ELA THIER  Founder, Head-Instructor Ela Thier wrote and directed A SUMMER RAIN, winning numerous "Best Short" awards and screening at over 200 festivals and venues. She is now in post-production on FOREIGN LETTERS, a feature film that she wrote, directed and produced, sponsored by B&H Photo and Arri CSC. Most recently, Thier wrote and directed JUDO GIRL, produced by FluidFilm, and directed GENTLE CYCLE ONLY, written by Mrinalini Kamath. Thier studied filmmaking at NYU where she wrote and directed over a dozen short films. Thier's feature writing credits include PUNCTURE (starring Chris Evans), to be released in 2011, and THE WEDDING COW, a film that won over twenty international awards including nine "Best Feature", and five "Audience Choice" awards. A prolific writer, Thier's scripts were selected four times by the Independent Film Week (formerly IFP Market). Among numerous recognitions, she was awarded a fellowship grant in screenwriting from New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and was nominated for the White House Project Emerging Artist Award. In 2006 Thier began teaching with a class of eight participants. As word spread, over two thousand filmmakers attended her workshops. This year she will also be teaching the advanced writing-directing seminar at the School of Visual Arts. As part of her teaching, Thier has played a variety of roles in her students' film projects. A partial  list of credits is listed on IMDB.

EKWA MSANGI-OMARI - Associate Director Ekwa Msangi-Omari is joining our team as an Associate Director. She recently directed the TV series Block-D, and was the writer-director of the TV series The Agency, both filmed and produced in Kenya. The latter was selected by MNET-East as one of two original Kenyan series to be televised continent-wide, the first of its kind from the region. Ekwa was also the co-creator of the series Higher Learning. She currently serves as the Industry Coordinator at Tribeca All-Access. Ekwa studied Film/TV Production and African Cinema at NYU. There she wrote and directed numerous short films. She is currently in pre-production on a short she'll be directing this month, Perhaps Tomorrow, and is developing several feature projects to be filmed in Nairobi, Zanzibar, and New York. Ekwa studied screenwriting with Ela Thier since 2006 and has been a member of her screenwriting lab for three years. One of her key goals as a filmmaker is to transform our society's images and relationships with African cultures, and empower African filmmakers in telling their stories.

Additional support Administrative Director: KIA BARBEE Workshop Coordinator: LIZBETT PEREZ Casting Director: BETTINA GOOLSBY Web Support: SANDY CHASE