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School of Motion Pictures & Television
MFA Faculty
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Jack Isgro
Department Director, Motion Pictures & Television
Jack Isgro has more than 20 years of motion picture experience, primarily as a line
producer/production manager. He has worked on several independent feature films and dozens of main
title opening sequences for major motion pictures and network television. His projects include,
among many others,
Jake and the Fat Man,
FM,
Short Circuit,
Innerspace,
Star Trek VI and
The Bold And The Beautiful. Another project with which he was associated is
Music in High Places, which combined top music stars and sacred locations around the
globe. It aired on both MTV and Direct TV. Jack has been at the Academy of Art University since
1998.
Jack’s distinctions: BA in Psychology from St. John Fisher College, 1972, Associate Director of
Motion Pictures & Television – 2 years, MFA Director – 2 years, and Director of the School of
Motion Pictures & Television since 2003.
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Diane Baker
Co- Director, Motion Pictures & Television
Diane Baker studied acting in New York and Los Angeles with Charles Conrad, ballet with Nina
Fonaroff, Estelle Harman and years later with Stella Adler. While under contract with Twentieth
Century Fox, she was introduced to director George Stevens Sr., who cast her in The Diary Of Anne
Frank. Diane performed in films such as Journey To The Center of the Earth, The Best of Everything,
300 Spartans, The Wizard of Baghdad, Nine Hours to Rama, directed by Mark Robson, and Stolen Hours,
with Susan Hayward. At Universal, she starred in Mirage with Gregory Peck and Marnie for director
Alfred Hitchcock.
Diane worked with Anthony Hopkins and director Jonathan Demme in Silence of the Lambs, and
her television credits include The Blue and the Gray, Inherit the Wind and most recently About
Sarah, ER and CBS's Jackie, playing the role of Rose Kennedy. She is currently developing several
feature films for production.
Diane's first effort as a producer was for the documentary Ashiana, which dealt with the end
of feudalism in India. Several other award-winning documentaries followed. With no office other
than her briefcase, she produced the film Never Never Land in London, starring Petula Clark. This
success opened the door for a future project, a mini-series based on Barbara Taylor Bradford's A
Woman Of Substance, which received an Emmy nomination for Best Miniseries.
In addition to serving as Director of Acting, Ms. Baker personally instructs several acting
courses. She introduces students to a variety of professionally recognized acting techniques,
including those developed by Stanislavski, Sanford Meisner, Michael Chekhov, and Stella Adler.
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Eduardo Rufeisen
Co-Director, Motion Pictures & Television
Eduardo Rufeisen has more than 17 years of international experience producing, directing, and
managing creative teams and crews. He worked as the Senior Advisor of Advertising for
Bosch-Blaupunkt group in Brazil, directing ad campaigns for print, TV and Radio. He became
marketing manager of MTV-Brazil where he created television ad campaigns and managed the sales
team. He also worked for a Brazilian Television Network producing more than 100 different shows.
During the last 12 years he has been producing and directing multi-camera TV shows for local
San Francisco Bay Area cable channels and multinational companies including Hewlett Packard. He has
also produced, directed and edited short films, documentaries and commercials seen nationally on
ABC, MTV, Lifetime, WB and Fox. His short films and documentaries have won multiple awards around
the world.
Since completing his Master of Fine Arts degree (MFA) in Motion Pictures and Television
Studies at the Academy of Art University, Eduardo has also been working as a film and television
instructor at various colleges in Northern California. During the last 8 years, he has taught
classes in a wide variety of Motion Picture disciplines. In January 2004, he became the Coordinator
of the MFA program in the School Motion Pictures and Television and in October 2006 he became the
Associate Director of Graduate Studies in Motion Pictures and Television at the Academy of Art
University where he continues to teach and mentor graduate students. As part of his
responsibilities, Eduardo review all portfolios of students interested in the program and he also
is a lead committee member in MFA Midpoint and Final reviews where he frequently chairs the
committees. |
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Brad Hughes
Director, Audio/Sound
Originally from Sacramento, California, Brad Hughes comes to the Academy of Art University
with over 12 years of experience in sound and audio for a wide variety of production environments.
In that time, he has maintained a career as both an audio engineer and a professional saxophonist.
Prior to joining the Academy of Art University, Brad worked as a sound designer and engineer
for Creativity Studios, where he was responsible for daily music production, voice recording,
editing and mixing of music for children’s toys and games. He has also served as audio engineer for
Ed Bogas Productions, where he engineered music, sound effects, and voice recording for radio and
television broadcast. In addition, Brad has provided engineering services to a wide variety of
clients, including The Hollywood Edge, Soundeluxe Audio Publishing, and Macromedia. He has
extensive expertise in computer software applications for audio, including the industry standard
Pro Tools.
As a professional saxophonist, Brad has brought his signature sound to a diverse group of
musical settings, including The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, The Liberation Music Orchestra with Charlie
Haden, and The Starlight Room Orchestra. He has recorded or played with Ravi Coltrane, Ernie Watts,
The Tiger Club, James Carney, Wil Blades, and the Realistic Orchestra. As a studio musician, Brad
has also recorded on the scoring stages at 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. in Los Angeles.
He holds a BFA in World Arts & Cultures from U.C.L.A., and an MFA in Music from The
California Institute of the Arts. |
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Michael Braverman
Instructor
Michael Braverman is a two-time Emmy award nominee and a 30-year television veteran with
hundreds of hours of produced primetime dramas and comedies to his credit. He was the creator and
Executive Producer of the Emmy-winning ABC television series,
Life Goes On. As a noted show-runner, executive producer, writer and director he has been
instrumental in guiding shows such as
Chicago Hope,
Beverly Hills 90210,
Quincy and Higher Ground. Michael was nominated twice for the prestigious Writers Guild of
America Writer’s Award as well as the Humanitas Prize, the People’s Choice Award and more than 35
other distinguished professional awards. He has taught television writing at the extensions of
Columbia College of Chicago, UCLA, and UC Santa Cruz and currently teaches screenwriting,
directing, producing, and acting for camera at Academy of Art University, San Francisco. He is
currently completing his second novel.
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Rich Cascio
Instructor
Richard Cascio resides and works in San Francisco as a cinematographer. He began his career
working on commercials and feature films in the Bay Area as a first camera assistant. He is an
experienced Steadicam operator, and aerial cinematographer. Richard has been on the Academy of Art
University faculty teaching cinematography since June 2005.
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Curran Engel
Full-Time Instructor
Curran is a producer, production manager, first assistant director, and second assistant
director, and has over 12 years of extensive industry experience. He was the Producer on several
feature films, such as
Skeleton Woman,
This Space Between Us,
Downfall and
Cherish and First Assistant Director on
Heartwood,
Tweeker, and
Chalk. Curran is an accomplished professional who has worked in a variety of roles.
He possesses a great deal of industry experience, which is a valuable asset to his teaching. In
this graduate purse, he guides graduate students through the various elements of production, from
breaking down a script to scheduling and budgeting. His first-hand experience of sales and
marketing prepares students for the challenges of producing their own projects. Curran's extensive
list of projects includes music videos, commercials, television and movies. Curran has worked at
the Academy since 1999 and is a full-time instructor.
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Sam Fisk
Instructor
Former Pixar Story Analyst Sam Fisk works as a screenwriter, coach, development executive
and "gun for hire" story editor when not teaching about the facets of story and screenwriting at
Academy of Art University.
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Michael Helmy
Instructor
Michael Helmy is trained as an architect and began his movie career at Warner Brothers in
the changing studio system in Hollywood. Learning from great directors like John Cassavetes and
Francis Ford Coppola, and stellar production designers like Richard “Dick” Sylbert and Richard
MacDonald, he worked his way up to become a successful production designer. Michael is well known
for his work on landmark television shows such as
Miami Vice,
Nash Bridges,
Birds of Prey and the most successful show in television history,
ER. His film credits include
Prizzi's Honor,
Back to the Beach,
The Webbers,
Sugar Hill and
Traveller. Michael is a passionate educator and enjoys sharing his knowledge and
experience with his students, much like he once received guidance as a young apprentice. Currently,
he is writing and developing family comedy movies.
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Donna Laemmlen
Instructor
Donna Laemmlen is a screenwriter and screenplay consultant. Her screenplays have been
recognized in several major competitions, including the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, the
Chesterfield Writer's Film Project, the Austin Heart of Film Screenplay Competition, Scriptapalooza
and
Creative Screenwriting Magazine's Screenwriting Expo. She
is a Story Analyst for American Zoetrope, where she has read over 1,000 screenplays for their
annual screenplay contest, as well as a reader for
Zoetrope: All-Story, winner of the National Magazine Award
for Fiction. She previously was a Producer for International Herald Tribune Television and the PBS
series
Great Leaders. She also was Associate Producer for the PBS
Series
Great Entrepreneurs and the
Nightly Business Report segment
Prime Movers. She is a member of the WGAw Independent
Writers Caucus.
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Matthew Levie
Instructor
Matthew Levie has been editing film for more than 15 years. His credits include the
documentaries
Curanderos de los Maya and
97 Orchard Street, and the feature films
The Guatemala Incident and
Sleep Furiously. He also does corporate work for America Online, BMW, Intel, and Wells
Fargo. Currently, he is editing a cooking series to be aired on PBS.
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Julie Oxendale
Instructor
For the past 20 years, Julie Oxendale has worked as a writer for film and theatre, and has
worked with Danny Boyle, Jim and Peter Sheridan, Jane Campion, Albert Finney and Ben Kingsley.
After being awarded Best Feature Film Script by Film Arts Foundation, her scripts were optioned by
Fox Searchlight and companies in England, Australia and India. She was selected for the prestigious
Sundance writers labs and also the Equinoxe Award in France. Currently she is co-writing a short
film with Mark Reyes, an award-winning Academy of Art University student, and collaborating on a
stage play about the artist Joan Mitchell, slated for performance in Manhattan in the summer of
2008.
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Steve Romanko
Instructor
Steve Romanko is an award-winning filmmaker and sound Designer living and working in San
Francisco. His screen credits include work on more than 100 features, including
Saving Private Ryan,
Fight Club and the award-winning documentary
Into the Arms of Strangers. 13th Generation, Steve’s film company, has produced a number
of short films, including the documentary
N.E.P.A. He is currently in pre-production for the feature-length film
Thrill Kill. Winner of the 2003 Dean Goodman Choice Award (Best Theater Sound Design for
Kilt), Steve maintains a connection to the stage with his work at the acclaimed Magic and
New Conservatory theaters.
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Matt Volla
Instructor
Matt Volla graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA in Audio and
Video Production. He received an MFA in Electronic Music from Mills College in 2004. Matt has
edited for Goldman, Sachs and Co. and for Maxis, a division of Electronic Arts. He has worked
for Academy of Art University since 2000, starting as a valued Technician in our editing labs. He
previously taught high school at S.R. Martin in San Francisco and college level at Mills college in
Oakland.
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Rick Wise
Instructor
Rick Wise has been shooting and making films for more than 30 years. After film school in
Paris and a brief job as assistant director for American feature productions shooting in France, he
became a news and documentary filmmaker, ending up at KQED San Francisco during its golden years.
From 1968 to 1970 he covered the daily riots at San Francisco State and then UC Berkeley as a
cameraman and editor, honing his skills at visual storyteller. The station bumped him up to
produce, shoot and edit a series of long-form documentaries for PBS, including the well-received
Private Lives of Americans. That documentary work then morphed into shooting commercials,
dramatic episodes, and high-end corporate films. Wise continues to shoot in all film and video
formats, and edits his own projects.
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