Ms. Monica Ortiz, President and Executive Producer

      Monica Ortiz received her Professional Certification of Master in the Arts and Science from the Filmmakers Central School of Cinema where she studied all aspects of filmmaking, including producing and directing. She began directing, writing, and producing her own short films. She has direct hands-on experience with film budgeting and scheduling, working with 7 Spirits Entertainment on two films, James Dean and Shade of Pale. Over the course of her career, Monica has worked on various Film, Music Videos, and Television Commercials.

      Monica is an accomplished screenwriter with ownership to more than ten properties. She was a finalist and third place winner of the 2004 Cinescape Genre Literary Competition. Most recently, Monica was the screenwriter and producer of a film titled Death Clique which was purchased by Clarity Pictures and filmed in December 2004. The completed film was acquired by Maverick Entertainment in early 2005 and released nationwide on DVD in 2006. She was a writer for hire on a screenplay titled American Faces which was filmed in September 2004 and was screened at a film festival in New York in March 2005. Monica has been hired as a script doctor on numerous screenplays including Black Phoenix with Producer David J. Bowdre. Monica recently directed a documentary titled “They Call Me the Rookie”.

      Monica most recently was Producer on the Jars of Clay Music Video “Work” an innovative music video filmed as a one-shot.

      As President and Executive Producer, her considerable experience will be used to manage the Academy of Film Arts, create and write future projects, oversee student curriculum, attach and organize film casts and crews, and plan future strategies.

Mr. Daniel Sydor, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Student Affairs

      Daniel Sydor will oversee the long-term strategy and financial affairs of the Academy of Film Arts. Daniel has assisted in the production of several short films, instructional videos and television programs within the Southern California area. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Daniel began his career as an assistant real estate analyst for a major commercial real estate firm in downtown Los Angeles and subsequent to that, Daniel was a senior appraiser of commercial real estate properties for the second largest commercial real estate firm in the country. There he became an expert at preparing and analyzing cash flows with a major emphasis in forecasting local, regional, and national market conditions. Most recently, Daniel was Vice President of Acquisitions & Finance for a national real estate development company. 

      Daniel has a professional understanding of the film industry, debt structures, and the ability to calculate financial internal rates of return. In addition to strong analytical, communication, data collection, and organizational skills, he has the ability to work with various entities to collect, analyze, and present a wide variety of information.

      As Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Student Affairs, his experience will be used to run the day-to-day financial operations of the school and over see all production and school budgets to maintain the highest quality educational experience.

Mr. David J. Bowdre, Executive Vice President of Marketing

      David J. Bowdre is a Native Californian, born and raised in Los Angeles. After attending Texas Tech University on a football scholarship, David was signed by the Denver Broncos of the NFL. Unfortunately, an early injury stifled what may have been a promising athletic career. David is now a Captain on the Los Angeles Fire Department, where he first developed an interest in filmmaking while working as an FSO (Fire Marshall) on the sets of numerous major motion pictures over an eight-year period. During this time, David had many opportunities to observe the movie making process from start to finish. 

      David founded Never Stop Dreaming Enterprises (NSD), an entertainment and talent management firm, on June 11, 2003. David’s concept was to assist those rare individuals who dare to “Never Stop Dreamin” to realize their dream in the fine art of filmmaking and other entertainment endeavors. In addition to film projects, the Company is also involved in artist development and management. David was one of three producers on his first independent project, a feature length film titled “Steppin’ Back.” Urban Works Entertainment was the distributor on the project and released it on DVD in April 2004. David is currently producing the feature length film Black Phoenix which is based on true events.

      David is the Executive Vice President of Marketing at the Academy of Film Arts, responsible for marketing and promotion of the school’s programs. In addition, David is responsible for acquiring talent/guest speakers for Q&A sessions with the students.

Mr. John Gigante, Director Instructor

      After acquiring a Bachelor of Arts degree, John hit the streets of New York City with steadfastness and his career in entertainment jump-started. His work as an actor, director, and writer has taken him to work on numerous plays, TV shows, and films. John has had the opportunity to work with many brilliant movie stars in his several years in the film industry. John’s film production work with Ben Stiller ultimately inspired him to create his own movie in which to showcase his many talents. His latest project “Cugini”, is currently screening at film festivals and has most recently won a “Special Recognition Award” and several “Audience Choice Awards.”

      John knows that directing a film is a true lesson in organizational proficiency and precision. From writing through post production, he has courageously inspired others to be their absolute best. John’s strong attention to detail has served in planning and executing his goals while always maintaining an on-budget production. His dependability is all about helping others. When his imaginative mind takes action, his creative, out-of-the-box thinking gives him the fortitude to see things to fruition. He is quick to make decisions and is humble enough to take responsibility for them. His charismatic people skills yield cooperation and respect of his relationships. His eclectic life experiences and education have enriched his creative work while his interests in music, specifically drumming and singing, still act as ‘soul food’.

      John’s hands-on teaching style has enabled his students to learn in a creative atmosphere, allowing each individual to find their passion and bring it to the screen.

Ben Brunkhardt, Director of Photography/Cinematography Instructor

      Ben grew up in Kansas City, Missouri until the age of 18 when he moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema/Television where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in film production. In addition to directing and photographing numerous short films at USC, Ben partnered with Sony’s High Definition Division in 1996 to be their cinematographer on a short high definition project in which Sony used their new technology to transfer the final digital project to 35mm film. Ben then traveled with Sony to the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 where Sony showcased their new HD-to-film technology and introduced their first HDCAM camcorder to the industry.

      After working as a freelance cinematographer for two years, Ben decided to enroll at the University of California, Los Angeles to earn a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Cinematography. During the six-year Masters program, Ben studied with Allen Daviau, ASC, Dean Cundey, ASC, Conrad Hall, ASC, Owen Roizman, ASC, and Roger Deakins, ASC, as well as photographed numerous short films, music videos, and one feature film. Ben has also studied with Laszlo Kovacs, ASC and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC at the Kodak sponsored 2003 Budapest Cinematography Masterclass in Hungary. 

      Most recently, Ben has developed a new, patent-pending post-production process for large format motion picture formats, in which he dubs Large Format Negative Repurposing (LFNR). He also produced and photographed the first 15/70 (IMAX) film, The Persistence of Dreams, utilizing the new LFNR process. He debuted the film, as well as his new process at the 2005 Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) conference in Los Angeles this past April. Currently, Ben is working with other large format producers who hope to incorporate his LFNR process into their future projects.

Hugh Scott, Director of Photography/Cinematography Instructor

      Born in San Diego and raised in the Los Angeles area, Hugh attended the University of California at Santa Barbara. Receiving a BA in Dramatic Arts with a clear emphasis in technical direction and lighting, Hugh continued working in theater and television as a technical director, master carpenter, and lighting technician. After settling into the job of scene shop supervisor for five years at the UCLA School of Theater he decided to get back to his dream of working in film and began working on his MFA in Directing and Production at UCLA.

      Hugh’s time at UCLA was spent in intensive course work in cinematography and workshops with ASC Cinematographers such as Conrad Hall, Dean Cundy, and Roger Deakins. Other workshops include the Kodak color workshop, and the Santa Fe High-Def workshop, both on the cutting edge of today’s technology. Hugh also worked as Teacher Assistant on many courses he had taken just the previous year, giving him a unique view as instructor and student on the same course. During his summers while at UCLA, he spent time with the UCLA Arts Camp, working and instructing as cinematographer for the high school student short films. As a Director, Hugh also completed several short films of his own, learning the other side of the Director/ Cinematographer relationship.

      Since completing his course work, Hugh has continued to be hired back at UCLA helping to assist current student cinematographers on school funded projects. Currently, in addition to working on freelance projects, he is the Director of Photography for “Be in Tune”, a teen television series about music. When time permits he still technical directs theater because “Its live, and its fun”.

Michael Gigante, Music Instructor

      Producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gigante grew up in a musical environment. “I grew up in a big house with a dedicated ‘music room’ where everyone in the family played something (my sister played records, which was equally important), but the point is that there was always something for me to choose and learn how to play, eventually I landed at the piano.”

      From there Michael went on to start a band called The Peaces with his brother, Filmmaker John Gigante, and a few of their friends. After a few years of playing the NYC club circuit the Peaces dis-banded, peacefully. “I figured, hey, we got to play at CBGB’s and a few other great venues, but we weren’t destined for greatness, so I decided to move to Los Angeles.”

      With the eventual addition of The Peaces’ most recent drummer, Craig Wolynez, to his L.A. habitat, Michael and Craig began work on what eventually became their new band, LoveStarDeluxe. With Stephanie Davis as lead singer, this endeavor culminated in the release of their 2001 debut Digital Killed The Analog Star.

      While continuing to write and produce music for LoveStarDeluxe, Michael has found the time to work on a variety of projects including a full scale musical called Persephones Cowboy, which he co-wrote with Craig and Gibson Frasier (Man Of The Century) and which has been work-shopped in Los Angeles at UCLA with Anthony Rapp (RENT) and Holly Palmer (Down With Love, David Bowie, Gnarls Barkley). He also scored the independent film Cugini (Burt Young), which afforded him the opportunity to record a cover of the Gershwin classic They All Laughed with Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze). He’s also recorded with John Stamos (Full House) and Phil Bardowell (The Beach Boys), and Ty Taylor (Dakota Moon, Rock Star INXS).

      His current project is LoveSlaveDiary an electronic musical, loosely based on LoveStarDeluxe.

      His work at Academy of Film Arts consists of writing the music for the student films, teaching how music deeply expresses the mood and the tone of the scenes, and working on laying the music over the film.

Consultants

      We hire our faculty on a per curriculum basis. Producers, crew, and staff for individual courses and projects are hired as required by the curriculum schedule. The Academy of Film Arts also works with the following consultants:

Mr. Dan Schaffer, Casting Director

Owned and Operated Innovative Casting Group in Burbank, California