The Academy of Film, Fashion & Design -

About us

Our mission is making your dreams come true! Our affordable anytime, anywhere on demand training will turn your dream into an exciting future.

Our team of industry experts is committed to teaching you the tools of the trade at a fraction of traditional schools.

Your Future Starts Here!

Live the life you’ve always dreamed was possible!

Featured Instructor of the Month Feature Instructor

Meet our experts

  • Kate Holliday

    Kate Holliday has been in the modeling industry for over 20 years. She has a background working as both a fashion and lifestyle model. She has experience walking high fashion runways as well as catalog and print editorials. Her chameleon like persona has helped garnered her longevity in an industry known for its brief shelf life. She has worked with such lifestyle brands as Disney, HSN, Bealls, JCPenny and Dillards. Her fashion experience includes walking the runway for Etro, MuiMui, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

  • Alma Vidovic

    Alma Vidovic is breaking ground with a fresh new look in the fashion industry. She is a celebrity fashion stylist who has styled nationally broadcasted fashion shows, ad campaigns and photos shoots for some of the world’s most famous fashion icons. Her list of clients includes Mariah Carey, Iman, Twiggy, Serena Williams, Melissa McCarthy, Jessica Simpson, Badgley Mischka, Naeem Khan, Reem Acra, Carmen Marc Valvo, Iris Apfel, Lucky Magazine, DKNY, Levis, Toms, Vince Camuto, Sam Edelman, Donald J Pliner, Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osbourne, Tori Spelling, Molly Sims, Josie Natori, Nikki Poulos, Hal Ruenstein, June Ambrose, RJ Graziano, and many others. Her styling work has been featured on E!’s Giuliana & Bill. Her unique way of styling reflects a vision of inspired luxury with a mix of wearability and avant garde.

    Alma is also the Designer/Owner of Alma Vidovic Collection and President/Founder of Fashion Industry Association, a Florida non-profit organization with members in fashion, beauty, photography and modeling.

  • Jon Terzis

    Jon Terzis is one of the country’s premiere voice-over artists with over twenty years of industry experience.  Jon does Voice Overs for Film, TV and Radio, Documentaries, Corporate Presentations, Websites, Pod Casts, Phone Messaging, I.V.R.’s and Character Acting. Jon has recorded spots for Toyota, Volkswagen, American Movie Classics, Bose, Sports Illustrated, CBS News, 60 Minutes, Coca Cola, Auto Zone, Chicago Sun Times, PBS, History Channel, Liberty Mutual, Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, Cadillac, Visa, among many others.

    Jon is a former Madison Avenue Creative Director who began his career by voicing his own TV and Radio spots.   Confident, sophisticated with a distinctly strong voice quality, Jon has been compared to Donald Sutherland time and again with a voice that is empathic and subtly authoritative.  Jon delivers a wide range of reads – conversational, commanding, characteristic, sexy, cool, wry or serious; all in his unique style that will allow any project to come alive.

    Jon Terzis also operates Voice Over Tampa Bay, a full service, State of the Art recording studio based on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

  • David Pezza

    David Pezza is an accredited DJ and Music producer.  With over 15 years experience in both fields he has extensive knowledge of the music industry and knows how to get the most out of it.  David has owned his own recording studio and has worked in major studios all across the country.  He has done remix work for major record companies world-wide.  As a DJ he has played numerous clubs in New York, Miami, Tampa and Los Angeles.  His expertise in mixing and sound engineering is world class.  David loves to teach his craft and help inspire new artists.   His philosophy is simple, keep it simple and focus on the details.   In our video series, David provides an in depth and fun course in the arts of DJing and music production.

  • Melissa Hall (a.k.a. Melissa Little)

    Melissa has been in the entertainment industry for over 15 years. Her career started as Miss MN USA, she was a professional cheerleader for the MN Vikings and MN Timberwolves. Melissa has been featured in national commercials including Buffalo wild wings, Natures Bounty,  Zaahn Mattress and has hosted national fitness infomercials.  She is currently a live on air guest for shopping channels in the US and Canada. Since 2014 she has generated 22 million gross in fitness sales. She resides in Florida with her husband fitness guru Hall of famer, Tony Little and twin boys.

    Melissa Hall a/k/a Melissa Little spends thousands of hours hosting on-camera every year. Whether she’s appearing in commercials, national fitness infomercials, or on HSN, where she presents products to more than 90 million households at a time…Melissa really is the host with the most. In fact, since 2014 she has generated more than twenty-two million dollars in sales from her appearances on television alone. And now, she’s ready to help you become part of the action!

  • Teresa Washington

    Teresa Washington is a Dayton, Ohio Native, lived in Cincinnati for 20 years before relocating to Illinois 6 years ago. Teresa has been in the Retail/Fashion industry a little over 15 years, certified Image Consultant, owned and operated a successful Boutique (brick & Mortar and E-commerce) Opened a first Members Only Wholesale/Retail Showroom in Chicago, designed and launched three successful women’s apparel brands along with an accessories line which all are being carried in Specialty boutiques Nationwide. Teresa is ready to guide you through a very comprehensive step-by-step tutorial on starting your own fashion brand.

  • Bobby Marinelli

    Bobby Marinelli is a Floridian born filmmaker. In 2006, he graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s in Telecommunication Production. Soon after he began working in television, with production credits on Discovery Channel’s Miami Ink and Dual Survival and TLC’s What Not to Wear. In 2010, he received a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts. His thesis film “Waking Eloise” won, among other honors, a College Television Award for comedy short, the Grand Jury Prize for a short at Dances With Films and inclusion in the 2011 American Pavilion’s Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. Bobby’s feature film work includes Production Designing 2012’s Roswell FM, 2014’s Altitude, 2015’s The Accident and Art Directing the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Selection, The Rambler.

  • Kara Winslow is a talented Makeup Artist. Her clients have now included celebrities like Olympic Swimmers Ryan Lochte and Dara Torres.

    Kara knew as a child she wanted to be in the entertainment industry. Everyone kept telling her that the only way to be successful was to be a triple threat. She didn’t want to sing or dance. So, she decided to become “a triple threat” in my own way. Knowing that she wanted to act and model, she began participating in school plays, volunteering at the local theatre, and modeling at bridal expos. She participated in a summer program called Summer Musical Theatre at a local public high school, but since she didn’t sing or dance, she found myself gravitating towards the production side of the show. Stage management was an immediate fit.  Her focus, sense of control, and attention to detail allowed her to help orchestrate every aspect of a  show — lights, sound, set, staging, and costumes — and for the first time, she saw that the combination of her strengths and her creativity would make her an excellent director.

    And then there is the makeup… Often times when she was working on a project she would show up with more makeup cases (yes, that is plural) than the official artist on set. But it wasn’t until people began asking her to work alongside the official artist that it dawned on her: somewhere in between attending Mary Kay workshops and sitting in front of the mirror practicing the techniques in every makeup book she could find, she had become a qualified, knowledgeable makeup artist.  Now Kara’s makeup kit has become a three-tiered rolling toll box, and she does makeup as a full time job, owning her own makeup artist business and doing makeup for weddings, fashion shows, magazines, events, and more!

  • Hendrickje (pronounced Hen-Dree-Ka) Matthews Matthews is a native of England, Hendrickje has been in the industry for over 20 years

    A native of England, Hendrickje has been in the industry for over 20 years, with professional training at the UK’s premier makeup school, Brushstroke, Shepperton Film Studios studying FILM, TV, STAGE and SPECIAL EFFECTS — under the instruction of Neill Gorton (Millenium FX).   Hendrickje worked at MAC Cosmetics for over 10 years.   Currently , Hendrickje resides in Tampa,FL, is  head makeup designer for Busch Gardens , and works for HSN, Mac Cosmetics, and Hendrickje Makeup,FX and Design.  Hendrickje specializes in all aspects in makeup, body art, FX, beauty, editorial and more!

    Some of her clients include:   Busch Gardens, MAC Cosmetics, Home Shopping Network, E!Entertainment- WWE Total Divas,  Event Show Productions,  Tori Spelling, Candy Spelling, ESPN and Disney just to name a few!

  • Brandon Rodriguez is a very successful casting director based out of Los Angeles, California

    Casting director Brandon Henry Rodriguez began his journey as an actor on the east coast. Shortly after booking the lead role in the CBS Movie of the Week, “Vampire Bats,” he landed a recurring spot on the NBC series, “Surface.” Brandon’s success on the east coast prompted his pilgrimage to Los Angeles, where he continued to book spots on television, features, and national commercials.
    Along the way, he uncovered an intuitive understanding of the actor’s psyche, a keen business acumen, and a distinct artistic perspective, prompting him to parlay his experience into the casting world. Since he made the transition into casting, Brandon has worked as an associate for FOX Digital Studios (“Shotgun Wedding”) MTV (“Awkward”), The CW (“The 100”), Legendary Entertainment (“The Thinning”), SpectreVision (“The Greasy Strangler” “Bitch”), and several network pilots.
    In 2015, he earned his first casting director credit for the independent feature “Day Six.” He quickly established himself in the independent features world, and has continued to accumulate credits on fully-financed independent movies. His casting director credits include “Dog Years,” written and directed by Adam Rifkin, “Desolate,” produced by Jordan Foley, and “Virtual High” (Disney), among others. He is currently casting the feature “The Other Place,” directed by Eric Bress, while concurrently working as an associate on “The 100” (CW) at Aufiero/Horn Casting.
    As a casting director, Brandon is an advocate for actors—his passion for actors and their craft is evidenced by both his approach in the room and the material with which he chooses to align himself. Drawing on his early experiences as an actor, he takes great care to create a safe, creative, and collaborative environment for actors. Ultimately, he is committed to cultivating a mutual quest for verisimilitude.

SO YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BECOME A COMMERCIAL FILM DIRECTOR?

Are you an extremely creative individual?
Does leading a team of cast and crew sound exciting to you?
Have you always wanted to make a film or direct a commercial, television program or music video?

Do you a natural born leader who can make decisions quickly and efficiently?
A film director is the equivalent to a conductor in an orchestra or the captain on a ship guiding its course and responsible for every aspect of the journey. A director is responsible for breathing life into the actor’s portrayal of the role.

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