NYFA
Faculty Directory

Faculty Directory

Jim Hillin

Jim came to Los Angeles in 1979 as an artist, animator and musician. He began is career in computer graphics at a start-up in 1985 in Pasadena, CA. while also attending The Art Center College of Design. As an artist, he pushed to learn the engineering side of CGI, eating and breathing the new discipline.

In his fifth year in the business, Jim was chosen to be the Artistic Supervisor of CGI for “Beauty and the Beast” at Disney.

In 1993, he was hired as the Director of Digital Production for a new VFX shop, Digital Domain. He hired the first crew, created specs for the original software, including “Nuke” and worked on many motion pictures.

In 1995, Jim returned to Disney to head up a new live-action animated project, called ‘Dinosaur.’ After completing his work on the film, he worked as a Writer-Director at Disney Animation, pitching five animated features and two shorts in six months.

In 2000, Jim was elected by his peers into the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In addition, Jim belongs to the Visual Effects Society, The Animation Guild and he has recently joined The Television Academy.

Isabella Hoffman

A native Chicagoan, Isabella Hofmann began her acting career as a main stage member of Chicago’s Second City (alongside fellow company members Richard Kind and Dan Castellaneta.) She was also in several Chicago theatrical productions such as Painting Churches at Wisdom Bridge, Teibele and Her Demon at Northlight (for which she was nominated for a Jefferson Award), and Uncle Vanya at the Goodman Theatre (opposite John Mahoney).

After being cast as an Irish immigrant in the television movie Independence (for which she received The Western Heritage Award), Isabella moved to Los Angeles where she went on to become a series regular on such shows as Dear John (with Judd Hirsch), The Boys (with Chris Meloni), Homicide: Life on the Street (Melissa Leo, Andre Braugher, Daniel Baldwin), and Beggars and Choosers (Christina Hendricks). She’s also recurred on The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Providence, JAG, The Practice, and Criminal Minds.

Her feature credits include Dreamer, West End (in post production), Burlesque, Princess Diaries II, Little Chenier, Touched By A Killer, Tripwire, and Renaissance Man.

Hofmann still lives in Los Angeles with her son Atticus, and continues to work in film, television, and theater.

Heather Huntington

MAPH in Literature, University of Chicago
Danielle Evenson & Heather Huntington are two halves of one set of headphones. The podcast writers have been featured in Deadline, WhoHaHa, Podcast Delivery, PodFluence, Audio Drama Debut, Fiction Podcast Weekly, Pajiba and Broadway World. When they’re not knee deep in sound cues, they also write for TV and film, including The New Adventures of Old Christine, Noggin’s Tales From The Playground, PBS’s Frankenstein MD, MGM’s Craft, Cafe of Love, for Reel One and a Christmas series for Disney. Their audio series, Up a River for Aural Stories launched this summer, and their series A Midsemester Night’s Dream starring Bridgerton’s Charithra Chanran will be released this fall. They teach together (as they write together) for Screenwriting LA in classes like Podcasting and Storytelling with Purpose.

Alejandro Ibarra

Alejandro began taking photographs at age 17 after one of his brothers passed away. He mentions they did not have a good portrait of him to use for the funeral, so he decided to start documenting the people in his life.

With over ten years of editorial and commercial work under his belt, Alejandro works mainly with actors and people in the entertainment industry, musicians, politicians, among others. His work has taken him to four continents and has been shown around the world including: Australia, Turkey, Holland, Mexico, New York, Boston, Seattle, Miami, Los Angeles, and Spain, among other places. His work has been featured in GQ Spain, Cannes Film Festival, Out, The Advocate, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, PDN, HOLA!, Metro.co.UK, and various other publications. His projects Piece by Piece and Coming Out Stories have been shown in galleries and various festivals all over the country.

Alejandro obtained a BFA in Filmmaking and an MFA in Photography. He currently resides and teaches photography in New York, and travels to Los Angeles and Mexico City for work.

Corey Johnson Acting for Film Instructor

Corey Johnson is an actor and writer and holds his MFA in Acting from the University of Southern California.

TV credits include NBC’s Mr. Mayor, ABC’s One Life To Live, Adam Ruins Everything on TruTV, and Jennifer Falls on TVLand. He can be seen as Dave in Buddy and Bernice, produced by Kevin Hart’s LOL Studios, streaming on Peacock. He appears alongside Robyn Lively, Bart Johnson, and Arden Myrin in the feature film, Strong Father, Strong Daughters and can be seen in the 2019 Sundance hit, Greener Grass.

He has performed on Los Angeles stages (Sacred Fools, Four Clowns, Malibu Playhouse), regionally (AZ Theater Company, River Rep, Seven Angels), and internationally (Toulouse Opera House). Corey has performed improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade and collaborates regularly with his sketch team, Onassis (SF Sketch Fest, Friar’s Club Sketch winners).

As a writer, Corey is the creator of The 39 Years of Rory and Dylan and A VeryGood Home for the College Humor platform, DropOut, and was a contributing writer for The Onion News Network.

He is a part-time lecturer at Chapman University and was an Artist In Residence at Central CT State University.

Greg Johnson

MFA in Film & Television, USC
Greg is the screenwriter of THE LAST SON (2021), a western-action feature film starring Sam Worthington, Machine Gun Kelly, Heather Graham, Thomas Jane, and directed by Tim Sutton. His newest film, OLD GUY (2024) finished production in 2023 and stars Christoph Waltz, Cooper Hoffman, Lucy Liu and is directed by Simon West. Previously, Greg worked with 20th Century Fox Studios to develop four original features including an alternative version of the Fantastic Four franchise called DOCTOR DOOM. He has also done assignments for Universal, Davis Entertainment, and TIK Films. Greg is a two-time finalist in the Warner Brothers Television Writers’ Workshop. Currently, he is developing NESTED GAMES, an international action-adventure spy show with Bound Television. In the Screenwriting Department in LA, he teaches Elements of Screenwriting, Rewriting, Adaptation, Story Generation, Genre Studies, TV Pilot, and Feature Workshops.

Kenneth Johnson

Writer, Director, Producer. Creator of V, The Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation, The Bionic Woman, and other Emmy Award-winning shows. Director of numerous TV movies and feature films, including Short Circuit 2 and Steel. Winner of the prestigious Viewers for Quality Television Award, multiple Saturn Awards, and The Sci-Fi Universe Life Achievement Award.

Lenny Jones

I’ve worked for the last 30+ years in Los Angeles as a Sound Designer, Editor and Supervisor.

My body of work includes hit TV shows such as Ancient Aliens, Curse of Oak Island, Penn and Teller’s BS and Unsolved Mysteries. Theatrical campaigns for Sony, Dreamworks, Warner Bros, Paramount, 20th and Marvel studios. VR experiences for Netfilx’s Stranger Things, Daredevil and Death Note. Independent features: Terror on The Prairie (2022), The Fallen (2022), Cinnamon (2023) and Bunker (2023) I also own my own publishing company for Music and Sound Design elements. I’ve been teaching at NYFA since 2022.

Phil Kaufmann Associate Chair of Acting for Film

MFA in Acting, Yale School of Drama; BA in Drama, Dartmouth College. TV appearances on “Law and Order”, “Harry’s Law”, “The Mentalist”, as well as many commercials. Director of several short films, including pilot presentation, “Intelligence” and Emmy-nominated short-form series, “Send Me”.

Suzanne Kent

Founding company member of The Groundlings Theatre Company in Los Angeles and created the Sunday Company program at The Groundlings. Over 30 feature film credits, including “Middle Men,” “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid,” “Nuts,” “The Boost,” and “History of the World: Part I”. Television series regular roles on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” “St. Elsewhere,” “The Garry Shandling Show,” and “Brotherly Love.” Voice actor on “Rugrats,” “The Wild Thornberrys,” and “Rocket Power”.

Dr. Konstantin Kremenetski

B.S. Physical Geography, Moscow Lomonosov University, 1983 PhD Geomorphology and Paleogeography, Institute of Geography, USSR Academy of Sciences, 1987; Teaching experience in Earth Science, Environmental Science and Geography disciplines.

Justin LaReau

LaReau founded Zoe and Pebbles Productions and developed A Demon Within which was acquired by Blue Fox Entertainment and Level 33 and released theatrically on Jan 12, 2018. The company, under LaReau’s direction, produces high production value feature films while working within efficient budgets. LaReau also works as a director and loves being on set, specifically having the opportunity to work with talented actors. LaReau is currently in development of multiple projects. BS in Economics, Illinois State University, MAT in Teaching, Olivet Nazarene University and MFA in Producing, New York Film Academy.

Kelly Larson

BA in Film Production, LMU
Kelly Larson is an LGBTQ+ LatinX writer who has written on the CW’s Batwoman, where she has also served as a Writer’s Assistant. Prior to that, she served as assistant to Kevin Williams on CBS All Access’ Tell Me A Story, and to Caroline Dries under her Sony TV overall deal as well as when she was on the CW’s The Vampire Diaries. Being part of the Pre WGA community, she has organized mixers and spearheaded script campaigns to encourage unrepresented writers to meet and be heard, while also bringing together WGA writers to meet with and mentor lower level assistants. For the Screenwriting Department in LA, she teaches Storytelling with Purpose, TV Workshops, and Business of TV as part of the Business of Screenwriting courses.

Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC

Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC, is a cinematographer and photographer born in Warsaw,
Poland. After graduating from the Polish National Film Academy with a degree in
Cinematography, Jacek left for the United States and made his home in New York City,
where he worked for BBC TV working on many documentaries. While in New York he
also worked on numerous music videos with the Academy award winning director
Zbigniew Rybczynski, as well as for SNL with director Jonathan Demme.
There he shot his first feature film Parting Glances directed by Bill Sherwood
After moving to Los Angeles he worked with the directors such as Donal Petrie Sr,
(Square Dance), Robert Altman (The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal), Michael Pressman,
(Quick Sand, Frankie & Johnny are Married, and the series The Guardian)
The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal earned Jacek the 1989 American Society of
Cinematographers nomination for the Outstanding Cinematography. In 1996 Garden of
Redemption directed by Tom Donnelly, a WWII drama earned Jacek his second A.S.C
nomination. In 1997 Jacek co-lensed a full-length documentary Colors Straight Up. The
film was nominated for a 1998 Academy Award. In 2007 Jacek shot Jerry was a Man
directed by Academy Award nominee Michael Tolkin.
In 2000 Jacek became a member of The American Society of Cinematographers.
In 2011 Jacek became a member of the Polish Society of Cinenamtographers.
Jacek has traveled the globe, shooting films in Canada, Portugal, New Zealand, Italy,
Lithuania, Japan, Nepal, India, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Peru.
Jacek’s second passion is photography. He has participated in two group shows, Still
Moving at the gallery in Los Angeles and in 2006 Photographs by the members of the
A.S.C. at the Academy of Motion Pictures. In April 2008 he held his first solo exhibit at
the WM Gallery in Amsterdam.
Over the course of the past five years Jacek has taught cinematography at a number of
colleges including, The American Film Institute, USC School of Cinematic Arts,
California Institute of the Arts, and The Maine Photographic Workshop.
Jacek speaks Polish, English and French.

Paul Laverack

Paul has an MFA in Screenwriting and MA in Mass Communication from Cal State Northridge, and a BA in Theater from Elmira College in New York. He has toured the country as a performer in musical theater as well as educational shows for kids, worked as Video Producer for the Families in Schools foundation, and has created over 100 episodes for his YouTube channel, Read Aloud with Mr. Paul.

Pascal Lebegue, AFC

Pascal studied cinema at the IDHEC (aka FEMIS) in Paris at a time when Henri Alekan, Ricardo Aronovitch and Nestor Almendros were sharing their immense knowledge and passion for cinematography. He met cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn straight out of school and assisted him for the 5 following years. French director-producer Claude Berri offered him his first movie to operate and Pascal Thomas his first TV to shoot.
Pascal fondness for lighting and filming -especially in black and white- found expression with the advent of music videos. He worked with such talented directors as David Fincher, Francis Lawrence, JB Mondino and brilliant artists as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Don Henley, Rihanna, Jay-Z, to name a few.
Pascal’s work on music videos earned him awards and recognition, including two MTV Awards for Best Cinematography (Madonna’s Vogue and Don Henley’s Boys of Summer), Silver D&AD Awards (Sting’s Russians), and a KODAK Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinematography in the Music Videos category.
Pascal shot most of his feature films in France. His collaborations with Roman Polanski and Alain Corneau were defining moments. Pascal worked on a string of movies, including films with Gerard Pires, Jean-Marie Poirier, Pierre Granier-Deferre and Etienne Chatilliez’ Life is a Long and Quiet River.

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