On April 9, the Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at New York Film Academy (PCMT at NYFA) had the pleasure of hosting actor, singer, and dancer Greg Treco for a Master Class with NYFA’s Musical Theatre students.

Originally from Nassau, Bahamas, Greg is currently the standby actor for Aaron Burr, George Washington and Lafayette/Jefferson in Hamilton on Broadway. He most recently wrapped up year one of playing Burr in the Chicago company of Hamilton: An American Musical.

Other credits include Taboo on Broadway, the Off-Broadway hit Zanna Don’t, Miracle Brothers at the Vineyard Theatre, Neil Berg and Robert Schenkkan’s THE 12 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and Roar of the Greasepaint at Goodspeed Opera House.

Greg was a finalist on WB’s Popstars, with other television credits including a guest-starring role on the CBS sitcom Whoopi. He also recently created the choreography and movement for the acclaimed short Celeste, which opened the Brooklyn Beats Film Festival earlier this year.

PCMT students chosen to perform in Treco’s Master Class each presented a song and received one-on-one coaching from him on their selections and individual performance. Treco aimed to encourage the students to think outside the box and develop a deeper connection to storytelling, imagery, and text.

PCMT student Santiago Roma shared, “I was impressed by the amount of tools Greg gave each performer to help them reach what they wanted. He was able to identify what was getting in the way of each actor and find a solution to that problem.”

Through the Master Class, Treco was able to bring clarity to the many complexities of song performance and storytelling, offering constructive feedback for each student and helping them to better understand the audition process.

“What I found most fascinating about the Master Class with Greg was how big of a difference he made with each one of the students’ performances,” shared PCMT student Jennifer Johansson. “Whether it had to do with the physicality or the story in itself, I could see and feel the difference between their first and their last passes. It was really cool to watch it happen in such a short amount of time.”

Also in attendance was Broadway actress and PCMT Creative Director Kristy Cates, who worked with Greg in 2004 on a show at the Eugene O’Neill Center. “I saw him go on as Aaron Burr a few months ago and he was so wonderful that I knew I had to have him come in and do a Master Class with the students,” shared Cates. “He is a beautifully nuanced, yet specific, actor and is just an all around wonderful person.”

The Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at New York Film Academy thanks Hamilton actor Greg Treco for giving our students the opportunity to study and learn from one of the theatre world’s best!

On Wednesday, April 29, New York Film Academy (NYFA) had the honor of hosting Academy Award and eight-time Emmy nominated filmmaker JOE BERLINGER as part of The 20/20 Series, created by NYFA’s Creative Director of Filmmaking and Cinematography, Liz Hinlein. The conversation was moderated by Hinlein and held virtually, allowing individuals to join NYFA and the special guests from all over the world.

The 20/20 Series, created by Hinlein, is a virtual pop-up event that takes us into the homes, hubs, and workspaces of an array of dynamic creative visionaries to allow for relaxed, engaging conversations on craft, creation and artistic vision.

Special guest Joe Berlinger is known for his landmark documentaries Brother’s Keeper, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and the Paradise Lost Trilogy. Other notable films include Crude, Under African Skies, and the immensely popular Netflix Original documentary Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru.

In 2019, Berlinger did an extraordinary feat by creating two Ted Bundy-focused projects simultaneously; the Netflix docu-series Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes and the narrative feature film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron and Lily Collins, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The two projects went on to become huge successes by acquiring large audiences through the digital streaming service provider Netflix. The Ted Bundy Tapes was named the #1 most popular documentary release of 2019 on the streaming platform and earned Berlinger and his team multiple 2019 Critics Choice Awards nominations, among other honors.

 

Hinlein, who moderated the event, remarked on the performances by Zac Efron and Lily Collins in Berlinger’s 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, and asked the director how he managed to get such emotionally driven performances by both actors. “The standard advice when you’re going to write is to write what you know and it’s the same when directing. Direct what you know,” he began. “Even though it doesn’t look like a documentary, I just treated the actors in the situation in a more documentary-like manner.”

 

As a seasoned documentary filmmaker, Berlinger also mentioned that when it comes to documentaries, you can’t re-shoot or do another take, so you constantly have to think about how you can effectively cover the story. “I took that attitude in my scripted work, which still means you have to prepare…but just like with an interview list for a documentary, that can [sometimes] go out the window.” Meaning, if you stick to the script, you may miss the conversation.

Berlinger remembers coming to set each day for Extremely Wicked with a game plan in case things weren’t working out but, for the most part, he was ready to throw the plan out. “I don’t like rehearsal, so we did not rehearse,” he began. “Everyone should make a film the way they are comfortable making a film. For me, I am very loose with the script and open to improvisation.” That, Berlinger believes, is because he loves the fresh ideas and discussion that happen on set, just like on the set of any documentary.

 

On the subject of documentary filmmaking, Hinlein posed the question of whether Netflix has changed the game for documentary filmmakers, to which Berlinger responded almost immediately. “Netflix, along with other streamers, has been a definitive game-changer. When I started making films like Brother’s Keeper in 1990 on 16mm film, in those days if you weren’t selling your documentary to HBO or PBS, you weren’t [ever] selling your documentary. There was no such thing as an unscripted series in the way that we binge-watch or talk about today.”

The conversation came to a close with Hinlein asking Berlinger what the audience was supposed to learn from Berlinger’s two Ted Bundy related films. “For me, before I decided to make either of those films, called up both of my daughters…and they didn’t know who Ted Bundy was.” For Berlinger, it was all about telling a story to remind the audience that, “just because someone looks and acts a certain way, doesn’t mean you should trust them.”

New York Film Academy would like to thank Joe Berlinger for taking the time to speak with the global audience on his career and the creative process on documentary filmmaking and beyond for The 20/20 Series, created by and moderated by Liz Hinlein.

To watch the full conversation, view the video below or watch on our Youtube channel.

These guests are not faculty and do not teach at NYFA, but they have appeared to share their stories and experience with our students. As guest speakers are scheduled based on their availability, NYFA cannot guarantee whether a guest speaker will visit during a student’s attendance or who that guest speaker may be. This guest speaker forum is not part of any NYFA curriculum and attendance at guest speaker events is purely voluntary. Students should be aware that guest speaker events do not represent a job opportunity nor are they intended to provide industry connections.

In the span of just one month, three New York Film Academy (NYFA) Documentary Filmmaking alumni have qualified films for the 92nd Academy Awards by winning major Academy Award-qualifying film festivals.

Cricket Liu was directed by Julia Cheng, who graduated in 2018 from the 1-year Documentary Filmmaking Conservatory at NYFA’s New York campus. Where Chaos Reigns was directed by Braulio Jatar and Anaïs Michel. Jatar graduated from in both the 6-week Documentary Filmmaking Workshop as well as the 1-year Conservatory in 2016. A year earlier, Michel also studied in both the 6-week Workshop and 1-year Conservatory.

Cricket Liu is an 18-minute short which tells the story of an aging cricket fighting master who uses his ancient art to earn money for a grandson he barely knows. The film won Best International Short Documentary at the American Documentary Film Festival, also known as AmDocs. AmDocs was founded in 2011 by Teddy Grouya with a mission to celebrate and promote documentaries and, according to their own website, “independent filmmakers around the world who bring knowledge and awareness through their stories about real people and issues.”

The film was the thesis project for Cheng while studying at NYFA. “I was so lucky to work with the gurus in the industry,” Cheng says of her NYFA instructors. “Just to name a few here: [Chair of NYFA Documentary Filmmaking] Andrea Swift was my story consultant, Claudia Raschke (DP of RBG) was my cinematography teacher, and Bob Eisenhardt (editor of Free Solo) was my editing supervisor. Without them, my film wouldn’t have come this far! Before coming to NYFA, I had little idea about nonfiction storytelling and didn’t know how to shoot and edit a film at all! This 1-year intensive, hands-on study at NYFA Docs completely changed my life as a filmmaker!”

Andrea Swift, Chair of the Documentary Filmmaking department at NYFA’s New York Campus, says of Cheng’s accomplishment, “It’s exciting to see a student create a thesis film that’s masterful enough to merit an Academy Award qualification. And Cricket Liu absolutely does. Julia is a great testament to how much a passionate student can accomplish in a 1-year Conservatory.”

Where Chaos Reigns, directed by Cheng’s fellow NYFA graduates, won the Golden Gate Award for Best Short Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival. This continues the momentum of Jatar and Michel, who also scored an Honorable Mention for the HBO Ibero-American Award at the Miami Film Festival earlier this year.

The film chronicles Venezuelan citizens as they protest their government in sometimes-violent clashes, and focuses on a young medical student who created a paramedic group called “Green Crosses” to treat those hurt in the process.

The longest-running film festival in the Americas, the San Francisco International Film Festival is a major cultural event in the Bay Area and is dedicated to showcasing quality films. According to their press release, Where Chaos Reigns was awarded the Golden Gate Award “for its audacity, its haunting images and its ability to bring us closer to the crisis in Venezuela than anything we’ve seen thus far in America … Their unflinching cameras capture singular moments of courage, fearlessness and violence that linger long after the film has ended.”

That sentiment is shared by Andrea Swift, who says, “Braulio and Anais both did great work as students … It’s not at all surprising that when they met and joined talents, they [crafted] a film as powerful and unique as Where Chaos Reigns. The combination of their talents is formidable.”

Cheng’s win at AmDocs and the Golden Gate Award for Jatar and Michel each qualify their films for next year’s Academy Awards. A shortlist of nominees will be named later this year, before the official list of final nominees for all categories is announced in early 2020. Last year, NYFA Documentary Filmmaking faculty members worked on two Oscar-nominated docs, RBG and Free Solo, with the latter winning Best Documentary Feature.

All three NYFA alumni are now in production on feature documentaries. Cheng is in the middle of production for two high-profile films in Beijing, China, while Jatar and Michel are currently in Colombia shooting a documentary about Venezuelan refugees.

The New York Film Academy congratulates Documentary Filmmaking alumni Julia Cheng, Braulio Jatar, and Anaïs Michel on their Oscar-qualifying festival wins and wish them continued success in their careers as well as next year’s awards season.

Please note: NYFA does not represent that these are typical or guaranteed career outcomes. The success of our graduates in any chosen professional pathway depends on multiple factors, and the achievements of NYFA alumni are the result of their hard work, perseverance, talent and circumstances.

Cinematographer and New York Film Academy (NYFA) alum Rebecca Rajadnya has been on-set since graduating in 2009, and has worked on some of the biggest shows in production. A graduate of NYFA’s Cinematography program and member of the International Cinematographers Guild, Rajadnya has worked on a staggering number of projects since graduating, with over 50 projects since 2010.

In 2017, Rajadnya began working on Comedy Central’s smash hit show Broad City, working as first assistant camera for 11 episodes. The show, which was executive produced by Amy Poehler, was nominated for five Critics’ Choice Television Awards and one MTV Movie & TV Award. The show was praised for its focus on two female leads, with Vulture saying it was “heartening to watch an entire series devoted to female friendship.”

Following her work on the comedy, Rajadnya worked as first assistant camera on Russian Doll, Netflix’s nine-episode comedy-drama series. The show has received high praise from critics, with Time calling it “2019’s best new show to date” and Vox raving that both the show and the lead actress are “terrific.”

“Rebecca is a wonderful camera assistant. A perfect example for equality in the field,” said Piero Basso, NYFA Chair of Cinematography. “She is within the best focus puller I have met in my career. She is attentive, effective, professional above all, while keeping a pleasant and lovely attitude on set. With her on the side of the camera, you know your back is covered and you can concentrate on being creative.”

Her other recent work includes feature film Freeze, starring Claude Kerven of Saturday Night Live fame; Mrs. Fletcher, an HBO comedy series adapted from the bestselling novel by the author of The Leftovers; and Hustlers, an upcoming drama with a full roster of A-list stars including Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, and Lili Reinhart.

The New York Film Academy congratulates Rebecca Rajadnya on her continued success, and looks forward to seeing her future projects!

Please note: NYFA does not represent that these are typical or guaranteed career outcomes. The success of our graduates in any chosen professional pathway depends on multiple factors, and the achievements of NYFA alumni are the result of their hard work, perseverance, talent and circumstances.