Faculty Directory

Nedra Gallegos

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Nedra is an Instructor at the New York Film Academy-Los Angeles, where she teaches History of Acting, History of Theatre, History of Women in Film, TV and Theatre and Psychology of Production. Her background as an actor, director and teaching artist in New York City and Los Angeles uniquely qualifies her to work with students from all walks of life and backgrounds.

Matt Galuppo Chair of Media Arts Department

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Matt has been working in entertainment for over 10 years beginning his career as an intern on Inception. From there he worked on a dozen or so films as a previs artist, including The Amazing Spider-Man II, Warcraft, Poltergeist, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. After that Matt began his directing career, making commercials for Fortune 500 companies including Toyota, Fiat, Netflix, and Nintendo. Spots, he produced, have garnered hundreds of millions of views and earned American Advertising Award, Muse Creative Award, among others. As a copywriter he has worked on Superbowl spots for brands like Verizon, Microsoft, and the NFL. Matt recently began his TV career selling animated pilots to COMEDY CENTRAL and SYFY.

More than all of this, Matt is most proud of the accomplishments of his students. In Matt’s 7 years of teaching animation his students have gone onto work on academy award winning teams, make effects for tent pole franchises, like Justice League and Star Wars, and even push the industry the forward helping create the industry standard software used by artists around the globe.

Kuldeep Gangola

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Kuldeep Gangola is a filmmaker and post-production instructor based in New York. With over six years of teaching experience at the New York Film Academy and over 8 years of industry experience, he brings a deep understanding of nonfiction storytelling, editing craft, and industry-standard workflows. He has worked on films for platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS, and HBO. Kuldeep is passionate about mentoring young filmmakers and helping them find their unique voice through visual storytelling.

Betty Garcia

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Filmmaker | Creative Producer | Teaching Artist
Betty Marisol García is a filmmaker and creative producer with experience in narrative,
documentary, and commercial production. Her award-winning short films have screened
at festivals including the HBO New York Latino Film Festival and the New Latin Cinema
Festival in Havana. She has produced content for clients such as Nickelodeon and The
Ford Foundation. Betty holds an M.A. in Film and Media Studies from The New School
and is a dedicated teaching artist committed to nurturing emerging voices in film.

Éva Gardos

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Éva is an award-winning film director and editor born in Hungary. Éva’s screenwriting and feature film directorial debut, An American Rhapsody, starred a young Scarlett Johansson. The film is based on the true life events of Éva’s family escaping from Hungary in the 1950s and being forced to leave their infant child (Éva) behind.

Ebba-Marie Gendron

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Ebba-Marie Gendron has been teaching English as a second language to university students for the past 13 years. This is her “new teaching career,” as she’s been an acting teacher for the past 30 years, with a concentration in movement work. In addition to her experience as a teacher, she graduated from UCLA with a masters degree in dance/movement therapy and worked with a chronic and acute psychiatric adult population for several years. She has been a member of the NYFA faculty for the past 7 years, having taught in the ESL, Acting for Film, and Pathways programs.

Dr. Masha Ghanbarpoor

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As an educator, whose expertise lies at the intersection of language pedagogy, academic writing, instructional design, and educational technology, Mahsa has extensive teaching experience at both undergraduate and graduate levels. She completed her doctoral studies and received her PhD in Applied Linguistics with a focus on TEFL from the University of Tehran. Driven by a passion for advancing education through technology, she is currently engaged in the pursuit of her second doctorate degree, an EdD (Doctor of Education), in Education Technology at the University of Florida. Through this program, her aim is to leverage emerging technologies to enhance learning outcomes and promote inclusive, engaging, and interactive learning environments. In addition to her experience in teaching and mentoring students at various academic levels, Mahsa has actively contributed to the scholarly community through her research publications. She has published several scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, contributed to academic books, and presented at international conferences within the realm of higher education, both domestically and abroad. Her main research interests include formative evaluation, computerized dynamic assessment, teacher education, and learner characteristics in second language learning.

Cathy Giannone Russo Acting for Film Instructor

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BFA from Strasberg Institute at NYU. Lifetime member of Actors Studio. Has taught at Artist Theatre Group and Third Street Theatre. Recipient of two Drama Circle Awards and four DramaLogue Awards. Cathy Giannone is known for her work on The Bogus Witch Project, CB4 and The Little Rascals Save the Day.

David Givens Edit Lab Supervisor

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David Givens is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in New York City, with a focus on film, theater, and youth mentorship. With experience as a director, editor, and instructor, he has worked with institutions such as the New York Film Academy and various NYC public schools to empower young creatives through storytelling. His work blends technical expertise with a passion for uplifting voices and building community through the arts.

Maria Gobetti Acting for Film Instructor

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MA and BA in Theatre, UCLA. Artistic Co-Director at The Victory Theatre Center, with over 80 directing credits. Maria directed the critic’s choice world premieres of Jon Klein’s Suggestibility and Wishing Well. She also directed and produced the critic’s choice production of David Mamet’s Oleanna; the world premieres of American Iliad by Donald Freed. Maria was the 1992 recipient of Women in Theatre’s Outstanding Achievement In Theatre Award.

Lynda Goodfriend Creative Director of Performing Arts Department

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Creative Director

Lynda received her BFA from Southern Methodist University. She has also studied with the legends, Lee Strasberg and Sandy Meisner​. Lynda is a veteran of both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions appearing in shows such as Good News, West Side Story, She Loves Me, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Boyfriend. She was a series regular​ on the iconic hit television show “Happy Days,” and on the series “Who’s Watching the Kids,”​and “Blanksy’s Beauties.” She guest starred on shows such as Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Vegas. She has also appeared in feature films such as “Pretty Woman,” “Taxi Driver,” “The Front,” “Beaches,” ​and “Nothing in Common.”​ Lynda was owner and principle instructor of the Actors Workout School for 15 years with locations in both Los Angeles and Orange County. Her theatre, the Actors Workout Theatre in NoHo, won numerous awards for its theatrical productions. She has also directed for television and film including a Disney pilot and the television movie Four Stars. Lynda opened her management company in 1983 and developed many actors’ careers until she became Chair of the Acting Department for NYFA in Los Angeles in 2011.

Prima Gonzalez Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

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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.

Lee Gordon Associate Chair of Film Arts Department (Filmmaking)

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MFA in Screenwriting, AFI. With over a decade of industry experience, companies such as Disney and Warner Brothers have trusted Lee Gordon for his writing expertise. Having worked as a screenwriter and story consultant, Lee’s talents have taken him into adventurous corners of Hollywood. He was field producer for the scrappy indie documentary, Undefeated, which won the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; writer for the Jean Claude Carriere Lifetime Achievement Award production for the Oscars narrated by Jeremy Irons; and has helped write several award-winning trailers.

Lizzie Gottlieb

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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.

Brandii Grace

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Development positions at Microsoft Game Studios, Monolith Productions (Warner Brothers), Renaissance Games, Amaze Entertainment (working on Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, and Shrek the Third), and Hidden Path Entertainment. Teaching experience at Digipen Institute of Technology. Community leader at International Game Developers Associations. Education: Western Washington University, Computer Science

Ben Granoff

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Ben Granoff has worked in New York City for twenty years as a visual storyteller with production houses, animation studios, advertising agencies, publishers and museums. Since his teenage years, he has been teaching cartooning for after-school programs, summer camps, charter schools, and social service agencies. He has been helping NYFA students bring their imaginations to life since 2017.