We had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Rashad T. Goldsborough, an educator and artist whose passion for storytelling spans both the academic and creative worlds. A student in our non-credit Fundamentals of Sight and Sound Filmmaking course and an alumni of our Tisch Pro online Cinematography Fundamentals course, Dr. Rashad is exploring new ways to merge his background in education with the visual language of film.
With an impressive teaching portfolio that includes his roles as Adjunct Assistant Professor of English Language Arts and English-as-a-Second-Language at Wilmington University, and Middle School Digital Communication Arts Teacher at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Dr. Rashad brings a unique lens to filmmaking.
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In the interview below, Dr. Rashad shares his experience with Tisch Pro non-credit courses as a filmmaker and storyteller.
What are some collaborations, teaching insights, or creative ventures that have come from your participation in the non-credit courses?
So what has occurred in these classes is that I have met other people who want to do the same thing I want to do, and they want to specialize in sound or cinematography or producing. And I know for a fact that somebody, somewhere is going to be the studio executive, somebody somewhere is going to be the actor with their face on a billboard. It may be you, it may not be you, but you may have met that person in the class and they may remember you.
What skills have you developed or strengthened through the Tisch pro/ non-credit courses that you didn’t have before?
I think that the skills that I've developed are, being able to now make a short film in three days, which is incredible, because that means I can go through all five stages. I can write it. I can make a storyboard. I can make a shot list. I can recruit actors and film, cinematographers and lighting people. I can do all of that within twenty-four hours. And then in forty-eight hours I can have a whole movie plan. In the next seventy-two hours, a movie will be done. So it has really helped me understand what a movie is, what a movie can do, and how to make a movie.
Please describe a specific project or assignment in any of the non-credit Tisch courses you’ve completed so far that was particularly impactful or challenged you creatively.
The curriculum required for the Sight & Sound Filmmaking program included producing five short films in six weeks. I approached this challenge as an opportunity to design an interconnected five-film anthology series, with each film critiquing a different social institution. This directly aligns with my cinematic career goal of using storytelling as a platform to expose institutional dysfunction and show how systemic failures shape everyday life.
The Detour – Silent Drama – (Education)
A college student takes a detour through the park to complete a time-sensitive errand, but she is soon confronted with a life-changing question: stay on task or choose her own path. The film critiques the confinements of educational institutions while also indirectly commenting on my lived experience of having ADHD.
The Protesters – Silent Drama – (Healthcare)
Two strangers protest outside a healthcare facility, each driven by deeply personal reasons, but united by frustration at systemic failures. With no dialogue, the film relies on facial expressions, blocking, and juxtaposition to express urgency and solidarity in silence.
The Choice – Silent Drama – (Economics)
A young woman sits in a dimly lit room faced with two envelopes—one holding an offer for her dream career, the other a lucrative corporate job. Through symbolic lighting and props, the story becomes a meditation on ambition, compromise, and the price of security.
The Family – Experimental Short – (Family)
An experimental montage of television and film clips depicting various portrayals of family, set to the iconic “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. The piece deconstructs the idealized image of family presented in popular media.
Trying to Study – Drama – (Education, Healthcare, Economics and Family)
A sick college student tries to study, while listening to Flight of the Bumblebee, only to be interrupted by a family call, mounting reminders of her medical bills, tuition debt and overdrawn bank account. The piece is a culmination of the overall anthological critique of social institutions, and captures the suffocating weight of financial and personal pressures.
What were the filmmaking and storytelling processes like when producing these short films? What was your inspiration behind these films?
Across the anthology, I embraced both traditional and experimental techniques, often blending staged blocking with naturalistic performances. I worked in diverse visual styles: from precise single-shot execution in The Choice to montage and found footage in “Family”. Each film required adapting quickly to diverse constraints, minimal crew sizes, and tight timelines, which honed my ability to problem-solve under pressure.
I start with an institution I want to critique, then develop a contained human story that embodies that examination. I focus on small but potent moments, choices, interruptions, silences, that reveal systemic pressures on individuals. Visual storytelling plays a central role, particularly in my silent pieces, where body language, framing, and mise-en-scène must carry the narrative.
This anthology was inspired by my ongoing creative mission: to use film and television as platforms to dissect and dramatize institutional dysfunction. I wanted each short to stand alone while also contributing to a thematic throughline. My own experiences as an educator, artist, and observer of systemic inequities shaped each film’s focus and tone.
What have you learned about storytelling and the process of filmmaking that you have been applying to your creative projects?
What I've learned about the storytelling process is that there comes a time when for me, because school is my jam, learning about film is done. Now, we have to make something and you learn by making it.
Again, I want to thank NYU for their wonderful online courses. For someone who is, working, three jobs, I'm very happy that Tisch provides these things, like the cinematography course, and it allows me to, complete classes, self-paced and if you want to do it, do it, but it requires a lot of self-discipline and motivation, and excitement.
Tisch Pro non-credit courses are offered all year long.
Non-credit certificate program enrollment starts in February 2026.