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Faculty
Screenwriting, Directing, and Producing
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.”
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).
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."
Adjunct Faculty
Marion Dayre
Marion Dayre is a writer/producer. Her credits include Head Writer/Executive Producer on Marvel’s ECHO; Writer/Producer of Apple’s SHANTARAM; Writer/Executive Story Editor of AMC’S BETTER CALL SAUL and Hulu’s THE ACT; Showrunner/Executive Producer of Amazon’s upcoming WYTCHES, and Associate Producer of Killer Film’s feature DEALIN’ WITH IDIOTS. Her 5 seasons of work on BCS earned her 4 WGA Nominations, 4 Emmy nominations, a Peabody Award, a Saturn Award, and two individual WGA nominations for her episodes. Her autobiographical comedy pilot BURY ME, about growing up in a funeral home in South Central (Nebraska), was selected as one of ten projects for Sundance’s Inaugural Episodic Writers’ Lab. Marion got her MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA and teaches drama series development at San Francisco State University. She got her start as an intern at Laura Ziskin Productions before assisting Executive Producers on Showtime’s UNITED STATES OF TARA, HBO’s CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and ABC’s THE GOLDBERGS.
David Fortune
David Fortune is a writer and director from Atlanta, Georgia. He was named Variety's 10 Directors to Watch in 2025 and received the AT&T Untold Stories Award, which provided a $1 million grant to direct his feature film, Color Book. The film premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Festival and has garnered over 20 jury and audience awards at festivals, including the Austin Film Festival, Deauville American Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, and several others. In addition to these recognitions, David has also been nominated for the 2025 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative.
Nekisa Cooper
Nekisa Cooper is a producer known for Pariah (2011), Win Win (2011) and Futurestates (2010). She teaches producing and production management.
Joey Siara
Joey Siara is known for The Resort (2022), Emergence (2019) and Parenthood (2010). He has a Master’s from Harvard, an MFA from UCLA, and has worked on series for PBS, Discovery, and CNN. He teaches screenwriting.
Ezra Herz
Ezra Herz is a writer and actor known for Ripple, The Trail and Playdates Anonymous (2018). He teaches screenwriting.
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Contact Us
MFA in Film, Television and Digital Media
Email: mfaftvdm@uga.edu
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This is the first dual-college graduate program at the University of Georgia. It is offered to students at a tuition rate comparable to other graduate programs at UGA, making it one of the most affordable programs of its caliber in the country.
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