About Our Teachers
Mark Stolzenberg
Director of The New York Acting School for Film and Television
Mark Stolzenberg, head of The New York Acting School for Film and Television, teaches many of the acting classes at the school himself. He is also an Associate Professor at The School of Drama at The New School University in NYC.
An experienced actor, Mr. Stolzenberg played a principal role on the hit TV shows “Bull” and “Boardwalk Empire”. He also starred in the feature film comedy, “Luggage of the Gods”, which was directed by David Kendall – producer and writer for ABC’s hit show, “Growing Pains”. Mark was a principal in Tom Selleck’s film, “Her Alibi”, was a regular character on the “Robert Klein Television Show”, and was one of the lead roles in the feature film, “Breakfast In Bed”, which appeared on HBO, SHOWTIME, and CINEMAX. Mr. Stolzenberg made several appearances on ABC’s, “ALL MY CHILDREN”, and he has done principal work in over 30 national television commercials.
Mr. Stolzenberg played a supporting lead in the feature film, “A Dry Season”, a principal role in The CBS drama, “Dellaventura”, and has made featured appearances on, “The David Letterman Show”. Mark was featured on the cover of NEW YORK MAGAZINE which called him, “One of the hidden delights of New York’s little theatres…”
As a writer, Mr. Stolzenberg wrote the feature length screenplay, “A Clown In New York”, which was a finalist with The Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Mr. Stolzenberg co-wrote and stars in the stage show, “Pierrot & Pirouette”, which ran Off-Broadway and most recently at Lincoln Center in New York City. In addition, Mr. Stolzenberg has had three theatre books on Clown, Mime, and Comedy published by Sterling Publishing Co. in New York.
Mr. Stolzenberg has written, directed, and produced over 30 short films, many of which have won awards at film festivals. He also currently has four feature-length films and a TV series in development.
For more about Mark Stolzenberg, visit his website at www.markstolzenberg.com.
Karen Chrystal
Assistant Director and Faculty Member of The New York Acting School for Film and Television
Karen Chrystal began acting and singing professionally at the age of 10, and she earned her membership in the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) at the age of 12 when she booked her very first national TV commercial for Chevrolet. A string of other TV commercials followed (Sprite, Coca-Cola, MCI), as well as roles in several ABC After-School TV Specials.
Karen landed the lead role of ‘Rhoda’ in a Showtime Cable TV production of the Obie Award winning musical, “The Me Nobody Knows”, which was filmed at the Ed Sullivan Theatre and introduced by James Earl Jones. Soon afterwards, Karen was cast as ‘Selina’, the lead role in Anthony Stimac’s original musical, “A Touch of Practical Magic”. Karen’s film credits include “Malcom X” and “Fort Apache, The Bronx”, and she has done voice-over work for the film, “The Wiz”, and with Ruby Dee in a public service announcement for radio.
In addition to teaching many of the classes at the school, Karen is involved with Mr. Stolzenberg’s film production company, Circle of Life Films NYC, as a Creative Consultant, Screenwriter, Wardrobe/Makeup/Hair/Prop Coordinator, Script Supervisor, Casting Associate, Actress, Singer/Songwriter, and Music Coordinator. To date, Karen has appeared in eight of Mr. Stolzenberg’s short films (“10 Reasons”, “The Big H”, “Actors Anonymous”, “Cell Phone”, “Sisters”, “The Go Girls”, “The Audition”, and “Mommie!”). Karen has written theme songs for 4 of these films, some of which have won awards at film festivals across the country.
Bernadette Fiorella
Faculty Member of The New York Acting School for Film and Television
Bernadette Fiorella, who teaches accent reduction classes, is a classically trained soprano who has sung with New York City Opera for the past 21 years and has performed with groups such as Musica Sacra, Chelsea Opera, and the New York Choral Society.
Certified by Cambridge University as an English language teacher with a specialty in accent reduction, she has taught in classroom and private settings. Her musical training and familiarity with several languages both provide a good ear for accent correction.
Ms. Fiorella also teaches voice privately and has coached singers/actors in preparing for auditions.
Lynn Schulson
Faculty Member of The New York Acting School for Film and Television
Lynn Schulson, made her acting debut on stage in “My Fair Lady” in 1978 and went on to be “Madwoman of Chaillot” as Countess Aurelia in 1979. Lynn took a hiatus from acting to work in accounting and finance then became an executive assistant at the “C” level for over a decade.
She has been studying acting with Mark Stolzenberg for almost a dozen years and has been in the New York Acting School’s recent documentary which lead to her role as producer of the new film short/pilot Cyberian Candidates. She has been seen on NBC’s Smash and has participated in, and helped organize countless New York Acting School projects and been a teaching assistant to Mr. Stolzenberg for a number of years.
Lynn’s expertise is most notably in character development and analysis, and she enjoys getting lost in the character and the challenge of being “believable” in unbelievable acting scenarios. She is creative, inventive and has the ability to “find the love” and create “conflict” in scenes and monologues thus generating texture and interest.
Scarlett Antonia
Faculty Member of The New York Acting School for Film and Television
Scarlett Antonia brings a wealth of experience not only as a teacher but a performer, director, manager, and producer. Ms Antonia began her teaching career at 13 years old when also working as a professional performer. Her students have gone on to successful careers not only in the performing arts but in a variety of chosen careers. Her training helps to find and develop the individuals special talents Most recently, Grace Vanderwall, 12 years old, after working with Ms. Antonia for 2 ½ years, went on to win “America’s Got Talent” and received a record release with Columbia, a Las Vegas performance and one million dollars. Some of her other students have worked with Disney, Madonna, the San Francisco Ballet, became stage managers, directors, lighting designers, just to name a few.
She has taught at Colorado University, Art Centers, Community Centers Kaufman Cultural Center, NYC and has developed programs nationally for schools summer camps and companies. Her productions have been seen at prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center.He most recent production The Wizard of OZ brought in over 6,000 attendees to the Paramount Hudson Valley.
Her programs for youth develop the full performance experience from character development, stage work, auditioning, production, film, commercials with all aspects of the creative and performing arts. Students learn team work, discipline,goals, responsibilities, creative choices, with theater arts as a metaphor for life experiences.