Faculty

 Full-Time

Steven Womack (1995) – Professor/Chair – BA English Honors (1974) Tulane University; MFA English and Writing (2003) Long Island University

Co-wrote the television films Volcano: Fire On The Mountain and Proudheart, which was nominated for the CableAce Award. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America and an award-winning author of ten novels including Dirty Money. He also co-edited and wrote the introduction for The True Crime Files Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Berkley Books. His latest novel is By Blood Written.

Van Flesher (2002) – Professor – BA English (1988) Marshall University; MA English (1990) Marshall University; MFA Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts (1992) Florida State University

Cinematographer for several feature films, on various formats, including 2001’s The Visitors, an HD video feature. Flesher directed the feature film, Burning Annie, and also served as producer on several projects, including Amy Everhart, shot in Nashville. Professor of cinematography at The Rockport Motion Picture Workshops, The Los Angeles Film School and the University of Southern California.

Valorie Stover (1995) – Professor – BA English Education (1985) University of Central Florida; MFA Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts (1992) Florida State University

Founding Chair of the Watkins Film School and over twenty years as a filmmaker and educator. For her creative work she has received numerous festival awards as well as several production and cultural arts grants including the Tennessee Arts Commision Fellowship Grant innovative educational arts programs. Stover is the President of the Nashville Film Festival (nashvillefilmfestival.org), a member of the Nashville Screenwriting Coneference Advisory Board and the Film Nashville Board.

Andrew Newell (2000) – Assistant Professor – BA History (1988) College of William and Mary; MFA Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts (1992) Florida State University

A writer and director of independent films, including the feature-length drama Looking for Truth, as well as several shorts. He studied the Meisner Acting Technique under John Ulmer, and served as Mr. Ulmer’s assistant for three years. He has worked for the TNT cable network and as a free-lance writer for Turner Classic Movies. 

Sean Miller (2008) – Assistant Professor and Film School Operations Manager – BS Recording Industry, Production and Technology (2004) Middle Tennessee State University; MAH Film and Performance (2007) State University of New York at Buffalo

Sean Miller received his B.S. in Recording Industry - Production and Technology, from Middle Tennessee State University and his M.A. in Film and Performance from State University of New York at Buffalo.  Sean worked as an audio engineer at Audio Magic and Chameleon West studios in Buffalo, NY as well as taught audio production classes at Villa Maria College of Buffalo before moving to Nashville to teach audio post-production at Watkins College.  Sean is a member of the Audio Engineering Society, and is currently serving as a Manager on the board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers Nashville Chapter.  Sean currently works as both a live and studio engineer for The Cave Studios in Franklin,TN and has engineered albums by Maria Sebastian, The Sacred Heart Folk Group, and Covert Operations.

 Adjunct

Andrea Passafiume - BFA Cinema Studies (1992) New York University; MA Cinema Studies (1994) New York University

Andrea Passafiume received her B.F.A. and M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University. She is also a freelance writer whose work regularly appears on the Turner Classic Movies website (tcm.com).  She has also contributed pieces to McSweeney’s, American Film, and Weekend America on NPR.  Andrea has worked at Entertainment Weekly magazine in New York, Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta, and the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. While at AFI she coordinated screening events for the ongoing Cinema’s Legacy and Directors Series with special guests including Oliver Stone, Dennis Hopper, Forest Whitaker, Jon Favreau and Robert Towne. She also screened submissions to the annual AFI Fest film festival, wrote for the AFI Fest Program Guide, and hosted AFI Fest’s landmark 24-Hour Movie Marathon & Fundraiser in 2006. 

Diane Batson-Smith - MFA Film & Television (1979) New York University

Worked with a range of entertainment and television companies as Director of Production and Promotion providing leadership and supervision regarding scheduling of special events, creation of budgets, agendas, and future planning for the entertainment divisions. Companies included: Walt Disney Studio, Home Box Office, DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures, Turner Network Broadcasting, PBS, etc. Worked as associate producer on the well known independent feature, Tender Mercies as well as Unit Production Manager on Oliver Stone’s Joy Luck Club and and Executive Production Supervisor on Mighty Ducks, Cemetery Club, Homeward Bound and more. Worked with Andy Warhol and Paul Morrisey on two art and movie oriented experimental Projects. Originated “The Womens’s Playwright Initiative” in NYC to showcase new plays by Women. Designed advertising and video installations for NYC 57 th Street galleries and audio companies. She is a member of the Director’s Guild of America and Producer’s Guild of America and the British Academy of Film and TV. 

Holly Allen - BA Theatre Arts (1994) Westmont College; MFA Acting (1997) University of Idaho

Holly Allen has been the in-house Casting Director for Film House, one of the largest production companies in Tennessee, for the past 8 years. She auditions and casts hundreds of actors from various cities including Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta, LA and Chicago for projects produced by the creative teams at Film House and on a free-lance basis. She casts commercials, industrials, music videos, reality shows and independent feature films. She has been teaching acting classes adn workshops for over a decade at various schools and colleges. As a professional actor she has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild for ten years.

Sam Dalton - Writer/producer/director/acting teacher, Sam Dalton, is experienced in all phases of film and television creation and production on both sides of a camera.  He is the founder and director of "Actors Asylum", a nationally recognized professional acting and film/video production training facility, creator, producer and host of "Family Adventures and "Boomer Adventures, both television travel program series, producer and host of "Scrunch", an award winning nationally syndicated children’s television program.  Mr. Dalton has been a professional actor and teacher for many years and is the executive writer, producer and director of the Illusion Factory, an entertainment, promotion, and Public Relations Company located in Los Angeles, responsible for the on-going development of multiple entertainment programs, infomercials and commercials.