Stay up to date on the latest from your fellow Violets! Read about what alumni are up to in media and film, from starting up a podcast to directing a documentary and more.

Please note: Class notes are organized first by school (you may use the links on the right to jump to a school or college you'd like to view notes from) and within each school or college, notes are organized by class year (most recent graduates to older graduates).

College of Arts & Science

Gentle Ramirez (CAS ʼ22) has been selected as an Official State Finalist in the Miss New Jersey USA Pageant. (Winter 2024)

Tehya Jennett (CAS ʼ20) is screening her directorial debut, Gen Z Mental Health: Climate Stories at Cinema Village on March 19th as part of the SR Film Festival, after a US premiere at Colorado Environmental Film Festival and achieving the Social Impact Award from A Show for A Change Film Festival. This film is the ultimate culmination of their personal story as a Gen Zer, passion for saving the environment, and love for storytelling. (Winter 2023)

Aidan Salier (CAS ʼ08) composed the score to Beyond The Aggressives: 25 Years Later, which held its World Premiere at Newfest 2023 as the festival's Documentary Centerpiece. (Fall 2023)

Jenny W. Chan (LS ʼ08, CAS ʼ10) is a voice actress and records the voice overs for Jill, Ms. Hannah, and former Baby John in an animated preschool series, Little Angel. The show currently ranks #1 in Netflix's Top 10 Kids TV Shows in the U.S. Today. (Fall 2022)

Ben Feldman (CAS ʼ06) is the director and co-executive producer of Bug Out, a 4-part Amazon Studios documentary series, which is a true-con whodunnit about the largest live insect heist in US history. (Winter 2022)

Vanessa Rubio (CAS ʼ05) is celebrating her role as ‘Carmen’ on the Netflix global hit show Cobra Kai based on the Karate Kid saga. The show is set to release its last season in 2024. (Spring 2024)

Ruchi Mital (CAS ʼ03) co-wrote and produced the hybrid documentary This World is Not My Own about artist Nellie Mae Rowe, featuring Uzo Aduba. The film will screen at the Quad Cinema May 3–9, 2024. (Spring 2024)

Eric Monacelli (CAS ʼ03) is celebrating his 18th year in the video games industry and is now working as an executive producer for Marvel Games. He's dedicated to supporting and advancing game development and design as a culturally and socially impactful art form. He’s shipped multiple critically acclaimed and best-selling video games that are now popular franchises. Career highlights include credits in Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Grand Theft Auto IV, The Last of Us, BioShock, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception, UNCHARTED 4: A Thief’s End, Ōkamiden, Monster Hunter Tri, Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City, Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Major League Baseball 2K8, and many more. (Spring 2024)

Greg Evans (CAS ʼ02), journalist and guest columnist with The Plain Dealer since 2021 (Ohio's largest newspaper), writes to bring to the attention of the public of the ongoing problem with femicide, sexual violence, domestic abuse and the disappearances of women in Mexico. His work has been published in numerous papers throughout Mexico. (Summer 2023)

Kyle J. Paine (CAS ʼ98) will begin his second year as an 8 News Now Investigator at KLAS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas (Market 39). He resumed a career in journalism after spending the previous two decades as a law student at Suffolk University Law School (JD '05) and in private practice at the Office of Kyle J. Paine, Esq. (Fall 2023)

Joe Di Salvo (CAS ʼ94) created Bronx Socrates, a documentary film celebrating the transformative work and legacy of NYU Professor Bob Gurland whose teaching career spanned nearly 70 years, reaching more than 25,000 students across all levels of formal educational institutions. (Fall 2022)

Alice Look (WSUC ʼ74) is the executive producer and co-founder of the Remarkable Women Project, a multi-platform initiative that shares stories of women who changed the world, and is also the author of the project's first book. Remarkable Women: Reclaiming Their Stories which is being published on Oct. 19. (Fall 2023)

Jud Newborn (WSUC ʼ74) won an Emmy Award the end of 2021 for his co-produced video interview and career retrospective of director Barry Sonnenfeld. (Winter 2022)

Michael Saltz (WSC ʼ63) published his memoir, The Winding Road: My Journey Through Life and the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. It details his life and, in particular, his time at the NewsHour from it's inception until his retirement. (Fall 2022)

Leida Snow (WSC ʼ62) is honored to be the recipient of a 2023 MORE award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) for her Next Avenue article "Falling Can Be Fatal." (Spring 2023)

Gallatin School of Individualized Study

Scott Greenberg (GAL ’21) is the creator of The Seriously Funny Music Podcast, a scripted limited podcast series about the aesthetics of comedic popular music. All episodes are currently available now on major podcast platforms. (Summer 2022)

Jess Epstein (GAL ’12) is currently producing the feature documentary Remaining Native with director Paige Bethmann. The film is a coming-of-age story that follows Ku Stevens' dreams of becoming an elite runner. Ku struggles to balance the sport’s glorified individualism and the values of interconnectedness he was raised with on the reservation. When thousands of Native children’s remains are discovered, Ku reckons with his family's dark past while running toward his future. (Spring 2023)

Jennifer Kranz (GAL ’09) EVP of Creative Development and Production at Rosalind Productions - is a co-producer on the Broadway revival of Funny Girl and an Associate Producer on the forthcoming film Lilly. (Winter 2023)

Alysa Nahmias (GAL ’01) directed the award-winning documentary ART & KRIMES BY KRIMES which is now streaming on Paramount+. She further produced the documentary WILDCAT which premiered at Telluride Film Festival and is available on Amazon Prime Video. (Winter 2023)

Evan McNeeley (GAL ’95) is a member of SAG-AFTRA now. Past accomplishments (in part to volunteer experience at NYU) have been: Responding to 'Hurricane Sandy' with the Red Cross, 'Honorable Discharge' (USMC '01), Candidate for NYS Assembly (44th District - 1996) & Member of the NYU 'C-Team' plus the 'Watch Team.' (Fall 2023)

Graduate School of Arts & Science

Alfredo Oliveira (GSAS ’23) was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune’s Disney Secret Santa Holiday Giveaway on December 11, 2023. (Fall 2023)

Lisa Gray (GSAS ’08) is honored to have her documentary podcast series Class Action with Katie Phang nominated for Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary Series by the International Documentary Association (IDA) 2022 Awards. (Winter 2023)

Madeleine Baran (GSAS ’04) is an investigative journalist best known as the lead reporter for the APM podcast In the Dark and is a three time recipient of the Peabody Awards. (Fall 2022)

Liberal Studies

Sam Sandak Freiberger (LS ’11, TSOA ’13) had his television show “Sonic Boom” released on Steelbook Blu Ray. Sam wrote seven episodes and edited all 104. One of his episodes, “Eggman the Auteur” was screened at numerous film festivals throughout the world including Cannes. (Spring 2022)

School of Professional Studies

Jamila Black (SPS ’20) is the executive producer of The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation’s first documentary film on non profit organizations that are supporting the immigrant population in New York State. (Winter 2024)

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development

Isla Perfito (CAS, STEINHARDT ʼ17) is on a mission to disrupt the mainstream TV/Entertainment world by creating a blockchain-based content engagement platform called SATOR. (Winter 2022)

Rachel Griffin Accurso (STEINHARDT ʼ16) known online as Ms. Rachel, is a New York City preschool teacher turned YouTube and TikTok star who is making a big impact on children around the world. Alongside her band, which includes her husband, Broadway composer Aron, Accurso produces a popular YouTube channel for toddlers and preschoolers with educational videos and music classes called "Songs For Littles." (Winter 2023)

Alice Tsui (STEINHARDT ʼ12, ʼ13) is a semifinalist for the 2023 GRAMMY Music Educator Award. Alice is an Asian American/Chinese American pianist, music educator, scholar, activist and lifelong Brooklyn, New Yorker. (Fall 2022)

Christopher Ketner (STEINHARDT ʼ09) is Executive Producer on Heather McMahan’s new Netflix comedy special entitled Son I Never Had, which is now streaming on Netflix. (Fall 2023)

Dru Tevis (STEINHARDT ʼ09) is celebrating winning Season 9 of Holiday Baking Championship on the Food Network. He is also a two-time winner of Best Chef in Delaware from Delaware Today Magazine, the only pastry chef to ever receive that title. (Summer 2023)

Marj Kleinman (STEINHARDT ʼ03) and her community organization, Stoop Stories, won Best Documentary at the Urban Dreams Mental Health Film Festival in May for her short documentary Stoop Chat with Jimmy & Shanaya. It has been accepted to five film festivals to date, including Project Unlonely, Queens World Film Festival, We Are Home Film Festival, and Life Screenings: International Short Film Festival. (Spring 2024)

Jocelyn Brandeis (STEINHARDT ʼ94) recently finished judging The Gracie Awards for The Alliance for Women in Media (allwomeninmedia.org). (Winter 2023)

Anthony Romano (STEINHARDT ʼ92) was named as the CEO of full-service creative agency Laughlin Constable to accelerate the next phase of evolution and growth at its Chicago and Milwaukee offices. (Summer 2022)

Ronald Daniel (STEINHARDT ʼ90) has embarked on a fulfilling journey with a new TV series and film content production company based in Israel as Strategic Advisor. He is uncovering distinctive partnerships, creating remarkable content and shaping relationships with colleagues worldwide. (Spring 2023)

Stern School of Business

Matt Huntley (STERN ʼ11) has been promoted to Director, Prime Video Movie Licensing, at Amazon Studios. (Spring 2022)

Randle G. Schumacher (STERN ʼ96) is producing the feature film “The Woods” staring JK Simmons, Allen Leech and Fernanda Urrejola. (Winter 2022)

Tandon School of Engineering

Patrick Kenny (TANDON ʼ02) has founded Great Point Productions. Patrick works to capture life stories on video to preserve legacies and inspire future generations. (Spring 2024)

Tisch School of the Arts

Syreeta Gates (TSOA ’20) is the producer, archivist, and feature in Netflix's new limited series Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip Hop. (Fall 2023)

Alex Bush (TSOA ’19) has the world premiere of their film THAW at Tribeca Festival in the Narrative Shorts Competition. (Spring 2023)

Pablo Garza (TSOA ’19) has won an Emmy Award as editor of the documentary Retrograde (National Geographic). (Fall 2023)

Polina Buchak (TSOA ’19) celebrated the World Premiere of her short animated film Sunflower Field at the Cleveland International Film Festival on March 23rd. Reflecting on the war in her home country Ukraine, her short explores the impact war and conflict have on young children, and shows that children have both the agency and ability to connect with the complexities of life. (Spring 2023)

Greg Contaldi (TSOA ’17) has been promoted to segment producer for Season 4 of The Drew Barrymore Show. (Summer 2023)

Brendan Bubion (TSOA ’15) is the recipient of a National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for his work as the lead producer of the "Weekly Arts" series for KCET/PBS SoCal. (Winter 2024)

Brendan Bubion (TSOA ʼ15) was recently awarded a SoCal Journalism Award from the Los Angeles Press Club for his story on the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles in the “Weekly Arts” series on KCET/PBS SoCal. As the lead producer, the series featured stories from diverse artistic voices, depicting the beauty and challenges of life in Southern California. (Summer 2023)

Blake Andrew Pruitt (TSOA ’15) was the Apprentice Editor on the Searchlight Pictures film Fire Island, premiering on Hulu June 3 (edited by NYU alum Brian Kates '94 and starring Bowen Yang '12 and Matt Rogers '12). (Summer 2022)

Tricia Fukuhara (TSOA ’14) is starring as the first Asian American pink lady in the new series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies streaming on Paramount+. (Winter 2023)

Jean Paul Betancourt (TSOA ’12) founded Studio Betancourt. (Spring 2022)

Daniel Belkin (TSOA ’10) co-created a long-form interview podcast called the External Medicine Podcast, featuring physicians, scientists, and other public intellectuals talking about a wide range of medicine-related topics. (Winter 2022)

Dylan Lamb (TSOA '10) was recently promoted president and creative director of Bullseye Media, a boutique digital marketing agency in Minneapolis, MN. (Summer 2022)

Nadia Vazquez (TSOA ʼ10) has been the voice spokesperson for Yoplait commercials since 2022. (Summer 2023)

Tiffany Oshinsky (née Orbin) (TSOA ’08) won a 2022 Ambie Award for Best Sports Podcast and a Gracie Award for “The Lead” podcast, produced by Wondery and The Athletic. (Winter 2022)

Alison Whitney (TSOA ’06) and Natasha Ferris (TSOA ʼ98), filmmakers and female health advocates, are slated to begin filming THE HOLE TRUTH next month in Los Angeles. The comedy follows two postpartum moms as they figure out what friendship truly means, from the bottom up. (Winter 2024)

Jonathan Hsu (CAS, TSOA ’06) is celebrating his first feature documentary hybrid film Starring Jerry As Himself  at Slamdance 2023 for the documentary competition and also screening at Santa Barbara iFF. His horror film streaming on Shudder A Wounded Fawn was also voted Top horror of 2022 by Rotten Tomatoes. (Winter 2023)

Bob Berger (TSOA ’00) has recently announced the limited edition Blu-ray release of his 2014 theatrical film Charlie Victor Romeo. (Fall 2023)

Sarah Wilson (TSOA ’00) and Melissa Robyn Glassman (GAL ’00) have teamed up for the documentary Dear Mr. Brody, a psychedelic journey into the heart (and bank account) of Michael Brody Jr, the hippie-millionaire who offered the world peace for the price of a postage stamp. (Winter 2022)

Lamar Goering (TSOA ’97) won a New York Emmy® Award for "Tunnel to Towers - 20 Years of Helping Others" as Executive Producer at WNYW-TV. (Fall 2022)

Vicki Speegle's (TSOA ’96) documentary In The Night I Remember Your Name is airing on PBS stations across the country and online. The documentary features her mother's struggle as a gay pastor with Alzheimer's. (Summer 2023)

Jason Rosette (TSOA ’91) has two Asian-themed films featured in the December 2022 NewYork NewFilmmakers Screening Showcase, which include GI Says (GI underground press, documentary) and Freedom Deal (Vietnam War-themed Scripted historical drama). (Fall 2022)

Steven Peros (TSOA ’88) is celebrating the publication of Giant Beast Cinema, which debuted in Amazon's Top 10 for "Horror Movie Books". He is currently developing his critically acclaimed graphic novel, Stoker & Wells: Order of the Golden Dawn, for TV with Amasia Entertainment, founded by the former President of Marvel Studios. (Fall 2023)

Alberto Moreira (TSOA ’87) is celebrating the official selection of his first feature documentary film Heavy Vibes - The Vince Montana Retrospect to screen at The 37th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival November 10, 2022. (Fall 2022)

Anita Rosenberg (TSOA ’82) is the author of How to Be the Star of Your Life: Lessons from Hollywood & Beyond, Heliotrope (February 2024) — which includes inspiring interviews with film professionals such as director Ernest Dickerson, and including the following graduates of NYU film school: Maryann Brandon (TSOA ’84), John Auerbach (TSOA ’91), Jimmy Hayman (TSOA ’81), Joe Urbanczyk (TSOA ’81), and Allan Arkush (TSOA ’70). (Winter 2024)