Robert Mandel | Dean
Mandel graduated from AFI in 1979 and is an award-winning director with credits including FX, 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 afterschool 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 LA, 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.

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.

Frank Pierson | Artistic Director, Distinguished Filmmaker-in-Residence
Pierson, one of the most respected writer/directors in film and television and a recognized leader in the profession, is a primary counselor to the overall artistic leadership of AFI Conservatory and its programs. Pierson wrote CAT BALLOU, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Adaptation. He was nominated again for COOL HAND LUKE and, in 1976, he received an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for DOG DAY AFTERNOON. Directing credits include: KING OF THE GYPSIES and A STAR IS BORN (1975 version); CITIZEN COHN and TRUMAN, both for HBO, (numerous Emmy nominations); Showtime's DIRTY PICTURES (Golden Globe for Best Picture); and A SOLDIER'S GIRL (nominated for an Emmy). CONSPIRACY for HBO was nominated for 10 Emmys, winning Lead Actor and Writing for a Miniseries, and it won the Best Movie for Television Directing Award from the Directors Guild of America. A former president of the Writers Guild of America, West, Pierson is currently a member of the teaching staff of the Sundance Institute and was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 2001-2005.

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 box-office successes range from THE SIXTH SENSE to BRUCE ALMIGHTY. Also in the Spyglass library are SEABISCUIT and THE INSIDER. Other company films are THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, KEEPING THE FAITH, SHANGHAI NOON and its sequel SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, THE RECRUIT and HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. 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; Director, AFI Sony Digital Arts Center; Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence: Editing
Linson oversees production and post-production support operations for AFI and 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 stretches over all manner of projects for film and television. He worked with Agnes Varda and Haskell Wexler on documentaries and was associate editor on Wexler's feature film LATINO. His theatrical film editing credits include 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 Conservatory in Producing in 1985. She produced films for Disney Educational Productions and worked as an independent producer before earning a Masters Degree in Education from Loyola Marymount University. She currently holds a Pupil Personnel Services Credential and has just completed 11 years of working at Lawndale High School as the head counselor. She also teaches in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University.

Betsy Pollock | Director of Production Services
A 25-year veteran, Pollock has worked as a producer, line producer, unit production manager and a first assistant director. Most recently she was the co-producer of a short film, TWO SOLDIERS, which won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Short Dramatic Film. She was involved in the production of WIND, STEALING HOME, LADY IN WHITE, GOOD BURGER and many other features, commercials and documentary films. Pollock is the co-founder of the PSA Committee of Women in Film, which produces and distributes public service announcements to local groups, and she was the 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 to ensure consistency and excellence, Dennis is a screenwriter and teacher. His credits include RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, ON MY OWN, HOME FIRES, RETURN TO OZ and most recently WALK THE LINE. He has also directed numerous plays, receiving the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Direction. He is a graduate of the AFI's first class. With Tom Rickman, another graduate of that class, he founded the the screenwriting program at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. He has taught at Cal Arts, the Northwest Film and Video Center, and conducted workshops in Portugal, Ireland, and Scotland, as well as for the Australian Film Commission.

Kim Kurumada | Associate Director, Production Services - Second Year Production
Kurumada oversees the Second Year Production Services Department and is responsible for all Second Year physical production. Some of his credits as an associate and executive producer include BLACK DOG, UNDERCOVER BLUES, LIFE STINKS, PROBLEM CHILD 2, CLASS ACTION, MOVING, TIN MEN, PERFECT and MIKE'S MURDER. As a production manager, partial credits include 15 MINUTES, GHOSTS OF MARS and VAMPIRES. Kurumada currently sits on the National Board of Directors at the Directors Guild of America.

Marie Cantin | Associate Director, Production Services - Second Year Production
Marie Cantin is a producer with a range of experience on studio and independent productions. In collaboration with Gale Anne Hurd, she produced the Sundance Audience Award winning film The Waterdance. Ms. Cantin also produced the independent features Days of Wrath and The Book of Stars which won numerous festival awards. 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 the film version of the Broadway play Torch Song Trilogy. She has also worked as a production manager on a number of productions including Michael Mann's Collateral and Roger Donaldson's Dante's Peak. Ms. Cantin's television work includes the John Wells series Smith and the KCET series Trying Times. With a degree in sociology from UC Santa Cruz, Ms. Cantin pursued an MFA in film production at UCLA until she began to freelance on a full time basis. Ms. Cantin is an elected representative on the DGA Western UPM/AD Council, is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Women In Film, Film Independent, and serves on the advisory board of Project: Involve. Ms. Cantin has taught film production courses in Helsinki, Finland and at UC Santa Cruz, California State College Los Angeles, UCLA Extension, and the International Film and Television Workshops in Rockport, Maine.

Abby Singer | Distinguished Filmmaker-in-Residence: Production
Singer works with all thesis productions, serving as a creative guide and ensuring overall consistency and excellence. As a renowned production manager, Singer's credits include FAMILY PLAN, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, BURKE'S LAW, COLUMBO, MAJOR DAD, BOB NEWHART, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, RHODA, PHYLLIS, ST. ELSEWHERE, HILL STREET BLUES, VAMPIRE, THORNWELL, FIRST YOU CRY, SOMETHING FOR JOEY, LARAMIE, HITCHCOCK THEATER, GUNSMOKE and the features DEATH OF A SALESMAN, THE WILD ONES, THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, SADIE THOMPSON and THE THREE STOOGES. He was also the recipient of the Frank Capra Award from the Directors Guild of America.

The Abby Singer Shot
"When I was an assistant director, we would make five or six moves a day around the studio. I'd say 'Fellas, one more and we're going to move.' They were packing up while we were shooting. So somebody started calling the second-to-last-shot of the day the Abby Singer Shot. Before I knew it, the term took off." This term is now part of filmmaking language.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Stephen Lighthill (ASC) | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence
During the 1960s while shooting for CBS News and 60 MINUTES, Lighthill created one of the first shoulder-held news cameras. His film SONS AND DAUGHTERS, about the Vietnam War, launched his career filming social issue documentaries. Among the hundreds of 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, 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. In 2000, the Society of Camera Operators honored him with its President's Award.

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.

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.

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.

Philip Schwartz | Lecturer
Philip D. Schwartz has been a Director of Photography since 1988. He has shot fourteen independent features, thirty second units for features and television, and more than one hundred shorts, commercials, videos, documentaries and industrials. Prior to his becoming a Director of Photography, he worked as Camera Operator on many studio features, including "Twister", "The Net", "Zeus and Roxanne" and "Toys".

Since 1999, Philip has also been heavily involved in all aspects of digital cinematography. He shot one of the first 24p HD features, "Lost Lake", in 2000. Many of his digital projects have won recognition at film festivals worldwide. In addition, he also works as a High Def consultant and Digital Imaging Technician on various television projects, features and commercials. Three of his features were written up in American Cinematographer magazine, and one of his shorts was honored at the 1996 International Cinematographers Guild "Emerging Cinematographers" competition.

Between projects, Philip also teaches Cinematography at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, on both Undergraduate and Graduate levels.

Mark Woods | Lecturer
Woods started his career in 1968 as a still photographer, practicing street and studio photography in Berkeley. For seven years, he only shot black-and-white, using Ansel Adams's Zone System. In 1971 he earned a BA from the University of California at Berkeley in anthropology, with an emphasis in photo-ethnography (documentary photography that acknowledges the photographer's role as a participant observer). For nine months in 1970 - 71, he studied one block of Telegraph Avenue that was the focus of many student protests and home to a thriving subculture of street craftsmen, drug dealers, junkies, bikers, etc. The University sponsored a one-man show of this work after Woods graduated in 1971, and became his first big client. In 1973 he moved back to Los Angeles to work with his grandfather, a film director/ producer/distributor probably best-known for having produced and distributed REEFER MADNESS. Since 1973, Woods has been director of photography on over 1000 TV commercials, winning numerous awards, including a Cable ACE and a New York Festival Silver World Medal in 1996.

DIRECTING

Joseph Sargent | Master Filmmaker-in-Residence
During a career that has spanned several decades in film, Joseph Sargent has become one of the most accomplished directors in the history of television.

In the multiple films and series episodes he has directed, Joseph Sargent has also helmed several features including The Taking of Pelham One, Two and Three (1973), starring Walter Matthau; MacArthur, starring Gregory Peck; Collossus - The Forbin Project; and The Man, starring James Earl Jones, about the first Black President of the United States.

Joseph directed Something the Lord Made, which received the 2004 Emmy Award for Best Movie Made for Television, American Film Award (AFI) Award of Excellence, Director's Guild of America (DGA), recipient of the Outstanding Directorial Achievement Award.

In addition to the most recent awards in 2004, Joseph Sargent has won four Emmys for Best Director of a Movie and Mini Series, and has been responsible for such productions as; Day one, Caroline? (Emmy Award), Miss Rose White (Emmy Award), Somebody's Daughter, Skylark (starring Glenn Close), Abraham, World War II: When Lions Roared, Streets of Laredo, Mandela and de Klerk, Miss Evers' Boy (Emmy Award), starring Alfred Woodward, and the multiple Emmy-winning award, A Lesson Before Dying; Out of the Ashes with Christine Lahti, (2002) For Love or Country, the Arturo Sandoval Story with Andy Garcia, and mini TV series "Salem Witch Trials", (2001) Bojangles, with Gregory Hines.

He produced and directed Dostevsky's Crime and Punishment, and A Lesson Before Dying, for HBO. Sargent also won Emmys (1985) For Love is Never Silent and (1973) The Marcus-Nelson Murders, and Best Director for the year by DGA. In addition to Emmys for Best Director, 14 of these films received Emmys for Best Film. Most recently, Joseph Sargent directed (2008) Sweet Nothing in My Ear, starring Marlee Matlin; and (2009) Sybil, starring Jessica Lang.

Sargent graduated from New York's New School for Social Research with a BFA Degree in Theatre Arts. He completed his post-graduate studies with Lee Strassberg and Stella Adler. Sargent began his career as an actor, appearing in many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, live television and films. He went on to direct Off-Broadway shows and formed a theatre company in Hollywood, where he directed everything from Shakespeare to Ionesco and Mamet. Sargent made the transition from theatre to film as special assistant to Stanley Kubrick during the production of One-Eyed Jacks, with Marlon Brando (1959).

James Gray | Lecturer
JAMES GRAY (Writer/Director) made his directorial debut in 1994 at the age of 25 with Little Odessa, a critically acclaimed crime drama about a hitman confronted by his younger brother upon returning to his hometown of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Starring Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Maximilian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave, the film received the Critics Award at the Deauville Film Festival as well as the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. That same year, he received nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.

In 2000, Gray wrote and directed his second film for Miramax, The Yards, starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, James Caan and Joaquin Phoenix. The film was selected for official competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

We Own the Night paired writer/director Gray with Walhberg and Phoenix for the second time. The film is an emotional crime drama about a man who has chosen to hide his past only to discover that he has to confront an inevitable future. Eva Mendes and Robert Duvall also star. We Own the Night was selected for official competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Gray's most recent film, the Cesar-award nominated Two Lovers, teamed him with Joaquin Phoenix for the third time. Gwyneth Paltrow and Isabella Rossellini also star in this Brooklyn-set romantic drama. TWO LOVERS premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

Born in New York City, he grew up in Queens and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television.

Peter Markham | Senior Lecturer
Markham holds a BA in drama and English from Hull University in the UK. He served as first AD on TRULY MADLY DEEPLY. After 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 and directed second unit on GANGS OF NEW YORK for Martin Scorsese.

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. She also directs sketch shows at Groundlings such as "Shut Up and Eat Your Groundlings" and the the all-improv "Cooking With Gas." Her acting credits include THE BUCKET LIST, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, NIP/TUCK, STACKED, THE KING OF QUEENS and WHO'S LINE IS IT ANYWAY? Voiceover credits include THE SIMPSONS, THE FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD.

Belita Moreno | Lecturer
Moreno began her career as a theatrically trained actress some 32 years ago. Her career encompasses roles in television, features and on stage. As an actress, she transitioned from stage to film through two years of work with Robert Altman. In the years that followed, she worked, as an actress, with such gifted directors as Jonathan Demme, George Armitage, Philip Noyce, Frank Perry, Marvin Chomsky, Ulu Grosbard, to name a few. Moreno has also been an acting coach. She has consulted with major filmmakers and many actors, working with such directors as Diane Keaton, Bret Ratner, Adam Shankman, Curtis Hanson, Nancy Meyers, Cameron Crowe, Scott Hicks, Joel Schumacher, Craig Bolotin, John Schlesinger and Amy Heckerling. Moreno recently finished a five-and-a-half year acting stint on the television show GEORGE LOPEZ, as George's overbearing mother. With her experiences in front of and behind the camera, Moreno is honored to be exploring and teaching about communication between directors and actors.

Robert Spera | Lecturer
Spera has an extensive background in both film and theater. His feature film credits include THE LAST CRY and FORBIDDEN BY LAW distributed by Columbia/TriStar and MUTUAL NEEDS distributed by Orion Pictures. 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, WITHOUT A TRACE, THE PRACTICE, CRIMINAL MINDS, NUMBERS, MEDIUM, NYPD BLUE, CLOSE TO HOME, DAY BREAK, THE DIVISION, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, THE GUARDIAN, CROSSING JORDAN, DRAGNET, EQUAL JUSTICE, HEIST, DELIBERATE INTENT 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 FIGHTING THE ODDS; THE DEFENDERS: PAYBACK; CHOICE OF EVILS; and TAKING THE FIRST. 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.

EDITING

Phillip Linson | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence
Linson's editing credits include THE INDIAN RUNNER, DEADFALL and AFTER MIDNIGHT. Sound editing credits include HOT SHOTS, TOMBSTONE and GAS FOOD LODGING.

Donn Cambern | Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence
Cambern holds a BA in music from UCLA. Music editing credits include THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, THE UNTOUCHABLES, I SPY and GOMER PYLE. Cambern edited EASY RIDER, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, BLUME IN LOVE, CINDERELLA LIBERTY, HOOPER, CANNONBALL RUN, ROMANCING THE STONE, TWINS, THE BODYGUARD and THE GLIMMER MAN. 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 has held the position of president of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild since 1991.

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) and CRIMINAL MINDS. 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.

Sonya Polonsky | Mentor
Prior to film editing, Polonsky worked in book publishing and in both film and television production — most notably on the feature documentary WOODSTOCK. She spent the next 25 years as an assistant film editor and then editor, with credits including ANNIE HALL and INTERIORS (apprentice editor), RAGING BULL (assistant editor) and BABY IT'S YOU and MATEWAN (editor). Polonsky taught film editing at NCSA and Florida State University.

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.

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 AND 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.

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(R) 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 in 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.

Richard Johnson | Lecturer
With a degree in Theater and Communications from Oberlin College, an M.A. in Communications from Stanford University and an M.F.A. from the Department of Cinema and Television, The Peter Stark Program, USC, Johnson worked for Filmways Pictures, Orion Pictures, Embassy Communications and The Producers' Sales Organization overseeing films such as FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR, EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE, REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTUR BEGINS, SAVING GRACE, CODE OF SILENCE, EASY MONEY, LONE WOLF MCQUADE, STRANGE INVADERS, UP THE CREEK, and FLESH AND BLOOD. As an independent producer he has produced and/or provided financing for films including AMBITION, THE LOW DOWN, THE OPPORTUNISTS, and I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD and television films FRANKENSTEIN: THE COLLEGE YEARS and JILTING JOE. He has worked in both Europe and the US and has provided consulting services to a number of entertainment financing ventures, currently to the Samson Investment Company. He is also publishing the extreme-sports graphic novel series SKATE FARM. Johnson previously taught film production at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Extension and has been a guest lecturer at Chapman University. He also hosted the Film Financing and Co-Production Forum for CreativePlanet.com.

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
Dana Lustig has directed and produced sixteen feature films in addition to numerous videos and short movies. She recently wrapped directing the comedy WILD CHERRY with Tania Raymonde, Rumer Willis, Kristin Cavallari, Tia Carrere and Rob Schneider. As an Executive Producer, Dana is now working on the development of a one hour drama for CBS/Paramount and a reality show for Dick Clark Productions.

For ten years, Dana was a partner at Bergman Lustig Productions. Amongst others, BLP produced the movie BRICK, which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. The movie was bought at Sundance for theatrical distribution by Focus Features. Amongst others Dana produced DANCING AT THE BLUE IGUANA, directed by Oscar nominee Michael Radford, starring Daryl Hannah, Sandra Oh, Sheila Kelley and Jennifer Tilly. Dana's directing credits includes KILL ME LATER, starring Selma Blair and Max Beesley. In his 2004 book, Leonard Maltin included Kill Me Later in his prestigious "Fifty Films that Got Away: Movies You Really Ought to See" list that included films from the 1930s until today. When the movie was released by Lionsgate, the Hollywood Reporter wrote "Lustig creates the kind of quirky film, the movie world could use more of..." Dana also directed CONFESSIONS OF A SOCIOPATHIC SOCIAL CLIMBER, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, based on the NY Times bestseller which premiered on the Oxygen Channel and was the highest rated telecast for original programming in the network's history at the time. Dana's directorial debut was WEDDING BELL BLUES, starring Iliana Douglas, Julie Warner, Paulina Porizkova, John Corbett and Debbie Reynolds. The Hollywood Reporter then wrote that"you can practically hear the sighs of the women in the audience who relate to the problems of the three heroines..." The movie was originally shot for $250,000 and was theatrically released by BMG.

Dana was born in Israel and started her career as an actress in the Israeli military. After moving to the US, she graduated from the AFI producing program and formed BLP along with Ram Bergman. Dana now heads her own production company. Future projects include the true story of survival, JUNGLE, based on the best-selling book by Yossi Ghinsberg and the family comedy Rock "N" Roll Nanny. Dana is a faculty member at the AFI (the American Film Institute ) and is often invited to lecture at the 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.

Kevin Jones | Lecturer
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.

Cherise McVicar | Lecturer
Cherise McVicar is a seasoned film marketing executive who has spent over two decades in marketing and promotions for the entertainment industry. Currently serving as global CEO for Watermark Worldwide, LLC, an entertainment marketing company, McVicar is dedicated to brokering and managing marketing and promotional alliances between corporate America and the entertainment industry. Watermark is a full-service promotions company, supporting general marketing, creative advertising, online and mobile marketing, tours, stunts and events, promotions, product placement and sponsorship.

Ms. McVicar also has a passion for organic living, natural health and fitness. She presently serves as Chairman and CEO of Fresh For Life, Inc. an organic consumer products company that makes 100% organic, GOTS-certified hotel-quality bedding & bath, baby and adult apparel. Look for Fresh coming soon at www.freshforlife.com. Fresh uses 100% natural and plant-based dyes so they are chemical free!

As Senior Vice President of National Promotions and Mobile Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Ms. McVicar has been responsible for all aspects of the strategic planning, development and execution of national promotions and mobile marketing across the entire slate of motion pictures released by Disney, including championing the global negotiation of studio-wide deals. Ms. McVicar oversaw the day-to-day execution and creation of all theatrical promotions including the development of advertising materials, publicity, media, research, products and premiums, in-store point-of-sale materials, as well as online and mobile components. She forged relationships and partnered with top companies such as AT&T, Burger King, Comcast, The Coca-Cola Company, Dodge, Dr Pepper, Ford, General Mills, General Motors, Geico, HP, Kellogg's, Kodak, McDonald's, MSN, Nestle, PepsiCo, State Farm, Verizon and Volvo. Ms. McVicar has been the recipient of numerous promotion and marketing awards (FIC, Golden Marbles, Buzz Awards, The Mickey Awards, Reggie Awards, Key Art Awards) for films including the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Cars, Chicken Little, The Incredibles, National Treasure, Finding Nemo, Lilo & Stitch, The Lion King, The Princess Diaries, Monsters, Inc., The Toy Story Franchise, etc. Most recently, Ms. McVicar oversaw the deal negotiations for Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3.

Ms. McVicar graduated Summa Cum Laude from Pepperdine University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications. She is married to Axel Kyster, another Disney veteran and a Creative Executive at Watermark Worldwide. They share their Southern California home with an "actress" golden retriever (Disney's Santa Buddies) named Sierra - an agility dog who believes she is sharing HER home with them.

Peggy Rajski | Lecturer
Producer Peggy Rajski is a veteran of the American independent film scene whose widespread experience encompasses groundbreaking indie films as well as mainstream Hollywood fare.

Rajski's producing credits include TOWELHEAD, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, BEE SEASON, THE GRIFTERS, MATEWAN, EIGHT MEN OUT and THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET. Her collaborations with iconoclastic filmmakers like Alan Ball, Jodie Foster, Stephen Frears and John Sayles have garnered over 40 nominations, and award wins at the Independent Spirit Awards and Academy Awards.

In addition to feature films, Rajski helped launch BeCause, a series of 30 minute documentaries highlighting extraordinary social innovators and communities creating groundbreaking approaches to social change. ONE BRIDGE TO THE NEXT, about a pioneering medical care program for the homeless, won Audience Awards at Aspen ShortsFest and the Palm Springs International ShortFest.

Rajski's own directorial debut, the comedy/drama TREVOR, won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. Other directorial outings include the long-running hit television series ER and second-unit photography on several of the feature films she produced.

Rajski is a member of the Producers Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science and serves on their Grants, Film Festivals, and Foreign Language Committees. She served on the boards of NY Women In Film and Television and IFP/Los Angeles, has been a jurist at numerous film festivals including Sundance, and a guest instructor and panelist at domestic and international gatherings for Film Independent, the American Film Market (AFM) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

Other non-profit activities include founding The Trevor Project (TTP) as an outgrowth of her short film TREVOR. TTP established and operates the country's only 24-hour toll-free suicide prevention hotline for gay and questioning youth and has answered over 120,000 calls since inception.

David Streit | Senior Lecturer
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 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
Jeff Wachtel is USA Network's Executive Vice President, Original Programming. A veteran television executive and producer, Jeff oversees all original programming for the #1 rated cable network, including Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Starter Wife and the network's newest hit series, In Plain Sight. 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 a past member of the board of directors of the HRTS.

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 and IMAGINARY CRIMES. 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. Recently he designed SUNSHINE CLEANING and the upcoming feature film THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY LEFAY.

Robert Boyle | Distinguished Lecturer
Bob Boyle received an Honorable Academy Award in 2008 "in recognition of one of the great careers in art direction." A member of the Production Design faculty since 1982, Bob Boyle entered the film profession in 1933. Seven years later, he began his long association with Alfred Hitchcock, designing such films as SABOTEUR, THE BIRDS and MARNIE. In 2000, AFI Conservatory alumnus Daniel Raim (PD '99) co-wrote and directed an Oscar-nominated documentary on Boyle's work, entitled THE MAN ON LINCOLN'S NOSE--the original working title for a classic Hitchcock/Boyle collaboration, NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

Todd Cherniawsky | Lecturer
A graduate of AFI, Cherniawsky has more than 10 years of solid experience in feature film and television production. He began his professional film career as a dolly grip, key grip, electrician and carpenter, then worked his way up through the art department as a conceptual illustrator, set designer and assistant art director. Todd served as production designer for GINGER SNAPS and GINGER SNAPS II and set designer on OCEAN'S THIRTEEN. Todd has developed advanced computer skills working as a set designer in the digital art departments of SUPERMAN RETURNS, MONSTER HOUSE, WAR OR THE WORLDS, LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, THE POLAR EXPRESS, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK and THE HULK.

Ryan Cosgrove | Lecturer
Currently, Cosgrove is a Graphic Designer in the Entertainment industry, but once in a while he tends to deviate into conceptual artwork, pop art, web design, and photography. After studying directing, screenwriting, and lighting at Columbia College in Chicago, he began working at Essanay Studio and Lighting (also in Chicago), where he focused on lighting and rigging for the Industry. Cosgrove started looking westward, shifted his focus and moved to California to work in the art departments on several feature films. He learned Art and Design, firsthand, from the people he worked for.

Cosgrove moved to Los Angeles, and began working as a Production Assistant for Production Designers Rick Carter and Doug Chiang, on "The Polar Express". Under the tutelage of Alex McDowell, Ryan worked on the film, "The Terminal". His next job was "Flight of the Phoenix," working under both Patrick Lumb and Andrew Menzies. He has worked on numerous television show, including "The Office", "90210", "Dexter" and "CSI: Miami," as well as a host of others.

John DeCuir, Jr. | Lecturer
DeCuir has designed film, television and themed attractions throughout the world. He started his film career as a student intern working on THE KING AND I and SOUTH PACIFIC. He received a degree in architecture from USC and accepted a post-graduate teaching position at the Institute of Building Research and Technology. He continued his film apprenticeship as an art director working in Rome on the films CLEOPATRA, AGONY AND THE ECSTACY, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and DR. FAUSTUS. He served as a producer/director in the U.S. Coast Guard's documentary film division and subsequently conceptualized and planned major portions of Disney's EPCOT/World Showcase. Later, he returned full time to film as art director on the film GHOSTBUSTERS. DeCuir became a production designer in 1985 designing such films as TOP GUN, TURNER & HOOCH, SISTER ACT 2 and the NBC television series PROVIDENCE. He lectures in the UCLA Performing Arts Program, has taught at USC's School of Cinema, holds a seat on the Art Director's Guild Board of Directors and acts as chairman of their education committee.

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.

John Muto | Lecturer
Northern California native John Muto graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a major in English Literature. The first paying job was as road manager, graphic artist, and occasional performer with an avant-garde San Francisco dance troupe. Filling in for the lighting designer, he lit the dance company's performance for a documentary film, which led into commercials, animation and eventually educational media. As a producer/director for HBJ Films in San Francisco he directed the first educational laserdisc to be awarded a Gold Camera at the Chicago International Film Festival. Muto designed and animated a number of sequences for the OINGO BOINGO's feature FORBIDDEN ZONE. Muto was later hired at Roger Corman's New World Pictures as an animator on BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS and storyboard artist for GALAXY OF TERROR. He moved on to Visual Effects Designer and/or Second Unit Director on such independent features as STRANGE INVADERS, SLAPSTICK, and JAWS - 3D. For his first film as Production Designer, Muto created the pop surreal look of the sci-fi cult feature NIGHT OF THE COMET, as well as designing the visual effects and directing second unit for the film. He went on to design environments for films in a number of genres, from HOME ALONE, to SPECIES, to HEARTS AND SOULS, to RIVERS EDGE. He created gigantic post-apocalyptic sets for James Cameron's TERMINATOR 2 / 3D -- BATTLE ACROSS TIME, a unique large format 3D presentation that's one of Universal Studios Tours' top attractions throughout the world. Muto's other films as Production Designer includes: FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, ONLY THE LONELY, WILDER NAPALM. For the Art Directors Guild, Muto founded the Art Directors Film Society, and hosted a number of programs spotlighting neglected films and featuring onstage interviews with the greatest designers from the Golden Age of the Hollywood studio system. As a design consultant, Mr. Muto offers his services through the firm DESIGN FOR PRODUCTION.

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 Asst. 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 In 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 and were consulting producers on JAKE IN PROGRESS for ABC. They currently have movies in development at Universal and Working Title Films.

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.

Karen Janszen | Senior Lecturer
Janszen holds a BA in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, an MA in anthropology from Harvard and an MFA in screenwriting from AFI. Her screenwriting credits include DUMA (2005), A WALK TO REMEMBER (2002), THE MATCHMAKER (1997) and DIGGING TO CHINA (1998); television credits include an episode of FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1998). In 1999, Variety named her one of "Ten Screenwriters to Watch."

Marta Kauffman | Lecturer
Marta Kauffman co-created and executive produced the Emmy Award-winning series "Friends."

Previously, Kauffman co-created and served as co-executive producer on the critically acclaimed, award-winning comedy series "Dream On." While on "Dream On," she received an Emmy Award nomination and a CableAce Award for writing the episode "For Peter's Sake." Kauffman also co-created the comedy series "The Powers That Be" for Norman Lear, starring John Forsythe, David Hyde Pierce and Holland Taylor. She also served as executive producer on the one-hour drama "Related" on the WB.

Most recently, she served as Executive Producer of the documentary film, "Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh".

Marta co-created and served as executive producer on the comedy series "Family Album" and "Veronica's Closet," starring Kirstie Alley. In addition, she served as an executive producer on the series "Jesse," starring Christina Applegate.

A Philadelphia native, Kauffman began her writing career at Brandeis University, which is where she met her then writing partner of over 25 years, David Crane. They began their working relationship in the theatre in New York, where they teamed with composer Michael Skloff to write several musicals, including the stage version of the movie "Arthur." At Brandeis, they also co-wrote the book and lyrics for the widely acclaimed musical "Personals," which played off-Broadway. "Personals" received an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination.

Kauffman and Crane also contributed musical and sketch material to the off-Broadway revues "A...My Name is Alice" and "Martin Charnin's Upstairs At O'Neals."

Kauffman lives in Los Angeles with her husband, composer Michael Skloff. She has three children: Hannah, 21, Sam, 18, and Rose, 10. She has served on the Board of Trustees of both Oakwood School and Big Sunday. She was named one of the 25 Most Influential Mothers by Working Mother magazine.

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, set to air its second season in June-2009.

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.

Del Reisman | Senior Lecturer
Holding a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, Reisman worked as story editor on the original PLAYHOUSE 90, after working on NBC MATINEE THEATRE. His first filmed show was the original TWILIGHT ZONE, where he worked as story editor for Rod Serling. He went on to write scripts, produce episodes and story edit for such TV classics as THE UNTOUCHABLES, RAWHIDE, PEYTON PLACE, THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO and CAGNEY AND LACEY. His long-form TV writing credits include THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, EROS IN LOVE and KILLER INSTINCT. Feature credits include THE TAKE (starring Billy Dee Williams) and THE MORNING MAN AND THE EVENING WOMAN. Reisman served on the Board of Directors for the Writers Guild of America, west, from 1979-87; was their Vice President from 1987-91; and served as President from 1991-93. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Writers Guild Foundation and of the National Film Preservation Board.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jacob Forman | Lecturer
Jacob grew up between East Timor, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City. As an undergraduate at Brown University, he studied history, film and literature. He was one of five fiction writers accepted into the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Brown. Jacob 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 is currently writing City of Water for Paramount Pictures (John Goldwyn producing) and just completed a Count of Monte Cristo adaptation for Strike Entertainment. Prior to joining the Conservatory Faculty, Jacob taught writing workshops at Brown and the New York Film Academy.

James Hosney | Senior Lecturer
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.

Barnet Kellman | Mentor
KELLMAN is the Emmy-award winning director/producer of television favorites MURPHY BROWN and MAD ABOUT YOU. In 1992 he received the Emmy for directing the "Murphy gives birth" episode of MURPHY BROWN, and the show won Outstanding Comedy Series award under his direction in 1989 and 1991, earning him another statue. In all, Kellman was nominated for four Emmys and three Directors Guild of America awards, winning the DGA honor in 1989. Mr. Kellman directed the pilot of MAD ABOUT YOU and enjoyed bringing the series into its own, executive producing its first season. In May 1998 Barnet had the honor of directing the final episode of MURPHY BROWN, ending the show's distinguished ten-year run. In all Mr. Kellman has been responsible for the pilots of twenty on-air television series, including the current MY BOYS and THE GEORGE LOPEZ SHOW. Other recent credits include the ABC movie MARY AND RHODA, staring Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper, as well as episodes of the award winning series SAMANTHA WHO?, MONK, ALIAS, ALLY MCBEAL, ONCE AND AGAIN, FELICITY and E.R.. Along with Lee Kalcheim he created and Executive Produced the NBC series, SOMETHING WILDER, starring Gene Wilder. Barnet directed the feature films STRAIGHT TALK, starring Dolly Parton and SLAPPY AND THE STINKERS. He made his feature debut with the 20th Century Fox screen version of KEY EXCHANGE . Originally a play, Kellman staged KEY EXCHANGE'S premieres at the WPA Theatre and at the Orpheum Theatre in Manhattan, and the Westwood Playhouse in L.A.. Mr. Kellman began his career in New York, directing the off-Broadway premieres of DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by John Patrick Shanley, THE GOOD PARTS by Israel Horovitz and THE LOMAN FAMILY PICNIC by Donald Margulies as well as, FRIENDS, and BREAKFAST WITH LES AND BESS by Lee Kalcheim. In Los Angeles, Barnet staged the world premiere of Lee Kalcheim's DEFILED, starring Peter Falk and Jason Alexander, at the Geffen Playhouse. Mr. Kellman's New York productions have been seen at the American Place Theatre, the New York Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights' Horizons, Circle in the Square, The Manhattan Theatre Club and the Ensemble Studio Theatre. He has also directed works at regional theatres including twelve productions over six seasons at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, and productions at the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Folger Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Actors' Theatre of Louisville. He has directed works by such diverse playwrights as Shakespeare, George Farquhar and David Rabe. Barnet made his radio debut with Wendy Wasserstein's THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG for L.A. Theatreworks, and KCRW. Kellman graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University in 1969. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he was a recipient of the prestigious Danforth Graduate Fellowship, and the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. He attended the Yale School of Drama, and received a Ph.D. from Union Graduate School. Barnet lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the actress, Nancy Mette. They have three children, Kate, Eliza and Michael.

Richard Pearce | Mentor
PEARCE made his feature film directorial debut with the period drama "Heartland," which earned the Golden Bear (grand prize) at the Berlin Film Festival and then opened the New York Film Festival's so-called "First Look at American Independents" in 1981. Other films of Pearce's include "Country" which brought Jessica Lange an Academy Award nomination and was also chosen to open The New York Film Festival; the highly praised racially charged drama "The Long Walk Home" pairing Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek; "Leap of Faith" with Steve Martin, Deborah Winger, and Liam Neeson; "No Mercy" starring Richard Gere and Kim Bassinger; and "A Family Thing" with Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones. Pearce began work in the late 1960's as a documentary cinematographer, and his camera credits include three Oscar-winning films: "Woodstock," "Marjoe," and "Interviews with My Lai Veterans." His final project before becoming a feature film director was the Vietnam War documentary "Hearts and Minds" directed by Peter Davis. For over a year and a half Pearce served as both cinematographer and associate producer on the controversial film which eventually screened at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to win an Academy Award for best feature documentary. Several years ago Pearce returned to the world of documentary filmmaking to direct one of seven feature length films on The Blues. presented by Marty Scorsese and broadcast over seven consecutive nights on PBS. Pearce's contribution, produced by Robert Kenner, was entitled "The Road to Memphis" and premiered at the Venice Film Festival before being released theatrically throughout much of the world following its US television premier. In 2008 Pearce and Kenner partnered once again, this time with Kenner as director and Pearce as co-producer and director of photography, on "Food Inc," a feature-length investigation of American's industrial food economy. "Food, Inc" was financed by Participant Media and River Road and premiered September, 2008 at the Toronto Film Festival. Currently, Pearce is partnered with Forest Whitaker developing a film project for HBO, and he was recently elected as a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Joe Pichirallo | Senior Lecturer
Joe Pichirallo is a veteran studio executive and producer.
He oversees film for The Gold Company, a production company headed by one of the industry's leading talent managers, Eric Gold, whose clients include Jim Carrey and Ellen DeGeneres.

Pichirallo produced "The Secret Life of Bees," a Fox Searchlight film starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Love & Basketball"). The film, which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and was released last fall, won the best picture award at the 40th Annual NAACP Image Awards, as well as best picture drama at the 2009 People's Choice Awards. A second movie he supervised, "Lakeview Terrace," a psychological thriller from Screen Gems, starring Sam Jackson, Kerry Washington and Patrick Wilson and directed by Neil LaBute, also was released last fall.

Before joining the Gold Company, Pichirallo was head of feature film production and development for Overbrook Entertainment, Will Smith's company.

Pichirallo was one of the original executives hired to launch Searchlight. At Searchlight he supervised more than a dozen films. Among the Searchlight films he oversaw were "One Hour Photo," starring Robin Williams and written and directed by acclaimed music video director Mark Romanek, "The Banger Sisters," starring Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon, "Antwone Fisher," the directorial debut of Denzel Washington, "Quills," which was nominated for three Academy Awards and "The Brothers McMullen," winner of the 1995 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Pichirallo subsequently was an executive vice president at Focus Features. His Focus films included "Hollywoodland," a noir thriller starring Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck and Diane Lane, and "Something New," a romantic comedy starring Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker and Alfre Woodard.

Pichirallo's first full time job in Hollywood was working as an executive at HBO Pictures, where he supervised two films directed by John Frankenheimer, "Against The Wall," a story about the Attica prison uprising, and "The Burning Season, a film about the destruction of the Amazon rain forests, and "Gotti," a film on the late New York mob boss.

Before getting into the entertainment business, Pichirallo was a reporter for The Washington Post, covering national security, Congress and the judicial system.

Pichirallo made the transition into the film business by spending a year as a screenwriting fellow in the graduate film program at the American Film Institute (AFI). He is an adjunct senior lecturer at AFI, where he teaches a course entitled "The Profession." He is also a longtime member of the AFI's Conservatory Board Advisory Committee, which reviews the film's school's operations and curriculum.

He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where he was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, "The Daily Californian."

Ainissa G. Ramirez | AFI Sloan Scholar
Holding a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, Ramirez is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Yale University.
A former AFI Catalyst fellow, she enjoys being a conduit of science and technology to the general public. She has authored over 30 technical papers, 6 patents, given lectures worldwide and garnered several awards, including MIT's award to top researchers (the TR100), the Sloan Research Fellowship, and the National Science Foundation's CAREER award. For over a decade, Ramirez has been involved in getting lay audiences excited about science. She is the founder and director of Yale's largest science outreach program--Science Saturdays--a fun science lecture series for kids of all ages (www.sciencesaturdays.org). Lectures she produced have ranged from "How to See a Black Hole" to "Why Birds are Dinosaurs." She serves as a science advisor for the National Geographic Society for their print media and as on-air talent. She also worked with public television shows such as Wired Science/KCET, DragonflyTV/TPT, and NOVA/WBGH. She has been a scientist-in-resident at the Exploratorium science museum (in San Francisco, CA) and has developed programs to explain materials science and nanotechnology to the general public. When she grows up, she wants to be the next Bill Nye the Science Guy.

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.

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.

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.