Faculty Directory

Kyle Branzel

KYLE BRANZEL is a highly sought-after musical theatre coach, trusted by some of Broadway’s most thrilling performers. Drawing from a wide variety of theatrical experience as Director, Music Director, Actor, and Pianist, Kyle empowers actors in NYC and around the world to develop their artistry holistically and navigate their careers with integrity. His innovative approach to physical acting training and physiological vocal coaching have helped many clients and students book roles in films, TV shows, Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, national tours, regional productions, and cruise ships. Current teaching appointments: Musical Theatre Instructor at New York Film Academy, Musical Theatre and Movement Instructor at Jen Waldman Studio, Guest Lecturer of Musical Theatre at Western Illinois University, Head of Acting at Omaha Conservatory of Music’s SoundWaves Summer Institute. Previous: Hartt School of Music, Roosevelt University. Founder: Rock U, a comprehensive and dynamic approach to performing popular music. Member: Actors’ Equity Association. BFA Musical Theatre: Roosevelt University. kylebranzel.com

Lauren Ann Brickman

As an actor Lauren has appeared on screen in such projects as FBI: most wanted, Bull, Gloria Bell, Alterlatino, Stuffed with Lisa Lampanelli, and much more including being a former house performer at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade & a company member of The Story Pirates. As an educator Lauren has worked at Adelphi University, Montclair State, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough, and the University of Iowa where she earned her MFA in acting. Lauren is also a published writer for periodicals such as Glamour magazine & freelance director. She is also the 1/2 of the comedy duo we Stan together.

John Briscoe

Editor of multiple commercials broadcast both in Western Pennsylvania as well as Los Angeles. Worked as a freelance contractor on various independent films, webisodes and commercials. Editor of an 8-episode “war time” style documentary independently and aired locally in Los Angeles. Director, Producer and Editor of various segments airing on Pennsylvania television including a commercial for Hyundai, as well as various local food establishments and businesses.

Lizzy Brooks

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lizzy is an Actor, Singer and Screenwriter. BA: Columbia University- Art History. MFA: Brown/Trinity Repertory (Acting, Directing and Playwriting). Select credits include Broadway: Macbeth (u/s Lady Macbeth, Banquo); Regional Theater: As You Like It (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Julius Caesar (The Hanover Theater) and Shoebox: A Roadside Picnic (ASF). Film and TV: The Storied Life of AJ Fikry (Hulu/Amazon Prime), New Amsterdam (NBC) and Hostages (NBC)

Todd Bruno

Todd Bruno is an award-winning actor and producer, and a native of South Florida. He is a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York and has a Theater degree from Vanderbilt University. Best known for Stratagem (2017), Palace (2018) and Proximity (2013), he is a veteran of more than 40 film productions and 50+ stage productions. Todd is on faculty at New York Film Academy, and his latest film Corona Camp is set to release this year.

Amanda Brzezowski Associate Chair of Filmmaking

Amanda Brzezowski received her MA in Film Studies from Columbia University. She has presented papers at multidisciplinary conferences held at Emory University in Atlanta and the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Previously Amanda worked at POV, the longest-running documentary series on PBS, screening documentaries in consideration for the series, and coordinating the annual Editorial Committee Meeting with programmers and independent filmmakers. Since 2013, she has screened documentary films in consideration for festivals including DOC NYC, Camden International Film Festival, and Tribeca Film Festival. Amanda has also directed short documentaries for local nonprofits to help raise money for community programs supporting children, seniors, cancer survivors, and musicians. Currently, she teaches in the Documentary Traditions & Aesthetics courses for the NYFA Documentary Conservatory programs and is the Associate Chair of Filmmaking.

Bruce Buckley

Bruce attended Sheridan for college where he studied art fundamentals. His primary focus was photography, shooting both 35mm and 4×5. Commercial photography was exciting and he did lots of studio work and architectural photography.

After earning his degree, Bruce took a job with the Canadian government working with microfilm. There he discovered computers and became curious about the possibilities of using them to make art. After nine years there Bruce returned to school to study technical illustration.

In 1987 he went to NAB where he met fellow Canadian Steve Williams who was at the conference presenting with Alias. A phone call from ILM in 1993 brought Bruce to ILM. At ILM he went to work right away on films including; Casper, Dragonheart, and Congo helping to develop systems and tools to make the artist’s work move seamless. In 1995 Bruce was headhunted away by Disney to come work on Dinosaur. Bruce’s credits include; Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Incredibles, Monster House, Beowulf, Scott Pilgrim, Tree of Life, John Carter, Prometheus, Fate of the Furious, Kong: Skull Island, and Deadpool 2, to name just a few.

Today Bruce teaches at the NY Film Academy and is a Freelance CG/VFX Supervisor.

Lea Tolub Brandenburg

Lea Tolub Brandenburg has been teaching, acting, and directing for over 30 years.

She’s worked in film, theatre, commercials, industrials, and voice-over. Currently, she teaches Directors Craft in NYFA’s online short-term programs. She’s directed seven original short films and hundreds of scenes/shorts in her acting for film classes. As a casting director, she’s cast two features and a number of commercials. She wrote, directed and produced the short: And Again. The film was an official selection of the Big Apple Film Festival and GenCon. She is the co-author of “The Actor’s Workbook: How to Become a Working Actor”. In 2015 she received an MFA in Film from Vermont College of Fine Arts demonstrating that you never stop learning and growing as an artist.

Todd Buonopane

Todd Buonopane is an award winning actor, singer, director and story-teller. On Broadway, he starred as Jean-Michel in Cinderella, Amos in Chicago, Roger in Grease, and many characters in …Spelling Bee. He appeared Off-Broadway in The Butter & Egg Man, Henry & Mudge, and The New Yorkers at Encores! Touring audiences have seen him in The Play That Goes Wrong, Godspell, & Chicago (which he also performed in Tokyo, Seoul and Dubai.) Regionally, he has performed at the Alliance, The Old Globe, Asolo Rep, MUNY, Signature, Pasadena Playhouse, 5th Avenue, Ordway, Papermill Playhouse, Goodspeed, Maine State, the Argyle, North Shore and Barrington.TV credits include “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Braindead”, “Law & Order:CI”, and “30 Rock” (as Weinerslav). Todd is also a director, having directed productions of The Prom, Urinetown, Legally Blonde and Spelling Bee. toddbuonopane.com

Joe Burke

Joe Burke’s debut feature film, Four Dogs, world premiered to great reviews at the Los Angeles Film Festival. He’s directed such shows as Newsreaders on Adult Swim and FOX Digital’s half-hour comedy, Bad Samaritans, along with having written/directed several award-winning short films. Joe has a few new exciting film projects in the works at different stages of the process. He has also spent plenty of time on the other side of the camera as well, acting on screen in movies, national commercials, and television shows, including the critically acclaimed Showtime show Ray Donovan and Freeform’s Good Trouble. Joe earned his MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute, and his BA in Film/Minor in Theater from Columbia College Chicago. He is a member of both the DGA and SAG-AFTRA.

Nancy Burson

Acclaimed artist/photographer Nancy Burson’s work is shown in museums and galleries internationally. “Seeing and Believing”, her traveling 2002 retrospective originating at the Grey Art Gallery, was nominated for Best Solo Museum Show of the Year in New York City by the International Association of Art Critics. She has served as a visiting professor at Harvard and was a member of the adjunct photography faculty at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for five years.

Her work is included in museums worldwide including the MoMA, Metropolitan Museum, and the Whitney Museum in New York City, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, the LA County Museum of Art, and the Getty Museum, MoMA (San Francisco), the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, as well as many others. She has collaborated with Creative Time, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Deutsche Bank in completing several important public art projects in NYC.

Preston Butler

MFA in Acting, California Institute of the Arts.
Preston Butler III is a multi-hyphenate artist who engages in acting, directing, writing, and music. He has performed all across the United States as well as internationally in France, Belgium, and Scotland. Butler starred as Kitch in the West Coast Premiere of Pass Over by Antionette Nwandu (She’s Gotta Have It) at ACT Seattle, in which he won Best Actor in a Play. In 2021, Butler made his network television debut as a jazz pianist (Kendle Spotnitz) on NCIS. Preston also wrote and directed an original theatrical production at his alma mater, Vanguard University. Created in collaboration with current students, the play, God So Loved: Do We?, explored the complexities of racism, social justice, and faith. This “Digital Play” centered on the new reality of ‘stay-at-home’ virtual communications with each scene taking place via Zoom, FaceTime, and social media posts. Butler voices Cooper Calhoun, a recurring character on the Focus on the Family audio series, Adventures in Odyssey. Most recently, Preston narrated The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois for Apple Books as a part of their celebration of Black History Month. As an educator, Preston worked intensively with the CalArts Community Arts Program (CAP) developing new programs centered on digital content creation and the various elements of filmmaking. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, Preston teaches Acting in the Script To Screen course, as well as Scene Study. For the Producing Department in LA, he teaches Acting for Producers.

Michael Thomas Cain

Michael Thomas Cain is a writer, director, and producer for film and theatre. Michael is the founder of Forgotten Artist Productions (a full service production company), and in the last few years, this production company has produced several film projects (all written and/or directed by Michael) that have been screened at prominent international film festivals and collected numerous film awards and nominations at these festivals. The current movie Not Approved For Cancer Treatment, also written and directed by Michael, was recently screened at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, gaining 4 award nominations. In May of 2022, Michael wrote and directed the play version of “Not Approved For Cancer Treatment” in the New York Theater Festival. Recently, Michael’s play ENOUGH’S ENOUGH! was presented by the UR Here Theater Company in Fresno, California. In recent years, Michael wrote and directed WHERE ART LIVES (performed at UNDER St. Marks Theater) and “Eliminated” (performed at Manhattan Repertory Theatre) for the stage. In 2012, Michael wrote, directed, and produced ENOUGH’S ENOUGH! at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club as part of the NY International Fringe Festival. Michael has earned an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Adelphi University and a B.A. in Communications/Theatre from Augusta College.

Rachel Callman

BA in Advertising, University of Florida
Rachel is a comedy writer who has written for the Comedy Central show Tosh.O and worked for the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards. She is the Director of Operations for Untitled Ladies Script Club and a mentor at Made In Her Image. She currently has a comedic biopic about the co-founder of OPI Nail Lacquer in development at Cavalry Media with Dana Brunetti (The Social Networ, Captain Phillips) with Robert Luketic attached to direct and a half-hour pilot in development with Idina Menzel’s Loudmouth Media. In the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Comedy Writing, Adaptation, Story Generation, and TV Workshops.

Derrick Cameron

Derrick Cameron is a native of Chicago, IL. Upon seeing “Do The Right Thing” at the age of 11, he set out on a path to his chosen profession. He graduated from Morehouse College in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. He then matriculated to the graduate school of film at Florida State University, where he graduated in 2002 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts.

Derrick has written and directed four acclaimed short films entitled “The Man,” “Caroline,” “Cherry Hook,” and “It Never Entered My Mind.” “Caroline” screened at the Toronto Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, and the RAI channel in Italy. “It Never Entered My Mind” is currently on the festival circuit, having screened at the Cannes Short Film Festival, Chicago South Side Film Festival, Portland Film Festival, and won Best Short at the Malta Film Festival. Derrick has produced three short films, most notably the short film “ANTS,” which won first place in the comedy category at the 2003 College Television Awards and screened at the Cannes Film Festival, both of which Derrick attended. Several of Derrick’s screenplays have won awards, specifically his original pilot “The Saint of Striver’s Row” and his spec Western “The Widower,” which placed in the top 10% of the Nicholls Fellowship. He was also featured in the February 2004 issue of Vanity Fair magazine as one of Budweiser’s New Discovery Filmmakers. Finally, Derrick also wrote and directed the 2008 feature film, “Right on Louise.”

Derrick is a past Executive Director at Ghetto Film School (GFS) in the South Bronx, NY. He left GFS to pursue personal projects and resume his career in academia as an adjunct professor of filmmaking at New York Film Academy.

Tony Candelaria

Tony Candelaria began his career at Cafe FX in Santa Maria CA. as a CG modeler for feature films and television. In 2001 Tony worked at Warner Bros animation, developing and animating pilots. in 2005 he worked at Laika animation, making stop-motion animation for films, Coraline and Paranorman. Currently, he is creating puppets for Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio at Shadow Machine. Tony lives in Los Angeles.