Faculty

Screenwriting, Directing, and Producing

The faculty of the MFA Film program are leaders in the art, craft, and business of creative storytelling.

They are award-winning teachers dedicated to sharing their craft and the next generation of storytellers.

The faculty page is updated each semester with the faculty members who are teaching an MFA course in that semester.

Tamlin Hall

Director of MFA in Film, Television and Digital Media

Tamlin Hall is an Emmy award-winning producer, Humanitas Prize winner for television writing, and a nonprofit founder. Tamlin's credits as a feature film writer/director include "Holden On" and "Red Camellia" - which is currently in post-production. Tamlin's PBS series "Hope Givers" is currently in its third season. Tamlin's projects have been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. Tamlin oversees Reel Hope, a fiscal sponsorship program that helps narrative and documentary filmmakers fund their projects.

Neil Landau

Professor, Dept. of Entertainment & Media Studies

Neil Landau’s screenwriting credits include the cult teen comedy "Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead;" "Melrose Place," and "The Magnificent Seven," among others. His animated movie projects include "Tad: The Lost Explorer" (aka Las Adventuras de Tadeo Jones) for which he earned a Spanish Academy “Goya” Award and Cinema Writers’ Circle Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (2014).

Shandra L. McDonald

Associate Professor, Dept. of Theatre and Film Studies

Shandra L. McDonald is an award-winning director, screenwriter, and producer with more than 30 years of experience in film and television. Her films have screened nationally and internationally at SXSW, Cannes, BFI London, AFI FEST, the Atlanta Film Festival, BronzeLens, and the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival. Many of her titles are streaming online. She has created original content for Oxygen, CBS, BET, NBC, TLC, and Turner Networks. In 2024, she received the Best Directing Award from Women in Film & Television Atlanta for her short film “I’m Fine.”

Sanghoon Lee

Clinical Associate Professor, Dept. of Entertainment & Media Studies

Lee has completed several award-winning dramatic features as the cinematographer and producer, including "Chicago Heights" and "Hogtown." His credits also include feature documentaries "Today We Saw the Face of God" and "Breakfast at Ina’s." In 2018 he wrote directed his first feature film, Banana Season. He has taught MFA and film production courses previously at Governors State University, DePaul University and Northwestern University. He is currently in post for his latest directorial effort "Classics Undone."

Leandro Tadashi

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Theatre and Film Studies

Leandro Tadashi's short films have been screened in over 300 festivals worldwide, includingFestival de Cinema de Gramado (Brazil) and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France). In Los Angeles, he directed the short “Tomorrow” (2014), and co-directed the feature “Actors Anonymous” (2017).

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MFA in Film, Television and Digital Media

Email: mfaftvdm@uga.edu

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