Teaching Artists
Shawn Punch (He/Him), Teaching Artist, is a director, screenwriter, photographer, and pencil artist based in Brooklyn, New York. In 2008, they started their own photography company and work as a freelance photographer. Since then, they have photographed thousands of fashion shows. In August 2022, they photographed the MTV Video Music Awards. In May 2022, they completed an 8-week filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy. The short film "Watch Me Unfold," which they wrote and directed, was shown at the 10th annual Chelsea Film Festival in October. They just finished editing another short film that they wrote and directed, titled "Black Hair". Website
Tameeka Colon (She/Her), Teaching Artist, growing up in both East Harlem and the Bronx, Tameeka has been surrounded by creativity since a young age. She attended the Professional Performing Arts School to study music and theater production. With her acceptance into Berklee College of Music, she has learned the art of the music business. In 2012, she began producing independent music videos. She attended Brooklyn College’s Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, graduating with an MFA in Producing in 2019. Tameeka has collaborated with Brooklyn Ballet, the National Urban League, Toshi Reagon, AfroPunk, The Fader, A24, and the BBC in media and production. This is her first year with Reel Works. She is teaching documentary filmmaking at Sunset Park High School and Frederick Douglass VII High School. Contact IMDB YT
Jiana Kristine (She/Her), Teaching Artist, is a Latina educator, producer, and editor born and raised in NYC. During her time as an editor, she has had the opportunity to collaborate with the Ghetto Film School, National Geographic, and The Frick Collection, amongst others. As a producer, she has worked with the likes of Walmart and Wocstar and seeks to elevate the voices and creatives in her community. Jianna believes that the future of filmmaking begins with investing in young creatives, which led her to teach with Reelworks, the Astoria Film Festival, Ghetto Film School, and the Summer Arts Institute. Contact LinkedIn.
Kevin Schreck (He/Him), Teaching Artist, is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kevin Schreck is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and film educator currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. He was the recipient of both the Jerome Hill Award for Exceptional Work in the Documentary Tradition and the Award for Contribution to the Film and Electronic Arts Department of Bard College in 2011. Kevin's first major feature-length documentary, Persistence of Vision, screened at nearly 100 international film festivals and institutions to virtually universal acclaim. He is currently in production on his third feature, a documentary-animation hybrid, Enongo, and is in pre-production on a fourth documentary that will be filmed in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica in mid-2023. As an educator, Kevin has been part of the Reel Works team for over five years, serving as a mentor and a teaching artist. Classes that he has taught at Reel Works have included the Documentary Lab, Experimental Filmmaking Summer Lab, Stop-Motion Animation, Social Justice Documentary Filmmaking, and Film Club. He has led filmmaking masterclasses and guest lectures at major universities in Australia, Denmark, and across the United States, and will also be the Visiting Documentary Filmmaker for the fall semester of 2023 at Robert Morris University. Kevin sincerely believes that anyone of any background and identity has a story worth sharing and is honored to help guide these emerging artists to their creative potential at Reel Works, a remarkable and vital part of the New York filmmaking community. Website IMDB
Floyd Hughes (He/Him), Teaching Artist, was born in London’s East End to Guyanese parents, where he worked as a writer and illustrator and in comics for Crisis, 2000 A.D., Heartbreak Hotel, Revolver, and produced posters for Marvel U.K. Floyd also worked in advertising and film as a storyboard/concept artist on films such as Hellraiser 1 and 2, as well as Highlander.Moving to the U.S., Floyd worked for Marvel, D.C., Heavy Metal, and Image on characters that include The Avengers, Green Arrow, Deadpool, Ghost Rider, Conan The Barbarian, and many others. For MTV Animation, Floyd was a character and prop designer for Downtown, Celebrity DeathMatch, and VH1’s Divas. Floyd worked as a visual consultant and storyboard artist on several Spike Lee projects, including Blackkklansman and an undisclosed project with Chris Rock. Floyd taught at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, currently teaches for Reel Works, 92NY, and is a longtime Associate Professor at the Pratt Institute School of Design in Brooklyn, where he also resides with his wife, two daughters, son, two red-eared sliders, and a very large goldendoodle. Contact Website
Cali Banks (She/Her), Teaching Artist, was born and raised in Syracuse, NY, Cali M. Banks is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker of Munsee Lenape and Scottish descent, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices from the University of Colorado Boulder and a BA in Art and Technology and Global Health Studies from Allegheny College. Cali is an adjunct professor of photography and video art at Indiana University. She is also an instructor at Reel Works, teaching experimental and documentary filmmaking workshops, and works as their School and Community Partnerships Program Coordinator. Cali's passion and experience in the institution of education lie within alternative-to-probation programs, re-entry programs for middle and high school students, and continuing education courses at the university level to provide equitable education to all.
Her practice reclaims identity through performative photography. Her work explores the ideas of public versus private narratives and the expansion of narrow, flattened definitions of indigenous art. She is reclaiming what she still has left of her culture and honoring those rituals in her work. In recent times, she has exhibited work at Art Basel Miami, Every Woman Biennial London, Tiger Strikes Asteroid Philadelphia, Atlanta Film Festival, and Anthology Film Archives, along with a solo exhibition at Brooklyn Film Camera. Cali is also a featured artist in Issues #24, #26, and #38 of The Hand Magazine and has been published on Lomography and Lenscratch. Contact
Sophia Feur (She/Her), Teaching Artist, is a filmmaker and multimedia artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She was raised in Chicago, Illinois, while her father and extended family originate from Germany. Working primarily with 16mm film, she uses both documentary and narrative techniques, combining an anthropological lens with sci-fi and horror tropes. In this hybrid form, she attempts to perceive truth through personal and overarching histories, often overlooked and forgotten. She is the former 2019 Aggregate Space Gallery Curatorial Fellow and the 2021 Valentine & Clark Emerging Artist Fellow at the Jacob Burns Film Centers. Contact Website
Eleanor Moore (She/Her), Teaching Artist, is a multidisciplinary artist working in sound and visual forms under the alias Dr. Evilletown. She has lived and worked in NYC since 2001, making notable interactive installations including sound, video, and dance. She has three different murals in the borough of Brooklyn. Her music is favorably reviewed in Inzane Johnny (Wolf Eyes) Life is a Rip Off.
Anadia Jaghai (She/Her), Teaching Artist
Rachael Guma (She/Her), Teaching Artist, Rachael Guma is a light and sound artist who works with liquid light projection, Super 8 film, Theremin and record manipulations, live Foley, collage, and stop-motion animation. She’s collaborated with Optipus Film Collective since 2009 and co-founded the liquid light projection group, A Clockface Orange, with Genevieve H.K. She teaches media arts classes to all ages, and Bradley Eros once called her "the kindergarten teacher of the avant-garde." She has performed at AXWFF, Anthology Film Archives, Ambient Church, Echo Park Film Center, Das Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Index Festival, The Kitchen, Long Island Children's Museum, Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI), Microscope Gallery, Mono No Aware, Morbid Anatomy Museum, Museum of Art and Design (MAD), Northern Flickers, Orphans Symposium, Participant Gallery, Paul Klee Museum, Planet Money Live, RX Gallery, Roulette Intermedium, San Francisco Cinematheque, Transient Visions, UnionDocs, Unseen Cinema, and the Whitney Museum of American Art (in alphabetical order). Website Work
Jade Sacker (She/Her), Teaching Artist, is a documentary photographer and filmmaker currently based in New York. The unifying theme of her long-term projects is migration, telling stories of those who are displaced and those whose identity is challenged. Her work is guided by the belief that writing and photography are two powerful mediums to provoke thought and effect enduring positive change. Her projects are intended to advocate for a more just and tolerant world. She is currently in post-production for her first feature-length documentary, A House Divided, which is produced by John Legend’s production company, Get Lifted. Website
Derrick Benton (He/Him), Teaching Artist, was born and raised in Brooklyn, Derrick Benton holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Screen Studies from SUNY Oswego. He dedicated most of his coursework to film theory, philosophy, and storytelling through the medium of screenwriting.
Derrick is the founder of Filming Real Emotional Experiences (F.R.E.E. Studio Productions), which is a production company that allows filmmakers to tell compelling and dynamic stories through collaboration with professional crews. In 2020, he received a grant from the CNY Short Film Competition to direct his film Wasted Talent. Derrick received fifteen film selections across the United States and Europe, and won four awards and distinctions for this film. His latest project, Sept 13, 2004, won Best Short Script at the 2022 Nashville Film Festival. Derrick also hosts a film festival in Brooklyn, called Film Night on Fulton, that screens local, independent films. IMDB
Janay Mosley (She/Her), Teaching Artist, is a multidisciplinary artist from Queens, New York. She has been an artist her whole life but professionally for over ten years. She uses emotion and beauty with figures, bold colors, and flowers in her work. She has been teaching for about seven years, using art as a catalyst to teach character development, social/emotional, and creative development skills. As an artist, she shows the duality of beauty and self-awareness. She aims to celebrate and encourage individuality, help youth explore their creativity, and create a positive, safe, and comfortable environment. Contact Website
Juan Del Rio (He/Him), Teaching Artist, a Spanish filmmaker, has directed and written commercial work for brands like Sony, 21 Century Fox, Google, Warner Brothers, and Netflix. He has shot more than a dozen short films, including the commercial Billete-Ticket, which ranked third nationally in the Mofilm competition. His film Motivos was a Freixenet Finalist in 2012, and Pool, a production for the Ghetto Film School (New York), was presented at the GFS showcase at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Contact
Assistant Teaching Artists
Brian Gauthier (He/Him), Assistant Teaching Artist
Xander Bernabe (He/Him), Assistant Teaching Artist
Richards Nimbley (He/Him), Assistant Teaching Artist, is an independent filmmaker and a graduate of the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Nimbley currently attends Borough of Manhattan Community College for film directing. In the summer of 2019, he was an editing Film Fellow and worked as an intern at the Tribeca Film Institute, where he became a member of the Black and Latino Men of Impact. During 2019-2020, Richards was also a participant in Reel Works’ Fellows program as a director and writer.
He began his film career by winning second place at the 2017 Disney Get Reel With Your Dreams competition and the Gold Key Award at the 2018 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition for his short film, Break the Cycle. In 2018, Nimbley directed the documentary, Breaking the Silence, which was an official selection of a film festival in Nigeria. Also, Nimbley worked as an editor for the short film Unbecoming, which screened at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY School of Law in 2018. Richards has screened at numerous festivals both nationally and internationally, including the Our Voices Film Festival in Toronto, All American High School Festival in New York City, and programs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is now working for ABL Film Productions as an editor for the TV show, Ice Dealer.
Richards is a co-teaching artist at the High School of Public Law and Service, where he teaches a dual-language documentary course. IMDB IG
Aldo Merino(He/Him), Assistant Teaching Artist, is an ATA at Boys and Girls High School. They are currently in their sophomore year at Brooklyn College, majoring in documentary film and minoring in the philosophy of art. They're a cinematographer and love documentary filmmaking; they were able to learn and make documentaries through Reel Work's Doc Lab, Advanced Doc Lab, and now the Doc Fellows program, as well as the MediaMkrs program. Growing up in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, they've developed a deep love and appreciation for their community and have made two documentaries about people within it, which have been nominated and awarded. YT IG TikTok
Diani Drake (She/Her), Assistant Teaching Artist, is an undergraduate student at Brooklyn College and an STA at JHS 123. Her career focus is audio engineering, music radio, documentary filmmaking, and podcasting. Her hobbies include listening to a lot of music, playing with her notably adorable cat Sashi, hanging out with friends, collecting vinyl records, and, in her words "just learning new things". With her ongoing struggles and triumphs with her personal mental health, disability, and identity, she seeks to connect with an audience that is interested in conversations about art, music, their own mental health, and how it intertwines with aspects of their lives, perspectives, and perceptions.
Andrew Dyck (He/Him), Teaching Artist, growing up in South Carolina, Andrew Dyck found his path to independent filmmaking as a no-budget musician in need of a platform. Without even a camera, his first music videos were little more than rudimentary animations made procedurally, one frame at a time, using the free picture editing software that came with a hand-me-down laptop. After receiving a fine arts degree from the College of Charleston, he continued to work with other musicians as a designer, animator, projectionist, photographer, and art director. Andrew fully found his voice in film directing and editing when asked to produce an immersive interactive live show in collaboration with Charleston, SC, performance art collective The Artificialists. From there, his filmmaking career has taken him all across America, abroad, and eventually to New York City, where he continues to produce music videos, animations, and narrative content, as well as document dance battle culture, fashion shoots, political protests, street culture, and artist biographies. He’s worked with entertainment alums such as Dougie Fresh, Sevyn Streeter, A$AP TyY, 22Gz, Rich The Kid, Abiodun Oyewole, Michael Pitt, and Julian Schnabel. As executive producer, director, and cinematographer, Andrew anticipates the imminent release of his debut feature-length comedy about the art world, which is currently in the final stages of post-production.
Julissa Bedford (She/Her), Assistant Teaching Artist, was born and raised in the Bronx, Julissa Bedford has been set on a path in filmmaking for most of her life. While attending high school for film and video production at the High School of Art and Design, she first discovered her passion for directing and screenwriting in the Narrative Lab for Reel Works in the 2019-2020 school year. She is now attending Hunter College as a film production major and is expected to graduate in 2025. Her goal is to highlight marginalized groups of people that are underrepresented in the film industry. On the side, she is currently a social media coordinator for various companies and the treasurer of her school's Black Student Union. Contact Vimeo