New York Film Academy was one of the sponsors of the Producers Guild of America “Produced by” conference at the Time Warner Center. NYFA had a strong presence at this historic event, staged for the first time in New York City. Participants included Producing Department Co-Chairs Neal Weisman and Nick Yellen, Admissions Reps Sal Irizarry (a Producing Program alumni) and Robert Gorrie, as well as a number of current Producing students.
NYFA reps attended a variety of sessions that addressed the entire spectrum of the producing process: from creative producing, to the latest in international and domestic financing, to the very dynamic and fluid distribution landscape that is challenging the entire industry. Prominent among the panels attended were such diverse sessions as “Inside Showrunning”, “Financial Models in the Era of Hybrid Distribution”, “Tax Credit Financing”, and “The Power of Female Driven Content”. A variety of participants included actor/producer Jake Gyllenhall, director/producer Darren Aronofsky, television show runner Jenni Konner, producer Scott Franklin, writer/producer/distributor James Schamus, Academy Award winning producers Donna Gigliotti and Cathy Schulman, regular NYFA industry speaker and film finance expert John Hadity, and producer Steven Haft. Of special interest was the presentation by famed distributor Ruth Vitale on the subject of film piracy. Look for Ruth to be a guest at NYFA early in the 2015 where she will elaborate on industry efforts to confront this serious issue.
NYFA Producing students attending the PGA “Produced by” Conference not only participated in panel sessions and networked amongst industry professionals, they also spent a good part of the day posting social media messages across multiple platforms! All in all, the Conference was a valuable experience for all concerned.