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Where Are They Now? Spotlight On New York Film Academy Summer Camp Alumni

April 22, 2018

Long before the final school bell rings every year, kids and teens around the world are dreaming of a camp where they can do what they love all day, every day. At the New York Film Academy, camp means storytelling in the visual and performing arts. Since 1996, the visual and performing arts stars of tomorrow have found their way to NYFA, where we’ve welcomed thousands of young artists, performers, filmmakers, and designers from all over the world at our many international locations. Our campers collaborate with working industry professionals while creating their own original art, and the creative excitement can last a lifetime.


Even after summer ends and our campers go home, many take their passion for the visual and performing arts to the next level as they forge their own pathways as rising artists. Check out these incredibly inspiring stories from some of our NYFA summer camp alums.

Aubrey Plaza

Made famous by her breakout performance as April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation with Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza, attended film camp at NYFA — and even returned to the school as a Guest Speaker in 2015. Since then, she has skyrocketed from success to success, going on to astound audiences with her riveting performance as Legion to winning an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature for Ingrid Goes West in 2018.

Lily Buchanan


Child actor Lily Buchanan recently had a starring turn in Syfy’s dark comedy series, Happy!, a dark comedy series that stars New York Film Academy Guest Speaker Christopher Meloni. The young actress has also stolen scenes in 2018’s Real Love and The After Party.

Eve Hewson


Eve Hewson may come from a famous family, but the daughter of U2 rock star Bono has carved out her own space in the entertainment industry through hard work and talent — which she honed in NYFA’s summer camps for acting! Since her studies, Eve has acted opposite Sean Penn and Frances McDormand in This Must Be the Place, opposite James Gandolfini in Enough Said, and opposite Clive Owen in Steven Soderbergh critically acclaimed series The Knick.

Michael Gallagher

New York Film Academy summer camp grad Michael Gallagher started out making hundreds of shorts on YouTube channel TotallySketch before going on to realize his dreams as a director. His directing credits include TV mini-series Interns, How to Survive High School and The Station. He’s also produced films Smiley, The Thinning, and Internet Famous. Despite being so busy, Gallagher found the time to return to NYFA as a Guest Speaker for a special screening of his film The Thinning in 2016.

Bex Taylor-Klaus

An alum of NYFA’s filmmaking camps, Bex Taylor-Klaus now stars in the hit MTV TV series Scream — though savvy viewers may also recognize her from her appearances in popular shows like House of Lies, The Killing, and Arrow. And if you listen closely, you’ll be able to tell that Bex also voiced the character of Katie “Pidge” Holt in Netflix’s Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Jonathan Morgan Heit

After attending NYFA camps both as a kid and a teen, Jonathan Morgan Heit has gone on to great fun as the voice of Disney Junior’s Cubby and in commercials for Comcast, Zales, Dodge, Wal-Mart, Publix and Barilla Pasta. But you’ll also recognize him from TV smash hits including How I Met Your Mother, ER, and Close to Home, as well as films films Disney feature In Search of Santa Paws, Date Night, and Valentine’s Day.

Pati Amoroso

After wrapping up NYFA’s musical theatre camp in 2010, Pati Amoroso starred as Sophie in Brazil’s production of the Broadway smash hit Mamma Mia! And in 2018, she is expanding her work from stage to screen, with production of first pilot, Don’t Dig.

Learn more about NYFA’s many summer and youth camp offerings here.

by nyfa