NYFA
Faculty Directory

Faculty Directory

Bob Kale Acting for Film Instructor

A partial list of the projects Bob has worked on as a casting director would include: Broadway (Most for Nat’l Tour as well)— Souvenir, King Hedley II (August Wilson), An Inspector Calls, A Tale Of Two Cities, Little Women-The Musical, The Who’s Tommy, Titanic-The Musical (1996), The Life, Jekyll & Hyde (1996), The Scarlet Pimpernel. Off-Broadway includes—Frank McGuinness’ Gates Of Gold, Dracula, Dietrich & Chevalier, Over the River and Through the Woods, Avow, The Deep Throat Sex Scandal, Tap Dogs. 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—HBO’s Scarred City, Due South, Elmo’s World: Happy Holidays!, PBS Sesame Street, Cosby Mysteries, As The World Turns, and the miniseries Sally Hemmings (NY Casting). Feature Film includes—Jack & Jill (additional NY Casting), You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (additional NY casting), I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (additional NY casting), Beavis and Butthead Do America (NY Voice Casting), The Quest for Camelot (NY Voice Casting), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (NY Voice Casting), Big Daddy (NY Casting), Little Nicky (NY Casting).. See www.bobkaleonline.com for more information.

Isac Kalsky

Isaac Kalsky (Instructor) is a 3D Animator with over 10 years of digital media experience. He has created animations for advertising agencies, film, television and fine art companies. Isaac teaches animation, rigging, and motion capture at the New York film Academy.

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.

Rachel A. Kaufman

Rachel A. Kaufman is a multi-instrumentalist Brooklyn native who has music directed and/or played for well over 300 musicals and cabaret shows world-wide. She has been thrilled to be part of NYFA’s wonderful faculty since 2013. Theater credits include: Off-B’way: Tale of Two Cities (10th year reunion concert), Goldstein (with Julie Benko & Megan McGinnis), A Taste of Things to Come (Lorin Latarro, dir.); Tours: Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Smokey Joe’s Café; Regional: Tom Jones (North Shore), Hallelujah, Baby! (Arthur Laurents, dir.) Rachel can also be seen playing for auditions, improv comedy groups, at churches, synagogues, piano bars, and restaurants. She has worked with such Broadway greats as Donna McKechnie, Baayork Lee, Hinton Battle and Pat Birch, just to name a few. Rachel holds a B.A. in Music (and Russian) from the University of Chicago

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.

Chris Knight

Chris Knight was born in Wiesbaden, Germany and hardened by the sweaty, nearly chewable, humidity of Florida. He combines his unconditional love of art history with his conditional love of technology, topping it off with a flair for the cinematic and an uncompromising eye for detail.His work has appeared in or on Vogue, People, MSNBC, ABC, Oxygen, Ocean Drive, GQ and others.
Chris is the author of “The Dramatic Portrait,” a Profoto Legend of Light, and an instructor at Pratt Institute as well as the New York Film Academy.

Ronald Kopp

Ron Kopp has been a regularly featured film commentator for NPR, the “Dr. Video” columnist for barnesandnoble.com, and the Film Programmer for the Paramount Center for the Arts. He is currently in post-production on a short fiction film, “The Resurrection Love Song.” His feature-length version of Jeff Cohen’s play “The Soap Myth” has been broadcast on PBS. Both “The Soap Myth” and his documentary “I Will Refuse to Bubble” are distributed by Digital Theatre. Ron joined the faculty of the New York Film Academy in 2010. He teaches Documentary Cinema Studies and hosts master classes with visiting filmmakers.

Stephanie Jean Lane Acting for Film Instructor

Stephanie Jean Lane is an actor, dancer, writer and director based in New York City. Recent theater: Regan in King Lear (opposite Patrick Page) at Shakespeare Theatre Company, dir. Simon Godwin; Hecate and Agnes in Punchdrunk’s long-running immersive show, Sleep No More (2018-2022). Other theater: shows The Guthrie Theater, Elm Shakespeare, and Berkshire Theater Group; workshops at Lincoln Center and the Public Theater. Film and TV: Law & Order, Elementary, Enloquecer (Palm Spring ShortFest selection), and Dish (feature film). Stephanie danced professionally for several years in NYC. Her original work for stage includes Lighthouse Triptych, produced at LaMama ETC, Dixon Place, The Brick, and in Shanghai; Sweat Spot 101 with Diana Ramirez, produced at the Walker Theater; My Unfinished Girl, co-created with Kyra Sims and Sarah Todes and produced at The Cell. She is a performer, writer, and director with Society Theatre Company. Her first short film, Fort Trumbull, won Best Narrative Short at the Mystic Film Festival in 2021. Stephanie teaches acting, movement, and voice at New York Film Academy and coaches privately. BA: Barnard College; MFA: NYU Grad Acting.

James Lane

James T. Lane- From Philadelphia. West End: The Scottsboro Boys, A Chorus Line – Revival (Palladium Theatre). Broadway: Kiss Me, Kate (Paul), King Kong the Musical ,The Scottsboro Boys (Ozie Powell/Ruby Bates), Chicago and A Chorus Line (Richie Walters). National Tours: Jersey Boys, Cinderella, Fame the Musical. Regional Theatre: Mary Poppins (Bert) Drury Lane Theatre, The Wiz (Tin Man), Broadway at Music Circus,The Old Globe, The Little Mermaid (Sebastian) The Muny, A.C.T and Dallas Theatre Center. Encores/Off Center: Promenade,Grand Hotel, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope Concerts: Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops, Ottawa Symphony and many more. Mr. Lane teaches music theatre dance when and wherever anyone will let him! Instagram: @jamestlane www.jamestlane.com

Leah Temple Lang

Leah is an Irish-born, New York based actor, director, and filmmaker, and is delighted to be returning to
NYFA this summer. Leah trained under Ann Kavanagh at home in Dublin’s Young People’s Theatre, and
at the Lir’s Young Theatre Workshop before completing their Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Psychology,
Human Development and Linguistics at Boston College on a D1 Athletic Scholarship. Leah is currently
enrolled at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and plans to graduate with an MFA in
Acting in 2026.
Leah’s most recent theatre credits include J.O.A.N by Marc Lafia (Joan), The Maker by Dakota Silvey
(Yellow), Arrangements by Thomas James Boudreau (Maggie), Dirty Laundry by Caleb Duke (Aubrey),
Art by Yasmina Reza (Saoirse/Serge), Idawalley by Maggie Kearnan (Idawalley Lewis), Dead Man’s
Cellphone by Sarah Ruhl (Mrs. Gottlieb), Wanda’s Visit by Christopher Durang (Marsha). Recent film and
television credits include The Scar dir. Joanne Pacholec (Anna), Birdie dir. Harrison Walker (Girl), Lesley
dir. Leah Temple Lang (Hannah), and Little Women dir. Vanessa Caswill (Jenny Snow).

Rafael Lessa

Rafael Lessa is a filmmaker with over 14 years of experience working for players like Amazon and Netflix. He transitions between commercially successful TV projects and artistically relevant films on the international stage. His latest feature film as a screenwriter, “Rule 34”, won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno and has screened in multiple festivals such as Busan, Tallinn Black Nights, and Newfest. In addition, Rafael was the head writer and co-producer of the show “Lov3” for Amazon and won the Brazilian Writer’s Association award. He also wrote seasons one and two of “Samantha!”, a Netflix series. He’s also the head writer of “The Adventures of Jose and Durval” for Globo, the 4th biggest network in the world, and produced by Latin America powerhouse O2 Films (City of God). Rafael has also collaborated with filmmaker Alex Moratto as a screenplay consultant for his films awarded at the Independent Spirit Awards and Venice Film Festival. Rafael began his screenwriting career with the short “Tá,” winner of the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival. He holds an MFA degree with Honors from Columbia University and a joint MBA in the Business of Entertainment from the University of Southern California.

Jack Lipson

Multi-musical-hyphenate Jack Lipson composed the theme and score to zenroom, a new sitcom starring Cheri Oteri. The LA-native-turned New Yorker co-writes music, lyrics, and -stars alongside his twin brother in Jack & Benny Lipson’s “sensational, clever, and astute” revues across the country. They also penned Miranda, Please!, an “opera buffalo,” and Brainstorm, a song cycle of their material.

The LA Phil commissioned Jack to co-curate and -arrange a Weimar-era Berlin cabaret for their 2020 Weimar Festival. MD highlights include 3 shows with writer Mark Saltzman: Romeo & Bernadette (off-Broadway 2022), Another Roll of the Dice (arrangements/orchestrations, world premiere 2019), and Alice, Formerly of Wonderland (vocal arrangements); Sweet Charity (dir. Kathleen Marshall with Laura Bell Bundy, Reprise 2.0), Dot Dot Dot (TheatreWorksUSA), and on Welcome to Chippendales (with Andrew Rannells, Hulu).

Jack has piano’ed and sung supporting Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, esperanza spalding, Darren Criss, Broadway legend Barbara Dixon, and many more at venues from The Hollywood Bowl to Disney Hall. Jack currently writes in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop and earned his Bachelor’s in music composition at UCLA.

Barry London

Barry London holds a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Following graduating in the late 90’s he worked as a boom op and as a location mixer on a number of independent films. He mixed the film Personal Velocity which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival in 2002. Following that, he spent years working in all different facets of the industry. From film, television, commercial, reality, documentary, hidden camera, and competition shows the list goes on and on. Where ever you may need sound he can be found, boom pole in hand, and trying to get someone mic’d up. In addition to being well versed in location sound, Barry ran a recording studio for 10 years in Brooklyn, and has a background in post audio and studio recording.

Matt Lopez

Matt Lopez first started dancing at the age of 10, performing for a Filipino dance troupe in New Hampshire. He majored in theatre at Northeastern University and transferred to the University of Central Florida, where he danced at Walt Disney World. Matt performed with Hilary Duff in the Christmas Day Parade televised on ABC. He also worked as the mascot for the New England Patriots. In the spring of 2010, Lopez was featured in the Go-Go Segment on “Live with Regis and Kelly.” His other notable past stage/television performances include dancing for Sean Kingston and Wyclef Jean on a kids programming show on PBS, as well as for Demi Lovato on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Matt now lives in New York City, where he is currently dancing and choreographing with his partner, Melissa Ramos-Lopez, who previously danced for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. In April 2012, Lopez was the audition facilitator for a Nicki Minaj performance and was chosen as a lead dancer in Times Square for the debut of her album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.” Matt choreographed for the 5-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots Cheerleaders, the pre-game performance at Madison Square Garden for the NY Knicks and for R&B/Pop artist, Sid Haywoode. In 2015, he was selected as one of the Top 12 Dance Convention Teachers in the U.S. by “Dance Informa Magazine.” Lopez is currently teaching hip hop and street jazz at Steps on Broadway, Broadway Dance Center, Sarah Lawrence College and the New York Film Academy.

Susannah Ludwig

Susannah Ludwig’s dynamic career in film production includes producing KINGS POINT, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Her latest project, ON MEDITATION, was released theatrically and via Netflix in 2016. ON MEDITATION features such notable personalities as Congressman Tim Ryan, Filmmaker David Lynch, Giancarlo Esposito, and Peter Matthiessen. Additionally, Ludwig has served as an Executive Producer for Snapdragon Films, working with clients such as Microsoft, Xerox, Weight Watchers, Conde Nast Traveler, Johnson & Johnson, and Lululemon. She co-created the docu-series BOOMTOWN, about the effects of oil discovery on a town in North Dakota. BOOMTOWN, which aired on Discovery/Planet Green, won the IDA award for best documentary series 2011. STOLEN, a documentary exploring the 1990 art heist at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, was released theatrically in 50 cities, distributed via Netflix, and broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens series. Five years ago, she started PORTRAITS THAT MOVE, a business that creates short documentaries of children for families. Ludwig serves on the board of the Kids In Need Foundation, a non-profit that provides school supplies to children who cannot afford them. She lives in Long Island.

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