The recent graduates of New York Film Academy’s MFA and BFA Producing programs got to share their final projects with high-powered industry professionals at this year’s Producing Pitchfest.
A herculean effort went into completing these producing projects. NYFA is known for having classes that are fast-paced and hands-on. Students enter as aspiring creatives and leave with the ability to walk onto a set and make a film. From the producing side, students create a show bible, design a budget, and learn multiple ways to pitch their script to executives, studios, and potential investors.
The “story pitch” is as much a part of Hollywood movie making as is the script itself. At the Producing Pitchfest, students were given the opportunity to pitch their projects to professional producers, directors, writers and executives. Getting an opportunity to pitch a projects to professionals is incredibly important. Not only did students get the chance to get constructive feedback from the guests, they also had the chance to land a deal!
Student Reginald E. Luck credited NYFA with his ability to look and sound professional in the presence of such incredible talent. “NYFA taught and prepared me by grilling me during thesis committee meetings. They really made me focus on why I was telling this story,” he began. “When my instructors said, ‘Relax, you got this,’ I found they were right. I had made pitching harder in my mind than it turned out to be in reality.”
Luck said his favorite part of the event was meeting and interacting with the writers and producers who attended the festival. “It really made me feel important to have them all listen intently to my story,” Luck confessed. “I was given some tremendous pointers by each person I pitched too.”
At the end of the event, many of the participating judges let our instructors know how impressed they were with the students and their work. The event was a huge success all the way around. Students walked away with encouragement, new ideas, and a lot of real-world contacts.
The New York Film Academy would like to thank the following panelists for taking the time to hear our student’s pitches: writer and director Blake Harris, writer and director Doug Cooney, writer and director Brian Herskowitz, actor and producer John Morrissey, producer Patrick Peach, writer and producer David Rosenberg, writer and producer Arnold Rudnick, attorney and producer Marlon Schulman and filmmaker and festival director Kimberly Browning.
Congratulations to all of our graduates. We look forward to all of the great stories you’ll tell.