FILMSTERS
Meet some of our past
Industry Guest Instructors...
Each year we invite several guest instructors to come on set and teach the kids hands-on about the art of filmmaking. We are fortunate to have many return year after year to impart their experience and knowledge to our young filmmakers.
Teaching the Art of Filmmaking to kids 11-18.
Academy
Trevor White
DIRECTOR
Vera J. Katz
MASTER ACTING COACH
Trevor White is a co-founder of Los Angeles based Star Thrower Entertainment. His first feature film, Jamesy Boy, which he co-wrote and directed, starring James Woods, Mary-Louise Parker and Ving Rhames, was released in January of 2014 and is available on DVD and Netflix. Along with his brother, Tim, Trevor has produced INGRID GOES WEST in 2017 with Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, LBJ for Director Rob Reiner and will be Executive Producing Stephen Spielberg's new film, starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. He has other projects in various stages of development, including a film that will be shot in Italy this summer. He is also in post-production on his new feature film A CROOKED SOMEBODY, which he directed. Trevor is a graduate of Cornell University and has brought his talents as the Supervising Director to the Advanced program . He has been with FILMSTERS Academy since its inception.
Professor Emeritus, Vera J. Katz retired after teaching acting and directing for 32 years at Howard University where she was a full-time, tenured Professor, directed numerous productions and founded the Directing program. She also worked for many years as a part-time theatre faculty member of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where she is still teaching. Professor Katz has taught for Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, Serenity Players, African Continuum Theatre Coalition, and Essential Theatre. She has directed premieres for the Black Women’s Playwrights’ Group and Playwrights Forum, among others. She has also written articles for various theatre publications and directed over fifty theatrical productions throughout the United States. She first taught our actors at film camp last summer and we are thrilled to have her return again this year.
Tricia Cramer
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER
& 1st ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Tricia is a native Annapolitan with expertise in Directing, Producing, and Assistant Directing. She’s directed two eps of Half Life, a half-hour comedy shown on NYCLife and WhoHaha. Her short, Sucker, won a Block Island FF Lighthouse Award and was an official entrant to the BAFTA Student Film Awards and the National Board of Review Student Film Award.
She has produced / Assistant Directed on many shorts and branded content including AD'ing for Stevie Van Zandt. In Television Production, Love Life seasons 1&2 as a Showrunner's Assistant, and The Bite (CBS/Spectrum), The Outsider (HBO), The Affair s5 (Showtime) Education: MFA, Directing - CUNY Brooklyn College Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema BA - NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study Memberships: BAFTA, New York Women in Film and TV This marks her first year at Filmsters!
David Ewing
EDITOR
David Ewing is a producer/editor/writer at DE Media, a division of Bayside Productions. A twelve-time Emmy award-winning editor, David has cut many films for all major networks. In addition, David has been an editor for the Newseum, an editor and producer at WETA/PBS, an editor at National Geographic Film and TV, and a Producer/Editor at NBC Dateline-News Division in New York. David is a graduate of the Philadelphia University of the Arts. This is his fourteenth year as a guest instructor at FILMSTERS Academy.
Robert Lam
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Bobby Lam is a cinematographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He most recently shot Who Are You People, Disney Channel’s Under Wraps and Under Wraps 2, and the 2017 feature A Crooked Somebody. A member of IATSE Local 600, his body of work spans over two decades across feature films, documentaries, commercials, music videos, and streaming TV. Bobby has had the pleasure of working with Oscar-Nominated filmmakers Tim and Trevor White
in addition to acting heavyweights Ed Harris, Golden Globe-
Winning Joanne Froggatt, Grammy-Winning musician Lil’ Jon, and many others. Bobby was humbled to be a participant in the 2nd round of Unreal’s Virtual Production Fellowship in 2020. He is actively seeking opportunities to apply this bleeding edge technology.
Julie Bays
COSTUME DESIGNER
Julie Bays is the Costume Designer at FILMSTERS Academy. She has costumed for Colonial Players on productions of Fences, I Hate Hamlet, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Little Women. She has also done costuming for many shows at Children’s Theatre of Annapolis and most recently for Oliver and To Kill a Mockingbird at Compass Rose Studio Theater. Julie Bays meets the challenge of creating comfortable and workable costumes for actors. During film camp she makes costumes for actors from the 14th century to FBI agents to Firefighters, animals and characters representing the popular board game, LIFE. For the past three years she has been a guest artist teaching costume design with the Performing and Visual Arts program. She is an essential part of the fun and creativity of film camp. This is her seventh year with us.
PREVIOUS GUEST INSTRUCTORS
Mimi Edmunds
PRODUCER
Mimi Edmunds
PRODUCER
Lucy Spiegel
PRODUCER
Marianna “Mimi” Edmunds has been a documentary journalist since 1981, working at CBS’ 60 Minutes, PBS and Discovery. She has taught at USC in LA, the Maine Media Workshops, and at Emerson College in Boston. Along with teaching, she continues to have a hand in producing, writing and directing documentaries. She lives in Rockport, ME. and is an Advisory Board member of the Annapolis Film Festival. This is her 18th year with FILMSTERS Academy.
Logan Nyman
COMPOSER
Logan is also an accomplished musician and educator. Developing skills in score composition for short films and animations, musical production, band leading, studio session playing, touring, and live performance. He has been providing multi-instrument private teachings since 2013 working long-term with students ranging from ages 4-67 years old. A gifted musician, Logan Nyman has helped score many of the Advanced films for film camp such as ARDEUR and GHOST IN CONTEXT.
He currently works as a sound engineer, mixer, and composer on various projects from games to films. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. This is Logan's fourth year at film camp.
Hari Leigh
SCREENWRITER
& ACTRESS
Lucy Spiegel's background includes spending twenty years as the Executive Director for Contributors and Audience for CNN where she managed top political talent, analysts and commentators. She served as Vice President and Senior Executive Producer of CNN's weekend public affairs programs, including Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Reliable Sources and This Week in Politics. She has worked at all three broadcast networks during her career, including her twenty years with CBS News, during which she served as Bureau Chief in Beirut and as a producer for both CBS Evening News and CBS This Morning. She is currently President of the Board of Directors for the Annapolis Film Festival. Her favorite part of camp is helping Beginners craft their original stories. This is her fifth year with FILMSTERS Academy.
Marlee Roberts
DIRECTOR
Marlee Roberts began her career in the entertainment industry as a child actress. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Roberts produced over twenty projects since 2010 including Mastodon, which was selected by Film Shortage as one of their featured short films. Two other films Elm Gardens and Justice in D Minor world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Her first feature directorial debut in 2015 was the film Little Miss Perfect, about eating disorders starring her sister, Carly Roberts.
Roberts was dubbed a "Big Screen Filmmaker" on the cover of 201 Magazine's April 2016 issue and was interviewed by GirlHQ to shine light on female directors. She serves on the California Docu Film Festival's Youth Advisory Board and has appeared on multiple panels including Sunywide Film Festival's "Breaking into the Business" and Annapolis Film Festival's "Young Hollywood".
Roberts is a proud member of the Alliance of Women Directors, New York Women in Film and Television, Women in Film, and the Women in Moving Pictures Society. This year will be her fourth year at FILMSTERS Academy.
Hari Leigh is an accomplished filmmaker, writer, and performer based in Los Angeles, CA. Her lifelong passion for this work has led her appearing as an actress for John Waters, Key and Peele, Nickelodeon’s Sanjay and Craig, and with a variety of established independent filmmakers. Hari is an accomplished director of voice actors for gaming companies and has directed several scenes.
Focusing both on the independent and female perspective, Hari is proud of her collective work and mission as an artist. She is in the process of taking her point of view to larger audiences through comedic feature films and scripted series'. She loves working with the students of Filmsters and looks forward to their great ideas all year.
Rick Kain
STUNT COORDINATOR & ACTOR
Rick Kain is a veteran actor and stuntman. He is often hired as a stunt coordinator or part of the stunt team for major feature films and television series. He specializes in firearms, fight scene coordination and flying actors on wires. He began his career on the feature film Ladder 49, which was shot in Annapolis and Baltimore. He has since appeared on 24, in The Bourne Identity films, Live Free or Die Hard, Premium Rush with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and most recently worked on Netflix series House of Cards with Kevin Spacey. He has helped for six years at FILMSTERS Academy.
Dave Burroughs
GAFFER
A professional gaffer, freelance photographer and filmmaker, Dave Burroughs adds his creatvitiy to FILMSTERS Academy when available. His work encompasses many films such as; Being John Malkovich, Arlington Road, The Minus Man, Pearl Jam: Single Video Theory, Destination Anywhere and Going All the Way. He works closely with the Advanced film students where he acts as the Supervising Gaffer on the Advanced film "shoot" weekend. Dave has also shot high end commercial photography as a freelance photographer for both national and local clients, such as HOBO bags. He resides in Annapolis, Maryland.
Lauren Herrel
CASTING DIRECTOR
Lauren Herrel is known for her work on Andor (2022), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Million Dollar Arm (2014).
Robert "Bobby" Burton
CINEMATOGRAPHER
ADVANCED - Bobby is a cinematographer currently living and working in New York City. He has shot for VICE Media and other notable New York clients. He is the cinematographer for the feature documentary GREAT BIG BABY, about the life of blues and jazz legend, Baby Jane Dexter, which is currently in post-production. He is about to begin production on DRAMA's QUEEN: The Vera Katz Story. He studied film at Chapman University in California. While there, he produced a indie feature film entitled, The Youngest Pledge, which was picked up by Lionsgate. He has created media and films for VisionQuest, an alternative treatment program for at-risk youth founded by his family in 1973. This is year three for Bobby. He lives in New York City.
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Desma Murphy
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Desma Murphy is an art director and production designer, known for The Hangover (2009), Aquaman (2018) and Next (2007).
Anne Scott
HAIR & MAKE-UP ARTIST
Anne Scott is an accomplished hair & makeup artist with years of professional experience. Her main focus is to be involved with the local youth to help them achieve everything that they dream to become. She returned to film camp for three years running.
Stephen Harrod
SOUND
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FIELD SOUND TEAM LEADER - Stephen Harrod graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2010. He focuses on production sound and has worked on various award-winning commercials, shorts, documentaries, music videos, web series and features. He has worked with talent including Aaron Sorkin, Terry Gilliam, Justin Lee, Adrian Grenier, Richard Simmons, Richard Riehle, Alex Winter, John Badham, Alfonso Curon, Major Lazer, Steve Aoki, Joseph Mazzello, Bill Bellamy, Pawel Szajda, Nick Krull, Mike Starr and Terry Crews. He has also worked with media such as: College Humor, Nickelodeon and Seventeen. He lives in LA and works regularly on production sets. This is his ninth year with FILMSTERS Academy.
Jane Burka
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR
Jane Burka has been working as a script supervisor for both film and television in the Baltimore/D.C. area for many years. She began her career working on the series Homicide: Life on the Street. She also worked with the accounting department on The Wire. She has script supervised on the feature films; Jamesy Boy, Better Living Through Chemistry, Arlington Road, Rocket Science and Head of State. Jane is currently working on HBO’s VEEP, and has worked on the Netflix series, House of Cards. When available, Jane loves to pop in and share her expertise with the campers.
Gonzalo Accame
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Gonzalo “Gonzo” Accame is a national and international award-winning bilingual producer and cameraman, as well as the co-owner of Visual Edge. He has traveled extensively, shooting and producing documentaries and features on a diverse range of topics throughout the US and abroad. He has produced and shot for broadcast networks and cable channels, Fortune 500 companies and international foundations and organizations. He was a guest instructor for the first nine years of FILMSTERS Academy. He is now retired and owns a food truck in Staunton, VA. called "Gonzo's Pollo" where he has put his Peruvian cooking skills to use.
Matt Sobel
SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR
Steve Saada
SOUNDMAN
Matt Sobel Is a Sound Engineer and Mixer. He is known for his work on Pushed (Short), Beautiful Dead Things (Short), Magnificent Burden (Documentary), Miss 41 (Short), and Love & Mercy (sound intern). Matt is currently a sound mixer for SONY Pictures Classic.
Steve is a Maryland based soundman that has been nominated for Academy Awards for his work on 12 O'Clock Boys, and Baby Driver. He has mixed sound for VEEP, House of Cards, Madam President, Parks and Recreation, Tom Clancy's: Jack Ryan and Charm City. He heads up the education committee of the local sound union and is excited to have this first FILMSTERS Academy experience this year.