Portfolio Mentors
School of Media Culture & Design Portfolio Mentor Initiative
Our Portfolio Requirements
All incoming freshmen and transfers applying for Spring 2024 semester or the Fall 2024-2025 academic year are asked to submit a portfolio and written statement if applying for any of the following programs: Animation + VFX, Filmmaking, Game Art + Design, Graphic Design, and Fashion Design.
Animation + VFX has additional requirements outlined on our Portfolio Requirements page.
VIEW PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENT DETAILS
Meet our Portfolio Mentors
Learn more about the faculty that will be helping you with your portfolio below.
Chair and Faculty, Department of Animation
Judy Kriger
Judy Kriger is an independent filmmaker and animator and has been a professional CG artist for two decades. Her credits include: Cats and Dogs, Antz, South Park, Ren and Stimpy and Doughboy, Kraft and Keebler commercials. She teaches senior thesis, introductory through advanced 3D animation and visual effects production courses. Her book, “Animated Realism: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Animated Documentary Genre,” was published by Focal Press and she is currently working on a CG animated PSA and a new book pitch.
Education
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design
MFA, California Institute of the Arts
[email protected]
Chair, Department of Fashion Design
Anna Leiker
Anna Leiker is an Assistant Professor and the chair of the Fashion Design department in the School of Media, Culture & Design at Woodbury University. Her professional background is in knitwear, lingerie and swimwear. She specializes in computer applications in fashion design and has utilized knowledge of several CAD systems: Macbeth Eye, Investronica, Tukatech, and PAD. She has presented papers and lectured at both international and national fashion design and educational conferences, on topics including, future of fashion design, interdisciplinarity in fashion design and fashion photography.
She has been a part of the Woodbury community for 20 years. Anna’s scholarship involves fashion technology, specifically digital print on textiles and smart textiles, fashion sustainability, and fashion photography. Her vision for the program is to infuse elements of sustainability and wearable tech into the fundamentals of the curriculum.
Education
Master of Fine Art from Academy of Art University
Master of Science in Textiles and Fashion Design.
Bachelor of Design and Technology in the Apparel Industry from Moscow State University of Technology and Design.
[email protected]
Chair, Department of Graphic Design
Behnoush McKay
Behnoush McKay is an Associate Professor and chair of the Department of Graphic Design at Woodbury University. She joined Woodbury University in 1997 as an adjunct faculty and moved to a full-time position in 2006. She received her BFA in Graphics and Packaging Design from Art Center College of Design, and her MFA in Visual Communication from California State University Northridge. For 20 years, Behnoush was a principal in McKay Consulting Group, Inc. With a solid background in Art, Design, and Visual Communication, she designed and provided art direction on projects involving packaging, multimedia, print, and product design.
She has presented papers and lectured at both international and national design and educational conferences, on topics including, future of graphic design, design education – problem-solving, social responsibility in design, and educational assessment. Read more of her bio here.
Education
California State University, Northridge California June 2007
Graduate School, Master of Fine Arts in Visual Communication, with Distinction
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California August 1991
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphics/Packaging, with Honors
Chair, Department of Filmmaking
George Larkin
George Larkin has worked in film, television, and theatre on many award winning and critically acclaimed films and plays. He currently is the Chair of Filmmaking at Woodbury University. He’s a graduate of Yale University, has an M.A of Shakespearean Studies from the University of Birmingham (England), and has Ph.D. in Film & Media Studies at the University of California-Berkeley. He won the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award at Berkeley. Routledge Research published his book, Post-Production: the Invisible Revolution of Filmmaking, in 2018.
He also actively works in theatre. His last play, The Bastard Son of William Shakespeare, won second in the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards. His plays have won/been nominated for fourteen awards. He also served on the Board of Directors at the Met Theatre in Los Angeles and on the Artistic Board at Sacred Fools.
Read more of his bio here.
Education
B.A. from Yale University
M.A. of Shakespearean Studies from the University of Birmingham
Ph.D. in Film & Media Studies from the University of California-Berkeley
[email protected]
Assistant Professor, Department of Filmmaking
Elizabeth Yarwood
Elizabeth Yarwood is a Los Angeles-based cinematographer, writer, and director. She is an Assistant Professor of Filmmaking in the School of Media, Culture & Design. Elizabeth holds an MFA in Film and TV Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Her cinematography work spans both narrative and documentary, and has been seen at film festivals including SxSW, Cinequest, Dances with Films, Full Frame, and HollyShorts. She has served as cinematographer on award-winning projects such as the feature documentary Pioneers in Skirts by director Ashley Maria, which explores gender inequality in the workplace, and the comedic short film Labor Relations, by writer/director Karisa Bruin, which examines work/life balance for mothers. She has worked as a camera operator or camera assistant on a wide variety of TV shows on network and cable television such as Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS. Elizabeth is currently in pre-production for the narrative feature film Lady Parts, by directors Liz Manashil and Sean Wright, about a woman who must grapple with difficult decisions surrounding preventative care for the BRCA-1 breast cancer gene.
Read more of her bio here.
Education
B.A. from Bard College
M.F.A. from USC School of Cinematic Arts
[email protected]
Chair, Department of Game Art & Design
Paul Smith
Paul M Smith is currently a production pipeline consultant, mocap technician, forensic accident reconstruction specialist, and freelance artist for Mobile Motion Mocap, Containment Field, and Bowley, Inc.
Some portfolio credits include “ARDYs: A Radio Disney Music Celebration” live television performance and “Yulu Toys: Snapstar Dolls” music video at Mobile Motion Mocap; “Roboblitz” – Xbox360 online arcade at Naked Sky Entertainment; “Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam” – main attraction ride and “Men In Black” and “Pinky and the Brain” – PC at Gigawatt Studios, “Railroad Tycoon II” port, “Sega Swirl”, “Kiss Psycho Circus” – Dreamcast at Tremor Entertainment; “The Black Eyed Peas Experience” for Zoic Studios, and “The Walking Dead slot machine” for Stargate Studios – mocap technician/cleanup artist at Containment Field, Inc; “Chico’s, GAP, Federated, Avon, Fashion Bug, Pac Sun, Koos MFG, Victoria Secret, Club Monaco, Cato, Belks, and TC2” – 3D Digital Sculpt Fabrication Artist at Shapely Shadow; and “Cal Trans Forensic Re-creation” animations at Blast Radius Consulting.
Paul assists as a regional/state judge and competitive events coordinator for SkillsUSA in the Interactive Application and Game Development competition.
Education
B.F.A and M.A: Computer Animation, William Patterson University, Patterson, NJ
A.S: Computer Animation, Bucks County Community College, Bucks County, PA
[email protected]
Interested in our mentor program?
Inquire for more information below.