Learn More About
Light House Studio
Our Mission
Light House Studio equips young people with the skills and confidence to tell their stories and build community through collaborative filmmaking. We seek to foster a community where Charlottesville’s young people flourish as students, storytellers, and citizens.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
At Light House Studio, we believe sharing stories is essential to creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities. We work with our community partners to create access to cinematic arts through films and filmmaking, amplifying stories to foster connection and, for a moment, experiencing the perspectives of others.
History
Light House Studio was founded in 1999 by a group of local filmmakers, artists, and educators who began with a small pilot workshop, Video Diary. Since then we have helped youth create thousands of documentaries, dramas, and animated films. Our student work has been broadcast on PBS, CNN, IFC, and TNT. Work has been exhibited at the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, Second Street Gallery, and Live Arts, among others. Light House films have been shown in festivals all over the United States. Many of our students have received national awards for their films, including a Peabody Award, a Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Films, and a CINE Golden Eagle Award.
We have collaborated with many local nonprofits, including Boys & Girls Club, C4K, Music Resource Center, Live Arts, Second Street Gallery, Virginia Film Festival, Habitat for Humanity, Abundant Life, City of Promise, Beloved Community C'ville, and Black Male Achievement as well as Albemarle High School, Charlottesville High School, The Community Homeschool Enrichment Center, Renaissance School, Peabody, Mountaintop Montessori, and Henley Middle School, among others.
We provide exhibition opportunities and uncensored, mentored workshops in digital filmmaking to young people, enabling them to learn, by hand, the language of motion pictures and sound. We challenge our students to be active participants in the media, and not simply passive consumers of the millions of images they see every day.
Meet the Team
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Pronouns: She/Her
Deanna has worked extensively in film. As head of production for Cinesite Europe, she successfully completed special effects work for films including Harry Potter I and II, Bond XX Die Another Day, and Tomb Raider. Early in her career, Deanna produced numerous television commercials for major US clients. Her awards include Addys, a Clio, and numerous medals from the International Film and TV Festival of New York. Before becoming Light House’s staff Executive Director in September 2009, she was a board member and mentor for three years.
Executive Director
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Pronouns: She/Her
Jalia is a multidisciplinary creative from Martinsville, VA. She holds a BA from the University of Virginia in Interdisciplinary Studies. With a concentration in Arts Administration, Marketing, and New Media, she is passionate about the research and impact of influencer marketing on Gen Z.
In 2023, she became part of the Charlottesville arts community. She supported creative programming and community engagement as an educator and marketing intern with The Bridge PAI and the Charlottesville Mural Project. She also served as Creative Programs and Engagement Coordinator for Ridgeway, VA, consulting on their website and the installation of a mural.
She currently works as Digital Marketing Specialist for Light House Studio, where she focuses on expanding their social media to reach Gen Z audiences. In the future, she aims to continue building accessible creative spaces and advancing creative direction that connects communities through art.
Digital Marketing Specialist
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Pronouns: She/Her
Kristen has been involved in the performing arts community for 30 years. Her recent stage credits include playing tap-dancing groupie Columbia in PVCC’s The Rocky Horror Show (2015), the Stepmother/Madame in Four County Players’ Cinderella (2023), and Mrs.
Green in The Prom (2025), also at Four County.She was an Entertainment Performer and Employee Service Specialist for The Walt Disney Company in Orlando, Florida from 2012-2013.
Kristen served as Entertainment Director for the Charlottesville Pride Festival from 2015-2016 and 2018-2019. She has over a decade of professional experience in back office administration, operations, and meeting & event planning. Previous employers include PBM Capital Group, Investure, and Bluestem Asset Management.
She is an MBA Candidate at Louisiana State University.
Operations Director
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Pronouns: She/Her
Taylor is a writer and filmmaker with a passion for storytelling. A magna cum laude graduate of Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles with a degree in Film, Media, and Social Justice, she brings a multidisciplinary background spanning all stages of production to her role at Light House. Taylor has worked across film, television, and commercial projects, including hands-on experience in post-production sound on the Foley stage at Paramount Studios for Disney’s Disenchanted, as well as roles with independent productions all across Los Angeles and PBS Appalachia.
Taylor is excited to bring her passion for filmmaking into the classroom, encouraging curiosity, confidence, and creative growth in students of all ages.
Program Manager
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Pronouns: She/Her
Coming from a background in dance, Lindsey has worked with arts and education nonprofits for 15 years. She holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Dance from UVA, where she pioneered the Interdisciplinary Pathway in Arts Administration. Lindsey earned an MA from NYU’s Gallatin School for Individualized Studies in 2011. She worked with the Arts at UVA for five years, holding positions with OpenGrounds, Arts Administration, and the Vice Provost for the Arts. Lindsey spent 4 years in Boston as the Director of Training and Recruitment for Life Together, a young adult service corps program. She returned to Charlottesville in 2021 and is thrilled to be part of the Light House team.
Engagement Director
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Pronouns: She/Her
Annie Huang is a media artist, educator, and storyteller whose work bridges psychology and film. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2024, graduating magna cum laude, where her academic focus explored how narrative and visual media shape perception, emotion, and identity. Building on this interdisciplinary foundation, she pursued graduate studies in Media Studies at the University of Virginia, completing her Master of Arts in 2026.
Annie brings both technical expertise and creative vision to her work. She is highly skilled in industry-standard editing platforms, including Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. Her projects often center on human stories, drawing from her background in psychology to craft nuanced, emotionally resonant visual narratives.
At Light House Studio, Annie works as a Teaching Artist and Projectionist, where she supports young filmmakers in developing their creative voices while also ensuring high-quality technical presentation for screenings and events. She is passionate about arts education and believes in the power of media as a tool for self-expression, critical thinking, and community engagement.
Teaching Artist and Projectionist
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Pronouns: He/Him
Zack Marotta is a Charlottesville native and lifelong filmmaker. He studied filmmaking at New York University and is the writer and producer of award-winning short films, screenplays, educational videos and more. He has over ten years of experience teaching youth filmmaking at New York Film Academy, New York City public schools, ID Tech, and best of all Light House Studio! As Education Director, Zack brings Light House movies to film festivals around the world, designs new workshops, and works to make our programming accessible to students of all needs. He loves helping young filmmakers bring their wildest ideas to life, especially if dinosaurs or aliens are involved! He lives with his wife Sam and their corgi Simon.
Education Director
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Pronouns: He/Him
After spending nearly two decades in Los Angeles working in film and television, Mac has returned to Charlottesville, where he was born and raised, to help the next generation of storytellers find their voice in film. His credits include scripted series ranging from comedy (The Goldbergs) to gritty drama (StartUp) to sci-fi (Falling Water) and spy thrillers (Condor and The Hot Zone) — projects that took him from writers' rooms to sets and back again, deepening his understanding of what it takes to bring ambitious stories to screen.
He is also no stranger to Light House Studio, having served as a mentor during the 2009 and 2010 youth film summer workshop. Mac found helping kids take their stories from the page to the screen as rewarding as writing his own work, which is why he’s so thrilled to be back.
Creative Director
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Pronouns: She/Her
Kayla Saunders, a Roanoke, VA native, is a passionate filmmaker with nearly a decade of experience in the industry. Beginning her creative journey as a playwright in high school, she quickly developed a love for storytelling that eventually led her to earn a B.A. in Digital Video and Cinema from the School of Media Arts & Design at James Madison University. Transitioning from the stage to the screen, Kayla has worked on a diverse range of projects—from short films to feature films, commercials, and documentaries—garnering numerous accolades, including Best American Film and Best Director at the Cannes Film Awards. Her work is driven by a commitment to amplifying the voices of those who can no longer speak for themselves, as well as advocating for underserved and underrepresented communities, using film as a powerful vehicle for social change. She also serves as an outlet for those who want to share their story, providing a platform for voices that might otherwise go unheard. Through her films, Kayla seeks to remind the world that storytelling is for everyone and that cinema has the power to spark transformation and inspire action for change.
Teaching Specialist
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jenn Winslow, Chair
Rachel Brozenske, Treasurer
Colby Hall, Secretary
Eugenie Atherton
Olivia Branch
Catherine Brown
Ty Cooper
Deanna Gould
Cassie Guy
Sarah Gray Parrish
Rick Preve
Jen Slaughter
Matt Wilkinson
Brian Williams
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ADVISORY BOARD
Shannon Worrell, Founder
Larry Blanford
Pati Cunningham
Jocelyn Diaz
Temple Fennell
Jack Fisk
Nicole Kassell
Will Kerner
Paul Wagner
TEACHING ARTISTS, PAST & PRESENT
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Eric Hurt
Sasha Solodukhina
Luke Tilghman
Dave Brown
Meredith Curtin
Ross Bollinger
Bernard Hankins
Rom Alejandro
MA Sullivan
Harold Folley
Gretel Truong
Mara Cox
Dan Hennicke
Jordan Taylor
Greg Kelly
Bremen Donovan
Joe Babarksy
William Cassell
Keira Hart
Mary Pumphrey
Evan Parter
Nathaniel Turner
Giles Sherwood
Goran Kajan
Deanna Gould
Sam Baker
Mac Marshall
Adam Brock
Billy Hunt
Mark Farmwald
Marcello Rollando
Maya Drake
Rebekah Brooks
Vashti Harrison
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Corinne James
Elizabeth Cassell
Noah Bowden
Ashley Yalaju
Anne Schermerhorn
David Ariew
Kate Wagner
Sam Gorman
Jason Robinson
Anna Wang
Chelsea Woodfolk
Rachel Abrams
Will Goss
Alexi Scheiber
Ian Levesque
Denise Stewart
Jason Stefaniak
Aaron McGinnis
Rebecca Malaret
Meredith Cole
Larry Blanford
Becca Meaney
Will Mullany
Sandy Williams
Will Jones
Joel Ruby
Michelle Kislykov
Anna Hogg
Jonah Tobias
Greg Brozenske
Elizabeth Culbertson
Catherine Cura
Caroline Cox
Ryan Beard
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Paul Wagner
Richard Herskowitz
Shannon Worrell
Thadd McQuade
Laura Parsons
Nicole Kassell
Will May
Catherine Dee
Tom DeCuir
Temple Fennell
Jen Fariello
Erik Adolphson
Grier Dill
Cassandra Barnett
Daniel Bloomberg
Alexandria Searls
Nora Brookfield
Will Kerner
Richard Needham
Dave Ackerman
Sidney Griffin
Geoff Luck
Johnny St. Ours
Joe Ruckert
Aidan Keith-Hynes
Reid Hildebrand
Charlotte Cherry
Zach Keifer
Taylor Gist
Wendy Brown
Taka Suzuki
Keaton Monger
Clarence Green
Karson Monger
Joe Vena