March 23rd at NYFA Los Angeles’s Riverside auditorium, students gathered to celebrate Women’s History Month in a very special way: by telling their stories.
About 30 students from across short-term and long-term programs—came together in an intimate, celebratory space for our annual Women’s History Month Story Slam. This night’s story slam showcased students telling stories about a special woman who impacted their lives.
NYFA staff and faculty Barbara Weintraub, Andrew Eisenman, and Michael Sandoval welcomed the students over pizza and soda. Eisenman’s acting students jump-started the event by delivering powerful theatrical monologues from a diverse array of writers—from Margaret Atwood and Julia Cho to James Baldwin.
Energized, students one by one came up on stage, weaving stories about mothers and grandmothers. One theme that emerged was the vitality of support mothers provide through trying times.
Acting students delivered a second series of celebratory monologues from movies. Afterward, students came to the microphone. One student narrated how his mother supported him in his film career when he almost gave up. Another student—a young woman from the Tsakhur people in southern Russia, sang a beautiful song in her native language in honor of her grandmother.
Continuing success for NYFA alumni is always something to celebrate—and this year, Cinematographer and NYFA alum James Friend won the Academy Award for best cinematography for his work on All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)! “It’s not my birthday, but I feel like it is,” Friend said in his acceptance speech, which was the first of four wins for the Netflix-distributed German film.
All Quiet follows a young German soldier during World War I, excited to join the fight, who encounters terrible distress on the front lines. James Friend is now a multi-award-winning cinematographer through this film and capped off award season by winning the Oscar in his first nomination. Friend attended two programs with NYFA in 2004, and we’re thrilled with his success and his recent win.
NYFA Alum James Friend Wins the Best Cinematography Oscar for All Quiet on the Western Front
Even though Friend’s first Oscar nomination was this year, he was no stranger to the awards stage. Friend has been the cinematographer on many high-profile television series throughout the last decade, including Emmy-nominated shows such as Victoria (2016), Patrick Melrose (2018), the recent Disney+ series Willow, a sequel to the 1988 cult classic by the same name, and Your Honor (2020) starring NYFA guest speaker Bryan Cranston.
Friend won his first BAFTA in 2017 for his Photography & Lighting work on the British series Rillington Place (2016) and won his second for All Quiet this year. He joined the British Society of Cinematographers in 2013, which has awarded him with three BSC Awards, including this year for All Quiet, and joined the American Society of Cinematographers in 2019, when he was awarded an ASC Award for his work on Patrick Melrose.
This Season’s Cinematographers Were a Prestigious Group
James Friend wasn’t necessarily the favorite to win going into the Academy Awards this year. He was nominated alongside four other incredibly-shot films. Friend won the Oscar over Darius Khondji for Bardo (2022), False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022), Mandy Walker for Elvis (2022), Florian Hoffmeister for Tár (2022), and Roger Deakins for Empire of Light (2022). Although a majority of the group was first-time nominees at the Oscars, all five have acuminated numerous awards between the group.
Roger Deakins alone has been nominated for sixteen cinematography Oscars, winning two of them for Blade Runner 2019 (2017) and another recent stellar World War I film, 1917 (2019). Friend’s win and Deakins win at the 2020 Oscars mark two out of the last four Best Cinematography winners going to films depicting World War I.
All Quiet Picked Up a Total of Four Oscars
All Quiet on the Western Front won the second-highest amount of awards on Oscar night, only following the former NYFA summer camp counselors directing pair The Daniels’ film Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), which won Best Picture. After James Friend kicked off All Quiet’s wins with Cinematography, the film won Best Production Design, Best Original Score, and Best International Feature Film. Made in Germany, it was the only non-English language film nominated for Best Picture this year.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a remake of the 1930 American film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). The film won Best Picture at the 3rd Academy Awards in 1931, where it also won for Directing and was nominated for Cinematography (the other awards that the recent remake won were not yet categories in 1931, including International Film, Original Score, and Production Design). In 1979, a made-for-television remake of All Quiet was released, making the one James Friend won for the second remake. All three films are based on the 1929 book of the same name. The book was written by a German author, making this most recent film the first to return to the original German storytellers.
War Movies Have Typically Excelled at the Academy Awards
All Quiet at the Western Front is the latest in a long line of war films recognized by the Academy for its achievement. In recent years, Academy voters have gravitated toward films depicting the brutality of war, focusing on one protagonist who becomes overwhelmed seeing the horrors on the battlefield. In the last few years, films like Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Dunkirk (2017), Jojo Rabbit (2019), and 1917 (2019) have been nominated for Best Picture, and all have the same overarching message: war is terrible.
That theme has been prevalent in All Quiet on the Western Front since the original novel. The newest film depicts war more brutally than ever before, with modern technology and filmmaking styles. This way of filmmaking has made the film feel more realistic than previous war films. Friend’s cinematography emphasizes it especially well, with close-ups of the frightened soldiers and gorgeous landscape shots showcasing the scope of the battle’s production. “We wanted it to be as realistic as humanly possible. And we wanted it to almost have a documentary approach, but not necessarily in the photography, but in the overall filmmaking, you want everything to feel as authentic as possible,” Friend told Gold Derby.
James Friend’s Success Continues in the “Star Wars” Universe
Following his Oscar win and his recent work shooting on the Disney+ series Willow, Friend will take his talents to another Disney+ show, TheAcolyte. Set in the Star Wars universe, the show will take viewers to a new group of characters at the end of the High Republic era and stars a talented pool of actors, including Jodie Turner-Smith, Amandla Sternberg, Carrie-Anne Moss, Manny Jacinto, and Lee Jung-jae. Friend also has two feature films in development that he will shoot, both with plots kept under wraps.
NYFA is always happy to see our alumni succeeding, and we congratulate James Friend on his Oscar win and are very excited to see his upcoming work! If you’d like to attend a program like Friend or are interested in learning about our other programs offered at NYFA, including filmmaking, acting, and more, request additional info today!
New York Film Academy (NYFA) had the honor of hosting a live and very funny video Q&A with legendary actor and comedian Kevin Nealon to discuss his career, his recently released book “I Exaggerate: My Brushes with Fame,” and his video/podcast series Hiking with Kevin, with NYFA students and alumni. Tova Laiter, director of the NYFA Q&A-list series, moderated the event.
Kevin Nealon rose to fame as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. During his nine-year run on the show, Nealon played iconic characters like Mr. Subliminal and hosted the popular Weekend Update segment. Nealon then went on to star in the sitcom Weeds, another long-running show, where he not only showed his comedic talent but demonstrated the breadth of his on-screen abilities. Recently, Nealon started the Hiking with Kevin podcast, where he hikes the trails near his Los Angeles home with celebrity guests. He also recently released a book, “I Exaggerate: My Brushes with Fame,” which not only describes his experiences as a comedian but also showcases caricatures he has sketched through the years.
While it is easy to believe that Nealon took a few shortcuts on his road to comedy stardom, that is not the case. In his words, “there are no shortcuts in comedy.” Nealon began his comedy career performing at open mic nights in Los Angeles. During his time at the Improv in L.A. as both a standup comedian and a bartender, Nealon met and learned from legendary comedians, including Andy Kaufman, Jay Leno, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, and Steve Martin. Nealon performed night after night to hone his skills to “quit [his] bartending job and go out on the road and be a standup.” He “studied a lot of different comedians, and [he] tried a lot of different things” to determine which ones worked best. Although Nealon initially desired to focus solely on a career as a standup comedian, he received a phone call from Dana Carvey that would change his career.
Already an established presence on SNL, Carvey explained to Nealon over the phone that he (Nealon) was being considered for a role on the show. Carvey also mentioned that Steve Martin, whom Nealon admired, was part of the cast as well. It was also during this time that Nealon appeared alongside Martin in the film Roxanne. Although he only appears briefly during the film’s opening scenes, Nealon thoroughly enjoyed his three weeks of filming, often riding mountain bikes with a fellow actor while off-set. Returning to the SNL audition process, Nealon continued by stating that Carvey had personally recommended him. He then noted that Lorne Michaels, the show’s executive producer, was searching for “chemistry between the cast and synergy with the writers” because a lack thereof had nearly caused NBC to cancel the show.
Fortunately, Nealon and Carvey possessed such chemistry, having become close friends while living in Los Angeles. Nealon then described his most famous SNL character, Mr. Subliminal, whom he originated in a standup routine before shifting emphasis to his sketch-writing experiences with SNL.
Nealon explained that his expectations of SNL were relatively low, citing the show’s poor ratings at the time. He noted that “most comedians are very observant,” and he was and still is no exception. In Nealon’s case, he spent hours reading and watching SNL sketches to understand their general format. He said, “You have to get used to what kind of format they’re doing” in order to fully understand each comedian’s style. Nealon described the sketch-writing process during his tenure on SNL as much different from today, as writers did not use any computers back then. Rather, Nealon and his fellow writers relied on typewriters and supplemented their typed output with handwritten notes. He saw firsthand “that the sketches couldn’t be too long,“ typically “no more than eight pages,” and preferably five or six. Nealon learned his craft so well that his first submitted sketch made it to the airwaves. NYFA professor Eric Conner then noted that Nealon was the exception rather than the rule because he (Conner) did not believe “most writers or performers have that luck with their first time at bat,” especially not on SNL.
Nealon said that when he started writing sketches for SNL, he learned the nature of live comedy, particularly that the show’s sketches generally lack endings. He then described one time when he placed an ending on his sketch, much to producer Lorne Michaels’ surprise. When asked why his sketches did not have endings, Nealon replied, “It was like a painting. You can interpret the way you want, and how things ended up, I guess. And I could just be interpreting it like that.” He continued by stating that he does not watch SNL regularly anymore, admitting that he struggled to stay awake even during his time as a cast member.
Laiter also asked Nealon about his experiences filming Weeds. After a run of several failed sitcoms, Nealon received an invitation to call the show’s producers. He was initially reluctant to do so, claiming that such programs had “been done to death,” although that changed when he read the script. He then eagerly auditioned for Weeds, beating out legendary actors, including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Laurence Olivier, for the role, which he later said was specifically meant for him. Nealon then recalled meeting with the show’s creator Jenji Kohan to read and discuss the script, knowing at that moment that “[he] was the one” specifically meant to play this role.
Nealon then described his experiences filming the pilot for Weeds. He endured a variety of challenges, including lightheadedness and stifling 120-degree heat, during production. One day after filming had concluded, Nealon returned home and went to bed. As he lay in his bed, with his chest and lungs unbearably sore, Nealon thought to himself, “Why don’t you risk your life for a stupid pilot that’ll never be picked up?” Fortunately, Nealon’s efforts were well worth the risk, as the pilot for Weeds was picked up. Looking back at his experiences, Nealon said, “I’m glad I risked my life for it.”
During the student Q&A portion of the conversation, Nealon shared his valuable advice for young and aspiring actors, comedians, and writers. When student Lisa Kalyani asked Nealon what advice he had for her and anyone else who wants to land a job in a writer’s room, he encouraged her to write prolifically, saying, “You’ve got to do it a lot. You do it a lot. You do it.” He continued, “Writing is rewriting because you’re always finding new avenues to improve your film or your script or your sketch or whatever it is,” placing key emphasis on constant improvement. Nealon concluded his response by encouraging Kalyani to write every day, even if only briefly, and study the shows for which she is interested in writing.
After answering questions from a few additional students, Nealon shifted gears by discussing his new book, “I Exaggerate: My Brushes with Fame.” He recalls that the book gave him a creative outlet during the COVID pandemic when he and his fellow comedians could not perform standup for two years. Specifically, Nealon describes that drawing caricatures for his new book was a “nonverbal way of getting people to laugh,” helping to fill the void from a lack of standup performances. He also mentioned that writing and drawing caricatures for “I Exaggerate: My Brushes with Fame” allowed him to spend more time with his family.
He mentioned that achieving your dreams many times means that you have to make sacrifices, including separating from your family or country.
Nealon then concluded his portion of the discussion by describing his podcast, Hiking with Kevin. He mentioned that it is “more of a mom-and-pop thing” than similarly-formatted programs like Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Nealon stated that he not only enjoyed hiking through the woods, one-on-one with his guests, but also noted that “they are so forthcoming when they’re out in the wilderness,” primarily because there is no audience present. Nealon then encouraged the students to watch his latest video release of Hiking with Kevin, featuring guest Paul Rudd, on YouTube.
Laiter closed the conversation by thanking Kevin Nealon for the advice and the hilarity he brought to the discussion. New York Film Academy would like to thank Kevin Nealon for sharing his time and experience with NYFA students, alumni, and faculty.
On a cool Saturday morning in February 2023, NYFA took students to The Academy of Motion Picture Museum’s powerful exhibit, “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971.” Here, NYFA students escaped the familiarity of their classrooms to learn about Black Artists in Cinema History.
Led by Denise Hamilton and the Los Angeles campus’s Michael Sandoval, the event granted students the chance to wander through the darkened exhibit rooms – reading, watching clips, hearing the voices of an array of Black artists in Cinema from the earliest days to the ’70s.
Exhibits ranged from a scene of the first kiss between African American actors caught on screen, to the first Black silent films, to a showcase of Race films (made with all-Black casts and distributed almost exclusively to Black audiences throughout the segregated US), to the more genre-defying work of such directors as Melvin Van Peebles.
Students found the exhibit powerful, sobering, and uplifting. Following the event, students expressed how moved they were and how this experience would affect their own creative works. As NYFA MFA Acting for Film student Christian Demeritt said, “American artists of African descent and our history, especially in the dramatic arts, is awe-inspiring and motivates me to make sure their name and history is known through my work.”
Students Express their Experiences Following the Exhibit
According to fellow MFA Acting for Film student Chayanika Baishya, “I will do my best to spread the knowledge I learned from this experience so that more people should realize its essence would be a good lesson to learn about racism. It made my day.”
MFA Screenwriting student Keerthana Yeshwanth said, “Considering I’m an international student, my exposure to American cinema history has been minimal and confined to what mainstream education chooses to discuss. Unfortunately, this means that I had very little insight into the rampant discrimination in the industry other than what I found out from my own research.”
BFA Screenwriting student Brynjólfur Guðmundsson said, “I will now do my best to tell stories responsibly and accurately as an upcoming screenwriter. It is true what NYFA instructors say-that movies are powerful-and to quote the Spider-Man movie, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.'”
NYFA wants to thank Denise Hamilton and Michael Sandoval for sponsoring and organizing this event to help teach students the impacts of Black voices in American cinematic history.
Animation Career Review has named NYFA one of the nation’s leading animation schools for the twelfth consecutive year. Nearly two hundred colleges and universities across the United States were considered for the 2023 rankings, with surveys mailed to each institution in September 2022. Each animation school was ranked based on a variety of factors, including academic reputation, admission selectivity, depth and breadth of program faculty, graduation rate, retention rate, and overall program value.
NYFA’s 2023 Rankings:
Top 40 Nationally Among Private Schools and Colleges
Top 25 on the West Coast
Top 20 in California
Top 50 Nationally Among Schools Offering an Animation Related BFA
We will explain NYFA’s 2023 rankings in more detail below.
NYFA Among Top 40 Private Institutions for Animation Programs
Source: Animation Career Review
This year, NYFA was ranked among the top 40 private institutions nationwide for our animation degree programs, thanks to our creative student community and experienced faculty of skilled professional animators and visual artists. All NYFA faculty actively work in their respective fields of study and use their experience to share their wealth of creative and practical knowledge with students across all our animation programs. NYFA distinguishes itself with a project-based curriculum that emphasizes developing the practical, technical, and artistic skills students need to bring their stories to life.
NYFA Los Angeles Ranked Among Top 25 on West Coast, Top 20 in California
NYFA’s Los Angeles campus was also ranked among the Top 25 animation schools on the West Coast, as well as the Top 20 schools in California. NYFA Los Angeles, situated near famous entertainment and media production companies such as Universal Studios, offers our students a collaborative, creative environment where they can learn the key tenets of animation from expert instructors and then apply them to create their own animated films. NYFA Los Angeles was also ranked among the Top 50 colleges and universities in the U.S. with Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree programs in animation. Our BFA in 3D Animation and VFX program is designed to immerse prospective animators in every aspect of the discipline, from animation-specific acting methods to character design, lighting, modeling, and rendering.
In 2022, NYFA debuted a BFA in Entertainment Media.
In addition to our BFA and MFA degree programs in 3D Animation and VFX, NYFA also offers a BFA in Entertainment Media degree program – with a concentration in 3D Animation and VFX. While the BFA in Entertainment Media is offered at our New York campus, students that choose the 3D Animation concentration will spend their final year of the degree program at our Los Angeles campus.
NYFA welcomes aspiring visual storytellers who are passionate about the art of storytelling through animation to explore our 3D Animation and VFX degree programs. Learn more on our 3D Animation school page!
The nominations for the 2023 Oscars were announced on Tuesday, January 24th, with Riz Ahmed, who won the Oscar for best live-action short last year, and Allison Williams, who currently stars in the horror hit M3GAN, announcing the nominees. The ceremony, which will take place Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, has Jimmy Kimmel back as the host after previously leading the awards show in 2017 and 2018.
The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: Our Highlights
Similar to the 2023 Golden Globes, A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Banshees of Inisherin from Searchlight Pictures led the nominations. All Quiet on the Western Front, which got a single Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture – Non-English Language (formerly Foreign Language), received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. With the nominations came some surprises, snubs, and standouts, promising an exciting show this year.
It came as no surprise to cinephiles that A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once was nominated for eleven awards.
Here are some brief highlights and in-depth looks at the nominations.
Leading with eleven nominations, including Best Lead Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, and two Best Supporting Actress nominations for Stephanie Hsu and NYFA Guest Speaker Jamie Lee Curtis, the eccentric and heartwarming Everything Everywhere All at Once dominates the Oscars this year. Many were relieved to see recognition for Hsu, the only main cast member not to receive a Golden Globe nomination. Each actor is receiving their first Oscar nomination this year.
The nominations also helped make history, as it’s the first time four actors of Asian descent — Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Hong Chau (The Whale) were nominated in the same year. Yeoh is also the first self-identified Asian actress nominated for Best Lead Actress.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Brings a Spotlight to Craftsmanship
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Animated and was also nominated at the 95th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. The film is del Toro’s first stop-motion film and features the work of experienced craftspeople and visual artists. NYFA’s very own Tony Candelaria, who works as an Instructor at NYFA Los Angeles, also worked on the film. The film currently has an exhibit, Crafting Pinocchio, at The Museum of. Modern Art history in New York City.
“No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation, and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio,” del Toro has said.
India’s Chhello Show (Last Film Show) was considered an Oscars snub this year, as it did not earn any nominations in its expected category, Best International Feature Film.
The Fabelmans Proves to be a ‘Best Picture’ Contender
The Fabelmans, which won the Golden Globe for Best Picture – Drama and Best Director – Motion Picture for NYFA Guest Speaker Steven Spielberg, was nominated for seven Oscars this year, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Picture. The Universal Pictures film, based on Spielberg’s own life, also stars NYFA alum Paul Dano and NYFA Guest Speaker Seth Rogen as family friend Benny. Dano also starred in The Batman, which was nominated for three Oscars.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Brings Marvel to the Table
Marvel fans were overjoyed when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earned six nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Angela Bassett, who played Queen Ramonda. Bassett, who won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, may be tough to beat for her category, which also includes Hong Chau (The Whale), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
Everything Everywhere All at Once, Black Panther, and Elvis are just a few nominated for Best Costume Design.
It’s the first Oscar nomination in an acting category for Marvel Studios and NYFA Guest Speaker Kevin Feige and Guest Speaker Nate Moore, both Producers of the film. Win or lose, the successful awards season for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever continues to pay tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who passed while the sequel to his film was in production.
Austin Butler, who won Best Actor in a Drama for his performance in Elvis, was nominated for Best Lead Actor. He joins the long list of actors with their first Academy Award nomination this year. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. The nominations are bittersweet for the Elvis team, as Lisa Marie Presley, the famous crooner’s real-life daughter, passed away only days after the Golden Globes.
“I know she’s smiling down right now,” Butler said.
The movie was filmed in Gold Coast, Australia, with the assistance of some hardworking NYFA Australia students. As Queensland continues to prove itself as a top-notch destination for filmmaking, we can’t wait to see what films come out of Australia (and from our NYFA Australia alums!) next.
Till Director Chinonye Chukwu with Danielle Deadwyler, who played Mamie Till-Mobley in the film.
No Female Director Nominations
Despite an exceptional talent pool this year, including Sarah Polley for Women Talking, Charlotte Wells for Aftersun, Gina Prince-Bythewood for The Woman King, and Chinonye Chukwu for Till, no female directors were nominated this year. While some of the films had some recognition, such as Women Talking for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, as well as Best Lead Actor for Aftersun’s Paul Mescal, The Woman King and Till were shut out of nominations entirely. It’s important to note that no Black woman has ever been nominated or won the award for Best Director.
“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women,” she said.
“And yet. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life – regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance.”
Babylon Falls Short of La La Land
Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, called a “love letter to cinema,” got three Oscar nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design. Regardless of the all-star cast, which includes Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, who is one of the most famous Australian actors of our age, as well as Tobey Maguire, Jean Smart, Olivia Wilde, and Diego Calva, there were no further nominations. Director Chazelle won a 2017 Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing for La La Land. At NYFA, we’re particularly proud of Babylon, as NYFA Acting Instructor Miraj Grbic worked on the film.
First-Time Nomination for Fan Favorite Brendan Fraser
While 2022’s The Whale has had some controversy, fans still applaud Brendan Fraser, who received a nomination for Best Lead Actor. It’s Fraser’s first-ever Oscar nomination as. The Whale marked his return to film after nearly 12 years. In what is lovingly being referred to as “the Brenaissance,” Fraser has been welcomed back into the fold. He is speculated to have upcoming roles in Behind the Curtain of Night, Martin Scorcese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, as well as a Coen Brothers movie.
Brendan Fraser grew to prominence in the ’90s and early ’00s in films like The Mummy, Blast from the Past, The Quiet American, and Bedazzled.
“I like people feeling like they’re getting to know me again,” Fraser said in an interview with GQ. “Because we’ve all grown a little older together.”
There’s something inimitable about the experience of sitting in the audience as a soaring piece of musical theatre plays out onstage in front of you. It was just such an experience that set Kristy Cates, Chair of Musical Theatre at NYFA’s New York campus, on the path that would lead her to success on- and off-Broadway. From that seven-year-old girl who loved singing and dancing to a teacher shepherding along the next generation of stage superstars, Kristy is an original member of NYFA’s Musical Theatre department and a guiding light to all who pass through its doors.
NYFA Chair of Musical Theatre (New York), Kristy Cates
Kristy Cates
A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music, Kristy has enjoyed a successful career treading the boards on Broadway and around the country. A member of both AEA and SAG-AFTRA, she appeared as Elphaba in Wicked, appearing on Broadway, Chicago and the first national tour.
She has also portrayed Miss Bassett in Finding Neverland and Grandma Josephine in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, both on Broadway, featured in Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall, and has taken part in numerous off-Broadway and regional productions over the years.
We talked with her about helping to start the Musical Theatre department at NYFA, what she loves about teaching, and the most important lessons she tries to impart on her students.
New York Film Academy (NYFA): How did you first get interested in musical theatre?
Kristy Cates (KC): When I was around seven years old, my parents took me to see the National Tour of 42nd Street in San Francisco – and I LOVED it. I really enjoyed singing and dancing, and it was so exciting to me that there were live shows which incorporated both elements (plus acting) in storytelling. From that point on, I was hooked! I participated in many musical theatre productions growing up, and it really shaped my life.
NYFA: What have been your favorite projects/productions to work on to date?
KC: Well…of course, it was incredible to be part of the original Broadway Cast of Wicked. In my four years with the show, I learned so much about myself, this business, and just how incredible the impact of musical theatre can be across the globe. I also really loved being part of Finding Neverland on Broadway, as it’s such a beautiful show that reminds people to believe in the child within. In terms of NYFA shows/projects that I have produced – I could never pick a favorite. That would be like trying to pick a favorite child!
KC: I have been with NYFA since the inception of the musical theatre program in 2009 as the original Song Interpretation teacher. In 2014 I was promoted to Creative Director and began to produce our live productions while also continuing my teaching schedule. I became the Chair in March of 2020, right before the pandemic. I have learned so much these last 13 years and am so grateful for the opportunity to help usher in new generations of musical theatre performers.
NYFA: What are your favorite courses to teach?
KC: I love working with our students as they prepare to graduate. I teach a voiceover class where each student creates a demo reel, as well as a graduation panel/prep class where we work on filmed audition pieces as well as their final live performance. It’s exciting and fascinating to bring in industry guests to meet our graduating students, as I learn quite a lot from the feedback they provide and have their own unique perspectives on where each person might find success in our industry. It’s very rewarding to work with our actors as they prepare to leave NYFA and take on the “real world.”
NYFA: How would your students describe your teaching style/methods?
KC: Oh wow. Great question, haha! My style has certainly evolved over the years. I think I started out very methodical and have developed a more organic and intuitive teaching style. I really try to help students find who they are, what they bring to the table, and what makes them unique and special. I am not into the whole cookie-cutter idea that everyone has a specific type and should live within those parameters. I like to help students discover new talents and abilities and also how to look at themselves as a whole person, not just as an actor. You have to put yourself into every piece.
NYFA: What are your favorite aspects of the theatre community in NYC?
KC: It’s really a family. I know that sounds cliche, but it’s the truth. I love seeing my friends in their shows and supporting their endeavors – just as I feel they always support mine. Sure, at the end of the day, it’s still a business….but the meeting of so many creative minds is fascinating, invigorating, and inspiring.
NYFA: Who do you believe have been some of the most significant actors or actresses in theatre?
KC: Instead of naming actors, of which there are SO MANY, I am going to name my favorite composers that I feel have shaped the landscape of our art form: Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeanine Tesori, Boubil and Schoenberg, Frank Loesser and Jason Robert Brown.
NYFA: What are some of your favorite shows?
KC: My daughter and I are HUGE fans of Hamilton. It’s definitely on the “most played” list in our apartment. I also love Ragtime, Miss Saigon, City of Angels, and Into the Woods.
NYFA: What advice would you give a prospective student looking to get started in musical theatre?
KC: First and foremost, you have to believe in yourself and your talent. You have to know what you offer and be willing to share your authentic self in any role, song, or monologue that you undertake. It’s okay to make mistakes – perfect is boring! You also have to be willing to put in the work. This is a competitive business, and there is always someone out there willing to work as hard as it takes to be better each day. Also, don’t listen to the haters and the doubters. If musical theatre is in your soul, you owe it to yourself to chase that dream….there IS room for everyone.
Enhance Your Voice, Movement, Dance, and Performance Skills at NYFA
Ready to pursue your passion for musical theatre? Check out our BFA degree program, certificates, and workshops in Musical Theatre, all located at our NYFA New York campus.
Most of the time, if a famous New York stage director looked you in the eye and told you your acting was terrible, it might convince you that performing wasn’t your thing. For Lynda Goodfriend, Creative Director of Acting for Film at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus, it was just a speedbump on the way to a long and successful career that would see her performances gracing everything from the Broadway stage to the silver screen to family living rooms across the country as a star of Happy Days.
Lynda has parlayed her success in a way that makes her the exact opposite of that director those years ago; instead of shutting down dreams with a callous word, she’s mentoring the next generation of actors at our Los Angeles acting for film school.
NYFA Creative Director of Acting for Film (Los Angeles), Lynda Goodfriend
Lynda Goodfriend, Creative Director for Acting for Film at NYFA Los Angeles
Lynda received her BFA from Southern Methodist University and did her acting study with legendary masters Lee Strasburg and Sandy Meisner. She has appeared in numerous shows on and Off-Broadway, including Good News, West Side Story, She Loves Me, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Boyfriend. For eight seasons, she played Richie’s (Ron Howard) girlfriend, Lori Beth, on the legendary sitcom Happy Days and guest-starred on shows like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Vega$. Onscreen, she’s appeared in Pretty Woman, Taxi Driver, The Front, Nothing in Common, and Beaches. She founded the award-winning Actors Workout Theater in NoHo as well as the Actors Workout School. Behind the scenes, she has also worked in talent management, even opening her own firm, and has directed several television projects.
We asked her about her experience getting into acting, her approach to teaching, and the most important thing actors can do to succeed.
NYFA: How did you first get interested in acting?
LG: My father was a musician, and I think I loved anything around music and entertainment because of him. I got into acting in high school, and one summer when I was 15, at a Summer camp for acting, I auditioned for a famous NY director. He told me I was terrible and should never act. I believed him. So since I’d always loved music and dancing when I was younger, I started doing everything I could to be good at that. That turned into a career doing musicals on Broadway. It was then that people started telling me I should get into acting because of the “little acting parts” I did in the shows. I started studying with the great master, Lee Strasberg, and realized that dream was still alive in me.
NYFA: What have been your favorite projects/productions to work on to date?
LG: Without a doubt, the eight years I spent on the hit TV show, Happy Days, playing Lori Beth, Ron Howard’s girlfriend, were the most fun of all the work I’ve done. I also toured with a Broadway production called Good News with Alice Faye. We did nine months on the road before we opened on Broadway, performing and getting reviews in all the major cities in the US. Being on tour – That was a blast!
NYFA: Tell us about your time at NYFA.
LG: I started teaching at NYFA in 2007. In 2011 I became Chair of the Acting Department. I developed the BFA and MFA degree programs along with the Thesis film project for those degree students. I also created and developed many extracurricular activities, such as the Glee Club and Dance Troupe, along with the Student Directed play series.
NYFA: What are your favorite courses to teach?
LG: I really love teaching Acting for Film, but have started teaching the Thesis development course, helping students create their own film projects. That has been very rewarding. Aside from that, I also enjoy teaching the Business of Acting and Auditioning since I can bring my 25 years of experience as a personal manager into the classroom to help support actors just starting out their careers.
NYFA: How would your students describe your teaching style/methods?
LG: Honest feedback, ‘keep it simple,” and caring for each student, realizing that each student learns differently. Everyone learns better with support.
NYFA: What are your favorite aspects of the film and acting community in Los Angeles?
LG: People’s willingness to share their knowledge and help young people in the industry. Henry Winkler just came to teach a Master class for our actors. Many have come to visit the campus to do Q & A’s – they have all been extremely generous with their time and their knowledge.
NYFA: Who do you believe have been some of the most significant actors or actresses in film?
LG: Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet have set the bar for me.
NYFA: What are some of your favorite films and performances?
LG:Annie Hall is still one of my favorites, and a little-known film called Babette’s Feast, a 1987 Danish Film that was the first Danish film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It is based on a story by the same author that wrote Out of Africa, another one of my favorite films. As far as performances, I still love anything with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.
NYFA: What advice would you give a prospective student looking to get started in acting?
LG: Knock on as many doors as you can, and walk through any door that opens up to see where it leads. Be nice to EVERYONE. NEVER EVER GIVE UP!
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The purpose of a writer is to elicit emotion. For Nunzio DeFilippis, Chair of Screenwriting and Dean of Faculty at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus, a story hasn’t served its purpose until it’s connected with those experiencing it. That’s when the power of storytelling truly comes to life and makes all the blood, sweat, and tears poured into a piece worth it. During his decades-long career as a writer of everything from TV series to screenplays to comic books, Nunzio has learned to focus his storytelling on that moment when the words meet the audience and become something else entirely.
He now shares that learning with the students of NYFA’s screenwriting program so that future Hollywood screenwriters know not to just build a story but to tell one.
NYFA Chair of Screenwriting, Dean of Faculty (Los Angeles), Nunzio DeFilippis
Nunzio DeFilippis
After receiving his MFA in Screenwriting from USC, Nunzio has enjoyed a long and varied career both on his own and with his wife/writing partner Christina Weir. They served as producers and writers on the HBO series Arli$$ and wrote for the Disney Channel’s wildly popular Kim Possible series. With his partner, he’s written for comics like New X-Men, Adventures of Superman, Batman Confidential, and Dragon Age, to name a few, and created comic franchises Bad Medicine, The Amy Devlin Mysteries, and Frenemy of the State, which are in development as either TV series of feature films at NBC, E! and Universal Pictures, respectively. Nunzio and his wife also have feature projects optioned at Hollywood Pictures, Process Media, and Humble Journey films while also developing a video game with Sony and a TV movie at Oxygen.
We spoke to him about his career, the importance of feedback and collaboration, and his first career passion – going to space.
NYFA: How did you first get interested in screenwriting?
ND: I always had an interest in writing, even when I was young. I think it was sparked by my older brother staging comedy shows for the family. I was only an actor in those, and a lot of the material he provided came from other sources – sketches from Carol Burnett’s show, bits from Abbott & Costello. I wanted to try new things, but also it made me grow up with a love of entertaining people. When I was in the fifth grade, I believe, I started writing my own stuff. Not for the shows, but short stories. I had a love of movies that exploded with the first Star Wars (it came out when I was 7), so even as I wrote my short stories, I pictured them on the big screen and sometimes on TV.
Still, when I went to High School, I went to the Bronx High School of Science. I was very much torn between two worlds – the world of science and the world of storytelling from my youth. My big goal in terms of science was to go to space. And then I decided I wanted to write, but I still wanted to go to space. And Christa McAuliffe was going to space as a teacher, so I thought the future would involve non-astronauts in space. When the Challenger exploded, I knew civilians in space weren’t going to happen, so I knew I needed to make a choice. I chose writing then, knowing I’d never make it to space.
In college, I thought about acting and writing, but I took a class on screenwriting and also founded a comedy troupe. The class convinced me that screenplay was my format of choice. And the troupe convinced me that I no longer could see myself on stage. So I stuck to writing, and I focused on screenwriting.
NYFA: What have been your favorite projects/productions to work on to date?
ND: Even though my wife/writing partner Christina Weir and I were way older than the target demographic, we both loved the show Kim Possible. We asked our agent to look into it, and suddenly we were pitching episode ideas to them. That experience – asking and having it happen so quickly – is something that rarely happens unless you’re very successful, so it’s a prized memory. But we didn’t do a whole lot with Kim Possible, so there are other projects that are nearer and dearer to my heart.
We created an English Language Manga named Amazing Agent Luna. It ran for 13 volumes, one of the longest-running English Language Manga of its time. And we even did a spin-off/prequel manga. That was a situation where we created a world, and characters, that we love to this day, and we were given the time, the space, and the creative freedom to really do everything we wanted with those characters. That is probably my favorite project.
We also recently worked on comics that tied into the Dragon Age videogame world of Thedas, and that was a great experience too.
NYFA: Tell us about your time at NYFA.
ND: I started at NYFA Los Angeles in 2010 and started by teaching in the short-term (8-week) and one-year programs. I guess I made a good impression because, not too long afterward, I ended up on a few thesis committees, and a couple of the thesis students started coming to me for feedback on other projects and on their thesis beyond my work as a thesis reader. This must have made a good impression on the Chair because before long, I started teaching in the MFA program and eventually became a Thesis instructor.
I was younger then, and had a ton of energy, and would teach as much as I would be offered, and between that and my thesis work, I became a big voice in the department. In a few years, I went full-time and started doing all of the curriculum planning for the department. A few years later, I was made Chair of the Department.
After a few years as Chair, the school asked me to step in as Interim Dean of Faculty. If it stopped being an Interim position, they assumed I’d step away from my Chair duties, but I love the Department too much and decided to take the new post and keep on serving as Chair, even after my role as Dean stopped being a temporary position. And those are the roles I serve now.
NYFA: What are your favorite courses to teach?
ND: Thesis is my baby. I love working with students for multiple semesters on the same project. When it goes wrong – when a student struggles or hates their project, it can be a lot. But there’s a thrill to helping them through that and helping them rediscover their love of their project. The class also teaches so much about collaboration and professionalism, and I’m just proud of the way the school and the department have built a thesis process that far exceeds what I got in graduate school.
I also have a soft spot for Genre Studies. It’s been rebuilt a few times, and I’ve played a role in each rebuild, first as a teacher, then as a Chair. And each time, it gets more fun as a class.
NYFA: How would your students describe your teaching style/methods?
ND: Depends on which one you ask, I think. I pride myself of being someone who pushes the students to write the best version of what they want to write rather than tell them what to write. But I also lean heavy into the idea that we (as screenwriters) will very rarely get to decide everything about our projects. I want students to get excited about working with other people’s thoughts and feedback. If they view that interaction as a way to create better stories, they’ll do better in the industry. But more important, they’ll be happier in it. So my teaching style is to make sure they stay happy with what they are writing while stressing to them that it is okay to change your idea – you just need to change it ways that allow you to find new joy in it.
NYFA: What are your favorite aspects of the film community in Los Angeles?
ND: The entire city seems attuned to storytelling sometimes. Sometimes it feels like when you’re at a Starbucks, there’s at least three people working on a script – you, the person next to you, and the barista And we can mock that – trust me, I do all the time.
But at its core, that’s a beautiful thing. For creative people, a city where many of the people you’ll encounter are thinking about story, about character, about plot, about theme…? That’s amazing. In a lot of places, finding someone as interested in storytelling as you are becomes a defining struggle. Who can you talk to? Who will understand the choices you make to pursue your craft? Out here, it’s much easier to find friends who understand, and maybe even find collaborators.
NYFA: Who do you believe have been some of the most significant individuals in screenwriting?
ND: There are some writers that every screenwriter should check out, but each student/writer’s taste may vary, so I’m always very reluctant to say “if you don’t do a deep dive into this person, you’ll never succeed.”
I can talk about favorites of mine, but I’ll probably stay away from creating a specific “canon.” Even in the classes we teach where we discuss the great screenplays, the syllabus varies from teacher to teacher.
NYFA: What are some of your favorite screenplays?
ND: Yikes I know I said in the last question that I’m more comfortable with saying my favorites than I am with listing writers of significance, but you then ask me that and I want to dance around it too.
Instead, I’ll do a speed round:
Searching for Bobby Fischer by Steven Zaillian. A simple story, perfectly told
My Neighbor Totoro – by Hayao Miyazaki Brilliant and charming.
When Harry Met Sally – by Nora Ephron. The pinnacle of rom-com storytelling.
Sneakers – by Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker, and Walter Parkes. A swiss watch precision instrument that somehow came from a writing committee.
His Girl Friday – by Charles Lederer, with uncredited help from Ben Hecht who co-wrote the play (The Front Page) on which it was based. Maybe the funniest movie of all time.
Silverado – by Lawrence & Mark Kasdan. Just a perfect pastiche of Western storytelling tropes, done with complete affection for the form.
Those are off the top of my head. There are more, and I’ll kick myself later for leaving them off.
NYFA: What advice would you give a prospective student looking to get started in screenwriting?
ND: Remember that we are storytellers, not story builders. Our task is not to build a story but to tell it, and that makes the audience more important than us. Once we internalize that thought, it makes a lot of the prevailing wisdom work better. People say you have to love what you write, or no one else will. This is true. But if you forget the role of the audience, then you will build the story only for yourself and end up happy if you’re the only one who loves it.
We write to make others love our stories the way we hopefully do. It is absolutely true that if you hate your story, you won’t write it well enough for others to love it. But always remember that loving your story is a means towards a larger end – and that larger end is to make an audience feel. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them think, help them escape… whatever the goal is, it has to be aimed outward.
Hone Your Screenwriting Skills at NYFA
Want to learn how to write scripts, teleplays, treatments, and more? Bring your ideas to life at NYFA’s Screenwriting School, with programs in New York and Los Angeles, as well as online.
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