WELCOME TO NYFA KAZAKHSTAN

Pietri served in the United States Marine Corps and worked as an art director before committing to filmmaking. His first feature, Semper Fidel, was shot in Havana, Cuba. Robert continues to develop projects internationally and teaches directing at the New York Film Academy.

Proficient in C++, C#, Python, Lua, Java. Projects include Cambio, Knight & Gale, Aether Lance VR. At TCL Studios built Python tooling with ML (Meta’s SAM2). Develops AR for Meta Quest/iOS and mentors production pipelines as NYFA Instructor and The Coder School teacher.

Credits include top theatre venues (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shakespeare & Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville). Former faculty at CCM (UC), Xavier, Miami University; currently teaches at NYFA.

14 seasons with Sundance Film Festival (Non-Technical Production Manager; Filmmaker Office) covering U.S. Competition Documentary, Premieres, and World Documentary. Director of NYFA’s Miami College Campus & NYFA Harvard Summer Youth Programs.

He is a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York and has a Theater degree from Vanderbilt University. Best known for indie films Stratagem, Palace and Proximity, he is a veteran of more than 40 film productions and 50+ stage productions. Todd is on faculty at New York Film Academy, he recently completed a live film adaptation of Macbeth, and his latest film Corona Camp is set to release next year.

Derek Rein is a Senior Visual Effects Artist and Compositing Supervisor with credits on major feature films including The Batman, Wonder Woman, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Fast & Furious franchise. With over a decade of industry experience, Derek brings both technical expertise and creative vision to his work. He first visited Almaty in 2019 and is excited to join the inaugural class at NYFA Almaty, helping students develop into world-class VFX professionals.

Igor Torgeson is an award-winning filmmaker, editor, and actor. Over his career, he has worked for more than 20 clients, including National Geographic, PBS, the Game Show Network, Cessna Aircraft, and others, and has appeared in pilots and series for NBC, TBS, and Sony. In addition to his work in the entertainment industry, Igor has taught university classes in Editing, Directing, and Writing, as well as giving workshops and seminars in China, Russia, and across the United States.

He began working in stage and live television productions while still in high school and while attending Oral Roberts University for Business he continued his production work with the international broadcast live show with Richard Robert’s Something Good Tonight. Neal has continued work in all aspects of production from Gaffer to Art Direction and camera for projects as small student films to large studio produced dramas. While working with New York Film Academy he has used his knowledge and communication skills to help enrich the education provided to the students through assisting teachers in their lessons and giving students directed guidance on the more technical aspects of operating the tools and resources they are given access to. When not involved in NYFA Productions and classes, Neal is working to ensure the flow of resources to the students is as smooth as possible through the upkeep and repair of equipment and facilitating the checkouts and returns of the gear for assignments.