Faculty Directory

Kyle Branzel

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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 CETL Director—NY Campus; LAS Associate Chair

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Andrea Marie Bush

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Andrea Marie Bush (she/her) is a multi-faceted teaching artist and performer based in New York City. She holds a BM and MM in Vocal Performance as well as an advanced certificate in Vocal Pedagogy from NYU Steinhardt, where she also served as Adjunct Instructor of Voice for three semesters. She is a graduate of the Summer Vocology Institute at The University of Utah.

A year after her undergraduate studies, Andrea was selected by Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher to join the 1st National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof as a principal and ensemble swing (500+ performances). Additional performing credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona Lisa Peretti), Brigadoon (Fiona MacLaren), Titanic (Caroline Neville), and other featured roles. Film and TV work include SNL (NBC), The Night Agent (Netflix), Dexter: Resurrection (Paramount+), and The Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th Century Studios). 

A self-proclaimed “voice nerd”, evidence-based vocal pedagogy is at the core of Andrea’s education and teaching style; she has been fortunate to learn directly from leading voice scientists in the field of vocology, including Dr. Ingo Titze, Dr. Marco Guzman, Dr. Kittie Verdolini Abbott, Lynn Helding, Dr. Ana Flavia Zuim, Dr. Aaron Johnson (NYU), and many others. She was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Voice and Speech Review for her book review on philosophical practices in the private voice studio. Andrea is a proud member of NATS and MTEA, both organizations in which she continues to pursue opportunities to further her education as a teaching artist. 

Michael Thomas Cain

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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

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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.

Marina Catala

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Yoselin Solórzano Student Life Coordinator at New York Campus

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Yoselin Solórzano is an Ecuadorian filmmaker and educator based in New York. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Producing from the New York Film Academy and a Master’s Degree in Educational Innovation from Universidad Internacional de La Rioja in Spain. With more than a decade of experience in the Ecuadorian television industry, she has worked as a Content Producer and First Assistant Director on both scripted and unscripted productions. After relocating to the United States, she joined NYFA, where she taught producing, filmmaking, and filmcraft courses. She currently serves as Student Life Coordinator at the New York campus.

Ricardo Coke-Thomas

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Originally from London, England, Ricardo Coke-Thomas brings nearly three decades of professional experience to
NYFA. His stage career has spanned the West End, Broadway, national and international tours, and film. London
audiences will remember him as Simba in Disney’s The Lion King, Donkey in Shrek the Musical, Tyrone Jackson
in Fame, and Lucky Gordon in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s world premiere of Stephen Ward. He has also appeared in
beloved productions such as Hairspray, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A Chorus Line, Oliver!, The Harder They
Come, The Pajama Game, Fela!, and One Love: The Bob Marley Musical. On screen, Ricardo is credited
in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Gulliver’s Travels, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat alongside Donny
Osmond.

Since moving to the U.S. in 2018, Ricardo has performed on Broadway and across the country returning to the show
The Book of Mormon, a show he also performed in on the West End. His directing credits include the plays Many
Loves, Ain’t No Fairytales In Section 8, House of Bernarda Alba and Sunshine on Peachtree. For NYFA he has
directed summer showcases and the musical theater department’s fall musical The Prom. He was also the Resident
Director for Dreamgirls the UK Tour directed by Casey Nicholaw. Beyond the stage, Ricardo is the founder and CEO
of Square Mile Management, a London-based talent agency representing performers across theater, film, and
television.

Anna Maria Cianciulli Acting for Film Instructor

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Anna Maria’s work as an actor, director, writer, and producer has received nominations, awards, and recognition at many film festivals throughout the world, including Cannes.

Sanford Meisner personally assigned her the exclusive rights to bring out his seminal book, On Acting, in an Italian language edition (La recitazione – Dino Audino Editor 2007).

Anna recently played the co-star role of Juliana Chiari in the CBS series East New York, opposite Richard Kind, ended the filming of Maladaptive Daydreaming, and is currently filming My Mother is an Astronaut (2023).

She can be seen playing Gertrude on all major platforms in Hamlet/Horatio, a feature that has won 14 best film awards at festivals in the US and abroad. She also played a principal role in the Lifetime feature film Stealing Chanel.

Her solo-created short 33 Breaths was shot during the pandemic and was a finalist in the 2020 Single-Take Challenge.

Anna has produced, co-written, and coached the actors on the set of Life After Her, a multi-award-winning film shot in New York selected by the Short Corner of the Cannes Film Festival. Her film Stay has received a Special Mention from the Ouchy Film Awards Winter 2016.

As a theater director, actor, and producer she has worked with Kevin Bacon, the late Tony and Golden Globe-winner Brian Dennehy, the Academy Award winner Roberto Benigni, and the Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated Tony Danza.

Her work has been seen at: The Kitchen for a BAM event, Vanderbilt Hall of Grand Central Station, Joyce Soho, St. Peter’s Church, the American Museum of Natural History, and The Players Club.

Anna co-produced Tribeca in Rome – a cultural partnership between the Tribeca Film Festival and the Rome Film Festival, including the Steps and Stars Award received by Robert De Niro.

As an Acting Coach, she consulted with Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, Alessandra Mastronardi, Kick Kennedy, and Santigold, among others. She was the on-set Acting Coach of Yelo, a short film directed by Adrien Boublil (Cannes 2013).

Anna is also an Adjunct Professor at the Columbia University Film MFA Program and at the Feirstein School of Cinema MFA Program.