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Assistant Vice Chancellor
Director of Academic Affairs
Director of Film Workforce Development and Capstone Projects
Director of Inventory, Facilities & Support
Manager of Consortial Services
Business Operations Professional
Academics Coordinator
Secondary Schools Coordinator
Executive Assistant
Asset & Facilities Supervisor
Inventory Assistant, Senior
Inventory Assistant, Senior
Assistant Vice Chancellor
C. Scott Votaw, Georgia Film Academy's New Executive Director, is an entertainment arts and academic industries global expert. With over 25 years of experience working for production companies including Saban, Fox, Lucasfilm Ltd. and others, Scott has a deep knowledgebase of film production, 2D/3D animation, special FX, motion capture, post-production. Through 10 years of education experience, he also holds expertise in current and trending production needs, training and educational circular creation and workforce development. Most recently, as an international consultant with CSV-Consulting, Scott worked for studio infrastructure providers, workforce development and emerging technology companies within the film and entertainment production sectors in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to this, Scott supported efforts to grow the film and TV production industry in Georgia through maintaining a highly trained and industry standard workforce by creating/advising some of the most successful educational programs globally. Votaw also served as vice president of production and development for Classic Entertainment for seven years and president of KidzVid Entertainment for six years, overseeing creation of programing for the U.S. and global markets.
Director of Academic Affairs
Wendy Quinn Guttin is an award-winning Showrunnner, Producer, Writer and Project Manager with 20 years of television production experience, including documentary, non-fiction, true crime, scripted drama and reality programming. She began her career as an assistant editor in Washington, D.C., before moving to Los Angeles where she was a network staff producer and freelance producer/writer of more than 50 hours of original content for E! Entertainment Television, WeTV, A&E, USA, Paramount, Bio and PBS. Wendy relocated to Atlanta in 2011 and worked as a senior producer, writer and showrunner on more than a dozen series for Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, Travel, Up and Cooking Channel, among others.
Wendy joined the Georgia Film Academy in 2016 as the Academic Program Manager and now serves as the Director of Academic Affairs. She is committed to GFA’s mission of training and building a sustainable workforce and talent pool for the film industry in Georgia.
Director of Film Workforce Development and Capstone Projects
Kate McArdle spent the first twenty years of her career working as a producer and creative executive in the entertainment industry. As a development executive she worked with writers and producers to create content for television and theatrical feature films. As a high-level cable executive at USA Cable network and as a producer with actor Michael Douglas, she was in charge of creating the stories that would become mainstream entertainment.
After many years in entertainment Kate decided to use her experience in “telling stories” to reach out to the next generation and help them chart their own career courses. As a consultant, Kate began working with Universities and film programs, offering lectures and workshops designed to help students on their own career paths. This consulting work lead to a position with Columbia College in Los Angeles as the Director of Career Development and Alumni Relations where she spent three and a half years advising students on career paths and helping them to secure jobs in the entertainment industry.
Director of Inventory, Facilities & Support
Danny Williams is the Assets and Facilities Manager for the Georgia Film Academy. Danny joined the GFA in August of 2018. Danny is a US Army Veteran and comes with experience in general management and logistics. Danny works to ensure that the operational and logistical needs of the GFA Staff and students alike are met for a successful learning and teaching experience.
Manager of Consortial Services
Actor. Educator. Filmmaker. Cassandra Hollis was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and has managed to forge her career in the Entertainment industry with her career in Education.
Cassandra earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Georgia, where her studies were concentrated in Public Administration and Pre-Law. She earned a M.A. in Communication, majoring in Television Production, from Georgia State University. While matriculating in the MA program, Cassandra landed a position as Producer and On-Air Talent at a local TV station. She later formed a production company, subsequently directing, producing and writing 8 films, several of which garnered national and international recognition and best-in-festival awards. Cassandra was invited to teach a 3-Day filmmaking workshop in Barbados, WI, producing an acclaimed documentary about centenarians out of that experience.
While thriving as an independent filmmaker, Cassandra was an Adjunct Professor of Communication at a private university. After teaching over a decade, Cassandra landed a position at another university in an administrative role as Program Coordinator of Film and Digital Media.
Cassandra attended a One-Day Intensive Textual Analysis of August Wilson’s works at The Juilliard School in New York in 2017. In 2018, she was accepted into the competitive Yale Conservatory for Actors, earning an A. A working Actor, Cassandra has appeared in recurring roles on the TV One Network on true crime series, “ATL Homicide,” as well as on a true crime series on the ID Channel. Cassandra has appeared in commercials for Walmart, Verizon, Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, and more, and has been cast as lead in several plays and independent films.
Cassandra joined the Georgia Film Academy as Manager of Consortial Services in the summer of 2021 and looks forward to continued opportunities to contribute to the success of the GFA.
Business Operations Professional
Blair Witte has spent most of her life in Georgia and loves everything the south has to offer. Graduating from Georgia State University with a BBA in Finance, Blair found herself leaning away from that field. She worked for the Board of Regents in the Chancellors Office and Student Affairs while in college. She is now Business Operations Professional for the Georgia Film Academy.
Academics Coordinator
Emma Smith is the Academic Coordinator for the Georgia Film Academy. She graduated from Georgia College with a BA in History and worked for six years in museum education before moving on to the University System. She enjoys working with students and is committed to helping them succeed.
Secondary Schools Coordinator
Cooper Fiscus-van Rossum serves as the Secondary Schools Coordinator for the Georgia Film Academy. Additionally, he is an Adjunct Professor, teaching classes in the Digital Entertainment and Esports pathway. Cooper earned his BA in Mass Communications with a focus on Copywriting and a minor in Digital Art from Georgia College. In 2019, while serving as the Marketing Coordinator for a private K-12 school in metro Atlanta, he was approached by school administrators to establish an esports team to compete in the newly announced, state-sanctioned varsity esports program. Ever since, Cooper has been actively involved in advancing scholastic and collegiate esports in Georgia. His greatest enthusiasm lies in expanding the existing reach of the GFA into secondary schools and discovering innovative ways to engage and support students, educators, and administrators across all creative disciplines (especially esports!).
Executive Assistant
Stephanie Oliver joined the Georgia Film Academy as Executive Assistant to GFA's new Executive Director, Scott Votaw, in March 2023. Stephanie has over 7 years of experience in Higher Education. Her most recent role was that of Executive Administrative Assistant to the Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Morehouse School of Medicine. She also provided administrative support to all the teams under Institutional Advancement (fundraising), including: Alumni and Constituent Engagement, Development (Major Gifts Officers), the Assistant Vice President of the Comprehensive Campaign. She also provided transitional support to the President and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine. She assisted with the advancement department’s success of raising over $250M in less than three years during COVID. She has a very successful track record with engaging with donors and partners and working across institutional departments to help leverage communication for institutional needs, specifically scholarships and endowments.
Prior to Stephanie’s HigherEd experience, she was a paralegal for 15 years in some prestigious firms in Atlanta, working in the following areas: medical malpractice, toxic torts, insurance defense, and social security disability. She has experience both on the plaintiff’s side and the defense.
Stephanie is a native of New York. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University at Albany (SUNY Albany). She acquired an American Bar Approved Paralegal Certificate from The National Center for Paralegal Training (Atlanta) and has a certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace from University of South Florida, Muma College of Business.
Asset & Facilities Supervisor
Megan O’Neill is the newly appointed Asset & Facilities Supervisor for the Georgia Film Academy. She has served with the facilities team for the last two years which has provided her with an advanced, specialized knowledge of the inventory and film equipment required to best facilitate the needs of the students and faculty. She brings a unique blend of skills and expertise to her role with a Master's degree in Egyptology from Georgia State University and years of experience in a wide variety of leadership roles in academia and in the retail and service industries. She aims to continue her contribution to the success of the GFA and its overall positive impact on Georgia’s film industry workforce.
Inventory Assistant, Senior
Chelsey Willoughby, originally from North Carolina, specialized in Communications and Broadcasting at NC State University. Since 2022, she has been committed to her role at the Georgia Film Academy, particularly within the facilities and inventory team, ensuring students and instructors are equipped for success. Chelsey is recognized for her diligent work ethic and dedication.
Inventory Assistant, Senior
Logan Welch is the logistics team member on site at the OFS facility in Norcross. He has worked with GFA for almost 5 years and has a diverse work history in several different areas of the film industry. He is a 479 Union member who brings experiences from gripping on set, working as a service technician for Chapman Leonard Studio Equipment, Assisting Camera for NHK, and more.
Lead Instructor
Chuck Kerr started working in film & television 20 years ago. Chuck is a member of IATSE and IBEW. In addition to working as a studio mechanic and stagehand, he has worked as a film instructor for over 11 years. He shares his knowledge and the magic he has gathered through the years working in the entertainment business with his students and colleagues. His rewards are that his efforts will be recognized through the success of his students on the big screen.
Head of Post-Production
Greg Gause is originally from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Greg moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1989, after working nearly a decade as a DJ. His career in post-production began in audio, starting with an entry level position at Catspaw Productions, working with ¼” tape and analog consoles. Greg ultimately worked at some of the top post houses in Atlanta throughout the 1990’s, including: Crawford Post, on projects like “In the Heat of the Night”, the Time-Life collection “Lost Civilizations”, “Hercules” and “Zena Warrior Princess”; TCM and Cartoon Network, where he worked on promos and several other projects; and Peachtree Post, which eventually became Brickhouse Editorial, where he worked on projects for WCW, BellSouth and recorded the weekly radio show “The Foxworthy Countdown”. In 2001, Greg became Senior Sound Designer at Turner Studios where he continued to do sound design work for all the Turner brands until his departure in 2019 as the Manager of Sound Design. Over the years, Greg has worked with several Digital Audio Workstation platforms including New England Digital’s Post Pro, Studer’s Dyaxis II, Avid’s AudioVision and of course Avid’s Pro Tools. After two years as an Adjunct Pro Tools Instructor at Georgia Film Academy, Greg is now Head of Post-Production Education. While he still teaches Pro Tools with a focus on post-production, he also works diligently to support GFA students and Staff.
Instructor
Philip Bergquist received a BA in Drama, and an MFA in Dramatic Media from the University of Georgia. He has built a career path from carpentry to design for features, shorts, and commercials. Notable credits include ESPN, EA Sports, Epic Games, Storyville Coffee, and Telly Award-winning commercials for Full Sail University. He has taught at the Academy of Art University, and Full Sail University. He has achieved awards in Risk Management, Community Involvement, and an ESPN Game Ball. He currently teaches Introduction to On-Set Film Production, and Set Construction & Scenic Painting at the GFA.
Instructor
Brian Gunter was born and raised in Atlanta, and except for five years in Athens, GA at the University of Georgia, he has lived here his entire life. While still in Athens, Brian did his first two jobs in the film business on corporate films. After leaving UGA with a bachelor degree from the Henry Grady School of Journalism, Brian entered the film business as a freelance electrician - a member of the lighting crew. He worked on close to forty movies as an electrician, and advanced to electrical best boy on several more, including “The Mosquito Coast”. Around 1987, Brian started working as a Gaffer - the Chief Lighting Technician. He worked as the Gaffer on over forty movies, including “Sweet Home Alabama”, “October Sky”, “The Gingerbread Man”, “RoboCop 3”, “The Mothman Prophecies”, “The War”, “The Newton Boys”, “Diabolique”, “Remember the Titans”, “Last Holiday”, “Pink Panther 2”, “Get Low” and many more, providing him the opportunity to work with many of the best Directors of Photography working in the industry. In 2010, Brian started working in the Camera Department as a Camera Operator and Director of Photography. As an Operator he worked on “Anchorman 2”, “Last Vegas”, “The Three Stooges”, “The Good Guys” and several more. He worked as a Director of Photography on the 2nd unit of “The Blind Side”; the 2nd unit of “Pink Panther 2”, VFX unit on “Goosebumps”, the 1st and 2nd units of “Hurricane Season” to name a few. Throughout his career, he has had the good fortune to work with some of the best directors and most accomplished actors/actresses in the world. Having worked at the top level of the industry for many, many years, Brian decided to get off the set and pursue a career in teaching young people what they need to enter and maintain a rewarding career in the film business. He is an adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University, which is a signatory to the GA Film Academy.
Certified AVID Instructor
Nicole Kemper studied directing for film and video at Columbia College in Chicago where she received her MFA in 2010. She returned to Atlanta and began work as a video editor, working on commercial/broadcast material as well as both short and feature-length films. Nicole is an Avid Certified Instructor and worked with Avid to develop their certification curriculum in 2016. In addition to teaching editing at the Georgia Film Academy, Nicole freelances as an editor and casting director and runs the production company Critical Crop Top Media for which she writes, produces, and directs.
Instructor
Bryan Krass grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee. He earned a BA in History from University of Evansville and an MFA in Film and Television Production from Savannah College of Art of Design. Following his schooling, Bryan moved to Los Angeles and worked as a grip, electric, best boy electric, and dolly grip in that market as well as Louisiana. He is most proud of his work as the gaffer of the TV game show “The Catch: Costa Rica” and documentary “Mayan Blue.” He has been an educator since 2011. In his spare time, Bryan enjoys studying history and playing mini-golf.
Instructor
Jim McKinney graduated from Emory University with a degree in History, and also attended classes at the University of Southern California School of Cinema. A school internship led to a job with Jayan Films, a nationally recognized commercial house based in Atlanta. Jim decided to freelance which led to opportunities to work as a grip/electrician on such films as “Glory,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” and “Steel Magnolias,” as well as the television series, “In the Heat of the Night.”
Eventually, Jim segued into gaffing and then shooting on smaller, local productions, eventually working as a director of photography for food companies (Church’s Chicken, Don Pablos, etc.) and music videos. Some of the artists he has worked with include, Lil’ John, Ludacris, Nelly, Eminem, and Collective Soul. He also has shot several non-union features, and won Best Director in 2010 for “The Party” at the 168 Film Festival.
Over the past 15 years or so, he has primarily worked as a Camera Operator on numerous shows and films, including “The Walking Dead,” “Ozark,” and “The Staircase.” He is still working in the industry, is a member of the SOC, and IATSE Local 600, where he served on the National Executive Board, working on both the Safety and the Training Committees.
Instructor
Joe Thomas was born in Atlanta, and grew up on the South Side. After graduating from College Park High School he attended Southern Illinois University and earned a dual degree in Cinema and Photography from the School of Communications.
He worked as a still photographer in the U.S. Air Force for four years, ending his tour as NCOIC (Non-commissioned Officer in Charge) of the 1365th Photographic Squadron, Detachment 10, Langley AFB, separating from the USAF as a Staff Sergeant.
Joe returned to Atlanta and worked as an audio tape editor at the Protestant Radio and Television Center, then went on to work as the Manager of Atlanta Film Equipment Rentals for several years.
He left AFER to begin his career of 37 years as a 1st Camera Assistant, with his primary work being on feature films and episodic television, as well as work on hundreds of TV commercials, industrial films, and documentary films.
Soon after retirement, Joe accepted a position as Adjunct Film Instructor at the Georgia Film Academy and then joined the GFA staff as a full-time Production Training Instructor.
Joe has been married to Beverly Jean nee Shifflett since 1965, has three sons, two granddaughters and three great granddaughters.
Instructor
A native of the Chicagoland suburbs, Michael A. Wells has been a resident of the Atlanta metro area since graduating from Southern Illinois University in 1994 when he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio and Television Broadcasting. While a student, he worked for the local PBS station as an Associate Producer and Student Producer. During this time he produced the ground-breaking award-winning documentary, Not In Our Town, a documentary perspective revealing the simmering dangers of gun violence in American schools long before it became the current crisis it is today. Mr. Wells has had the fortune of being honored with other awards over the years including the International Gold Philo Award, 2 Peabody Awards, multiple Telly Awards and a Christian Acapella Music Award in the category of Best Music Video for his work with media organizations such as Paramount Television Networks, CNN, Legacy Worldwide Media and others. He currently is focusing on screenwriting in his personal time and is developing several personal scripted television and film projects while teaching Post-Production courses full-time for the Georgia Film Academy, at the Trilith Studios Hub in Fayetteville.
INSTRUCTOR
Julio Saldarriaga is a two-time Emmy winner, for his directorial commercial work and for his documentary editorial work. He worked for FOX television and various independent films as a First Assistant Director. Julio also wrote, directed, and produced an original film called, "The Shifting".
He worked as online editor on "Yellow," the critically acclaimed Nick Cassavetes film, which premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival, and on Danny Trejo’s film, "Bullet," as editor and colorist. Julio directed the live broadcast of "The Golden Globes," for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association website; and worked on the well-received Tanya Sarocho’s STARZ show, "VIDA," Seasons 1 and 2 .
He is a graduate of the Pontifical Bolivian University in his hometown of Medellin, Colombia. He moved to the US to pursue his career in film and television. He earned a certificate in producing and directing film and television from UCLA.
ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR
Jerry Pece is an established D.G.A. First Assistant Director in the Motion Picture Industry and
an Atlanta native. He grew up attending Capitol View Elementary and Sylvan Hills High School. He
attended The University of Georgia as a Political Science, Pre-Law major. He was a member of the
Freshman Football Team before settling in as an Education Major with the intention of coaching.
After college, he spent eight years touring the United States and Canada with several rock & roll
bands, as a drummer and Road Manager.
Jerry entered the Atlanta Film Community in 1981 by way of Production Services-Atlanta as
the Expendables Manager. Soon, he became a Freelancer as a Third Electric and Lamp Operator.
He became a First Assistant Director in 1985. In 1990, he was invited to join the Directors Guild of
America. He has spent the last 43 years working on Feature Length Films, Documentaries, Short
Films, Music Videos, Industrials, and Commercials worldwide. He has worked with celebrities and actors from and has choreographed extras from as little as two to a stadium of 50,000.
Jerry teaches at the Georgia Film Academy and continues to work in the film industry.
ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR
J. Miller Tobin is a director and producer based in Atlanta, having directed over 100 episodes of one-hour dramas across multiple genres. Miller began directing crime procedurals such as CSI, Criminal Minds, Numbe3rs, The Unit and The Mentalist for CBS. Subsequently, he became a ‘go-to’ at the CW, directing multiple episodes of Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, 90210, Melrose Place and Gossip Girl. Recently, Miller has been working primarily at ABC on shows such as Emergence, Revenge, Secrets & Lies, Quantico and A Million Little Things. He has also worked for Netflix, Freeform, SYFY, HBO, USA, Sony and Fox.
ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR
Kevin Resnick is an award-winning writer, director, actor and film instructor who served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and flew airplanes as a C-130 Navigator. After moving on from the military, his innate flair for comedy allowed him to make a successful living as an actor in New York, where he starred in several acclaimed films on the national festival circuit, receiving Best Actor Nominations for his work on four different occasions, and winning once for Best Male Actor at the All the Laughs Film Festival.
As a writer/director, his films have screened in festivals worldwide, to include the Cannes Film Festival, and have won many awards, including multiple Best Film and Audience Choice Awards. His short films, On Becoming A Man and Doodles, have been distributed by Shorts International.
Kevin teaches Intro to Film & TV Production at the Georgia Film Academy .
ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR
Arma Benoit is a storyteller with over 25 years of experience creating award-winning projects ranging from iconic music videos to episodic television, commercials, feature films and an award-winning short.
Arma graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and began her career working as a camera operator for The 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and then the Atlanta Braves. She later worked as a line producer on music videos, featuring artists such as, Outkast, Goodie Mob, TI, Three 6 Mafia, and Lil Jon.
She's worked on The Vampire Diaries, Step Up: Highwater, Black Lightning, Greenleaf, Genius: Aretha and Tom Swift. A career highlight was working with Francis Ford Coppola on his film, “Megalopolis".
ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR
Jay Bellissimo is an accomplished editor with over thirty-five years of experience in video post-production. A graduate of Southern Illinois University with a B.S. in Radio & Television, Jay has crafted award-winning work for ad agencies, television networks, and record labels, creating commercials, promos, TV shows, interstitials, short-form documentaries, music videos, and short films.
Some of his notable work includes commercials for established brands like Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Panasonic; promos and TV shows for major networks including Turner Classic Movies, CNN, and Cartoon Network; and music videos for major record labels like Arista, EMI, and LaFace.
Jay teaches the Introduction to Post Production course at the Georgia Film Academy.
ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR
Chris Robinson has over 26 years of broadcast and documentary filmmaking experience. He began his broadcast media career with Grey Media (formally Raycom Media) in Columbus, Georgia. He was part of their onset production team and was responsible for graphic creation. Chris continued in broadcasting in news production mastering various broadcast technologies, working and supervising field production events while operating in a dual role as News
Photographer/Editor and Technical Broadcast Director. Chris was later promoted to News Production Manager at WTVM. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business and Master of Business Administration Degrees from the University of Phoenix.
Chris teaches the Introduction to Post Production in Film and Television course at the Georgia Film Academy.
Adjunct Instructor
Zachary Stephens is a highly skilled filmmaker with over a decade of experience in producing, directing and writing films. The Atlanta-based director of over 15 narrative shorts and one feature film, often makes the rounds of acclaimed film festivals with his nominated films. Mr. Stephens also loves teaching and has a long history of working in education, teaching in the US as well as at universities abroad. He has been an educator for more than 15 years and is delighted to work at the intersection of his two passions, education and film. He currently teaches the Introduction to Film and Television Production Course.
Adjunct Instructor
Bill Bowen has over 25 years experience as an Editor. In addition to his role as a GFA Adjunct Instructor in Post-Production, he is a Finishing Editor at CNN. Bowen works with CNN Original Series, CNN Films, HLN, CNN en Español, CNN International and the Documentary Unit Special Reports. In 2013, Bill won Best Documentary at the African American Film Critics Awards, for his editing work on the film, "Versailles '73: American Runway Revolution." And, he is a Best App Addy Silver Award Winner, for providing video content for App in 2014.