Faculty Directory

Andrew Todd Wankier

Award-winning screenwriter Andrew (Andy) Wankier joined NYFA after teaching English Composition full-time at UCLA. Prior to this, he also taught screenwriting at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He firmly believes that in order to better write creatively, one must learn to write academically and is known for his friendly Socratic approach, encouraging students to become more comfortable in finding their own writing voices. Andy is a freelance journalist and blogger.

Paul Warner

Paul Warner is an award-winning director and educator, whose more than 50 productions span film, theater, and opera. He most recently directed the feature film, HAMLET/HORATIO, which premiered on Amazon in June 2021, and subsequently enjoyed limited theatrical release in 2022. HAMLET/HORATIO has been the recipient of 15 international festival awards. Prior to HAMLET/HORATIO, Warner directed a new musical, RIVER OF STONE by Drama Desk nominee Peter Melnick with book by Ty Defoe which premiered at the Jaffa Festival as well as Wendy Whelan of the New York City Ballet in the premiere of WOMEN: THE WAR WITHIN, a dance-opera by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun and Obie-winning writer Matthew Maguire, which premiered at The Baryshnikov Arts Center. Film credits include the feature FALL TIME (Lionsgate) starring Mickey Rourke (nominated for The Grand Jury Prize in competition at Sundance), IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER (Sundance premiere), the disco movie musical, KAYA: TASTE OF PARADISE (lyrics and music by Anna K. Jacobs (Teeth) and book by Jerome Parker as well as David Michalek’s PORTRAITS IN DRAMATIC TIME, with Alan Rickman, William H. Macy, and Holly Hunter (Lincoln Center Festival premiere), for which he directed the actors and served as Executive Creative Consultant. Warner is a graduate of Harvard and The American Film Institute and the recipient of numerous honors including The Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation for sustained achievement in directing. He has served on the faculties of: NYU, SVA, and SUNY Purchase, amongst others. Currently, he is a senior instructor of Directing, Acting, and Producing at The New York Film Academy. Paulwarnerofficial.com

Selyna Warren

Selyna Warren makes up one half of the multi-hyphenate team S&M, along with Marissa Read. They are writers and directors who act in their own material. They sold our first show, Foursome, to ATV/Youtube Originals and continued to showrun the series which ran for four seasons, breaking the network’s record. They worked with CounterBalance and Sony on the 1/2 hour comedy, Bad Apple. In the feature space they are writing an *NSYNC love letter alongside Rachel Bloom for Tristar. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, Selyna teaches Comedy Writing, Acting as part of the Script To Screen course, TV Workshops, and Web Series.

Matthew Webster

Matt Webster is a New York City based actor and writer. As an actor, Matt has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on National tours, and recently won Best Actor for his portrayal of Johnny Pope in A Hatful of Rain (BroadwayWorld.com). As a writer, Matt’s plays and musicals include: BACK; JAY AND THE CONTEST; ALEX FOX: AMERICAN HERO; and his original musical KINGDOM COME. With his frequent collaborator Taylor Ferrera, Matt has co-written several shows, including: a new 4 actor version of CINDERELLA; DEMOCRACY, DAY 1; COUNTY FAIR – A COUNTRY HITS MUSICAL; and PROPAGANDA! THE MUSICAL. Matt’s pilot script, BACK, won Best Pilot at the 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Fest. Matt received his BFA in Acting from West Virginia University where he was named the outstanding graduate from the College of Creative Arts. Matt is a founding member of the Magic Forest Theatre Company, and co-owner of the production company Propaganda Theatricals. Matt won the Johnny Mercer Award for Songwriting and currently works as the Creative Director for Broadway’s Andrew Lippa. www.TheOtherMattWebster.com

Christina Weir

MA in Mass Communications/TV Production, Emerson College.
Christina has worked in television, comics, film, and games for over two decades. Along with her writing partner (Nunzio DeFilippis), she 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. She and her 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.) For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Thesis Workshops, TV Pilot, Sequential Art, Transmedia, Interactive Narrative, Character Workshop, and Story Generation.

Neal Weisman

Neal Weisman is an award-winning film and television producer with over 25 years of international experience in Los Angeles, London, and New York. Producing credits include The Politician’s Wife (winner of BAFTA, International Emmy, and Peabody Awards), Seeing Red (winner of Christopher Award), and My Kingdom (World Premiere of Toronto International Film Festival), which starred Richard Harris in his last leading role. Let’s Talk About Sex, a documentary, was broadcast on TLC/Discovery, digital and DVD release through New Video. Neal was the Vice President of the Edward Pressman Film Corporation, which was responsible for producing films like Academy Award winners Wall Street (starred Michael Douglas, directed by Oliver Stone) and Reversal of Fortune (which won Jeremy Irons his Best Leading Actor Oscar starring opposite Glenn Close). Also Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio, Plenty, which starred Meryl Streep, Charles Burnett’s To Sleep With Anger, David Byrne’s True Stories, and Best Directing Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel. He is a dual US/UK citizen and currently resides in New York City.

Thomas Werner

Thomas is the author of the books The Business of Fine Art Photography, Routledge, New York, and The Fashion Image for Bloomsbury Publishing, London. A creative consultant, Thomas works one on one with students, creatives, businesses, cultural institutions, and not for profits helping them refine their communications, and achieve their goals in fashion and fine arts. He is a contributor to Adobe’s Lightroom Academy, an Editor at Large for IRKmagazine, a Paris based fashion and culture magazine and website, founder of Thomas Werner Projects Podcast, the Global Editorial Director at Les Loupes des Steppes Publishing, and past Photography Program Director at Parsons School of Design in New York. Werner also led a team developing a media and literacy web site and resource center in five languages, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic and English for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations/UNESCO.

He is the former owner of Thomas Werner Gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea Art District, and a former National Board member and NY Chapter President for the American Society of Media Photographers. He has worked with the United States Department of State on cultural projects in Russia, and been a photography consultant for COACH and Rodale Publishing, among others. Thomaswernerprojects.com @Thomaswernerprojects

Naomi White

Naomi White is a feminist, artist, activist, and educator invested in ideas at the intersection of political ecology and photography. She is the winner of PDN’s Objects of Desire award and has exhibited throughout North America and Europe, including the Center for Creative Photography, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, GE World Headquarters; CAMP Gallery, Scope Miami, and Photo LA. She has been awarded residencies at Jentel Arts and Artist Residencies in Motherhood.

Her work has been published in PDN, The Brooklyn Rail, Uncertain States, and On Art & Aesthetics. White holds an MFA in Photography and Related Media from SVA in New York, and a BA in English Literature from San Francisco State.

Jonathan Whittaker Chair of Short Term Programs

Chair of Short-term Intensive Programs

Jonathan Whittaker is a partner and founding member of ManInHat, a New York-based production company. With over 15 years of experience in the film industry, having produced, directed, and lensed short films, music videos, live concerts, commercials, TV shows, features, docs and 3D specials, he is never one to shy away from a new challenge. Nissan, Sony Pictures, DirecTV, Gillette, Hyundai, and Sports Illustrated are just a few of his clients and collaborators. When he is not on set or in an edit you can usually find him at the head of a lecture hall sharing his thoughts on the art of cinematography and the director’s craft. In addition to being a resident professor at the New York Film Academy, he has also given guest lectures all over the globe.

Mike Williamson

MFA in Cinematography, AFI. Award-winning cinematographer living in Los Angeles. Shot four independent feature films, including “Bilal’s Stand”, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Photographed TV & web series including “30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust” for Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures. Additional credits as gaffer on independent features, shorts and commercials.

Natasha Wolfgang

MFA, American Film Institute. Natasha is an artist, both traditional and digital. She started her career as a costume designer, and worked on period films in Europe. After moving to the US, she continued work in New York’s Off-Broadway theater scene. Natasha has also worked on shorts and features in various art department positions and has several years of experience working as an interior designer.

Jessica Wolfson

Jessica Wolfson has directed and produced many critically-acclaimed documentary films and series. In recent years she produced “Sacred” (IDFA, DOC NYC, Tokyo International Film Festival); “Revenge of the Mekons” with Fred Armisen and Jonathan Franzen (“Top 10 films of 2014” by Village Voice); “A Girl and a Gun”; “Next Year Jerusalem” and “Crazy Sexy Cancer” (SXSW, aired on TLC and OWN). She has created award-winning media content for ESPN, MTV, Conde Nast, NYU, Canon and many nonprofit organizations. At IFC TV Original Programming, she developed and produced documentaries including “This Film is Not Yet Rated” by Kirby Dick (Sundance, SXSW, Seattle International Film Festival); “Wanderlust” by Academy Award nominees Bob Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman; “The Bridge” by Eric Steele; “Greg the Bunny”; and Emmy-nominated “Dinner for Five” with Jon Favreau. Jessica directed and produced Netflix’s award-winning and critically acclaimed “Radio Unnameable” (Cine Golden Eagle, Full Frame, Silver Docs, “Top 10 Films of 2012” by the New York Daily News). Jessica is a consulting producer and mentor for filmmakers through the IFP and Tribeca Film Institute, and is currently in production for Discovery Channel.

Dr. Mark Woods

Dr. Mark Woods holds a Ph.D. in Film Studies from the Film School for Wales and a B.A. in Liberal Studies / Film Studies Certificate from Florida International University, F.I.U., ‘cum laude.’ He is a qualified British lawyer, holding the LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law ‘with Distinction’ from Glamorgan Law School and the British Graduate Diploma in Law. Dr. Mark Woods serves on the faculty of the New York Film Academy (NYFA), South Beach Campus, having previously lectured abroad for 13 years, on the faculty of the British Creative Skillset Screen Academy, Cardiff, U.S.W., the F.I.U. Czech Film Study Abroad Program – Prague, and on the faculty of the University of Molise, Italy. He is an External Examiner for the International Baccalaureate in Film (IB) in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Woods has worked with the Miami International Film Festival and served on boards including IFP/Miami, Outshine Film Festival (formerly MGLFF).

Wysandria Woolsey

Wysandria Woolsey originated the role of The Sugar Bowl in Disney’s Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast,” and is featured on the cast recording and in the national commercial. She performed the role of Carlotta in the Broadway production of “The Phantom of the Opera” and was in “Parade at Lincoln Center,” both directed by Hal Prince. Other original Broadway shows include: “Aspects of Love” and “Chess,” both directed by Trevor Nunn. In Europe she was Grizabella in the Austrian production of “Cats,” and has performed in numerous national tours including “Whistle Down The Wind” (dir. Hal Prince), “Zorba” with Anthony Quinn (dir. Joel Grey), “On the 20th Century” as understudy to Imogene Coca, and “Song and Dance” as stand-by to Melissa Manchester. She was a featured soloist in “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber” (dir. Arlene Phillips). Other regional and stock credits include: “City of Angels,” “Blood Brothers,” “A Chorus Line” and “Street Scene.” She has also appeared as a soloist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra in both Cleveland and Breckenridge Colorado, and was featured in the Lincoln Center Tribute to Alan Jay Lerner and at in a “Tribute to Stephen Sondheim” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Lori S. Wyman

Lori S. Wyman, CSA, one of the most prominent Casting Directors in the southeast, has been casting films, television shows, and commercials in South Florida since 1979. Lori attended the University of Miami and she graduated with her Bachelors Degree in Speech and Communications and her minor in Education. She received her Master’s Degree from Nova Southeastern University (NSU) with a concentration in Drama Therapy. She pursued this degree in order to help actors with Audition Anxiety.

Upon graduating with her undergraduate degree, she aggressively pursued a casting career and immediately started working for ACT I Talent Agency. At the time, ACT I was the biggest talent agency in the State of Florida. Quickly building a reputation as one of the most outstanding talent agents in the business, she was asked by the company that was handling the Miami Vice casting if she would be one of their staff casting directors. While there, she worked on the Principal casting for “Miami Vice” during the 2nd and 3rd seasons. At the end of the 3rd season, she was approached by one of the producers of “Miami Vice” and asked to come work for them directly and head up their entire casting division. She did that for the duration of the series.

When “Miami Vice” wrapped, she was immediately asked to head up the casting offices of the Burt Reynolds series, “BL Stryker” and to cast the Florida episodes of Stephen J. Cannell’s “21 Jumpstreet” and “Wiseguy.” After these 3 series, Lori decided to make the lucrative move to commercials and feature film casting. In 1989 Lori was invited to become a member of the Casting Society of America, the professional organization of casting directors in the U.S.

She opened her own offices in North Miami Beach in the spring of 1990. With her own studio space, offices and equipment,
she was able to expand her business opportunities and provide a wider variety of services. Lori has also served on the Miami-Dade County Film, Print and Broadcast Advisory Board, helping to make decisions regarding the Film industry in Miami-Dade County. Lori is also a past vice-president of WOMPI, Women of the Motion Picture Industry, to whom she has contributed her casting services for many of their not-for-profit films that the organization produces for the good of the community.

Some of Lori’s more recent casting credits are MARCEL by Warner Bros on Apple TV, The Right Stuff on Disney Plus, HBO’s Ballers, Bloodline for Netflix, USA’s Burn Notice, The Glades and Graceland, and Starz’s Magic City. Lori is an EMMY nominee for HBO’S Recount and she has been nominated for 8 Artios and has won the prestigious Artios casting award 2 times for HBO’s Recount and Bloodline on Netflix.

Nicholas Yellen

Nick founded NYCA, a Manhattan based literary agency representing screenwriters, directors, playwrights, TV writers, and novelists where he has set up projects at almost every major studio and TV network.

Nick co-founded Edwards-Yellen Entertainment (EYE), a literary management/film and television production company based in Los Angeles. While with EYE, the company had a 2-picture production deal with ABC-Productions. He produced I Know What You Did with Rosanna Arquette, the VH1 TV movie Out of Sync, Retribution for the SAT1 cable network, and the feature If Tomorrow Comes with James Franco. EYE also had development deals with many of the major networks and studios including ABC, Hearst Entertainment, VH1, Phoenix Pictures, Edward R. Pressman, Warner Bros., Alan Landsberg Productions, The Wolper Organization, Lifetime Network, All Girl Productions, and Wilshire Court among others. Nick also worked on the movie Intent for Columbia/Tri-Star.

Theatrically, Nick helped produce the musicals Lucky in the Rain, for the Goodspeed Opera House and Say Yes at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Nick started his career in film and television at International Creative Management (ICM), then the world’s largest talent agency. After leaving ICM, Nick managed the Geffen Records recording artist Graveyard Train. Nick began his career as an FM-Radio disc jockey in Saratoga, NY and San Antonio, TX.