Faculty Directory

Richard D’Angelo

Richard D’angelo, an award-winning line producer and production manager in film and television. A lifelong film devotee, he received both his BFA in Film Production and Master of Arts in Theater and Film Studies from Long Island University. He produced and directed his graduate thesis screenplay, ‘First Person,’ into an award winning feature film. Richard’s two decades plus of experience in the entertainment industry have run the gamut from feature films to live event productions as well many industrial and commercial projects working as a producer, director, and editor. Recently Richard produced ‘The Cathedral,’ which had its world premiere at the 78th Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere at Sundance, for director Ricky D’Ambrose who won the John Cassavetes Award for the film.

Darren Dean

Darren Dean is an Award-winning American Producer, Writer and Director. Working in the realm of micro-budget and social justice films, he has helmed works by renowned directors Sean Baker, Rashaad Ernesto Green, Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra. His films have won awards at Sundance, have been nominated for Oscars and have won Clio Awards. He is currently hard at work at the new features THE END STAGE OF STARS (dir Rachel Mason’s follow-up to CIRCUS OF BOOKS); JACK-BE-NIMBLE (dir Alex Thompson’s follow-up to SAINT FRANCES); MO (dir Chris Brown’s follow-up to THE OTHER KIDS); as well as the debut feature AMERICAN 11 (dir Shayain Lakhani). Dean will also begin prepping his feature directing debuts in 2021, THE APOLOGY and the Spanish-language NO SUGAR TONIGHT.

Julie Deffet

Award-winning director Julie was born in a French-speaking town in southern Belgium. After graduating from ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles) with a Master’s degree in Journalism, she moved to New York to study filmmaking at The New School for public engagement. Her personal work was screened at Cinequest, The Big Apple Film Festival, The Prague International Film Festival, and the Bowery Film Festival, among other places. She won several Awards both as a director and producer, including Best Picture at the Los Angeles Film Awards. Julie’s skillful editing has also made her a sought-after post-production professional. She has edited an international campaign for Tiffany and Co, award-winning short films, and commercial content. She recently was an associate producer for the movie The Drummer, starring Danny Glover, and the Emmy Awards-winning show After Forever as well as a freelance editor for companies such as Sony, Google, and Vice Media. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Nunzio DeFilippis Dean of Faculty, Co-Chair of Film Arts Department

MFA in Screenwriting, USC

Nunzio has worked in television, comics, film, and games for over two decades. Along with his writing partner (Christina Weir), he was a writer/producer on HBO’s Arliss and wrote for the Disney Channel series Kim Possible. They have had features optioned at Hollywood Pictures, Process Media, and Humble Journey Films, and developed a video game at Sony and a TV movie at Oxygen. He and his partner have written for the comics New X-Men, Adventures of Superman, Batman Confidential, and Dragon Age, among many others. They created the comic franchises Bad Medicine (developed at Closed On Mondays with NBC), The Amy Devlin Mysteries (developed as a TV series at E!), and Frenemy of the State (co-created with Rashida Jones, optioned as a feature film by Imagine Entertainment/Universal Pictures.). He serves as the Chair of Screenwriting and Dean of Faculty at NYFA LA, and for the Screenwriting Department, teaches Elements of Screenwriting, Feature Workshops, Sequential Art, Story Generation, Genre Studies, and Thesis Workshops.

Christine de Frece

Christine has been teaching vocal technique for 19 years. Her students can be seen performing on Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tours, cruise ships, and in regional theaters across the United States, Canada and internationally. She is currently a voice specialist at New York Film Academy and former Chair of Vocal performance at Circle in the Square Theatre School. As a Musical Director, Christine has directed productions of Cabaret, Urinetown, The Music Man, Gypsy, Meet Me in St. Louis and A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To The Forum. Christine is a graduate of the University of Lethbridge (BMus Vocal Performance) and Circle in the Square Theatre (Professional Musical Theatre Workshop). As an actress, Christine has been seen in productions such as Titanic, It Shoulda Been You, Ragtime, Rumors (Carbonelle Award Winner), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, The Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, Follies, And The World Goes ‘Round, Cinderella, and many more.

Maria Del Bagno

Graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, apprenticed under renowned master choreographer, Jaime Rogers, and the “Father of Jazz Dance,” Luigi. Over 25 years of experience as a dance instructor. Named one of L.A.’s top choreographers by L.A. Jazz Dance Foundation.

Dave Demke

Dave Demke earned a BA in Theatre from Minnesota State University, an MFA in Performance from the University of Maryland, studied Meisner Technique with Fred Kareman, and is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher. He is also the Artistic Director of Shakespeare On the Fly, and an Associate Faculty member at American Academy of Dramatic Arts. From 2000-2010 he was the Associate Director of Training for Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA; prior to that position he served as the Artistic Director of Stark Raving Theatre in Portland, OR. As an actor he has played many roles, favorites include Didi in Waiting for Godot for Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Dick in The Dick and the Rose at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Bottom in A Midsummer Nights Dream in Beijing, China. Other international experiences include teaching a voice workshop for the National Theatre of Ghana in Accra, and a Shakespeare intensive at 16th Street Studio in Melbourne, Australia.

Michael DeMeritt

Michael DeMeritt is a graduate of Michigan State University. After spending five years as a Studio Coordinator and Producer at United Artists, he was accepted into the Director’s Guild of America Producers Training Program (DGA Trainee). He began his journey in the DGA as a 2nd AD and steadily advanced from 2nd AD to 1st AD over the course of 11 consecutive years working on two Star Trek TV series: “Voyager” (all seven seasons) and “Enterprise” (all four seasons). With extensive DGA credits, he has also taken on the role of Producer for various projects, ranging from commercials to feature films. One of his recent accomplishments includes completing production on the feature film “Rock and Doris Try to Write a Movie” in early 2023, scheduled for release in 2024. Notable producing credits include the feature film “The Misadventures of Biffle and Shooster,” TV series “Gen’s Guiltless Gourmet” and “Kitchen Academy,” and numerous commercials. Among his AD credits are “Make It or Break It,” “Vegas,” “Close to Home,” and “Citizen Cohen.” Michael has been published as an author in gaming magazine “Knights of the Dinner Table” and the “DGA Quarterly.” He has received awards for his copywriting skills and continues to serve as a script consultant for projects in development.

Kevin DiNovis

For the past twenty-five years, Kevin DiNovis has worked as a screenwriter and film director. His debut feature, Surrender Dorothy (1998), won multiple awards, including the Grand Jury prize for Best Feature at the Slamdance, Chicago Underground, and New York Underground Film Festivals. His subsequent work includes the political satire Death & Texas (2004), which stars Academy Award nominees Charles Durning and Mary Kay Place.

As a writer, DiNovis adapted Mary Higgins Clark’s bestselling thriller Loves Music, Loves to Dance for USA Networks. He was the first writer selected to inaugurate Marvel Studio’s Writers Program. In addition to adapting two features and one short subject for the celebrated ‘MCU’, DiNovis participated in an uncredited dialogue polish of the script for Thor.

In 2019, DiNovis presented his paper entitled “‘The Other Fellow’: ‘Transference of Identity’ in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association’s Conference in Atlanta, GA. He followed that up at SAMLA’s 2022 Conference with a paper entitled, “A Little Help from His Friends: The Expanding Role of MI-6 in the New 007 Cinematic Universe.”

John Dion

MFA in Directing, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts; BA in Visual Arts-Media, University of California San Diego; 8-Week Program, New York Film Academy. Feature, series, and short film credits with Hallmark. Extensive film festival play including Palm Springs, Clermont-Ferrand, and Austin. BAFTA LA and Emmy Foundation College Television Awards student nominations. Short film television distribution on Canal+, Shorts International, and Mediaset.

Cayli Dobbs Performing Arts Department Manager

Lincoln Center: Golden Night Concert (Soloist). Carnegie Hall: Berlin in the Battery (Soloist), Sabor y Pasión (Soloist). Regional: Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Dance Captain), Footloose, A Chorus Line, Mamma Mia, Sound of Music, Rocky Horror, Mary Poppins. International: Tap in Rio (Rio de Janeiro). Digital: Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies’ “Formation” Music Video.

Terence Donnellan

Terence Donnellan is a writer, director, producer, and editor for film and television. Two of his feature documentaries were nominated for Emmy awards. His third documentary is being distributed nationally via PBS. His short documentary film, Free Ena Farley, won two Telly Awards.

For seven years, he was responsible for producing, directing, writing, and delivering entire television seasons (talk shows). He has also written, directed, and produced short fiction and nonfiction films, commercials, PSAs, and other media projects.

His work has been shown at film festivals, on television, and through Amazon Prime, iTunes, YouTube, Vimeo, Vudu, Tubi, Plex, and other international streaming platforms.

Website: https://www.blasketmcmanusproductions.com/

Debra Dragotto

MFA in Screenwriting, UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film, & New Media; BA in Drama, Hofstra University. Debra has studied Shakespeare at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, and Film Production at the School of Visual Arts, as well as private study with some of the leading names in the acting world. She has won numerous Drama-Logue Awards for stage directing, as well as the Jack K. Sauter Award for Artist Merit from UCLA, where she was also selected to direct her film after a year-long elimination process. Debra has credits in Acting, Directing for stage, film, and television, as well as for Casting Director, and Television Producer.

Frederic Durand

Frederic Durand graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs and studied for a year at NYC’s Cooper Union while earning his Master’s degree. He has worked on both animated and feature films in addition to his commercial work for over 20 years and has served at such companies as Disney Animation, Sony Imageworks, DreamWorks, Jim Henson’s Workshop, MPC, the Mill, and Digital Domain. He also co-founded Noroc Studio and is the lighting and shading supervisor at the Los Angeles company Mousetrappe. His prior film work includes Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Tomb Raider 1 and 2, SharkTales, Speed Racer, 2012, Beowulf, Monster House, Chicken Little, and many more.

Having authored a number of educational DVDs that instructed viewers in the subject of computer-generated illumination, Durand is an expert lighting artist employing a methodology that is as creative as it is technical and utilizes core elements of cinematography. In addition to teaching at NYFA, Durand also serves on the faculty the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, the Global Cinematography Institute, the Otis College of Design, and the University of Southern California.

Akil DuPont

Through the course of his career as a storyteller in theatre and film, Akil DuPont has earned 31 awards in 44 film festivals including 2 Student Emmys! His films have played in over 60 countries and in 2014, he was named #7 of the top 100 indie filmmaker in the
world.

Akil was born and raised in Tallahassee, FL. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Florida A&M University (FAMU) and a MFA in Film Production from Florida State University (FSU).

Akil has worked in the film/television industry in the Atlanta and New York area. He taught for 8 years with Clayton State University and the Georgia Film Academy and is currently a Professor with Pace University and an instructor at the New York Film Academy.

Rose Van Dyne

Rose Van Dyne is a multifaceted artist and educator in New York City. Rose has worked as both a performer and a pianist on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, and on national and international tours. Selected credits include 1776, Waitress, Beau, The Lonely Few, Interstate, Cambodian Rock Band, and Jim Henson’s Labyrinth in Concert. She is the co-founder of @BroadwayCooks, an organization that provides fresh food for houseless and hungry community members in Times Square and the five boroughs. Rose earned her MFA in Musical Theatre Vocal Pedagogy at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, as well as dual degrees of BA Musical Theatre and BA Piano from the University of Northern Colorado. Rose’s research centers on the intersection between race and identity in the musical theatre vocal studio.  Rose currently teaches in NYC at Pace University, Marymount Manhattan College, New York Film Academy, and with BroadwayVox Studios