Team

Christopher Teitelbaum

Founder and Executive Director

Chris has been a fan of the otherworldly, the outside, the uncomfortable, and the inhuman ever since discovering the author H.P. Lovecraft in middle school. His fascination with the macabre led him to The Park School at Ithaca College, where he majored in film. Later Chris became a student at The Actor’s Workshop of Ithaca and later worked alongside AWI’s founder, Eliza VanCort, as a Co-Instructor of the Meisner Technique for almost a decade. In addition to teaching, Chris also acted and directed several shows during his tenure at AWI.

AJ Sage

Artistic Director

AJ has been a theater practitioner in the Ithaca area since 2012 as an actor, director and playwright. A longtime collaborator with organizations such as Ithaca Shakespeare Company and The Actor's Workshop, AJ joined the HOI team after portraying Jerry Goss in the inaugural production of Tracy Letts' "Bug" and will be making his directorial debut with the company with his November 2019 production of "The Skriker" by Caryl Churchill. He recently wrote and directed for the second annual One Minute Play Festival at Kitchen Theatre Company. His full length play "No" debuted at the Ithaca Fringe Festival in 2015. During the day AJ is the roastmaster at Copper Horse Coffee where he tries to set things on fire as infrequently as possible.

Jeffrey Hodges

Co-Founder and Media Director

Jeff is a graduate of the Actors Workshop of Ithaca Meisner program, where he also worked for many years as a Teachers Assistant to David Kossack. He has previously appeared on stage in productions of Poonah The F**kdog (And Other Plays for Children), Museum, SIX and many other Actors Workshop one-act plays. Jeff worked at PhotoSynthesis Productions, an award winning film production company in Ithaca where he collaborated as a DP and editor. Additionally, he also freelances as a filmmaker specializing in producing music videos with popular bands such as The Blind Spots. Jeff currently works for Cornell University.

Ayla Hodges

Co-Founder and Production Manager

Ayla has always had a love of theater and film, and when the HOI team approached her to become a part of the team, she couldn’t resist. When not innovating and organizing at HOI, Ayla works at Cornell University.

Alek Osinski

Co-Founder

Alek has been performing since high school. He began his adult life serving our country in the United States Army. After being honorably discharged, Alek worked his way through school, becoming a physical therapist. In 2010 he found The Actors Workshop of Ithaca and his passion for the arts was reawakened. Since studying at AWI, he has been a part of multiple productions throughout Ithaca, both as an actor and behind the scene. More recently, Alek has acted in several films, including "The Observatory" and "No Fare", produced by award winning filmmaker Daniel Masciari and fellow HOI founder Chris Teitelbaum’s film, Bear. He is slated to appear in his first feature film, Stationed at Home, this coming year.