Come one, Come All!

The New York Film Academy is honored to announce that the much revered producer, Barbara DeFina will be joining us for our 2008-2009 industry speakers series on September 15 at 6:30PM.

She is probably best known for her work on such iconic films as “Goodfellas”, (Academy Award Nominated), “Casino”, (Academy Award Nominated), “The Age of Innocence” (Academy Award Nominated), “The Last Temptation of Christ” (Academy Award Nominated), “The Grifters” (Academy
Award Nominated) and “You Can Count on Me” (Independent Spirit Award).

She has most recently completed, “Lymelife”, with Alec Baldwin and Emma Roberts. It will world premier at the Toronto International Film Festival in it’s discovery sidebar. The Independent Film portrays life in late 1970’s Long Island through the eyes of a 15 year-old boy (Rory Culkin).

This blog is published by The Film School & Acting School at the New York Film Academy. Visit our website to learn more about our exciting curriculum!

Choking Man

Josh Zeman, a producing partner at Ghost Robot production company, is a constant resource for the New York Film Academy giving many of our students internships over the years. Recently, one of our students was lucky enough to shadow Josh at Ghost Robot and she wrote us, “I’ve never been happier in my life “. Josh also kindly sits on numerous film panels here at NYFA.

He has recently been named inaugural fellow for Sundance Institute’s creative producing initiative for the project “Forest Grove,” the first narrative feature by Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation).

His film “Choking Man,” won the Gotham Award in the “Best Film Not Playing Near a Theater Near You,” category and was pronounced, “…delightful by the New York Times.

The following is an excerpt of an interview with his director, Steve Barron.

This blog is published by The Film School & Acting School at the New York Film Academy. Visit our website to learn more about our exciting curriculum!

T’ai Chi Chih/Qigong at NYFA

FREE for students of NYFA
Every Tuesday, 8:30am-9:15am, beginning: August 26, 2008
New York Film Academy, 4th Floor

Starting Tuesday, Aug 26th, Sokie Lee will teach a simple form of Qigong called T’ai Chi Chih (TCC). T’ai Chi Chih is NOT T’ai Chi Chuan, a martial art which requires many years of training. TCC is a series of meditative movements that are easy to learn, yet powerful. Based on principles of Circularity, Continuity and moving from the Center, TCC consists of 19 self-contained movements and a closing pose. TCC complements Yoga, Pilates, Aerobics, or any other physical activities.

Below is a video of Sokie teaching students on a ship’s deck in Alaska.

This blog is published by The Film School & Acting School at the New York Film Academy. Visit our website to learn more about our exciting curriculum!

Come and Join Us

Village Voice Weighs in on New NYFA Digital Journalism Program!

The Village Voice, favored publication of many of our film and acting students, honored us recently with a fantastic article about the future of broadcasting, and the role our new Digital Journalism program may play in training the next generation of journalists. Don’t forget to click to read the rest of the article on VillageVoice.com!

Teaching a New Generation of Reporters to Capture Events on Film

First came the bad news. The third day of classes at the New York Film Academy’s new digital-journalism program, launched earlier this month, began with an NBC Nightly News segment about the newspaper business.

The Boston Herald was outsourcing its printing operation. The Chicago Tribune unloading its skyscraper. The Palm Beach Post laying people off. The San Francisco Chronicle bleeding $1 million a week.

The message was clear. Traditional media are in upheaval, and how they will function once the dust settles would have something to do with the roughly 30 students assembled in this windowless room at Broadway and Prince Street.

Read more…