick enjoyed a brief stint in Japan performing with a certain famous Mouse. While there he met his incredible wife, actress/singer Christine Cartell.

Marina Catala

Marina Catala is a New York-based Producer and Editor who has developed, produced and edited hundreds of hours of television content for networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, Bravo, and The CW. She graduated with an MFA in Editing from the AFI Conservatory in 2003, just as reality TV was emerging as a major presence on broadcast and cable television. She was an Editor on shows like The Biggest Loser, The Amazing Race, and Big Brother, before a desire for more creative input took her out of the edit chair. For several years she oversaw the Post departments of shows like Ink Master and I Used to be Fat, and then took her command of Post Production and applied it to all aspects of Production – from development to pre-production to field producing – as an Executive Producer. Most recently, she was the EP of Impractical Jokers for seven seasons, and the Showrunner of its spin-off, After Party, for three seasons.

Kristy Cates

Kristy Cates has been a professional actress in New York City for over two decades. She made her Broadway debut in the Original Broadway Cast of the smash hit, Wicked, as the understudy to Idina Menzel, and can be heard on the iconic cast recording. She went on to play the lead role of Elphaba in Wicked (Broadway, First National Tour, Chicago), Miss Bassett in Finding Neverland (Broadway), Grandma Josephine in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Original Broadway Cast/Cast Recording), Jerry Springer: the Opera (Carnegie Hall), as well as numerous off-Broadway and Regional productions.

She is a professional voiceover artist and has been heard on national tv/radio commercials for such brands as Subway, Almay Cosmetics, Chase Bank, PNC, and more. Kristy is an original member of NYFA’s Musical Theatre faculty dating back to 2009 and has taught master classes in musical theatre technique worldwide. In 2019, she was named “Young Alumni of the Year” by her esteemed alma mater, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, for her combined accomplishments in performance and teaching. Kristy is honored to be the current Chair of Musical Theatre for the Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at The New York Film Academy.

Samrat Chakrabarti

Samrat Chakrabarti is a prolific, international artist. He holds a MFA in Acting from the A.R.T/ Moscow Art Theatre School Program at Harvard University. He has appeared/recurred on countless American TV shows and films including Homeland (Showtime), The Sinner (USA), 30 Rock (NBC), Mr. Robot (USA), The Sopranos (HBO MAX), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, (NETFLIX), Sneaky Pete (AMAZON), Damages (FX), Blue Bloods (CBS) and Little Voice (APPLE TV+).

Samrat also works consistently in film, both in Hollywood and International projects, ranging from Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me” to Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House” to Sarah Colangelo’s “The Kindergarten Teacher” to Deepa Mehta’s film adaption of Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children”.

In addition to being an award-winning actor, Samrat is also an acclaimed musician and director.

Xiaoxiao Chen

Xiaoxiao Chen is a professional editor managing post production processes and storytelling techniques for feature films, TV, art exhibitions, installations, and commercials. Her clients include such giants as HBO, Paramount, Museum of Modern Art, Sony Pictures, Apple, New Balance. Career history of developing creative projects including works screened at Cannes Film Festival, DOC NYC, TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and the United Nations.

José Alberto Venutolo Chirinos

José Venutolo is a freelance Filmmaker based in New York City since 2010, he works as a Director, Producer, Editor, DIT, Videographer, and Educator. Born and raised in Venezuela he found his way to New York in 2008 and pursued studies in filmmaking at the New York Film Academy from 2008 to 2010, he’s fluent in Spanish and English, and conversational Italian. Teaches Directing and Editing at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) and is currently the Director of the NYFA Teen Summer Camps at the New York City campus; he has worked as an educator in video production and editing for The Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) as well. In his 13 years career his has work on a range of video productions from Narrative to commercial, including Short and Feature Films, Advertisement, Institutional videos, PSAs, Documentaries, and Music Videos, frequently wearing many hats on a production.

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