THE PEOPLE BEHIND BUGALU
Who We Are
Meet the people behind Bugalu. Our creative professionals, educators and outreach team care about each learner’s interests, confidence and future.
Instructors
CREATIVE LEADERSHIP
Experience with a purpose.
Elisabeth White and Jimmy Lifton co-founded Visual Arts Academy and Worldwide Starship Foundation. Their work brings creative education, industry experience and opportunities for autistic and neurodivergent artists together.
Jimmy Lifton
Film producer & educator
An Emmy-winning film producer and educator, Jimmy brings professional production experience and a commitment to creative training.
Elisabeth White
Music artist, filmmaker & creative leader
An international award-winning music artist, film director and art advisor, Elisabeth brings an artist’s perspective to building opportunities and a creative community.
OUR INSTRUCTORS
Meet the teaching team
Creative people sharing what they know through individual online learning.
John Ercek
Instructor
Raine Schmid
Instructor
Tony Caio
Instructor
Stephanie (Bas) Trackman
Instructor
Hannah Cheeseman-Meyer
Instructor
Leslie Franco
Instructor
Michelle Burghart
Instructor
Fawn Stewart
Instructor
Katya Bowser
Instructor
Jason Bierut
Instructor
Clement Liao
Instructor
Vreny Van Elslande
Instructor
MORE THAN A SUBJECT
Start with the
person.
Bring the know-how.
One-on-one is how Bugalu teaches. What surrounds that lesson matters too: industry experience, original productions, a creative community and the possibility of discovering a direction you care about.
Some people want to explore an interest. Some want to make a story, find their voice or build toward future creative work. We respect each person’s goals.
Oscar- and Emmy-winning mentors in our wider community.
Oscar winning writer of Rain Man Barry Morrow
Mentors have projects with Warner Bros., Disney, Marvel, Sony and more.Â
YOUR LEARNING COMMUNITY
Art. Voice. Story. Technology.
Explore a subject through individual online lessons, with space for your own interests and pace.
A SEPARATE WORKFORCE PATHWAY
Creative skills. Real experience.
Bugalu’s Visual Arts Academy provides training for Worldwide Starship Foundation’s Rain Man Initiative. This separate group program connects creative training with paid work experience and career preparation.
28
Graduates received paid work experience.
All 28 graduates of this Rain Man Initiative cohort received paid work experience. Foundation workforce programs have separate enrollment and eligibility from Bugalu’s individual lessons.
