NYFA
Faculty Directory

Faculty Directory

Jeremiah Ginn

Jeremiah Ginn is a multifaceted actor, singer, dancer, pianist, music director, and coach based in New York City, most recently nominated by the St. Louis Theater Circle for Outstanding Performer and Music Director in Stages St. Louis’ production of “Murder for Two”. Jeremiah’s New York City credits include “The Big Gay Jamboree” and “A Sign of the Times” (where he served as Dance Captain for both), “The Great Gatsby: The Immersive Show”, “Murder for Two”, and “Anything Goes”. On the road, Jeremiah was seen both onstage and in the orchestra pit of the First National Tour of “Anastasia”, and performed in tours of both “Murder for Two” and “A Chorus Line” (directed and choreographed by original company member Baayork Lee). His extensive regional credits include Arena Stage, Goodspeed Opera House, Ogunquit Playhouse, The Muny, Cape Playhouse, NSMT, Gulfshore Playhouse, Stages St. Louis, and many more. Jeremiah is a California native and proud uncle to four nieces who are way cuter than yours.

Prima Gonzalez Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Prima has been teaching domestically and internationally for 15 years, including locations such as India, France, Morocco, and Costa Rica. She is a consistent presenter at TESOL conferences and holds the level chair position on the CATESOL Board of Directors. She has years of curriculum development experience and shaped the academics of The ESL School at NYFA. As a native Angeleno, one of her goals is to connect students with the community via volunteering and cultural events.

Taylor Gordon

Taylor Gordon, an international dancer, creator, and educator based in NYC since 2005 and teaching at NYFA since 2023. Performance credits include: Metropolitan Opera Ballet (Lincoln Center), Radio City Christmas Spectacular (4 seasons), Angelina Ballerina (off-Broadway/US tour), Kennedy Center, & Carnegie Hall, NY City Center Encores! pre pro, Exit12 Dance Company, Black Iris Project. Choreography credits include: Princeton University, STEPS Beyond Foundation, Dixon Place, “Juliette’s Miracle” film, Jazz Choreography Enterprises, Uptown Rising, Asian-American Film Awards, Women in Motion, Queens Outdoor Dance Festival, DanceAction Garden Series, Nacre Dance Group, T2 Dance Company, LILA Dance Festival. Teaching: NY Film Academy, United Nations Ballet Club, BDC, India, Japan, Indonesia, Peridance, Gibney Dance, Ailey Extension. Featured in NYTimes, CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX5, The Times of India, Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit, & Dance Teacher Magazine. She’s been a Resident Director for Dublin Worldwide Productions since 2019. Taylor recently attended Dance Lab NY’s Broadway Choreography Intensive under Josh Prince & has assisted several Broadway choreographers as a Show Supervisor for RWS Global, including Sara Edwards, Chip Abbott, John Scufka, and JoAnn Hunter.

Lizzie Gottlieb

Lizzie Gottlieb has been directing film and theater in New York for the last 25 years. Lizzie’s most recent film, Turn Every Page, is a documentary about the prickly, funny, wildly productive half-century collaboration between Lizzie’s father, the editor Robert Gottlieb, and the author Robert Caro (The Power Broker, The Years of Lyndon Johnson). Caro, 87, and Bob Gottlieb, 91, are in a race against time to finish their life’s work. The film premiered in June 2022 at the Tribeca Film Festival and has since played at dozens of festivals, winning several audience awards, was named one of the best five documentaries of the year by the National Board of Review, and has received rave reviews. The film was purchased by Sony Pictures Classics and is currently playing in theaters across the country.

Her first film, Today’s Man, about her brother, who is on the Autistic Spectrum, aired on PBS (Independent Lens). Her film Romeo Romeo, about a young lesbian couple on a quest to have a baby, was also on PBS (America Reframed) and won the NLGJA award for excellence in Documentary.

She founded and ran an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to producing new plays at accessible prices. With that company, Pure Orange Productions, she produced and directed plays, including Keith Bunin’s The Principality of Sorrows^[4] with Robert Sean Leonard, David Lansbury, and Joanna Going; Marking by Patrick Breen, starring Peter Dinklage, Amy Ryan, Adina Porter, and Maria Tucci. Other productions included Jonathan Marc Sherman’s Evolution with Josh Hamilton and Peter Dinklage, Noel Coward’s Private Lives with Sara Ramirez, and Fifth Planet by David Auburn with Christina Kirk and Michael Ian Black. Gottlieb directed plays for Naked Angels, New York Stage and Film, malaparte, and Julliard.

Ben Granoff

Ben Granoff has worked as a cartoonist in New York City for over 20 years and has taught for even longer. He wears several comics production hats working with publisher Cosmic Lion Productions and has storyboarded commercials and independent films. Constantly seeking inspiration in the classroom has transformed Ben’s work into play.

Dennis Green

Multi-decade professional actor/writer/producer. MFA, Yale School of Drama, Yale University; BFA, Wayne State University. Writer: Screenplays, works for theater, published essays and poetry. Fellow – Sundance Institute Screenwriters’ Intensive; The Hermitage Artist Retreat. Semi-Finalist – Austin Film Festival TV and Screenplay Competition. His theater work has been produced at Symphony Space, NYC; Performance Space 122; HERE Theatre; Nagleburg Theatre, CUNY; NY Int’l Fringe Festival; Minnesota Fringe Festival; and Dixon Place, NYC. Actor: His films include the horror classic Jacob’s Ladder, Forever Lulu, August the First (Hulu, Netflix, Showtime, Reel 13 on PBS); Somewhere in the Middle (Netflix, Amazon, over 20 national & international film festivals); The Sisters Karras; as well as the audio drama/podcast Harlem Queen (Apple, Spotify, Sticher).

Diana Henry

Diana Henry is an award winning professional actor with over 25 years experience in television, theatre, film, voice overs and commercials. Since 2009, Diana has been a series lead regular on ABC’s “What Would You Do?”, appearing in over 70 episodes. Other credits include: co-star roles in “The Equalizer”, “The Sinner”, “Law & Order”, “The Blacklist”; and female lead in the feature film “Fortunes”. Diana captured three NY Emmy Awards as the presenting host in “The Lineup: Best Sports Movies”, featuring Fran Healy, Spike Lee, and Chazz Palminteri. She is also a private coach for children and teens, focusing on the audition process for performing arts high schools and colleges. In 2010, she co-founded The Drawing Board NYC, a collective of screenwriters, playwrights, and actors dedicated to developing new works through table readings. Diana has an MFA in Acting at Rutgers University – Mason Gross School of the Arts, studying under William Esper and Maggie Flanigan; and a BFA in Acting at Miami University in Ohio.

Drew Hirshfield

As an actor Drew Hirshfield has appeared in new and old plays around the country (at places such as Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, and many others). Other credits include a first Broadway National Tour, network TV, and independent film. He’s been nominated for a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award and he once played a lemur, professionally. Drew has trained with, and completed a pedagogical teacher-training program under, clown and physical acting master teacher Christopher Bayes and has studied with the renowned clown Aitor Basauri of Spymonkey. He is a trained practitioner of the Michael Chekhov Technique. Drew is a an alum of the National Alliance of Acting Teacher’s Teacher Development Program.

Amanda Hood

Amanda Hood is an Australian comedy writer and director based in New York City. She began her career making documentaries for the BBC. After a stint at Working Title Films in London, Amanda moved into script development and freelanced on everything from commercials to TV shows to feature films. She has written and directed ten short films which have screened at major film festivals and aired around the world. In 2023, Amanda completed a director’s attachment with director Erin White on Paramount Plus’ TV show, Paper Dolls. Prior to that, she completed a director’s attachment with Oscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford on the Sony Pictures feature film, Ladies in Black. Amanda has received the Australian Directors Guild Metroscreen Fellowship and her feature script Baby Boomers was a finalist in the Page International Screenwriting Awards, placing in the top ten out of more than 6000 scripts from around the world. Amanda is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and loves mentoring the world’s next generation of storytellers.

Melissa Horvath, Ph.D. Senior Director of Marketing

Melissa Horvath, Ph.D., is the Senior Director of Marketing at NYFA. Throughout her career, she has created award-winning work at advertising and marketing agencies in NYC and NJ for a varied client roster, as well as for many colleges and universities. She has a wealth of knowledge in Higher Education having held prior roles as the Assistant Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Ramapo College of NJ for 9.5 years, Assistant Professor at Boston University’s College of Communication, adjunct instructor at NYC & NJ area colleges, and senior graphic designer at New York University.

Melissa holds a BFA in graphic design from Suffolk University, an MA in Media, Culture and Communication (Media Ecology), and a Ph.D. in Educational Communication and Technology – both from New York University. She wrote her doctoral dissertation on how social media use affects college choice, access, and transition for diverse students and first-generation students, and has also published articles on this topic and other marketing topics.

Colonel Jack Jacobs Chair of Veterans Advancement Program

Colonel Jack Jacobs, the Chair of the New York Film Academy’s Veterans Advancement Program served in the U.S. military for more than 20 years and is considered a true American hero. Colonel Jacob is among the most highly decorated soldiers from that era, having earned the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest combat honor, two Silver Stars, and three Bronze Stars. After leaving the military in 1987, Colonel Jacobs had a successful career in the financial industry; he currently is the on-air military strategist for NBC and MSNBC. Jacobs was nominated for Emmys in 2010 and 2011 and was the recipient of the distinguished Edward R. Murrow Award for his NBC segment “Iraq: The Long Way Out.”

Gerrard James

Gerrard James is a New York-based teaching artist and received his M.A from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright Scholarship. He also received his M.F.A from Pace University and B.A from Morehouse College. He currently teaches acting at The New York Film Academy. Recent credits include: CEO in the Off-Broadway production of This is About Us directed by Doron JePaul Mitchell (Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre), Malcolm in Macbeth directed by Brian B. Crowe (The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ), James in Coping Mechanism directed by Tramane Harris (Off-Broadway), Troy in Brief Exchanges directed by Ashley Versher (Little Black Girl From The Bay Productions), and Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing directed by Chris Coleman (Denver Center). You can also see him in “Pillow Talk” on BET+.

Bob Kale, CSA

Representative Casting credits: Broadway—Souvenir, King Hedley II, An Inspector Calls, A Tale of Two Cities, Little Women-The Musical, The Who’s Tommy, Titanic-The Musical, The Life, Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel. Off Broadway—Bedbugs!! The Musical (APA and ArcLight), I Forgive You Ronald Reagan, Frank McGuinness’ Gates of Gold, Rounding Third, Dietrich & Chevalier, Over the River and Through the Woods, Noel Coward in Two Keys, Avow, Tails, The Deep Throat Sex Scandal, Tap Dogs, Worm Day, the Melting Pot Theatre production of Tintypes. Tours include—The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Ann-Margret, Barry Manilow’s Copacabana, Nunsense (25th Anniversary Tour), Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk starring Savion Glover; Television includes—Elmo’s World: Happy Holidays!, PBS Sesame Street, As the World Turns, Sally Hemmings (NY Casting). Feature Film includes—NY Casting for Jack & Jill, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Beavis and Butthead Do America, Looney Tunes: Back in Action. He was a professional actor for 19 years before becoming a Casting Director and Teacher.

Krysanne Katsoolis

Krysanne Katsoolis has over 20 years of experience in financing, producing and distributing film and television properties. She is an entertainment attorney and recently launched a media venture, Liquid Media Group, on NASDAQ.

Prior to Liquid Media Group Katsoolis formed film sales company Cargo Entertainment which specialized in International distribution of feature films up to $15M including The Angriest Man in Brooklyn with Robin Williams and Zipper with Patrick Wilson. Katsoolis founded Cactus Three for the production of high end non-fiction films such as The Cove and The March, executive produced by Robert Redford. Prior to this Katsoolis served as Head of Acquisitions and Business Affairs for Winstar New Media Company, Inc., the content arm of Winstar Communications, a publicly traded (NASDAQ) provider of broadband communications services and content. At its peak the company had a market capitalization in excess of $4.4 billion and revenues of $445.6 million.

Krysanne was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia Law School and after graduating went on to start her career at Miramax Film Corp and Fox Lorber Associates, two of the main players in setting the paradigm in aggregating film and television content for worldwide distribution. She has worked as an Executive Producer on over fifty films and series along with Academy and Emmy Award winning directors.

Brian Kazmarck

Brian is an award winning writer/director whose films have screened all over the world. He has directed 7 shorts and a feature, including his debut feature “Terminal Legacy” and “The Portland Empire,” which premiered at the 2012 Festival De Cannes and proceeded to sell to Shorts International (U.K.) and the Worldwide Mobile Movie Theatre App in the US. His short “Standing Eight,” a boxing drama, won over 15 awards and is available for streaming on Amazon Prime. He is currently developing a feature-length horror film tentatively scheduled to shoot in the UK in early 2026.

Claude Kerven

Kerven’s career began with the debut of his short film Candy Store, which won an Academy Award for Best Dramatic Student Film. In 1982, he directed a series of Afterschool Specials for ABC-TV, including the Emmy Award-winning Starstruck and the Director’s Guild of America-nominated High School Narc. Kerven also directed over 25 short films for Saturday Night Live, including the much-celebrated Synchronized Swimmers. His most recent directorial work, They Never Found Her, starred Madmen’s Elisabeth Moss and Fargo’s Peter Stormare. In 1990, Kerven co-authored Mortal Thoughts, for Columbia Pictures, starring Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, and Demi Moore.

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