Deborah LaVine is a prolific director and teacher of theater (over 300 professional productions) and film. Her films have played in festivals across the country winning numerous prizes. Additionally, Deborah is Director of the MFA Program in Film Directing at California Institute of the Arts (CALARTS), consistently ranked as one of the Top 5 Best Films Schools in national polls.
Jonas became deaf as a young child and has been playing piano since he was five. Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements centers around the year Jonas set out to learn this legendary sonata, written by Beethoven as he was going deaf.
Jonas is now 13, and attends middle school in Portland, Oregon. He loves to ski and listen to music
Irene Taylor Brodsky is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker. Her first memoir on her parents, Hear and Now, won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2007 and a Peabody. Her recent feature documentary, Beware the Slenderman, was nominated for a 2018 Emmy, and received two Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Director and Best Documentary. Her other acclaimed films include Homeless: The Soundtrack, The Final Inch, Saving Pelican 895 and One Last Hug.
Dori has served as Matan’s Exectuive Director since 2009, and has been part of Matan’s administrative team since 2007. Under Dori’s leadership, Matan has shifted from a purely direct service organization to one which significantly impacts the field of Jewish Special Needs Education by training current and future leaders in a multitude of settings — congregational schools, early childhood programs, camps and Jewish Day Schools. Matan has been featured in The Slingshot Guide of the most innovative Jewish organizations in North America six times since Dori joined Matan.
Dori believes that 85% of what we do as a Jewish community vis a vis inclusion can be summed up in one word: Attitude. With an open heart, open mind, and a willingness to partner with parents and other professionals, we can all be part of the solution of making inclusion a reality.
Prior to coming to Matan, Dori worked at The UJA-Federation of New York for seven years, in both planning and fundraising capacities. Dori began her professional career at The Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan as a bi-lingual educator (Hebrew and English). Dori holds a Masters of Arts in Education from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a BA in Sociology and Judaic Studies from Emory University. Dori is a sought-after national speaker on the issue of Jewish inclusion, and has published articles and Op-Ed’s in such publications as The New York Jewish Week, eJewish Philanthropy and Zeh Lezeh, a blog of The Ruderman Family Foundation.
Sascha Altman DuBrul, MSW, is the Recovery Specialist and Trainer for OnTrackNY and the ACT Institute. He is the co-founder of the Icarus Project, a network of peer based mental health support groups and media project that is actively redefining the language and culture of mental health and illness. He is the co-author of Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness, Friends Make the Best Medicine: A Guide to Creating Community Mental Health Support Networks, and the author of Maps to the Other Side: The Adventures of a Bipolar Cartographer. His interests lie at the intersection of the public mental health system and the mad underground. For more info, visit: http://mapstotheotherside.net.
Danny Woodburn is an actor and advocate for people with disabilities. He’s appeared in 30 films and more than 150 episodes of television. He serves as; co-vice chair of the SAG-AFTRA PWD Committee, Advisory Member to the National Disability Theater Company, Ruderman Family Foundation International Council on Disability And executive Steering Committee for ReelAbilities Los Angeles.
You know him as Mickey from Seinfeld. His recent work includes creating and starring the series N’Everest on YouTube and Hot Flash along with partner, Amy Buchwald.
Xian Horn is a joyful half-Asian woman with Cerebral Palsy, who serves as founder of the non-profit, Give Beauty Wings and consultancy Changeblazer. She is an advocate, speaker, blogger, and Exemplar for the AT&T NYU Connect Ability Challenge in the creation of Assistive Technology. Xian was named Women’s eNews’ 21 Leaders for the 21st Century in 2017 and in Walker’s Legacy Power 15 in 2018. Give Beauty Wings’ Self-Esteem programs began and continue at NYU’s Initiative for Women with Disabilities, the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, and M.S. 131. She is a freelance journalist at ForbesWomen and Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global.
Xian has spoken at the U.N., The Harkin Summit, Microsoft, Apple, Viacom, AppNexus, New York Life, Met Life, for the New York Public Library, Barnard College, Williams College, the ReelAbilities film festival (where she serves on the Film Selection Committee). In 2018, Xian was invited to join the Smithsonian Design museum Cooper Hewitt’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and AT&T’s Accessibility Advisory Panel. She has advised with Open Style Lab at Parsons since they designed for her needs in 2016. She is proud member of ReelAbilities Film Selection Committee and has mentored at Lights! Camera! Access!, run workshops for Intimacy Coordinators on Disability Inclusivity and Representation, and has served on panels for the Casting Society of America.
Xian has also run vocational workshops for the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities for Disability Mentoring Day. Xian has been on the State Department’s Speaker’s Bureau since 2016. Xian has been featured in The White House Blog’s Women Working To Do Good series, NPR, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Bloomberg News, NBC News, Fox 5 and NY1 among others. Finally, in addition to writing for Thrive Global, she is a blogger for Positively Positive – a community of over 2.5 million readers and a contributor at ForbesWomen in the area of Leadership, Empowerment, and Disability.
Director, 4 Quarters of Silence
Given his passion for film and television production, Cody Broadway sought out the New York Film Academy in 2009 to decide what specifically he wanted to do in the field. “NYFA helped me with the skills and knowledge I needed to have in the real world.”
After film school, Cody set his search for a career in either film or television. After coming across a position in FOX, Cody sent in his NYFA work for consideration. “They were very impressed with my work and brought me on at first as a host and producer of a show called FOX Live,” said Cody. “After about a month, they had an opening for a Promotions and Production Manager. In the position, Cody oversaw the production and promotions for FOX in both Texas markets. He has also helped create and host a show called FOX Live, which airs every Saturday in both markets. “Overall, I have been with FOX for 2 years now and believe that without the academy none of this would be possible.”
Cody currently is a visual producer for KUSA in Denver, Colorado.
3 total Emmys (Editor/Director/Single Spot).
A Helen Hayes Award nominee, she originated the title role of John Belluso’s “Gretty Good Time” at the Kennedy Center. She’s starred Off-Broadway in Kate Moira Ryan’s “Bass For Picasso”, Theatre Breaking Through Barriers’ “Power Plays”, and her own solo musical “Still Standing”, which won the Audience Award at United Solo Festival (CD available on iTunes) and was also presented at The White House. Other stage work includes “Ragtime” (Emma Goldman), “Fiddler on the Roof” (Golde), “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (Blanche) and “CATS” (her Grizabella made the Broadway World Top Ten in 2013). She’s appeared in TV series such as “Gotham”, “Law & Order”, “OZ”, “The Sopranos”, “All My Children”, BBC’s “From The Edge”, and the feature films “Handsome Harry & Musical Chairs”.
Anita serves as National Chair of SAG-AFTRA Performers With Disabilities and has worked for over 30 years with Broadway & Hollywood producers for more inclusion in the entertainment industry. She helps select films for ReelAbilities and plays for VSA Playwright Discovery Program. And finally, in addition to tap-dancing in the hilarious musical Nunsense, Anita has performed with Kitty Lunn’s Infinity Dance Theatre.
