NYFA
Faculty Directory

Faculty Directory

Bear Smith

Bear is a graduate of CUNY-Queens College where he earned his Master of Library Science and his Certificate in Archives and Preservation of Cultural Materials. Professionally, his focus has been on specialty metadata & cataloging for archives and academic libraries. He has worked with the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and the CUNY-Queens College Library previously. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their rescue dogs.

Dave Solomon

DAVE SOLOMON is an award-winning New York-based writer and director working in both theatre and film. Recent stage credits include directing the first national tour of TOOTSIE THE MUSICAL and PUMP UP THE VOLUME (MTFest London). He also directed a unique cinematic-theatrical hybrid production of Adam Gwon’s ORDINARY DAYS for Pittsburgh Playhouse, that he co-conceived with Emmy-winning designer Jason Ardizzone-West (“Jesus Christ Superstar Live”). He wrote and directed the award-winning short film PHOTO OP (starring Randy Harrison) and his upcoming film BRENDA & BILLY AND THE POTHOS PLANT (starring Santino Fontana and Sarah Stiles) will have its world premiere in Summer 2023. Solomon also assisted Bill Condon on the films MR. HOLMES and DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and served as Condon’s Associate Director on the revised production of SIDE SHOW on Broadway, at La Jolla Playhouse and the Kennedy Center. Solomon has also been an Associate Director to Joe Mantello and Scott Ellis, and has worked on fourteen Broadway productions including TOOTSIE, MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, 9 TO 5, PAL JOEY SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (2008), THE RITZ, CURTAINS, MARIO CANTONE’S LAUGH WHORE and ASSASSINS. He was an Associate Producer and Assistant Director on “A CHRISTMAS STORY LIVE” and his play, MARGARET AND CRAIG, premiered at NY Stage and Film and was also seen as part of The New Group New Works starring Mario Cantone and Marin Ireland. Additional stage credits include THE DODGERS (Hudson Theatre, LA), THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (Le Petit, NOLA), MARRYING MEG (NYMF) and SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR (with John Bolton and Eve Plumb). He has been a resident artist at SPACE on Ryder Farm and is a graduate of Vassar College.

Sue Jin Song

MFA in Acting, NYU/Tisch
A “Usual Suspect” at New York Theater Workshop, where she worked with Van Lier playwrights on developing new work. She has acted in theaters in New York City and regionally around the country, including world premieres written by Paula Vogel and Velina Hasu Houston. Film/TV credits include New Amsterdam, Generat+ion, Law & Order, Won’t Back Down, and Someone Like You. Sue Jin also wrote and acted in a one woman play Children of Medea, which was awarded “Best of DC Fringe” and was subsequently produced by Constellation Theatre. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Acting as part of the Script To Screen course. In the Producing Department, she teaches Acting for Producers. In the Filmmaking Department, she teaches Acting for Filmmakers.

Susana Soto Associate Dean of Students & Title IX Coordinator, NYFA Los Angeles

Susana Soto is a passionate student affairs professional who loves cultivating spaces for growth, development, self-reflection, and accountability. Prior to joining New York Film Academy as the Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator for the LA campus, Susana worked as a Title IX, discrimination, and harassment prevention education specialist at California State University, Long Beach, where she facilitated workshops for students, faculty, and staff. Prior to her career in higher education, she served students in the K-12 community through education and social justice work with nonprofit and national organizations.

Susana attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degree in public health and received a counseling degree for student development in higher education from CSU Long Beach. During her free time, she enjoys reading historical and science fiction, crocheting, and eating all kinds of delicious foods.

Samantha Soule

Samantha Soule is a filmmaker and actress. She directed Midday Black Midnight Blue, Birdwatching starring Amanda Seyfried, Taffeta, Shed, and Telling Time. As an actress, she can currently be seen in Outer Banks, Godless, Tales Of The City, Queen’s Gambit, and Martin Scorcese’s The Irishman on Netflix and City On A Hill for Showtime. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

Diana Stanich

ABPhD, Capella University; MBA, University of La Verne; MA in Physical Education/Health, California State University, Long Beach; BS in Kinesiology, University of California, Los Angeles. Professor of Kinesiology/Dance, Santa Clarita Community College District.

Maria Stanisheva

Maria Stanisheva is a film director/producer and founder of ANIMADOCS (www.animadocs.com) . She focuses on social-issue documentaries, independent animation and experimenting with mixed genres. The animated-documentary FATHER which she produced in 2012 was screened at over 100 film festivals and awarded 28 times, including the Golden Dove for Animated Film at DOK Leipzig Festival. Her 2016 animated campaign “Together to End Male Guardianship” commissioned by Human Rights Watch Saudi Arabia, was seen by over 10 million people, brought factual legislative change to the country and got featured in the New York Times and Euronews. She is currently working on Finding Home – an animated documentary series and interactive art installation that tell the stories of climate refugees from around the world.

Maria has worked as an external expert for the Robert Bosch Foundation (Berlinale film festival), Documentary Campus Masterschool (CPH:DOX, Sheffield Doc Fest), NEW INC (NEW MUSEUM, NYC) and EURIMAGES. She gives regular master-classes in “Animation for Documentary Film“ at NYFA, Oxford Brookes and the Central European University (Vienna). In addition, she does Pitch trainings based on personal experience presenting projects at Berlinale, Stuttgart Film Fest, Clermont Ferrand, Hot Docs, Sunny Side of the Doc, IDFA etc.

Liz Stanton Acting for Film Instructor

Liz Stanton teaches Acting (Meisner), Voice & Movement, and Improvisation at the New York Film Academy. As an actor, singer, sound designer, composer, director, and teacher, she is a multifaceted theatre artist. She is the Theatrical Development Producer for Convergences Theatre Collective. She has performed in numerous professional productions in New York City, regionally and internationally (England and India). Her opera, based on The Bacchae, was featured as a work in development at the EstroGenius Festival. She has created award-winning devised theatre pieces, composes music for theatrical sound designs, and teaches physically embodied acting and voice. Liz received her MFA in Theatre: Contemporary Performance from Naropa University. One of her most recent projects is The Woman Who Was Me – a play for one woman. The show was nominated for five Innovative Theatre Awards, including for Outstanding Solo Performer.

Micah Stathis Acting for Film Instructor

Stathis was a Production Manager for Manhattan Neighborhood Network for over four years. He quickly expanded his skills as a freelance Cinematographer and Director. He has experience directing a wide variety of television and film shoots, commercials, music videos, narrative films, documentary films, and live events.

Riley Steiner Acting for Film Instructor

Riley joined NYFA in 2014 and teaches all levels of Technique and Scene Study, specializing in Acting Styles and Shakespeare.

Her stage work includes Ophelia in Sir Anthony Hopkins’ production of Hamlet on the HB Studio stage in New York. Riley worked as a voice actor alongside Tom Hanks in Toy Story, and can be heard screaming “I GOT HIS SWEATBAND!” in Disney’s Hercules. She is also remembered as the fatally doomed Page Bowen on General Hospital.

As a playwright, two of her plays have been included in the Plays in Progress Series at the award winning Utah Shakespearean festival. Her first play, Tumcumcari has enjoyed three productions in Los Angeles. She directed the play in 2014 at the Whitemore Theatre in North Hollywood.

She has directed a handfull of Shakespeare plays at NYFA and participates as a guest director in The Road Theatre Company’s Summer Playwrights festival.

She studied acting with Uta Hagen for over ten years and now teaches her methodology. In 2010, Riley went back to school to complete her education. In 2014, she graduated cum laude with a BA in Theatre and an MFA in Shakespeare and Renaissance Studies , both at Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, VA.

Tomás Stiegwardt

Tomás Stiegwardt is an award-winning filmmaker, author, visual artist, and AI researcher. A creative catalyst and cultural essayist, he explores the intersection of storytelling, technology, and consciousness. With over 70 essays on AI and cinema published at Peliplat—where he also serves as a film critic and international jury member—his work bridges visual arts, philosophy, and education. A professor, speaker, and international exhibitor, he has received over 30 awards for his short films, taught at NYFA and Columbia College Chicago, and is currently based in New York, developing projects across traditional and Web3 platforms.

Matthew Stern

Matthew Stern is an award winning NYC-based music director and pianist. Off Broadway: Smile (AMT Theater), Skyscraper (Urban Stages). Other credits: Come From Away (Engeman); Cats, Lightning Thief, Little Mermaid, Twas the Night Before Christmas, Cinderella, Pippin, Grease, Seussical, Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Christmas in the Movies (Casa Mañana); Wizard of Oz (North Shore Music Theatre); Evita (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Sing Street, Merrily We Roll Along (Huntington Theater); Drowsy Chaperone, Gentleman’s Guide, Pacific Overtures (Lyric Stage Company of Boston); Prom (Tantrum Theater); Burnt Part Boys, Rock of Ages (Mountain Theatre Company); Reefer Madness (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater); Little Women, All is Calm, She Loves Me, Altar Boyz, Mame (Greater Boston Stage Company); Fun Home, Allegiance, Bridges of Madison County, Scottsboro Boys, Violet, Big Fish (SpeakEasy Stage Company). In addition to NYFA, Matt has served on the faculties of Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston University, and Emerson College, and spent over a decade music directing at French Woods Festival. He has an MFA in Musical Theater Studies from Boston University.

Jenny Sterner Associate Chair of Film Arts Department (Screenwriting)

MFA in Screenwriting, New York Film Academy.
Jenny has developed a manga for Seven Seas Entertainment. She is the creator of the web series Searching for Eden. She served as Coordinator of the Screenwriting Department for five years before taking over as Associate Chair. She teaches Story Generation and Building & Researching Your World for the Department.

Tyler Stillwill

Tyler is a teacher and an interdisciplinary artist from Los Angeles who performs (in an actory, singery and musiciany way), composes, writes, clowns, directs, paints, illustrates, sculpts and makes music. They’ve had plays and musicals produced in small theaters in Detroit, Austin, Chicago, Seattle and Off Off Off Broadway. A one time Children’s Theatre Artistic Director, International Marketing Executive, College Professor and Tattoo Artist. Featured in the web series “Staying Together” (https://vimeo.com/317707828), they’ve ridden their bicycle up and down mountains all over the world, but only ever mistaken for a criminal in Japan. But that’s a story for another time.

Glenn Storm

Glenn is a game designer and programmer with experience bringing many games to market, including Sonic The Hedgehog and Star Wars: The Clone Wars for the LeapFrog, Didj handheld console; which took Children’s Technology Review: Editor’s Choice Award in 2008. His game work draws upon ten years’ experience as an animator at Warner Brothers Feature Animation, Dreamworks Feature Animation, and other firms. During that time he worked on the films: The Iron Giant, Osmosis Jones and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.

Evan Stulc

Evan has worked as camera assistant on features, commercials and music videos, for clients clients including Toyota, Riot Games, and Yahoo! His credits include Bad Milo, As I Lay Dying, and Helio.

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