NYFA Movie Musical “Streetwrite” Premieres at The Cutting Room

March 22, 2017
On Sunday, March 12, one of the New York Film Academy’s newest movie musicals, “Streetwrite,” held a very well attended premiere screening at The Cutting Room in Manhattan. The film was written and directed by Blanche Baker, an Emmy Award winning actress and Senior Faculty member of the New York Film Academy, and shot by Piero Basso, an award-winning Director of Photography. The performers in the film consisted of an international cast of talented Musical Theatre students working alongside NYFA’s faculty and staff of professional artists.
streetwrite

Using street art as a focal point, Baker’s film examines the various ways people struggle to express themselves in situations where free speech is curtailed or suppressed. It also explores how certain kinds of expression can be repressive to individuals.

Following The Cutting Room screening, there was an engaging panel discussion, which included David Klein, NYFA’s Senior Executive Vice President; Issues of freedom of expression in film, journalism and the world of academia were explored by J. R. Brandstrader, a veteran print and broadcast journalist; Deborah Carroll, executive producer at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs; Blaze Coyle, filmmaker, focused on women and social justice; and Christa Salamander, Syrian media specialist and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Lehman College whose current book project is on the Syrian TV drama industry.

streetwrite team

For those who were unable to attend The Cutting Room premiere, there are a few more festival screenings to come.

The RiverRun Festival, based in Winston-Salem, NC, will be holding a screening on Saturday, April 1. After the screening there will be a talkback moderated by the producer, Dale Pollack.

Cinemonde, the private film series at the Roger Smith Hotel, will be screening the film on April 5 at 7pm.

“Streetwrite” will then screen at the Manhattan Film Festival on FridayApril 21 at Cinema Village and at the NYC Indie Film Festival on Friday, May 5 at The Producer’s Club.

For a look at more photos from The Cutting Room premiere, visit our Official Facebook Album.

As reported in Broadway World, “Streetwrite” will also screen at 13 New York Public Library locations the summer of 2017.

“Young Adult Librarians at the New York Public Library are very much looking forward to screening ‘Streetwrite’ at the Library. Films like this speak to many of the real-life issues facing our young patrons and are a perfect entry point into thought-provoking conversations,” says The New York Public Library Manager of Young Adult Educational Programming Caitlyn Colman-McGaw.

For those in the New York City area interested in attending a screening of “Streetwrite,” check your local New York Public Library listing for showtimes.

“Streetwrite” will also screen in New York City at the Producer’s Club on September 2, 2017 as a part of the Cinema New York City Festival.“Streetwrite” will also have a West Coast Premiere at the Awareness Festival at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 6 at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live 1000 West Olympic Blvd, LA. A special Q&A will be held with NYFA Los Angeles Chair of Acting for Film Lynda Goodfriend. The festival is presented by Heal One World, a non-profit charity promoting positive change throughout the world. On March 9, 2018, “Streetwrite” will screen as a part of the Global Cinema Festival of Boston.Also, The Chautauqua International Film Festival will be presenting “Streetwrite” with the 1st Place Trophy award for the film in July 2018.

“Streetwrite” had its final screening at the International New York Film Festival on Saturday, June 16 @ 6:30 p.m. at the Producers Club, 358 West 44th, where it took home the top award of the festival.
Recent NYFA Acting for Film graduates Fabian Vega, David DeCicco, and Ketih Shrill, and production designer Nancy Maloy were there to help celebrate. They are all onboard to crew and act in the next movie musical!