New York Film Academy students and alumni are invited a special screening of Promised Land, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon. A special thanks to Focus Features for providing a 35mm print of the film to screen.
The screening will be held Monday, January 28th at NYFA Union Square’s Screening Room at 7P.M.
TBD Special Guest Speaker, Cinematographer Linus Sandgren.
Trailer: Yuck – A 4th Grader’s Short Documentary About School Lunch (2012) from Maxwell Project on Vimeo.
GARDEN STATE FILM FESTIVAL – KIDZ FILMZ PROGRAM
February 8-10, 2013: Date & Time TBA
Algonquin Arts Theater – Manasquan, New Jersey
www.gsff.org
Michael Neelsen, a graduate of the One-Year Filmmaking program at New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus, has found success with a boutique video agency he started with his father in 2009. With a presence in Chicago, Los Angeles, Madison, and Austin, StoryFirst Media produces web content, television commercials, and feature films, with a strong emphasis on dynamic storytelling. Michael says, “Lots of branded content never utilizes storytelling tropes, but we at StoryFirst always try to push our clients one step further out of their comfort zone and into the powerful realm of cinematic storytelling.”
Michael put his storytelling skills to work when he directed, produced, and edited the 2012 sports documentary, Last Day at Lambeau. It explores the love/hate relationship fans have with former Packers quarterback, Brett Favre, culminating with Favre’s final game at Lambeau Field in 2010. The doc was a hit at film festivals in Austin, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
After hearing about New York Film Academy from a close friend who had attended a summer program, Michael flew to the school’s Los Angeles campus for the One-Year Filmmaking course. The intensive course emphasizes education in cinematography, directing, screenwriting, producing, and editing. By the end of the year, students write, shoot, direct, and edit eight of their own short films. Michael says, “The number one thing that my experience at NYFA taught me was how easy it was to make a movie if you have the right people and resources around you.”
Michael has numerous projects in the works, and looks forward to working on a feature film and documentary in the coming year. He is also developing a presentation on cinematic storytelling for brands that he will be premiering at conferences this year.
To purchase tickets, visit: http://www.
If you’re not in the Los Angeles area this week, Allegiance is being released on DVD and digitally this upcoming Tuesday, Jan. 15th. You can pre-order the DVD on Amazon and iTunes right now!
New York Film Academy’s Musical Theatre and Film Conservatory movie musical, LIFELESS #BeingKindaDeadSortaSucks, continues its film festival tour with three new updates:
Filmmaker Bala Balakrishnan graduated from New York Film Academy in 2010. Shortly after graduation, he wrote, produced, and directed a short film called The Lucky One. It made the festival rounds in 2012, and proved to be a hit, winning 8 awards in competitions across the nation.
Bala works as a software engineer during the day. Like many people with day jobs, he decided an Evening Filmmaking program would work best with his busy schedule. “I was always interested in film,” says Bala. “After I had my second kid, I said, ‘I don’t want to be sitting in front of a computer all the time.’ It was my childhood desire to tell stories. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll go take a class.’ I invested and it paid off.”
He began commuting to New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus from nearby Orange County. As he puts it, “You start from the beginning, and get hands-on experience.” The Evening Filmmaking program covers writing, directing, cinematography, and editing – all the building blocks for getting started in filmmaking.
After graduation, Bala decided to start work on a short film. Working around his day job, he wrote a story about a young boy whose parents would rather spend time on their iPhones than taking care of their child. Like many filmmakers these days, he turned to Indiegogo to fund his 18-minute short film. Bala started production in the summer of 2011, working with a number of his New York Film Academy classmates.
Since its completion, The Lucky One has played numerous festivals across the nation, and just won its eighth award last week at the California Film Awards. Bala Balakrishnan is currently working with a screenwriter for a feature length action thriller, in addition to two other feature length scripts.
Imagine a viral video taking off without the assistance of precious kittens or babies. Well, leave it up to a New York Film Academy graduate to accomplish that feat. 2011 Directing grad, Daniel Lomas’ video Power of Introverts has racked up over 1 million hits in just under two weeks. Lomas narrates and illustrates the video, which is based on the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. The video breaks down the contrasting personality types of extroverts and introverts, while exploring some of the negative connotations that aren’t neeccissarily true about introverts. According to Lomas, “The film industry is, in my opinion, a quite extroverted industry and I had a hard time fitting in.”
As to why Lomas thinks his video is so popular, he says, “I think there are a lot of people that feel like they don’t fit in and think there’s something wrong with them.” Clearly that’s not the case. Be sure to look out for more episodes, which Lomas is currently working on now!
Which personality best categorizes you: Introvert or Extrovert? Tweet us @NYFA to let us know!
New York Film Academy instructor, Geoffray Barbier is directing a music concert series sponsored by Absolut Vodka. Shot in high definition, ENCORE! streams live music sessions featuring the very best at le Baron Chinatown in New York City. For those of you not hip on the scene, the Chinatown outpost, Le Baron of Andre Saraiva’s famed Paris’ “boite” is serving as a creative platform for talents to showcase themselves in a unique way. The successul online series is in its second season and episodes are recorded twice a month. Be sure to check out the most recent episode, featuring the popular band Wild Belle!
Moderator and producer Tova Laiter with J.A. Bayona, director of ‘The Impossible’
Director J.A. Bayona recently visited New York Film Academy for a preview screening of The Impossible. The touching film, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, is based on one family’s true story of survival of the Indian Ocean tsunami while on vacation in Thailand.
“The film talks about survival in an unconventional way,” said Bayona. “It talks about the suffering in survival. There was a huge commitment from the actors. We had a huge responsibility to tell this story.”
The idea for the story came when the film’s producer, Belén Atienza, heard the story on a radio show. Atienza shared the story the next day with director J.A. Bayona and writer Sergio Sanchez, with whom she had previously worked on the hit Spanish horror film, The Orphanage. The team was immediately convinced this was the project for them.
“Everything looked impossible at the beginning,” said Bayona. “Shooting in water, shooting with kids, shooting in another country, shooting in another language; it was epic.” The production featured over 1,000 extras, and shot on location in Thailand at the same hotel the survivors had stayed at. Naomi Watts spent six long weeks of filming in water. As Bayona put it, “You make your plans, you get there, and you change everything. That’s where you bring life to film.”
Taking questions from New York Film Academy students, Bayona reflected on his own time in film school in Barcelona, and the six years he spent teaching. He suggested following one’s passion to achieve success. “Use the knowledge you have from film school and then follow your instincts. Don’t pay too much attention to advice.”
The Impossible opens in theaters nationwide on December 21.
