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Film Faculty

Miguel Silveira

Miguel Silveira

Director • Producer • Educator · MFA Film, Columbia University

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Miguel Silveira lives and works in NYC. After wrapping his first feature-length documentary I Am a Visitor in Your World (Official selection - Woodstock Film Festival, Thessaloniki...

 Missy Hernandez

Missy Hernandez

Writer • Producer • Assistant Professor · MFA Film, Columbia University

Missy Hernandez is a Filmmaker, Writer, Actor and Assistant Professor in the Cinema and Television Arts department at Columbia College Chicago where she teaches courses in screenwriting, television writing, and creative...

 Emil Benjamin

Emil Benjamin

Director • Cinematographer • Editor · MFA Film, Columbia University

Emil Benjamin is a New York City-based filmmaker. His feature documentary OYATE premiered in competition at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, winning multiple awards and now streaming on major platforms. His short f...

 Levi Abrino

Levi Abrino

Advanced Film & Screenwriting Teacher · MFA Film & TV, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Levi Abrino is a writer and director based in Los Angeles, CA. Most recently, he was a writer and co-executive producer on a HBO Max’s new, animated Charlotte’s Web miniseries (starring Amy Adams). Previously, he wrote f...

 Charlie Barker Theobald

Charlie Barker Theobald

Film Instructor · MFA Film & TV, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Charlie Barker Theobald is a writer, director, and cinematographer from Fort Collins, CO. He holds a BA from Colorado College where he graduated with a distinction in Film and Media Studies. He is also is a recent gradua...

 Melina Leon

Melina León

Film Instructor · MFA Film, Columbia University

Melina León is a Peruvian director and screenwriter best known for her acclaimed 2019 film Song Without a Name (Canción sin Nombre), which made her the first Peruvian female director to have a film premiere at the Cannes...

 Derek Stuckert

Derek Stuckert

Screenwriter • Producer · MFA Screenwriting, American Film Institute

Growing up the tall kid with no athletic ability, Derek quickly embraced his love of the arts and never looked back. He is a Texas native and a graduate of the American Film Institute where he received an M.F.A in Screen...

 Omar Kakar

Omar Kakar

Director • Architect • Filmmaker · MFA Film, Columbia University

Omar Kakar is a cross-cultural interdisciplinary architect-turned-filmmaker and a first generation Afghan-American. His hybridized identity led him into the fields of art, design, & cinema.He holds a professional B.Arch...

 Nick Ordway

Nick Ordway

Director • Screenwriter · MFA Film, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Nick earned his MFA in Film from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. Before entering the world of film, Nick studied literature and theatre at Princeton University and taught English at Chiang Mai University i...

 Shana Lloyd

Shana Lloyd

Writer • Director • Producer · BFA Acting & Theater, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Shana Lloyd is a (recovering) actor, (sometimes) filmmaker, and (mostly) writer hailing from suburban Maryland. She studied acting in New York at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. While in NYC, she worked off Broadway with...

 Molly Karna

Molly Karna

Writer • Director · MFA Film & TV Production, USC School of Cinematic Arts

Molly Karna is a queer, Indian-American writer and director based in Los Angeles who recently completed her M.F.A. in Film and Television Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.Molly's time at SCA led to her writ...

 Sushma Khadepaun

Sushma Khadepaun

Writer • Director · MFA Film, Columbia University

Born in India, Sushma is a writer/director based in New York City. A storyteller with a passion for women's rights and immigrant narratives, Sushma's stories often explore/challenge the idea of home, identity, and the my...