Our teachers

Meet the team

Five working filmmakers, including writers, directors, and actors, who also teach high school students in the film program at Northwestern University's National High School Institute.

Andrew Wells Ryder

Andrew is a writer, director, actor, and musician living in Queens, New York. Originally from Texas, he trained as an actor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) and went on to earn an MFA in Writing and Directing from Columbia University.

His recent short films include Corn and The Bandaged Man (CUFF 2026). As an actor, he has performed in New York and regional theater, including playing Bobby in Company at Cygnet Theatre, and in independent films such as Lace Crater, which premiered at TIFF. He also writes songs and plays in the band Rudy.

Greta Díaz Moreau

Greta is a screenwriter and director who grew up in a small village in rural Spain, a place that still shapes her bold, emotional, and often funny films. Her latest short, Loquita Por Ti, premiered at Palm Springs International ShortFest with a Special Mention for Best International Film. It went on to screen at Slamdance, SEMINCI, Clermont-Ferrand, and many other festivals, won awards at home and abroad, and was selected for the 2026 CAA Moebius Showcase.

Greta won a 2025 National Board of Review Student Grant and works as an associate producer for Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ramin Bahrani on his upcoming features. She holds an MFA in Directing from Columbia University, where she also teaches, and lives in New York City.

Fiona Obertinca

Fiona Obertinca is a Swedish-Albanian writer and director whose films spotlight complex, resilient women with narratives rich in humor and heart. Fiona's proof-of-concept short DANDELION has won awards at Academy-qualifying festivals worldwide, including Best Narrative Short at the Brooklyn Film Festival and Audience Award for Best Student Short at Palm Springs ShortFest and many more. The film, which was chosen to screen at the 2025 CAA Moebius showcase of the top ten graduate films globally, was also nominated for a Student Academy Award and at the 45th College Emmys for Best Comedy Series.

Fiona received the prestigious Young Director Award, taking home Gold for her work on DANDELION. A graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory, she honed her skills in Hollywood working on acclaimed projects like MAX's Made for Love. She teaches screenwriting at Northwestern University's National High School Institute, where she mentors the next generation of filmmakers.

Ari Shapiro

Ari is a filmmaker who has worked with HBO Max, TNT, and Nastya, the star of the hugely popular YouTube children's show Like Nastya. His award-winning short films have screened at festivals around the world, and his screenplays have been honored by the Palm Springs International Screenplay Competition and the Humanitas College Comedy Awards.

He trained in theatre at Northwestern University and acted for years Off-Broadway and in commercials before moving to film. He recently graduated from Columbia University's MFA Film Program with Faculty Honors in screenwriting.

Juli Del Prete

Juli Del Prete is a writer and filmmaker based in NYC and Chicago. Her recent projects have been developed and produced by Fox Entertainment, Picturestart, Pretty Little Liars creator Sara Shepard, and Olympian Nancy Kerrigan. Her directorial debut short film Caroline received Cinema Femme's Critics' Choice Award & the Limelight Women in Film Award (SENE).

Juli is the co-creator, -writer, and -star of The Right Swipe, an intersectional feminist romantic comedy web series (Austin Film Festival, Urbanworld, OTV | Open Television) and has worked on over a dozen independent films. She was the assistant director & assistant intimacy coordinator for the world premiere of Tracy Letts's Linda Vista (Broadway, Steppenwolf, Mark Taper Forum). Juli's writing has been recognized by the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Luminarts Cultural Foundation, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the 24 Hour Plays. Juli also teaches in the Film program at Northwestern's National High School Institute. BSc, Northwestern University (Theatre/Playwriting).