Page 108 – NYFA

New York Film Academy (NYFA) Alumni Debut Feature Film ‘Cheerleader’

New York Film Academy (NYFA) Filmmaking alum Irving Franco debuted his first feature film, Cheerleader, produced in collaboration with two fellow NYFA alumni, brothers Dario and Fabián Vejarano.

Irving, who grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from NYFA’s 1-Year Filmmaking conservatory in 2008 at NYFA’s New York campus. There he met fellow 1-Year Filmmaking student Dario Vejarano, who originally hails from Spain and who shot Cheerleader as director of photography. His brother Fabián attended NYFA’s 8-Week Screenwriting workshop in July 2014.

Irving Franco Cheerleader — NYFA alum Irving Franco

“My time at NYFA was really important to me,” says Franco. “That’s where I met some great friends and long-term collaborators. That’s where I had the chance to try things, experiment, mess up, and learn. Filmmaking is not easy, but it is a deeply rewarding experience. NYFA is where that started for me.”

Franco’s hard work, networking, and experimenting paid off as he was able write and direct a feature film, Cheerleader, which has gone on to perform well on the festival circuit since its premiere.

The film tells the story of Mickey, a promiscuous teenager reeling from heartbreak who seeks calculated revenge on her ex-boyfriend. To date it’s been an Official Selection for a dozen film festivals across the country—including the New Orleans Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, and Florida Film Festival—picking up several nominations and awards along the way, including two special jury prizes and a top 40 ranking out of 7,500 Slamdance Film Festival submissions.

New York Film Academy congratulates NYFA alumni Irving Franco, Dario Vejarano ,and Fabián Vejarano on the success of Cheerleader and encourages everyone to check out the film, available now on iTunes and Amazon video.

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New York Film Academy (NYFA) Celebrate Diversity Month Events a Huge Hit

New York Film Academy (NYFA) recently held two events for Celebrate Diversity Month that attracted over 100 participants and was a huge hit with everyone involved.

Diversity Month, also called Celebrate Diversity Month, is traditionally held in April of every year, and is a time to recognize and celebrate cultures and populations other than your own. Diversity Month is especially celebrated at New York Film Academy, which attracts students from all walks of life across the globe.

On April 17, 35 people, including alumni, students, staff, faculty, and even one community member who had never been to NYFA before went to Open Mic Night 4/17. They learned how to communicate with people different than themselves and felt more connected to the NYFA community.

Performances ranged from poetry to truth speaking, singing, beatboxing, rapping, and comedy. The last act was a spontaneous collaborative song with the audience that included singing, rapping, and beatboxing, and was indeed a powerful moment!

On April 3, 75 folks came to the Networking Cafe, and were eager to learn about each other and different aspects of culture that impact the workplace. The “Cafe Menu” that shows the exercise they did is below, which guided participants through understanding different aspects of culture.

There was also butcher paper with prompts for students to respond to, such as

In Your Culture How Would You…
Show respect?
Greet a stranger?
Gesture to get somebody’s attention?
Be polite?
Stand by someone when talking? How close or far?
Gesture to show you understood what was told to you?

What are common beliefs about…
How to treat those older than you?
Beauty and presentation?
Professionalism in the workplace?
Responsibilities of children and teens?

New York Film Academy thanks all the participants who made this April the best Celebrate Diversity Month to date and looks forward to continuing the tradition next year!

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New York Film Academy (NYFA) BFA Acting for Film Alum Tayla Schaffner Writes, Produces, and Stars in Award-Winning ‘When It Rains’

Tayla Schaffner, graduate of the New York Film Academy (NYFA) BFA in Acting for Film program, has been turning heads with her thesis film When It Rains, which has been steadily winning awards since its debut.

Schaffner originally hails from Johannesburg, South Africa, where she first auditioned for NYFA Associate Director of Recruitment Blake Babbitt. “She immediately stuck me as incredibly talented, professional, and driven,” says Babbitt of their first meeting. “I’ve been fortunate to get to know Tayla as a person during her studies at NYFA and we’ve kept in touch since her graduation from our BFA Acting for Film program. It’s inspiring to see Tayla’s growth as an artist.”

After getting her feet wet in her school’s drama club, Schaffner left her home country and headed to study at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus. Through the course of her BFA studies, she was cast in a total of 17 student-directed films and an Off-Broadway production of Antigone by Sophocles in which she played the lead at the Majorie S. Theater in Times Square, New York.

“I believe my time at NYFA shaped me into an on-the-spot thinker,” says Schaffner. “It taught me to take exactly what I have, and work with it. There is no point in fussing over what you don’t have.”

Her hard work came to fruition with When It Rains, her short film about a woman named Lila who discovers she has cancer for the second time. Apart from playing the lead, the film was also written and produced by Tayla as part of her final thesis project for her Bachelor in Fine Arts.

The film has gone on to win several nominations and awards, including:

Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival – Winner – Best Drama Short
Best Shorts Competition – Winner – Award of Recognition
Los Angeles Film Awards – Honorable Mention – Student Film
United International Film Festival – Winner – Award of Merit
The IndieFEST Film Awards – Winner – Award of Recognition
Los Angeles Movie Awards – Honorable Mention
Los Angeles Cinefest – Semifinalist
Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards – Semifinalist

Taking time to reflect on her achievements and never forgetting her roots, Schaffner shares a very important message to her fellow South Africans back home: “Anything is possible if you just believe. The opportunities are endless.”

New York Film Academy congratulates BFA Acting for Film alum Tayla Schaffner on the success of her film When It Rains and looks forward to seeing her future successes!

New York Film Academy (NYFA) Filmmaking Alum Rozette Rago Photographs Steven Spielberg and the Cast of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’

Freelance photographer and New York Film Academy (NYFA) Workshop alum Rozette Rago was recently profiled by ABS-CBN news. Rago has photographed several high-profile subjects, including Steven Spielberg, U2, and the cast of Crazy Rich Asians, and often shoots for The New York Times. Rago hails from Marilao in the Philippines and is currently based in Los Angeles. In 2011, Rago completed New York Film Academy’s 8-Week Filmmaking Workshop. Her first big break came after shooting legendary rock group U2. Since then, she has worked for national publications including FADER, Buzzfeed News, Bloomberg, TIME, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Smithsonian Books, VICE, and HBO. Additionally, she has shot on the set of famed sitcom Will & Grace and has worked as a photo editor for Time Out Los Angeles.

Rago is also a freelance photographer for The New York Times and has worked with the publication to shoot subjects including musician Shirley Manson, actor Riz Ahmed, racing driver Robert Shwartzman, the cast of Crazy Rich Asians, and filmmaker/NYFA guest speaker Steven Spielberg. When asked about shooting such high-profile subjects, Rago told ABS-CBN, “The biggest challenge with these shoots is maintaining composure. I have very limited time with them so I always have to stay focused on the images I need. I allow myself to freak out later when I’m driving home.”

The interview and profile also focus on Rago’s position as a woman of color in an industry that has been traditionally male-dominated, but that has been undergoing a seismic—yet, gradual—shift in the past few years. Rago currently works as the photo editor at Wirecutter, a product review website owned by The New York Times. She also continues to shoot freelance.

The New York Film Academy congratulates Filmmaking alum Rozette Rago on her continued success!

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New York Film Academy (NYFA) Co-Produces Upcoming “Star Trek” Documentary “What We Left Behind”

New York Film Academy (NYFA) has co-produced What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, an upcoming documentary scheduled for release later this year. In addition, several students of NYFA’s Industry Lab worked on the film’s crew.

Directed by Ira Steven Behr and David Zappone, the documentary is a deep look at the fourth installment in the Star Trek franchise. Deep Space Nine, which aired from 1993-1999, stands out from previous Star Trek films and shows due to its darker tone and pioneering serialized structure, with now-commonplace season- and series-long story arcs that were rare for most television dramas before the turn of the century. Additionally, its ensemble cast was much more diverse than typical shows at the time, led by African American actor Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko.

NYFA provided production resources for the film on numerous occasions, including film equipment for interviews, location shoots, and a road trip to a Las Vegas Star Trek convention. Several students from the NYFA Industry Lab also worked on the film over the course of several shoot days. The crew included BFA Filmmaking students Star Li, Ferid Hasbun, and Rupert Sanchez as camera operators; MA Film & Media student Patrick Anenu as 1st AC; and Anvar Madraimov, and David Bu as Grip & Electric.

The significant resources provided to the production led to NYFA being named in the credits for What We Left Behind—NYFA Principal and Owner Jean Sherlock and Dean of Students, Los Angeles and CSO Dan Mackler are listed as Co-Executive Producers (NYFA). This isn’t NYFA’s only connection to the Star Trek universe; Adam Nimoy, director of multiple Star Trek episodes and For the Love of Spock—a documentary about his father, Leonard Nimoy—has taught at the Academy.

The film features interviews with nearly all of the show’s cast members, as well as several people who worked behind the scenes. Director Behr was both a writer and producer for the series, as well as its showrunner for several seasons.

The New York Film Academy looks forward to the release of What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and encourages everyone to check out the film when it becomes available!

New York Film Academy (NYFA) Instructor Ayelet Zurer Stars in Netflix Hit ‘Shtisel’

Award-winning actress and New York Film Academy (NYFA) Acting for Film Instructor Ayelet Zurer is currently starring in Netflix’s newest binge-worthy hit. Shtisel is a innovative Israeli drama that focuses on a family of ultra-Orthodox Jews in a Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem. The actress stars as Elisheva, a widowed mother who captures the heart of Akiva, a shy young man struggling with his father’s matchmaking efforts.

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Zurer is a familiar face in films and television in both America and Israel. She has starred opposite Tom Hanks in Angels & Demons, Russell Crowe in Man of Steel, Ewan McGregor in Last Days in the Desert, and Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe in Adam Resurrected. Zurer also starred on multiple seasons of Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix and In Therapy (adapted as HBO’s In Treatment). She received the Israeli Academy of Film (OFIR) Best Actress Award for Nina’s Tragedies, and is a two-time winner of the Israeli Academy of Television’s Best Actress Award.

The Hebrew-language Shtisel is making headlines for its honest and touching portrayal of a traditionally insular community. The New Yorker calls the show “generous, lighthearted, and nostalgic,” and says the show’s success is “the result of several powerfully understated performances, most notably by Ayelet Zurer in the role of Elisheva.” The New York Times was similarly complimentary, calling the show “groundbreaking.”

Though the show was originally screened in 2013-14, the show’s success on Netflix has been so impressive that its original creators are currently considering creating a third season. In addition, an American version of the show has already been sold Amazon by Marta Kauffman, one of the creators of classic 1990s sitcom Friends. The show, to be set in Brooklyn, will be titled Emmis.

The New York Film Academy congratulates Ayelet Zurer on her continued success and looks forward to seeing her future projects!

Q&A with CreativeFuture’s Ruth Vitale, Cesar Fishman, and Brett Williams

On Tuesday, April 23, New York Film Academy (NYFA) hosted a panel and Q&A with Ruth Vitale, CEO of CreativeFuture; Cesar Fishman, Senior Vice President, Communications; and Brett Williams, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs. Tova Laiter, Director of the NYFA Q&A Series, moderated the event.

Vitale served as president of Paramount Classics and Fine Line Features and, collectively, her films have won three Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. As CEO of CreativeFuture, Vitale—with the assistance of her colleagues, Cesar Fishman and Brett Williams—works to ensure the protection of the intellectual property of filmmakers and workers in the entertainment industry as a whole.

Laiter opened up the Q&A by asking Vitale about her start in the industry. “I ended up in the entertainment business by accident,” said Vitale, adding, “I became director of acquisitions at The Movie Channel and I knew nothing about movies.” Vitale shared that, though her initial role in the entertainment industry focused on sales, she ultimately got the chance to distribute independent films, a job she loved. “You could bring a new voice into the world … I get to share an amazing film with you, the audience.”

Vitale was introduced to CreativeFuture in 2013; “The job was about advocating on behalf of artists’ rights and saying ‘Copyright is important; we need strong copyright protections and it matters,’” said Vitale. She shared the statistic that, “in 2018, there were 126 billion visits to pirate sites.”

Vitale also shared a way in which CreativeFuture combats piracy. “Around the world there’s something called site-blocking where, if a site is proven in a court of law … to have more pirated content on it than legitimate content, [then] the judge has the right to send a notice to the internet service providers that they have to block it in that country.”

CreativeFuture teams up with schools across America to educate students of all ages about protecting creative property and they have found that the younger students are, the more likely they are to adopt lessons about fighting piracy in their everyday lives.

CreativeFuture also combats piracy with videos in which cast and crew members thank the audiences that are about to watch their films in theaters. This may seem like a small gesture but Vitale shared research by Disney that shows these videos caused a 20% decrease in piracy and a 20% increase in sales.

Many of the student filmmakers in the audience were interested to know how they could safely share their films online; Vitale said that the best thing to do is to purchase secure links with unique passwords that will expire within a few days of being received.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank CreativeFuture’s Ruth Vitale, Cesar Fishman, and Brett Williams for advocating for artists and sharing their insights and advice about copyright protections in the entertainment industry.

New York Film Academy (NYFA) Acting for Film Alum Jason Shah Interviewed by ‘The Tribune’

Earlier this year, New York Film Academy (NYFA) Acting for Film alum Jason Shah was interviewed in a Q&A with The Tribune, the daily English-language newspaper that has been circulated throughout India since 1881.

Shah first attended NYFA’s Acting for Film program in September 2009 at our New York City campus, where he received a hands-on education from working, professional actors, writers, directors, and producers who are veterans of Hollywood, independent film, and television. In addition to acting, he has modeled and worked as a fitness coach.

His credits include Indian productions such as Bigg Boss, Chandrashekhar Azaad, Inside Edge Season II, and the film Dev D. His latest role in the historical drama Jhansi Ki Rani, which co-stars Anuja Sathe, Aishwarya Raj Bhakuni, and Rajesh Shringarpure, gained Shah enough buzz for The Tribune to sit down with him for an interview.

Shah spoke of his background—he is half English and half American—as well as his new role in Jhansi Ki Rani. The series, which premiered this year, is the story of the fierce warrior Manikarnika, who was later given the name of Rani Laxmibai, Queen of Jhansi. Shah credits his fluency in Hindi as a crucial skill for landing the part, as well as sharing a lot in common with his character, a foreigner in India.

Acting isn’t Shah’s only passion. When asked by The Tribune where he saw himself in five years, Shah replied, “I feel after this I might want to go into direction and produce something myself. I have been working on it with a few friends, just waiting for the right time.”

The New York Film Academy congratulates Acting for Film alum Jason Shah on his Tribune interview and his role on Jhansi Ki Rani!

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY (NYFA) WELCOMES EMMY-WINNING ALUM BILL HADER AS GUEST SPEAKER

On Thursday, April 18, New York Film Academy (NYFA) alum and prolific actor, writer, and director Bill Hader participated in a lively and entertaining Q&A following a screening of HBO’s hit series Barry on the Warner Brothers lot adjacent to NYFA-LA. Tova Laiter, Director of the NYFA Q&A Series, moderated.

Hader was nominated 38 times and just won his second Emmy as lead comedy actor for HBO’s Barry which he co-created with Alec Berg and also executive produces and directs. He also co-created the critically acclaimed Documentary Now! series with fellow SNL alum Fred Armisen.

Hader, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live for which he won an Emmy, has also acted in a number of successful films from Superbad (2007) to The Skeleton Twins (2014) to Trainwreck (2015), among many others.

Laiter opened up the Q&A by asking Hader about his start in the industry. He shared that while he did funny impressions for his friends and family when he was growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he really loved to go to the movies. “When I watched a movie, I got really drawn in by the story, the cinematography, the look of it, the feel of it,” said Hader. When Hader was a teenager, he enjoyed making short films of his own, and enrolled in a Filmmaking workshop with NYFA where he made four short films. Ultimately, Hader moved to Los Angeles, where he started as a production assistant and various low level jobs in the industry.

After working for a while as a production assistant, Hader started to feel creatively unsatisfied, so he started taking improv comedy classes at Second City Theater in Hollywood. Actress Megan Mullally saw Hader perform at Second City and noticed how talented he was and told executive producer of Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels, about him. “I had no manager, no agent, no anything,” said Hader, “so I met Lorne Michaels and I auditioned… I auditioned like four or five times for the show… and finally I got the job.”

A number of students in the audience were interested in asking Hader questions. One student asked how Hader makes his acting feel authentic on shows like Barry. “You have to be truthful, instinctual, and not just go for the laughs,” said Hader. He shared that he watches others express their emotions through small idiosyncrasies and that he will occasionally mimic those mannerisms while acting.

Another student inquired about Hader’s writing process for Barry. “We kind of have little ‘tentpole’ scenes,” said Hader, “we gotta write this to get to that… We’re constantly working on it but we never fully plan… but the fun of it is kinda seeing where the characters take it… Know that the process is messy and that you’re gonna fail a lot.” He emphasized that writing should always be “character driven” and centered on emotion.

One student asked what advice Hader would give to his younger self when he was starting his career. “I would say to myself, ‘You don’t need to figure it all out this millisecond; it takes time.’ I was terrified of failing… but you have to fail; you have to learn from that and keep doing it and keep doing it… it’s all a process,” said Hader.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank actor, writer, and NYFA alum Bill Hader for sharing his writing and acting advice as well as the lessons he learned from his experience in the entertainment industry with our students.

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.