AFI Conservatory: Faculty

Any or all correspondence to the AFI Conservatory Faculty, please direct to the Admissions Office at admissions@afi.com.

Robert Mandel | Dean
Mandel graduated from AFI in 1979 and is an award-winning director with credits including F/X, SCHOOL TIES, BIG SHOTS and THE SUBSTITUTE. He has also directed numerous television movies for HBO, Fox, ESPN, Lifetime and A&E, as well as episodic television such as THE X-FILES (pilot), LOST and PRISON BREAK. He won an Emmy Award for his first after-school special, ANDREA'S STORY. Mandel began his career as a stage director, with productions at The Manhattan Theatre Club, The Roundabout and The Public Theatre — where Joseph Papp was his mentor. He has MFA degrees from both Columbia University and AFI. Mandel has taught at City College of New York and has been a Directing Mentor at the Sundance Institute. Mandel received the Alfred Hitchcock Award when he was at AFI and his thesis film, NIGHT AT O'REARS, received First Prize at Filmex in Los Angeles, First Prize at USA Film Festival in Dallas, and was shown as one of three short films selected by the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. He is the recipient of the 2009 Special Educator Award given by The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors.

Joe Petricca | Executive Vice Dean
Petricca holds an MFA in Screenwriting from AFI and a BFA in Film Production from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Petricca is responsible for oversight of administrative functions for the AFI Conservatory, National Workshops and special projects. He directly oversees the Directing Workshop for Women, the Sloan Foundation funded programs and the Catalyst Workshop. He provides legal and business affairs oversight to AFI Conservatory productions. As a screenwriter, he has had feature screenplays optioned, has written for Robert Osborne on Turner Classic Movies and has taught/spoken at film festivals, trade shows and colleges around the world. As a film critic he wrote for the KCET Web site. As an art director, Petricca has worked on numerous TV, film, music video and commercial projects. As a producer, he has produced short films, industrials and music videos. He volunteer-taught screenwriting and filmmaking to at-risk Los Angeles teenagers for seven years. In 2007 he was awarded a Chevalier of Academic Palms from the French government for contributions in Los Angeles to French cinema.

Roger Birnbaum | Artistic Director
Birnbaum is a primary counselor to the overall artistic leadership of AFI Conservatory and its programs. A distinguished producer, he is the founder of the production company Spyglass Entertainment with partner Gary Barber, where they share the title of co-chairman and CEO. Spyglass successes include THE SIXTH SENSE to BRUCE ALMIGHTY and SEABISCUIT, THE INSIDER, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, SHANGHAI NOON, SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, THE RECRUIT, EIGHT BELOW, THE PACIFIER, WANTED, FOUR CHRISTMASES, STAR TREK, GI JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA, INVICTUS and GET HIM TO THE GREEK. In total, Spyglass films have amassed over 34 Oscar® nominations, including three wins. Prior to founding Spyglass Entertainment, Birnbaum co-founded Caravan Pictures, where he was responsible for RUSH HOUR, SIX DAYS/SEVEN NIGHTS, INSPECTOR GADGET, GROSSE POINT BLANK, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD and WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING. Before joining Caravan, Birnbaum held the title of president of worldwide production and executive vice president at Twentieth Century Fox where he developed such films as HOME ALONE, SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, HOT SHOTS, MY COUSIN VINNY, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, DIE HARD 2 and MRS. DOUBTFIRE. As president of production for United Artists, Birnbaum developed the Oscar-winning RAIN MAN.

Phillip Linson | Vice Dean, Production and Post-Production and Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence: Editing
Linson oversees production and post-production support operations for AFI and the AFI Conservatory. As head of the Editing discipline, Linson teaches classes and works with the other Editing faculty to develop curriculum. Linson's editing career spans a wide range of projects in the realm of film, documentary and television production. He worked early on in the documentary field with award-winning directors Agnes Varda and Haskell Wexler and was an editor on Wexler's feature LATINO. Among his theatrical film credits: DEADFALL, AFTER MIDNIGHT and Sean Penn's THE INDIAN RUNNER. His theatrical sound editing credits include HOT SHOTS, TOMBSTONE and Allison Anders's GAS FOOD LODGING. In addition, he helped produce the Finnish film LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA.

Carolyn Brooks | Vice Dean, Fellow Affairs
Brooks came to California from New York City to attend AFI in Producing in 1985. She produced films for Disney Educational Productions and worked as an independent producer before earning a Masters Degree in Education and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential from Loyola Marymount University. Upon graduation from LMU, Carolyn developed the counseling program for Lawndale High School, where she was the Head Counselor for 11 years. In addition to her job at AFI, she teaches in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University.

Betsy Pollock | Associate Dean, Production and Director, First Year Production Services
Pollock has worked as a producer, associate producer and first AD on feature films, commercials, PSAs and MOWs. She was the co-producer of a short film, TWO SOLDIERS, which won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Dramatic short. She was involved in the production of such films as WIND, STEALING HOME and LADY IN WHITE, and was the head of production of FILMLINK INTERNATIONAL. Pollock has a long-time involvement with Women in Film, currently serving on the Foundation Board as co-chair of the Film Finishing Fund. For three years she was head of the producing discipline at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Gill Dennis | Master Filmmaker-in-Residence: Thesis Production
Responsible for the overall creative guidance of thesis productions, Dennis is a screenwriter and teacher. His credits include WALK THE LINE, HOME FIRES and RETURN TO OZ. With Tom Rickman he founded the Screenwriting Program at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and has taught at Cal Arts, the Northwest Film and Video Center, and at workshops in Scotland, Australia, Portugal and Ireland. He is a recipient of the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Direction in theatre.

Marie Cantin | Director, Thesis Production
Marie Cantin produced the Sundance Audience Award winning film THE WATERDANCE, as well as the independent features DAYS OF WRATH and THE BOOK OF STARS, which won Best Picture at the Stony Brook Film Festival. Serving in various producer capacities, Cantin's portfolio of projects includes MASKED AND ANONYMOUS starring Bob Dylan, SAVE THE LAST DANCE, THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD, BIG FAT LIAR, A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY, HEART CONDITION and TORCH SONG TRILOGY. She has also worked as a production manager on such feature films as COLLATERAL and DANTE'S PEAK. Cantin's television work includes the John Wells series SMITH and the series TRYING TIMES. In addition to creating workshops for the Association of Film Commissioners International, the MPA Latino America, the Finnish Film Foundation and the Montana and Wyoming Film Commissions, Cantin has taught courses in motion picture production at the International Film and Television Workshops in Rockport, Maine, UC Santa Cruz, California State College Los Angeles and UCLA Extension. Cantin is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Stephen Lighthill (ASC) | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence
Stephen Lighthill (ASC) | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence While shooting for CBS News and 60 MINUTES, Lighthill created one of the first shoulder-held news cameras. His documentary film SONS AND DAUGHTERS, about the Vietnam War, launched his career filming social issue documentaries. Among the many documentaries he has filmed are GIMME SHELTER and BERKELEY IN THE '60s. His cinematography credits for independent features include OVER-UNDER, SIDEWAYS-DOWN, HOT SUMMER WINDS, and SHIMMER, all for PBS' American Playhouse. Lighthill served as Director of Photography on the TV series VIETNAM WAR STORY for HBO, EARTH 2, NASH BRIDGES and THE HUNTRESS. In 2005 he returned to documentaries with HBO's BOFFO! TINSELTOWN'S BOMBS AND BLOCKBUSTERS and HBO's THE ALZHEIMER'S PROJECT: "Caregivers." He is on the Board Of Governors Of the American Society of Cinematographers and the National Executive Board of the International Cinematographers Guild. In 2000, the Society of Camera Operators honored him with its President's Award. In 2010 he received the Deluxe Bud Stone award for Outstanding Educational Contributions to the Art and Craft of Cinematography from the ICG and was awarded the 2010 SMPTE Kodak Education Award for Outstanding Contributions In Education. In June 2012 he was elected to a one year term as President of the American Society Of Cinematographers.

Bill Dill (ASC) | Senior Lecturer
Dill holds a BA in Communication Studies from Oberlin College. His cinematography credits include SIDEWALK STORIES, B.A.P.S., DANCING IN SEPTEMBER, the Showtime TV series SOUL FOOD, and the American Playhouse production of FIRES IN THE MIRROR, based on the Pulitzer-nominated play. Among many productions he has filmed for HBO are the Ace Award-winning children's program MOMMY BUY ME THAT and comedy specials for Robert Townsend, Damon Wayans and Whoopie Goldberg. Dill also lensed a Clio award-winning commercial campaign for Nickelodeon Television Network.

Tal Lazar | Lecturer
Tal is a professional director of photography and has worked on a wide range of projects in genres spanning drama, horror and comedy. He holds an MFA degree from the world renowned American Film Institute Conservatory.

Before relocating to Los Angeles in 2007, Tal worked as a director of photography on television shows and music videos in Israel. He previously gained professional experience as a union assistant cameraman working on internationally recognized films.

Tal began his film studies at Tel Aviv University. While pursuing his education, Tal received the Sharet foundation prize for cinematography and participated in the 2005 Budapest Cinematography Masterclass, instructed by Mr. Vilmos Zsimond, ASC and Mr. John Schwartzman, ASC. He participated and produced the 2004 Tel Aviv Cinematography Masterclass, instructed by Mr. Adam Greenberg, ASC and Mr. Ricardo Aronovish, AFC. During his final year at AFI he received the FotoKem Cinematography Grant and Panavision's New Filmmakers Grant for his thesis film SHADOW MAN.

Prior to his film career, Tal served the Israeli Defense Forces as a staff sergeant. He finished his services with a sign of excellence bestowed upon him by Israeli president Eizer Weizman.

Larry Mole Parker | Lecturer
Executive vice president of Mole-Richardson Co. and the grandson of the company's founder, Peter Mole, Parker was instrumental in designing such familiar cinema lights as the Baby 10K and Baby 1K in the mid-'60s, as well as the Softlite line and the Litewate Banded Cable System. Parker regularly conducts workshops and seminars for film students, on the Mole-Richardson soundstage. He is an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers.

Michael M. Pessah | Lecturer
Michael Marius Pessah is a cinematographer whose feature film and narrative work has been shown theatrically and on HBO, MTV, BET, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, PAX and the BBC. He has lensed non-fiction pieces that have been broadcast on the USA Network, Current TV, and Canal +. He was the recipient of a 2007 LA Weekly Theater award for the play "Iphigenia, a Rave Fable", and shot VIVA LA CAUSA, which was shortlisted for a 2008 Academy Award.

Michael was born in Cambridge and raised in New York. He earned a BA in Humanities at Hampshire College, where he was a Kodak Cinematography Scholarship award finalist. His frst "industry" job was in development at Nickelodeon, and is proud to have received his MFA in Cinematography at the American Film Institute. He has been teaching cinematography at the university level since 2005.

Robert Primes (ASC) | Lecturer
Primes is a cinematographer and director, known as a pioneer of digital cinematography. He won cinematography Emmys in 1995 (MY ANTONIA) and 2000 (FELICITY), the ASC award in 2003 (MDs) and has had five other major nominations. His feature film credits include BAADASSSSS,VEGAS BABY, MURDER OF CROWS, MONEY TALKS, ASPEN EXTREME, THE HARD WAY and BIRD ON A WIRE. His television credits include THIRTYSOMETHING, QUANTUM LEAP, MY ANTONIA, FELICITY, MDs and NIGHT STALKER. He has taught at many major American film schools and has served on the boards of the American Society of Cinematographers, International Cinematographers Guild, National Film Preservation Board, Wide Screen Film Festival and the Los Angeles Art Institute.

Charles Rose | Lecturer
Like many of his professional colleagues, He started making Super-8 movies while in High School. Living on the East Coast, New York University was the only School at that time which offered a Film Program that had any consistency and stature, so he applied there and was accepted. The first two years were spent in a bit of personal frustration as I wanted to get much more hands-on with the camera gear than was provided by the Cinematography track that I was on. I would take cameras home and on my own, didn't know that there were books that would have helped me, tried to figure out how they worked. Sometimes things went well, other times minor disasters were caused by my ignorance and limited experience. In 1971 NYU was partnering with others in an International experiment to create the "Ideal" Film School, that would be based in Switzerland. Cool. "The University of the New World" was born and he was among the members of the first entering class. The School went belly-up 18 Months later but he had his foot in the Euro door.

Lying to his parents and telling them that he had a "solid" job offer, he returned to his beloved Europe (specifically Italy this time) in 1973. He was advised by his Northern friends to avoid Rome (the Film Industry center) as there was too much mafia there and to try the more modern and industrial city of Milan. His next 33 years were spent with this City as the base he worked from, living an International career as a Cinematographer.

He was honored in 1986 with an invitation to join the A.I.C. (Italian Cinematographer's Guild) which was presided over by Vittorio Storaro A.I.C., A.S.C.

He worked on many Features, hundreds of commercials, documentary films, and music videos, the whole gamut of productions available for a Cinematographer, and his work has been recognized at the Cannes, Venice, Berlin, San Sebastian,New York Clio, and the Tokyo Film Festivals. In 1996, while riding in a company car to the set of a commercial in Switzerland and in the company of a Director with whom he had worked on a Feature that was rather successful in Europe, he was asked if he wanted to do a Feature in Los Angeles. Asked his wife (she is his best advisor) if she thought this to be a good move...she said "yes...do it." Thus a return to the US after many years of absence.

The Kodak Film trucks speeding across the Hollywood Hills, visiting the Panavision Worldwide headquarters at Woodland Hills and seeing the plethora of cameras, lenses, and prep bays, working with Technicolor Film Lab on a film are some of the "rushes" that he experience being here in Los Angeles.

DIRECTING

Peter Markham | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence
Markham, who holds a BA in Drama and English from Hull University in the UK, gained considerable experience in TV and film production, serving as First Assistant Director on Anthony Minghella's TRULY MADLY DEEPLY. Graduating from the BBC Director's Course where his final project, THE TABLE, was developed with and written by Anthony Minghella, Markham directed the extensive second unit on THE ENGLISH PATIENT. He directed THE CORMORANT starring Ralph Fiennes and subsequently, for Martin Scorsese, directed Second Unit on GANGS OF NEW YORK. His teaching at AFI has enabled him to incorporate into the program a broad and challenging spectrum of practical and narrative craft that encompasses approaches and techniques now informing the work of alumni active in film and Television.

Azazel Jacobs | Lecturer
Azazel Jacobs, son of avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs, was born in 1972 and raised in New York's lower Manhattan surrounded by important and innovative artists. He went to undergraduate school at the film department of SUNY Purchase and received his Masters from the American Film Institute in 2002.

During his study, he made the experimental piece "Nobody Needs To Know", which premiered in competition at the Rotterdam Film Festival. Two years later he teemed up with fellow filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo to make the micro budget feature "The GoodTimesKid", released by Benten films, which has gone on to a cult following.

Azazel's award winning "Momma's Man" premiered in Sundance 2008, and quickly became one of the most lauded films of the year, winding up on many "best of" lists, including Salon, Time Out NY, The NY Post, Art Forum and Entertainment Weekly. Upon it's domestic release by Kino International, Manohla Dargis, writing in the NY Times, declared it "Independent film defined."

"Terri", a coming of age comedy /drama, starring an ensemble cast which includes John C. Reilly, was written by Patrick deWitt and directed by Azazel, and premiered in competition at Sundance 2011 and internationally in competition at Locarno where it picked up a Youth Jury Award. Terri was released domestically in the summer of 2011 by ATO pictures, and garnered both Gotham and Spirit nominations.

In the midst of these past films, Azazel was given a retrospective at BAM Cinema in New York City, was commissioned by MOMA for a short film, and most recently, been an advisor at the Sundance Directing Labs. Cinemascope also cited Azazel as one of the 50 Best Directors under 50.

He recently completed filming a mini-series for British television for which he was one of the writers as well as director, and is currently working on an adaption of the Raymond Chandler story "Spanish Blood", which he wrote alongside Gil Dennis (Walk The Line) and "The Grace That Keeps This World", written by Matthew Aldrich and being produced by Anonymous Content.

Perry Lang | Lecturer
Starting to work in film as an actor at 17, Perry Lang has acted in over thirty films and seventy hours of television. His film work includes Sam Fuller's The Big Red One, Steven Spielberg's 1941 and John Sayles's Sunshine State as well as Eight Men Out where Perry played one of the indicted eight who threw the 1919 World Series.

His Television work as an actor includes MASH, the title character in the Emmy winning television special Hewitt's Just Different, A Rumor Of War and numerous guest appearances, including many projects that he has himself either written or directed.

As a writer and director, Perry started writing on Tales From The Darkside in New York. Among a number of studio assignments, he wrote the first film he directed, Little Vegas then rewrote the second, the Action Adventurer; Men of War.

Since then Perry Lang has started 3MinutePictures.Com (where Blue Belle is the first show) and directed many hours of television including NYPD Blue, ER, Alias, Weeds and this year's popular new series NCIS: Los Angeles.

Perry lives with his family in Santa Barbara, California.

Karen Maruyama | Lecturer
In addition to teaching at AFI, Muruyama teaches improvisation, character development, and advanced sketch-writing classes at the Groundlings Theater in Hollywood. Her directing includes Lovespring on Lifetime, and the Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows at the Groundlings. Her acting credits include THE BUCKET LIST, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, NIP/TUCK, RAISING HOPE and WHO'S LINE IS IT ANYWAY? Voiceover credits include THE SIMPSONS, FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD.

Robert Spera | Lecturer
Rob Spera has an extensive background in film, television and theater. His feature film credits include FATHERS AND SONS starring Brad Whitford and Samantha Mathis. Most recently, he directed multiple episodes of CRIMINAL MINDS for CBS and ARMY WIVES for Lifetime. Spera's theater credits include numerous productions in the United States and abroad. As Resident Director at the Tony award winning Actor's Theater of Louisville, he has directed over seventy-five productions. His play, TRACKS, which he wrote and originally directed, was hailed by the critics and enjoyed an extended run in Los Angeles. Mr. Spera's published works include Actors Write for Actors, Encore and the play, THE FIELD.

Andy Wolk | Lecturer
Wolk's directing career began with the much-lauded HBO movie CRIMINAL JUSTICE, which made Time's "Ten Best List," received the Silver Prize at FIPA in Cannes and was named Best Cable Movie of the year. He has since directed many dramas including the pilot of the long-running HBO hit ARLISS, along with numerous episodes of THE SOPRANOS, DAMAGES, UGLY BETTY, WITHOUT A TRACE, THE PRACTICE, CRIMINAL MINDS, NUMBERS, IN PLAIN SIGHT, NYPD BLUE, DAY BREAK, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, THE GUARDIAN, CROSSING JORDAN, DRAGNET, EQUAL JUSTICE, HEIST and others. He received the Humanitas Award for directing the "Final Judgement" episode of THE PRACTICE. He won the Writers Guild Award for writing NATICA JACKSON, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, on PBS. He directed and wrote the movies DELIBERATE INTENT, FIGHTING THE ODDS; THE DEFENDERS: PAYBACK; CHOICE OF EVILS; and TAKING THE FIRST and has directed many other movies for film and television. Wolk's other writing credits include HBO's Emmy-winning FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, produced by Tom Hanks, and TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Wolk's career started in the theater in New York City. For Lincoln Center he directed Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT and THE WINTER'S TALE. He has written and directed plays at theaters such as Manhattan Theatre Club (where he worked on staff for five years), LaMama, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Camera Obscura, a touring theater company which he founded as a grad student in drama at Carnegie-Mellon University. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Wolk has also been a creative adviser at the Sundance Filmmaking Labs.

Andrew Wagner | Lecturer
Writer/Director, Wagner graduated from Brown University with a degree in Creative Writing. He attended NYU's Graduate Film School where his short, THE HARDEST HIT, won the Francois de Menil Scholarship. He moved to Los Angeles to write WACCABUC, a screenplay for United Artists, and then became a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute where he received a Masters in Fine Arts and his thesis film, THE LAST DAYS OF HOPE AND TIME, won the Franklin J. Shaffner Fellowship for distinction in directing. Andrew adapted THE MAN WHO GAVE UP HIS NAME — from the collection of novellas, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, by Jim Harrison — which he developed at the Sundance Writer's Lab. He went on to direct the independent shorts, SOUTH MAIN and COUNTING.

Andrew's first feature film, THE TALENT GIVEN US, was an Official Selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. THE TALENT GIVEN US also won the Jury Prize at the CineVegas Film Festival and Best First Feature at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. It went on to play theatrically in over 30 cities and made the New York Times' and other critics' Best Films of 2005 lists. Andrew was a Breakthrough Director nominee at the 2005 Gotham Awards. STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, Andrew's second feature, starring Frank Langella, Lili Taylor, and Lauren Ambrose, premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and was released theatrically by Roadside Attractions. Frank Langella was voted Best Actor of 2007 by the Boston Critics Association and was Runner-Up for Best Actor in voting by critics associations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas/Ft. Worth. STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING was named one of the Top 10 Independent Films of 2007 by the National Board of Review and made over 30 critics' Best Films of 2007 lists, including A.O. Scott's and Stephen Holden's of the New York Times, and Roger Ebert's of the Chicago Sun-Times. It was nominated for two Spirit Awards: Best Male Lead and Best Screenplay.

EDITING

Wendy Bricmont | Lecturer
Wendy Bricmont received the British Academy Award for her first film, ANNIE HALL. Most recently she helped launch the film franchise DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. She has edited HOTEL FOR DOGS, MAD MONEY for director Callie Khouri and I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE for director Chris Rock. Other film editing credits include MEAN GIRLS for AFI alumnus Mark Waters, HERBIE FULLY LOADED, MY FIRST MISTER for director Christine Lahti, and MY GIRL for director Howard Zieff. She has worked with Ivan Reitman on six films, editing KINDERGARTEN COP, SIX DAYS, SEVEN NIGHTS, EVOLUTION, FATHER'S DAY, JUNIOR, and MY SUPER X GIRLFRIEND. Other film credits include THE SWEETEST THING, MY GIRL 2, LICENSE TO DRIVE, THE RICH MAN'S WIFE, RACE THE SUN, LIGHT IT UP, SURRENDER, CALENDAR GIRL, and THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR. Her television credits include director Robert Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg's AMAZING STORIES, and HBO's PERFECT WITNESS directed by Robert Mandel. Wendy is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The American Cinema Editors and the Motion Picture Editor's Guild.

Donn Cambern | Senior Filmmaker-In-Residence
Cambern holds a BA in music from UCLA. Music editing credits include THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, THE UNTOUCHABLES, IN SPY, GOMER PYLE and THE MONKEES. Cambern edited EASY RIDER, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, STEELYARD BLUES, BLUME IN LOVE, CINDERELLA LIBERTY, THE HINDENBURG, TIME AFTER TIME, HOOPER, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT II, CANNONBALL RUN, PATURNITY, ROMANCING THE STONE, GHOSTBUSTERS II, TWINS, THE BODYGUARD and THE GLIMMER MAN among others. Cambern has taught yearly Master Editing Seminars at the Maine Workshops, Rockport, Maine and also at The International Filmschule, Cologne, Germany. Cambern is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, the American Cinema Editors, the Directors Guild of America and the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as Vice President of the Academy Board of Governors from 1990 to 1994 and from 1997 to 1999. In addition, he held the position of president of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild from 1991 to 2001.

David Cook | Senior Lecturer
After having worked in movie theaters from elementary school through college and graduating from The North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in filmmaking, Cook has worked with acclaimed directors and producers such as James Cameron, Jean Doumanian, Terrence Malick, Edward R. Pressman, Roger Corman, David Gordon Green, William R. Greenblatt, Tony Goldwin, Joseph Sergeant, Sarah Pilsbury, Lisa Muskat and Norman Miller. His credits include GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS, ALL THE REAL GIRLS, CLOVER BEND, GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE JOYRIDERS, DOOMSDAY MAN, HEARSAY, SURFACING, RECKONING, THE SURPRISE PARTY, MAN AND DOG and UNDERTOW.

Danford Greene | Lecturer
Greene holds a BA in Film from USC. Editing credits include THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK, MASH, WHO'S HARRY CRUMB?, PARTNERS, AMERICAN HOT WAX, ALOHA BOBBY AND ROSE, FUN WITH DICK AND JANE, WHICH WAY IS UP, 18 AGAIN, HEAD OFFICE, BLUE SKIES AGAIN, ROCKY II, MYRA BRECKENRIDGE, LOVE AT STAKE, THERE GOES MY BABY, OUTLAW BLUES, MASTER GUNFIGHTER and BLAZING SADDLES. Directing credits include THE SECRET DIARY OF SIGMUND FREUD.

Lynzee Klingman | Mentor
Lynzee Klingman attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison and received a degree in American History from Columbia University. She spent her early career working on documentaries, notably Emile de Antonio's (In the) Year of the Pig, nominated by the Motion Picture Academy in the Best Feature Documentary category. Hearts and Minds won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary and was selected by the Editors Branch of the Academy as one of the 10 best edited films of that year!

Klingman was nominated for an Academy Award for ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST; the film won Best Picture and she won the BAFTA award. She worked again with Milos Forman on the musical HAIR and on MAN ON THE MOON. Other credits include TRUE CONFESSIONS, BABY BOOM, OUTBREAK, PROTOCOL, ALI and A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT. Also, LITTLE MAN TATE, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, WAR OF THE ROSES, MATILDA AND HOFFA. Independent films include PICTURE BRIDE, winner of the Sundance Audience Award, LIVING OUT LOUD and PANIC.

Klingman is a member of ACE, AMPAS and a frequent advisor at the Sundance Institute. She is married to director Richard Pearce and has two children, Jack and Remy.

Farrel Levy | Senior Lecturer
Levy attended the University of Michigan and Cooper Union as a fine arts major. Editing credits include DIRTY DANCING, NYPD BLUE, PRIMAL FEAR, BROOKLYN SOUTH (pilot), THE HAUNTED, ACROSS THE TRACKS, CONFESSIONS OF A SEXIST PIG, BLIND JUSTICE (pilot), THE UNIT (pilot), CRIMINAL MINDS. MELROSE PLACE (pilot), THE DEFENDERS (pilot and series) and Levy has also directed three episodes of NYPD BLUE.

Martin Nicholson | Lecturer
Martin Nicholson holds a BFA in Film Directing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He has edited numerous episodes of television, movies for Cable and Network TV, Documentaries, and Feature Films. Among his editing credits are NORMAN ROCKWELL: AN AMERICAN PORTRAIT, thirtysomething, JOHN DOE (Co-Producer), DEADWOOD, JOHN FROM CINCINATTI, ALMOST GOLDEN: THE JESSICA SAVITCH STORY, LITTLE GIRLS IN PRETTY BOXES (ACE EDDIE), HALLOWEENTOWN, GRACIE'S CHOICE, THE FORBIDDEN ZONE (Assoc. Producer), THE BIG PICTURE, and soon to be released THICK AS THIEVES. His directing credits include thirtysomehting, the award winning short, MISSING PARENTS, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and THE DAY MY PARENTS RAN AWAY. He received a Sundance Institute Fellowship for his screenplay of Tillie Olsen's novel YONNONDIO. He has served multiple terms on the Board of the American Cinema Editors, and is a member of Motion Picture Editors Guild and the Directors Guild of America.

Stan Salfas | Senior Lecturer
Salfas is an acknowledged writer, producer, director and editor of films that have won awards at film festivals worldwide and have been distributed on network television. As a feature film editor, he has worked with directors Steven Soderbergh, Phil Joanou, Keith Gordon and Matt Reeves, among others. He received an Emmy Award and two ACE nominations. Recently, he served as producer in charge of post-production on the series FELICITY and as a co-producer on the ABC drama series, MIRACLES.

Howard Smith | Senior Lecturer
A Directing Fellow at the AFI Conservatory in 1969, Smith studied at Northwestern University, where he made over 50 films. Smith's feature editing credits include BLADE TRINITY, TORQUE, CITY OF GHOSTS, THE CROW, SALVATION, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, AFTER DARK, MY SWEET, AT CLOSE RANGE, STRANGE DAYS, POINT BREAK, NEAR DARK, THE ABYSS, DANTE'S PEAK, BIG MAN ON CAMPUS, RIVER'S EDGE, TEX, and the creature-on-the-wing-of-the-airplane segment of TWILIGHT ZONE-THE MOVIE. Smith was associate producer and editor on the ABC-TV specials OSCAR'S BEST ACTORS and OSCAR'S BEST MOVIES. He also worked on six Academy Award shows, producing and editing all film segments.

PRODUCING

Neil Canton | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence
Canton first worked in Hollywood as assistant to Peter Bogdanovich on WHAT'S UP, DOC?, PAPER MOON and NICKELODEON. He then spent two years on Orson Welles's THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND before leaving to work with Walter Hill on THE WARRIORS. Producing credits include THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, BACK TO THE FUTURE (and its sequels), TRESPASS, GERONIMO, MONEY TRAIN, DUETS, GET CARTER, ANGEL EYES, TRAPPED and INTERSTATE 60. Canton is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.

Richard Arlook | Senior Lecturer
Arlook has been at the Gersh Agency since 1990 and is currently a senior agent and head of the motion picture literary department, where he represents many top screenwriters and directors. Arlook's producing credits include AFTER MIDNIGHT.

Stan Brooks | Senior Lecturer
Holding a BA from Brandeis University and an MFA from AFI, Brooks enjoyed a successful run as president of Savoy Pictures Television, overseeing six production and development entities, after which he ran his own television film production company, Once Upon a Time Films, with a development slate of over 30 hours of movies, miniseries and pilots. Past films include BEHIND THE MASK, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, FALLING FOR YOU, A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES: THE ANNETTE FUNICELLO STORY, SUBMERGED and TALKING TO HEAVEN.

Carol Baum | Lecturer
In 2005 Baum produced SEXUAL LIFE, CAROLINA and THE GOOD GIRL to outstanding reviews and four Independent Spirit nominations. She executive produced SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS, David Cronenberg's DEAD RINGERS and James Foley's RECKLESS. She was also a studio vice-president at Twentieth Century Fox and Lorimar. Additionally, she developed Taylor Hackford's AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN and David Cronenberg's THE DEAD ZONE. Baum was the president of Sandollar Productions for ten years, where she produced such hits as FATHER OF THE BRIDE and its sequel, in addition to the Academy Award winning HBO documentary COMMON THREADS: STORIES OF THE QUILT, and the quadruple ACE award-winning HBO Showcase presentation TIDY ENDINGS. Her features with Sandollar include: IQ, JACKKNIFE, TRUE IDENTITY, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, GROSS ANATOMY, SHINING THROUGH, STRAIGHT TALK and KICKING AND SCREAMING.

Marie Cantin | Lecturer
Marie Cantin produced the Sundance Audience Award winning film THE WATERDANCE, as well as the independent features DAYS OF WRATH and THE BOOK OF STARS which won Best Picture at the Stony Brook Film Festival. Serving in various producer capacities, Ms. Cantin's portfolio of projects includes MASKED AND ANONYMOUS starring Bob Dylan, SAVE THE LAST DANCE, THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD, BIG FAT LIAR, A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY, HEART CONDITION and TORCH SONG TRILOGY. She has also worked as a production manager on a number of productions including COLLATERAL and DANTE'S PEAK. Ms. Cantin's television work includes the John Wells series SMITH and the KCET series TRYING TIMES. She has created workshops for the Association of Film Commissioners International, the MPA Latino America, the Finnish Film Foundation, and the Montana and Wyoming Film Commissions. Marie Cantin has taught courses in motion picture production at the International Film and Television Workshops in Rockport, Maine, as well as UC Santa Cruz, California State College Los Angeles and UCLA Extension.

Robert Cort | Lecturer
Cort has produced forty-seven feature films, which have grossed over 2.5 billion dollars in worldwide box office, including OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, THREE MEN AND A BABY, THREE MEN AND A LITTLE LADY, THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, COCKTAIL, CLASS ACTION, BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, BILL & TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY, THE CUTTING EDGE, TERMINAL VELOCITY, OPERATION DUMBO DROP, BIRD ON A WIRE, JUMANJI, RUNAWAY BRIDE, MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS and SAVE THE LAST DANCE. Cort's HBO film, SOMETHING THE LORD MADE, became one of the most honored movies in television history, winning three Emmys, the Directors and Writers Guild Awards, and the Peabody Award. His five other television films have also won multiple honors, including the Emmy for Best Children's Programming for A MOTHER'S COURAGE: THE MARY THOMAS STORY (1991). Cort entered the motion picture industry in 1976 and one year later was named vice president of advertising, publicity and promotion for Columbia Pictures. In 1980, he became executive vice president of marketing for Fox. In his five years as a marketing chief, Cort planned and supervised the campaigns of such films as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, THE CHINA SYNDROME, ALL THAT JAZZ, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and NINE TO FIVE. He then served as executive vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox, where he oversaw the making of ROMANCING THE STONE, BACHELOR PARTY and REVENGE OF THE NERDS. For the next eleven years, Cort was a partner and president of Interscope Communications. From 1996 to 2001, he was the managing partner of The Cort/Madden Company, a production unit with close ties to Paramount Pictures. In 2001, he formed Robert Cort Productions, an independent feature production company and renewed his relationship with Paramount. Prior to his career in the entertainment industry, Cort was a management consultant for McKinsey and Company, specializing in consumer marketing. He also served a two-year assignment in the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2003 Random House published Cort's first novel, Action!, which garnered outstanding critical reviews and became a bestseller. He holds BA and MA degrees in history from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Penney Finkelman Cox | Lecturer
Penney Finkelman Cox has a background in live-action and animation production. In May 2002, she was named Executive Vice President of Sony Pictures Animation (along with long-time business partner Sandra Rabins) to create a feature animation division for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Cox was responsible for the development and production of the division's roster of projects, including the first two films released by Sony Pictures Animation: OPEN SEASON and the Academy Award nominated SURF'S UP. In addition, Cox, along with Rabins, brought the cartoonist Aaron McGruder, and the animated television series THE BOONDOCKS to Sony Picture Television and Cartoon Network and developed the soon to be released OPEN SEASON 2 for DVD.

Cox began her animation career at DreamWorks SKG, where she fulfilled both producing and executive roles. Cox joined DreamWorks along with Rabins in February of 1994 to start the Animation Division and to produce THE PRINCE OF EGYPT. Cox focused on the creative development of animation material at DreamWorks and was instrumental in transforming commercial visual effects house, PDI, into a feature film facility for DreamWorks. She also served as executive producer on the Academy Award winning SHREK and DreamWorks' first computer-generated movie, ANTZ. In addition, she worked with Aardman Animation on its first stop-motion animated feature, CHICKEN RUN and served as the executive producer on DreamWorks' first direct-to-video animated release, JOSEPH: KING OF DREAMS.

Penney Finkelman Cox came to animation from a background in live-action production. Her feature producing credits include: HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS, WELCOME HOME, ROXIE CARMICHAEL and TILL THERE WAS YOU. She served as executive producer for James L. Brooks on I'll Do Anything and co-produced two other films for Brooks: BROADCAST NEWS and the Oscar® winning TERMS OF ENDEARMENT.

With her production company, Patchwork Productions, she has developed a slate of feature films that most recently includes the animated family movie HUSKY for Participant Films.

Born in Havertown, Pennsylvania, Cox graduated from Barnard College, with a major in psychology. She made her entrance into the performing arts as a press assistant for the Joffrey Ballet, and did a training internship with the National Endowment for the Arts. Cox was an arts administrator for Performing ArtServices, Inc., where she managed non-profit dance, theatre and music companies. She segued into film production with her acceptance into the Directors Guild of America Producer Training Program sin New York.

She resides in Santa Monica with her husband Jim Cox, founder and COO of Ringtales, Inc, and their two children. Cox is a member of the AMPAS, the PGA and ASIFA. She is on the board of Ringtales, Inc. and is a member of the board of directors of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Cox also teaches creative producing at the American Fllm Institute.

Michael Glick | Senior Lecturer
After he finished college at the University of California at Berkeley and completed his military obligation, Mike Glick started his career in the motion picture industry as an estimator in the MGM production department. After gaining experience in various productions areas, he was accepted into the Assistant Directors Training Program where he worked on DR. KILDARE, MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., and MR. NOVAK. His inaugural feature assignment as Assistant Director was on the huge Cinerama epic HOW THE WEST WAS WON, directed by screen legends John Ford, George Marshall and Henry Hathaway. In his subsequent features as an A.D., he worked with such filmmakers as Billy Wilder, Stanley Kramer, John Sturges, John Frankenheimer, and Ralph Nelson on HALLELUJAH TRAIL, SECONDS, and FORTUNE COOKIE. He became First Assistant Director in the first year and first episode of STAR TREK T.V. and continued to work in that capacity on EXTRAORDINARY SEAMAN, TICK TICK TICK, THE DOMINO PRINCIPLE and MY OLD MAN'S PLACE. He was AD on the first show of the series HAWAII FIVE-O. It was on that series that he was promoted to the Unit Production Manager position. Feature film UPM work followed defining his career. A small sample of his credits include McQ, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, the now classic, THE GODFATHER II, CADDYSHACK!!, AND THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, Producer of BUSTIN' LOOSE, Co-producer on OFF LIMITS, THE DOCTOR, TRESPASS, A SIMPLE WISH and FOR RICHER OR POORER,also Executive Producer on LOCK-UP, ROCKY II, ROCKY V, GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND and THE CREW. As Vice President of production for Embassy Pictures, he supervised the filming of THE EMERALD FORREST, THIS IS SPINAL TAP, AND A CHORUS LINE. Until recently he was Sr. V.P. of Physical Production at MGM Studios overseeing the productions of BARBERSHOP, BARBERSHOP II, OUT OF TIME, UPTOWN GIRL, WALKING TALL, SLEEPOVER, BE COOL, INTO THE BLUE and THE PINK PANTHER.

Kevin Jones | Senior Lecturer: Thesis Production
A Los Angeles native, Kevin Jones began his motion picture career as an office assistant at The Ladd Company, later moving to Warner Bros as a story analyst. In 1987, he joined Paramount Pictures as a creative executive and rose to Vice President of Production while working on projects that included COMING TO AMERICA, GHOST, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, and ANOTHER 48HRS. He moved to Columbia Pictures in 1991 as a Senior Vice President and oversaw development and production of GERONIMO, AN AMERICAN LEGEND, GET ON THE BUS, GROUNDHOG DAY, MONEY TRAIN, MULTIPLICITY, and THE NET. In 1998, Jones ventured outside of the studio walls to produce/executive produce and consult on a wide range of independent films including a wrestling documentary BEYOND THE MAT, the low-budget romantic comedy LOVE AND SEX starring Jon Favreau and Famke Janssen and the ensemble karaoke road picture DUETS, featuring Paul Giamatti, Andre Braugher, Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis.

Robert Kaplan | Senior Lecturer
An entertainment attorney and former independent film producer, Kaplan was executive in charge of business affairs at Warner Brothers in London, supervising all non-US production activities. Currently, Kaplan practices on his own and represents feature film writers, directors and producers, particularly in the arena of independent film financing. He also is a founding principal in ScreenBridge, a company specializing in packaging and financing independent films. Credits include KRUSH GROOVE (executive producer), NIGHT OF THE COMET, PAPILLON (associate producer), THE ADVENTURES OF AMERICAN RABBIT and SOUTHERN CROSS (executive producer).

Dana Lustig | Lecturer
Lustig has directed five feature films and produced fifteen. She has now partnered with The King's Speech Academy Award-winning producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman to produce JUNGLE, a true survival story. As an Executive Producer, Dana is currently developing a one-hour drama for PARAMOUNT/CBS.

Dana recently returned from London where she directed the dark love story A THOUSAND KISSES DEEP starring Dougray Scott, Emilia Fox, Jodi Whittaker, and David Warner. In 2009 Dana directed the comedy WILD CHERRY with Rob Schneider, Tia Carrere, Rumer Willis and Kristin Cavallari.

For ten years, Dana was a partner at Bergman Lustig Productions along with Ram Bergman. BLP produced BRICK, which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and bought by Focus Features at Sundance. Among others, Dana produced DANCING AT THE BLUE IGUANA, directed by Oscar nominee Michael Radford (IL POSTINO), starring Daryl Hannah, Sandra Oh, Jennifer Tilly, and Vladimir Mashkov (THE THIEF).

Dana's past directing credits include KILL ME LATER, starring Selma Blair. In 2004, Leonard Maltin included Kill Me Later in his prestigious "Fifty Films that Got Away, Movies You Really Ought to See" list that includes films from the 1930's to present day. When Lions Gate Films released KILL ME LATER, The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Lustig creates the kind of film the movie world could use more of..." Dana also directed CONFESSIONS OF A SOCIOPATHIC SOCIAL CLIMBER starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. The movie was based on the New York Times bestseller and was the highest rated telecast for Oxygen Channel's original programming in the network's history at the time. Dana's directorial debut was WEDDING BELL BLUES, starring Illiana Douglas and John Corbett.

Dana was born in Israel, and after moving to the US, she graduated from AFI (American Film Institute) where she is now a faculty member. She is often invited to lecture at UCLA Extension, the New York Film Academy, and the Learning Annex. Dana has citizenships in the United States, Canada, and Israel and is a member of the DGC, PGA and SAG.

Dana lives in Los Angeles and is married to Tal Bergman (a drummer). She is a mother of 10-year-old twins a boy and a girl.

David Streit | Senior Lecturer and Mentor
After a After a BA in dramatic literature from Lawrence University, Streit was in the first class of MFA candidates at NYU Film School. Professionally, he started as a cinematographer, becoming an Operator in NY local #644. He also worked as assistant director and location manager. Later, as a line producer of independent features in New York, his first film, ROCKERS was shot entirely on location in Jamaica, it played successfully at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978. Soon thereafter, based in Los Angeles, he worked regularly as UPM on larger features and Line Producing on independents.

Significant production and producing credits include:
ALAMBRISTA! (Associate Producer); THE PROWLER, (Executive Producer); HANDGUN, (Producer); PARIS, TEXAS, (UPM); YURI NOSENKO, KGB, (Associate Producer); THE RIVER'S EDGE (Co-Producer/UPM); PASS THE AMMO, (Executive Producer); FIRES WITHIN, (Associate Producer); INTERNAL AFFAIRS (Co-Producer); DEEP COVER (Line Producer); THE MARRYING MAN (Executive Producer); HEAR NO EVIL (UPM); CAMP NOWHERE, (UPM/Associate Producer); SPECIES (Executive Producer/UPM); STEAL BIG, STEAL LITTLE (UPM); THE BEAUTICIAN AND THE BEAST, (UPM); JURASSIC PARK III (UPM).

Still active as a producer, Streit is currently Mentor and Senior Lecturer in the Producing discipline at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. He also shoots and directs documentaries: to date, he has completed four, one of them, a feature. He sits on the Board of Advisors for the Perspectives Film Festival, a festival dedicated to films by, and about people living with a disability.

Jeff Wachtel | Lecturer
Wachtel is Co-President of USA Network and the Co-Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions . A veteran television executive and producer, Jeff and fellow Co-President Chris McCumber oversee all aspects of the #1 rated cable network, including the most successful line-up of original series in TV (WHITE COLLAR, COVERT AFFAIRS, ROYAL PAINS, IN PLAIN SIGHT, PSYCH, BURN NOTICE and others). Jeff's previous stints include President, Alliance Atlantis Television; President of 3 Arts Television (a production company that partnered CBS, Sony and 3 Arts Management); Executive Producer of the syndicated series PENSACOLA: WINGS OF GOLD; and Executive Vice President of Primetime TV at Columbia Pictures Television, where he developed the a number of network series, including PARTY OF FIVE and DAWSON'S CREEK. Jeff began his career as a theatre director and producer, and produced the first New York productions of David Mamet's work — SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO & THE DUCK VARIATIONS. A graduate of Yale University, Jeff is a founding member of community-based volunteer organization LA Works, is on the President's Advisory Board of the Zimmer Children's Museum, and is on the Board of Directors of the Hollywood Television and Radio Society.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Joseph Garrity | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence
An AFI graduate, Garrity has designed many feature films including RUNAWAY TRAIN (art director), WEEDS, MY GIRL, DROP DEAD FRED, SON-IN-LAW, IMAGINARY CRIMES and SUNSHINE CLEANING. He met Christopher Guest in 1988 and was chosen to design his directorial debut feature THE BIG PICTURE and has designed all his films since, including WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, BEST IN SHOW, A MIGHTY WIND and FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. He recently completed production design work on the upcoming feature film FATHER OF INVENTION starring Kevin Spacey.

Todd Cherniawsky | Lecturer
A graduate of AFI, Cherniawsky has over 15 years of experience in feature film production. After graduation at the Conservatory, Todd worked his way up the art department as a Set Designer, Assistant Art Director and Art Director. Opportunities on films such as ARMAGEDDON (1998), PLANET OF THE APES (2001), LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (2004), WAR OR THE WORLDS (2005), MONSTER HOUSE (2006), NANCY DREW (2007), and OCEAN'S 13 (2007), allowed him to refine traditional techniques and explore and implement the early use of computers in the art department.

Those abilities to understand and utilize digital tools became more and more important - CGI was becoming the VFX solution more and more - and lead to a two-year commitment as Supervising Art Director on AVATAR (2009). ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010), SUCKER PUNCH (2011), and OZ: THE GREAT & POWERFUL (2013) are his most recent feature credits.

Todd's Production Design work includes SPLICE (2010) and the GINGER SNAPS trilogy (2001-04).

Suzanne Feller-Otto | Senior Lecturer
Feller-Otto received her degree in architecture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Before her film career, she lived in Tokyo and worked on the Puroland Theme Park. Her set design credits include five seasons of SEINFELD, episodes of ALLY McBEAL, 8 SIMPLE RULES and the feature films OUT ON A LIMB and TRIAL AND ERROR.

Ernie Marjoram | Senior Lecturer
Marjoram holds a BS from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has been a registered professional architect for more than 15 years and has been working as a free-lance designer/illustrator in advertising and entertainment since 1995. He has developed concepts for Walt Disney Imagineering, created sketches for Steven Spielberg's Movie Magic, executed concept design of the Lost World of Jules Verne theme park and handled visual development for Spagna 2000.

David Morong | Lecturer
Morong received his MFA in Scene Design from New York University. Upon Graduation he came across a fledgling network called MTV on something called cable and ended up being the resident production designer, designing scores of shows over 15 years. His cable connections lead to design work for VH1, HBO Comedy Channel, TNN and Fox. He has worked as an Art Director on the HBO series CARNIVALE, where he received an Emmy nomination, and Big Love. He has also designed and Art Directed a number of feature films, including the recent release, KING OF CALIFORNIA. In the Fall of 2006 he accepted a faculty position at San Diego State University where he currently teaches Design for Television and Film. A focus of his interest has been design software, and he currently teaches Sketchup, and Vectorworks in association with go-2-school and Studio Arts.

Lauren Polizzi | Senior Lecturer
Lauren Polizzi received her Bachelor's Degree from UCLA's Theater of Fine Arts where she discovered a love and aptitude for set design. She honed her set design skills on many diverse feature films, including: DEATH BECOMES HER, JURASSIC PARK, FORREST GUMP, DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, SECONDHAND LIONS, LEMONY SNICKET, OCEAN'S TWELVE, MEMIORS OF A GEISHA, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 & 3 and THE HOLIDAY. In 1994, she moved up to Asst. Art Director and worked on such films as: SPECIES, AMISTAD, INDEPENDENCE DAY, THE TIME MACHINE, and PANIC ROOM. Since moving up to Art Director, her credits have included: THE LOST WORLD, THE ALAMO, DR. SEUSS'S HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, THE TV SET, KNOCKED UP, THE X-FILES television series and INDIANA JONES and THE KINGDOM of the CRYSTAL SKULL. This summer she completed Art Directing on TRANSFORMERS 2, on location in New Mexico. Lauren received an Art Director's Guild Award and Emmy Nomination for her work on Season Six of THE X-FILES television series, an ADG and Oscar Nomination for DR. SEUSS'S HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, and an ADG nomination for her work as an Assistant Art Director on AMISTAD.

SCREENWRITING

Tom Rickman | Senior Filmmaker-In-Residence
One of 18 Fellows in the first class of AFI, 1969-71, Rickman's short film, WHAT FIXED ME, won first prize in the National Student Association Festival and was selected for the New York Film Festival of 1971. His screenwriting credits include COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER for which he received nominations for both the Academy Award and the Writers Guild Award, EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN, W.W. AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS, HOOPER, THE WHITE DAWN, THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN, KANSAS CITY BOMBER and THE RIVER RAT, which was also his directing debut. In television, Rickman's writing and directing credits include TRUMAN, WRONGFUL DEATH, CRASH COURSE, THE REAGANS and TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (winner of Writers Guild and Humanitas Awards). He has received several Emmy nominations. Rickman was a charter member of the board of trustees of the Sundance Institute and has participated in the Institute's Screenwriting Laboratory since its inception. He also founded the Squaw Valley Screenwriters Workshop. His academic credits include teaching a master's class in screenwriting at the University of Southern California, as well as numerous workshops in Australia, Cuba, Hungary, Ireland, France and other countries.

Michael Ellis | Senior Lecturer
Ellis holds an MFA in screenwriting from AFI and graduated from NYU's film school. Ellis and his writing partner, Pam Falk, wrote THE WEDDING PLANNER starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey and AN INVISIBLE SIGN staring Jessica Alba. They were consulting producers on JAKE IN PROGRESS for ABC. They have written movies for Meg Ryan, Ashton Kutcher, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vin Diesel and Salma Hayek. They are currently writing a movie for Sandra Bullock and Anne Fletcher at Warner Brothers.

Allen Estrin | Senior Lecturer
Estrin's television, film and radio writing credits include multiple episodes of Emmy Award-winning TV shows THE PRACTICE, BOSTON PUBLIC and TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL. In addition, he has written film history (THE HOLLYWOOD PROFESSION, VOLUME 6: CAPRA, CUKOR AND BROWN), educational and corporate videos, and has directed the highly praised documentary ISRAEL IN A TIME OF TERROR (2002). Estrin's first novel, "Heaven's Witness," was published in 2004 by Toby Press and named one of the best mysteries of that year by The Weekly Standard and became a CBS Special Event movie in 2006.

Jacob Forman | Senior Lecturer
Jacob grew up between East Timor, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City. He was one of five fiction writers accepted into the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Brown University, where he wrote his first screenplay under the tutelage of Pulitzer-winning playwright Paula Vogel. After earning his MFA in 1998, Jacob worked as a journalist in Telluride and National Features Editor for America Online's city guide. Jacob earned an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute in 2004. His first produced feature, ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE, screened at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and was acquired there by The Weinstein Company for worldwide distribution. In 2007, MTV Films bought Jacob's spec Handsome Devil in a bidding war with several studios. Misher Films is producing, with Paramount Pictures distributing. Jacob currently has several features in development, including projects at Paramount Pictures and Strike Entertainment.

Karen Janszen | Senior Lecturer
Karen Janszen is a L.A.-based screenwriter. Her most recent film, A DOLPHIN TALE, is currently in theaters.

Janszen also wrote A WALK TO REMEMBER and the indies GRACIE, DIGGING TO CHINA, and THE MATCHMAKER. For the small screen she wrote "The Original Wives Club," an episode of HBO's From the Earth to the Moon. DUMA, directed by Carroll Ballard, was named the number one film of 2005 in the LA Times top-ten picks of 2005. Janszen was named by Variety as one of 1999's Ten Screenwriters to Watch.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Janszen holds a MFA from the American Film Institute, a MA from Harvard University, and a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Janszen has worked for most of the major film studios and television outlets. While she has written thrillers, romantic comedies, and historical dramas, she is best known for family dramas. She recently completed a new original screenplay, Jack Redux, and is currently adapting the best-selling young adult novel Savvy.

Steve Mazur | Lecturer
Mazur has taught screenwriting for the past ten years, including four years at AFI and five years with the Professional Writing Program at USC. He's written or co-written scripts for Universal, Dreamworks, Warner Bros., MGM, Imagine, Paramount, Sony, CBS, A&E, Spike TV, and Disney, including Heartbreakers (MGM, 2001), Liar, Liar (Universal, 1997), The Little Rascals (Universal, 1994), Without a Paddle II (Paramount, 2008), The Crooked E (CBS, 2003) and WEDDING WARS (A&E, 2006).

Patricia Meyer | Senior Lecturer
Meyer holds a BA in history and literature from Harvard University and MA in fiction writing from Boston University. For the past 20 years, she has had a diverse career as a motion picture and television screenwriter and producer. With her passion for dark comedic true crime stories, she has had the privilege of writing numerous screenplays for Martin Scorsese, Harry and Mary Jane Ufland, Brillstein-Grey and Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions. She has also written projects for every major studio as well as the networks, including a CBS movie and miniseries. Meyer's first production, the ABC miniseries THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE starred Oprah Winfrey and received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Miniseries in 1989. Throughout the 1990s, she developed and executive produced multiple network movies. She made her directorial debut in 2003, with THE LIST, a short tragic-comedy starring Corbin Bernsen and Ashley Williams. Before joining the AFI faculty, she taught screenwriting and development at Chapman University.

Robert Munic | Lecturer
Robert Munic recently penned the feature BOBBY MARTINEZ, for Participant Media. The film is a biopic based on the surfer's life from the streets of Santa Barbara to the highest ranks of the professional surfing world. He also wrote, FIGHTING, starring Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard, currently in theaters. NO TRUE GLORY, tells the true story for the battle of Fallujah, is set to star Harrison Ford is currently at Universal Pictures with producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. Munic is also the Co-Creator and Executive Producer of the A&E drama series THE CLEANER.

He wrote, directed, and produced THE PROS & CONS OF BREATHING, which won Best Film at the Houston Film Festival, the Audience Award at Chicago Film Festival, and was featured on opening night at the Seattle Film Festival.

Munic served as writer, director, and producer on Showtime's THEY CALL ME SIRR, starring Michael Clarke Duncan, which was nominated for a 2002 Emmy® Award and DGA Award and also placed first in the Outstanding Feature Film Division of the National Council on Family Relations. He wrote and directed the Showtime movie IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN, which was nominated for an Emmy Award and won the Angel Award for Excellence in a Television Film from the National Television Review Board the same year.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Ingrid and two sons, Jake and Ajna.

Anna Thomas | Lecturer
Thomas holds an MFA in film from UCLA. An Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, as well as a producer, director and author, Thomas is producer and co-writer of the film EL NORTE, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and was elected to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1995. She is the co-writer and producer of the acclaimed MY FAMILY, MI FAMILIA. Thomas made her first feature in 1977 when she wrote, produced and directed THE HAUNTING OF M as her Master's thesis film. Other film credits include the 1986 drama A TIME OF DESTINY, which she co-wrote and produced. She recently wrote two episodes of the PBS one-hour drama series AMERICAN FAMILY. Thomas is a founder of the IFP West.

Michael Urban | Lecturer
Michael Urban attended Florida State University as well as the Freie Universitaet in Berlin, Germany, before moving to Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the AFI Screenwriting program. His first feature film, SAVED! was written while he was a fellow at the AFI. He is currently adapting a novel for MGM and developing a screenplay for Fox 2000 and a series for HBO.

Dan Vining | Senior Lecturer
After undergraduate work at the University of Florida, Vining was a Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford, returning the following year as Jones Lecturer. He also wrote and edited at Rolling Stone in its last San Francisco days. His credits as a screenwriter include the features BLACK DOG, PLAIN CLOTHES and LIGHTHOUSE and the television movies WILD HORSES, HER DEADLY RIVAL, IN MY SISTER'S SHADOW and the cable feature ESCAPE: HUMAN CARGO. Additionally, Vining has written screenplays for Universal, Paramount, Disney, MGM and NBC and he recently sold the action script AUTOBAHN. His mystery novels, "The Quick" and "The Next" are published by Penguin-Putnam.

AFI CONSERVATORY STUDIES
The Conservatory Studies curriculum is a series of interdisciplinary courses, seminars and workshops designed to provide Fellows with a broad and varied perspective on the contemporary film, television and digital media arts and professions.

Pieter Jan Brugge | Senior Lecturer
PIETER JAN BRUGGE (Producer/Director) was born and raised in The Netherlands and graduated from De Nederlandse Film & Televisie Academie in 1979. He was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies in the United States at The American Film Institute, Center for Advanced Film Studies in Los Angeles.

He has worked with many of Hollywood's most distinguished directors and actors.

He produced the international box-office hit THE PELICAN BRIEF (1993) with the late Alan J. Pakula. In 1998, with Writer/Producer/Director Warren Beatty, he produced the political satire BULWORTH.

In 1995 Brugge began a series of collaborations with Writer/Producer/Director Michael Mann, first serving as executive producer on the crime saga HEAT. And next, as producer on THE INSIDER (1999), which earned seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture for Mann and Brugge. In 2006 he produced with Mann MIAMI VICE.

In 2004 Brugge produced and directed THE CLEARING, starring Robert Redford, Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe. He conceived the story, based upon a true event that occurred in The Netherlands, and collaborated with writer Justin Haythe on the screenplay.

In 2010 he produced LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS, his third collaboration with Writer/Producer/Director Edward Zwick for whom he co-produced the Civil War classic GLORY (winner of three Academy Awards) and produced DEFIANCE (2008).

Brugge has taught classes and seminars at various film schools in the United States and Europe, including AFI and the Nederlandse Film and Televisie Academie (NFTA) in Amsterdam.

Elaine Dysinger | Mentor
Elaine Dysinger is an independent line producer on feature films. Her 25-year film career starting in Miami, Florida after attending University of Florida. After passing on working on MIAMI VICE she moved to New York City she transitioned to television movies and feature films. Location work in North Carolina for Sam Raimi on EVIL DEAD II prompted the move to Los Angeles. In LA she worked with NBC Productions on television series work and on such diverse projects ranging from the TNT released western THE DESPERATE TRAIL to the feature film comedy BIODOME. Her work has taken her to numerous locations including the Kenya, the Yukon Territory, Brazil and New Zealand. She has worked with many talented artists including award winning television director Jeff Bleckner, James Brolin, Bruce Campbell, Colin Firth, Ridley Scott, Robin Williams and Renee Zellweger. Her credits include Chris Nolan's MEMENO and BOTTLE SHOCK. When not working she returns as much as possible to her 30 year passion for cycling both on the road the velodrome.

Dorothy Fontana | Senior Lecturer
Fontana's screenwriting credits include the television series STAR TREK, BONANZA, THE WALTONS, THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO and DALLAS. Story editor credits include the original STAR TREK series, STAR TREK animated series, FANTASTIC JOURNEY, LOGAN'S RUN and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, on which Fontana was also associate producer for the first 13 episodes. She is a member of Science Fiction Writers of America, Western Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, the Writers Guild of America and Writers Guild of Canada. She is currently writing for an online STAR TREK project, NewVoyages.com.

Marlo Hellerstein | Transportation Coordinator
Marlo Hellerstein was born to Miriam and Bernard Hellerstein on March 16, 1955. He is the father of three children: Michael Timothy and Megan. He also has two step-daughters, Kym and Leeanne, and four grandchildren: Savannah, Victor, Isiah and Jackson. Marlo resides in Chatsworth, California. He has been a member of Teamster Local 399 for 38 years, and for 35 of those years he has been a transportation coordinator/transportation captain. He is happy to be a part of AFI.

James Hosney | AFI Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence
Holding a BA in Anglo-American Literature from Occidental College, James Hosney created and taught courses in literature, American Studies and film at the Westlake School for Girls from 1970 to 1980, where he was director of the Film and Video Program. He created the film program at Crossroads School, where he has been teaching for 23 years, and currently teaches a two-year Honors English course, "Great Books of the Western World." He has published articles in Film Quarterly, South Atlantic Quarterly and the Los Angeles Times; and he has taught film classes for UCLA Extension. He has been teaching at AFI since 1980.

Andy House | Physical Production Mentor
Andy House most recently served as the Head of Production for Gaumont International TV where he set up and supervised the productions of Hannibal for NBC and Hemlock Grove for Netflix. He has 30 plus years of production management experience supervising television series and movies across the US & Canada, as well as locations around the world. Before moving to Gaumont, he was based in Moscow Russia where as senior vice president of production for Sony Pictures he represented the studio in a joint venture company producing Russian language TV series for broadcast across the Russian Federation. In 1998 Andy was based in Hong Kong where he was in charge of Sony TV's production in China and Southeast Asia. During his 18 year tenure with Sony Pictures he supervised more than 25 TV series, 50 pilots and 30 television movies for U.S. networks. Before joining Sony he worked as an assistant director and production manager for nearly every major studio in Hollywood. His credits appeared on, among others, The A Team, Falcon Crest, E.T. The Extraterrestrial (2nd unit), and Pumpkinhead. He earned a Master of Arts Degree in Communications from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business & Advertising from the University of Southern California.

Meg LeFauve | Thesis Mentor
Meg LeFauve is an award winning producer whose films have been nominated for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, an IFP Spirit Award and a Peabody.

LeFauve's executive career was with Jodie Foster at her production company, Egg Pictures. LeFauve began as a Creative Executive and was with the company for ten years, eventually serving as President of the company. While with Egg, LeFauve worked on films such as NELL, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS and WAKING THE DEAD.

During this time she developed and set-produced THE BABY DANCE, written and directed by Jane Anderson, starring Stockard Channing and Laura Dern. It went on to be nominated for 4 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe, and received a prestigious Peabody Award.

LeFauve also developed and produced THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS for Egg Pictures. It was directed by Peter Care and starred Kieran Culkin, Jodie Foster and Vincent D'Onofrio, with animation sequences by Todd McFarlane. The film opened to rave reviews and won the 2003 IFP Award for Best First Feature.

Most recently, LeFauve began her writing career. She is writing a script for Warner Brothers with Glenn Facarra and John Requa (CRAZY, STUPID LOVE) attached to direct. She is also writing a film for director Rodrigo Garcia (ALBERT NOBBS). She is also adapting, with writing partner John Morgan, the renowned children's novel "My Father's Dragon" with award-winning animation house Cartoon Saloon (SECRET OF THE KELLS). Meg and John were also chosen to participate in the Sundance Screenwriting Lab for their script THE CAVANAUGHS which has Felicity Huffman attached to star. Her script CHLOE AND PETER is casting with Amanda Seyfried attached to star.

LeFauve is currently a script editor and consultant for Screen Australia, Screen New South Wales, and Melbourne - as well as writers across the United States. She was a mentor at the Aurora Lab in Sydney, as well as the IndieVision Lab, and is a returning teacher for FIND's writers and producers lab. She has also mentored at the Sundance Creative Producer Lab and is a board member and returning participant at CineStory Script Sessions.

LeFauve began her teaching career when she served as co-chair of the Graduate Producers Program at UCLA's School of Film and Television and taught master-level story and development classes for over seven years.

Barry Sabath | Senior Lecturer
Holding an MA and PhD in Cinema Studies from New York University, Sabath has nearly two decades of feature film development experience. He ran the film division of Marsha and Robin Williams's Blue Wolf Productions, whose productions include MRS. DOUBTFIRE, PATCH ADAMS and JAKOB THE LIAR. At Twentieth Century Fox, he was senior vice president of production for Paul Schiff Productions, where he oversaw MY COUSIN VINNY and was co-producer on GHOST IN THE MACHINE and PCU. He spent four years at Columbia Pictures, as executive story editor and vice president of production, and supervised FLATLINERS and IMMEDIATE FAMILY. Sabath also taught film history and criticism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Illinois State University.

George Walczak | Lecturer
Holding an MFA in Screenwriting from AFI, Walczak was a recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Award. As an AFI adjunct faculty member since 1997, he teaches the year-long development workshop and the screenwriting section of the Directing Workshop for Women. Walczak most recently wrote ZULU WAVE with writing partners Mark Rogers and Rob Ryder. Walczak also adapted the French bestseller, AFRICAN IN GREENLAND. In 2001, Walczak served as the director of the Ojai Film Festival.

Seth Winston | Senior Lecturer
Holding a BA in film from the USC School of Cinema, Winston participated in the Academy Internship Program at AFI and interned under Steven Spielberg on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. He received an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in 1992 for writing and directing Showtime's SESSION MAN. Credits include SHE'S OUT OF CONTROL, THE CURE, GAME DAY, IT'S MY CHILD, TOO and THE COMMON COLD.

Cathy Wischner-Sola | Senior Lecturer, Faculty Internship Coordinator, Alumni Coordinator
Wischner-Sola holds a BA degree in Humanities from The New School for Social Research, attended Northwestern University, and the American Conservatory Theatre Advanced Training Program. She is executive producer on TAKING CHANCE for HBO Films, starring Kevin Bacon. TAKING CHANCE garnered 10 Emmy nominations, won the 2009 Humanitas Prize, and earned the distinction of being the most viewed film on HBO in 5 years.

Wischner-Sola previously served as Vice President of Original Programming at TNT Originals, where she supervised an extensive slate of distinguished movies, miniseries and pilots, including the Emmy-nominated PIRATES OF SILICON VALLEY, Emmy-nominated KING OF TEXAS, ANIMAL FARM, and Humanitas Prize-winner SMUDGE. She worked as Vice President of Creative Affairs for Daniel H. Blatt Productions, overseeing feature, television movie, miniseries and series development. Additional producing credits include COMMON GROUND (CBS), the Humanitas Prize-winning miniseries and the Emmy-winning SWORN TO SILENCE (ABC). She began her film career as a story analyst for Tri-Star Pictures.