Los Angeles culture publication VoyageLA recently interviewed busy filmmaker and New York Film Academy (NYFA) AFA Filmmaking student Nicolas Varela, speaking with him about his work, his struggles, and the friends and support system that keeps him going.
Varela was originally a stage actor in his home country of Chile, before moving to Los Angeles to study Filmmaking at our Burbank-based campus. He enrolled in the AFA Filmmaking program at NYFA in Fall 2017 to earn his degree.
Students at NYFA hit the ground running, working on their first films very early in the semester. One of the shorts he made in his first two months at NYFA, Aphrodite, quickly started gaining buzz and screenings at multiple film festivals. These included appearances at Outfest Fusion, Newport Beach Film Festival, and the prestigious Los Angeles Live Score Film Festival.
“Film festivals have been huge in pushing me forward into the industry,” Varela told VoyageLA. “I have met professionals, friends, mentors or just people simply interested in my art and there to help me out.”
He added, “Ever since my first festival, I feel like my confidence has grown, as that Chilean outsider, becoming more and more accepted and involved in the industry here across the ocean.”
Varela was quick to name many of the people who provide him support and help him along his way as he continues to develop his talents as a filmmaker. Varela pointed out NYFA instructor Robert Taylor and NYFA Director, Film Festivals Crickett Rumley as two important members of this network of support.
New York Film Academy congratulates AFA Filmmaking student Nicolas Varela on the buzz surrounding him and his film Aphrodite!