Page 138 – NYFA

NYFA Alumni (& Brothers) Maan & Talha Bin Abdulrahman Are Saudi Film Trailblazers

Five of the nine films premiered by Saudi Arabia at Cannes this year featured the work of NYFA students and alumni, including brothers and fellow BFA Filmmaking graduates Maan Bin Abdulrahman, producer, and Talha Bin Abdulrahman, director. Together, the brothers founded Prince of Arabia Entertainment, and have helmed an impressive series of award-winning projects.

Talha’s NYFA thesis film, The Scapegoat, screened at the 14th Dubai International Film Festival as well as the second annual Young Saudi Film Festival, Irvine International Film Festival, Orlando Film Festival, San Antonio Film Festival, and Chandler Film Festival.

[su_vimeo url=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/263686833″ width=”420″ height=”240″]

At Cannes, the brothers presented Film School Musical, which they co-directed. Winning over critics and audiences alike, the musical short won the Best Shorts Competition at the Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival as well as the Jury Prize for Best Musical and Best Cinematography, garnering numerous festival award nominations along the way.

Additional film credits include Under the Concrete (Winner: Qomrah 2), Served Cold (ShortsTV, Winner: 2014 Student Filmmaker Awards Film Festival), and Not This Way (Winner – Golden palm in Dammam Film festival).

We’re exciting to see the next steps these brothers take in both the Saudi and international film industry.

Q&A with Filmmaker Ned Dougherty

It’s often said that family members should never work together. This certainly is not the case for Ned and Michael Dougherty, a father and son filmmaking duo who’ve been successfully working on films together for the past few years. They have just recently finished a feature film titled Love & Everything in Between. “I can’t stress this enough,” Michael shared, “it’s all because of my parents that this is even on screen. That’s the truth.”

The New York Film Academy invited Ned and Michael Dougherty to do a special Q&A with students following a screening of their film, where they shared with the audience how the movie came to be, from the writing process to the marketing of the film. The film has already earned several awards and nominations from the festival circuit, including wins for Dramatic Original Feature and Best Feature Film – Romance from WorldFest Houston.

One student asked what it was like to screen the movie in the Hamptons, where the movie is set. “It was a great turn out,” Michael answered.

His father Ned added, “That was our quiet, low-key premiere at the Southampton United Artists Theatre last July, to a standing room of more than 300 friends.” Another student, Roberto, approached the microphone, and Ned immediately recognized him — they both attended a producing workshop together a couple years back, and Roberto had helped to create the thesis for Love And Everything in Between.

Robert shared, “We were classmates… as a matter of fact, we actually shot a short film, a thesis for this movie… it was actually the dinner scene…. it was so fun.” Roberto continued, “I don’t really have a question, I just want to say congratulations because I know… I was kind of a witness to how much work you put into this project. And I think that it’s a big motivation for me, because I can see closely how dreams actually become true.” According to Ned, that statement made his night.

Prior to the screening, New York Film Academy (NYFA) had an opportunity to ask Ned Dougherty a number of questions pertaining to Love and Everything in Between (LEIB), concerning the struggles he and his son faced, his experience as a producer, and any insight he could give to aspiring filmmakers:

NYFA: How did you get involved with this film?

Ned Dougherty: Following [his] high school graduation, my son Michael Dougherty studied acting for two years at Stella Adler in New York City and then came to Los Angeles in late 2012 to pursue an acting career. After several years of “pounding the pavements” in L.A., Michael decided to promote his career by creating his own projects through his own production company, Hampton Filmworks.” Michael’s first project is Love & Everything in Between, written primarily in 2015.

Here is the key: Michael’s mother Ginnie and I both fully supported Michael’s decision to pursue his dream, including our financial support. We are both co-producers with Michael and I have been actively involved as a full-time creative filmmaker and business-end producer. Initially, we hired a line producer in January 2016 who prepared a $250k budget. In February 2016, I completed the NYFA Los Angeles Producing Program. The principal cinematography was completed over six weeks in Fall 2016 with pick-up scenes filmed in May 2017.

NYFA: Why are you passionate about this film’s success?

ND: When Michael initially wrote the screenplay in 2015 without ever attending a screenwriting course, I read it and said: “Son, you have written The Graduate for the Millennial Generation.” Michael had never heard of or seen The Graduate (1967) at that time. Both films feature a recent college graduate trying to find himself, complimented by a beautiful music score, but the similarities end there. Michael was passionate about writing Love & Everything in Between and his passion for the story, as well as the location settings, is evident in his storytelling.

Michael grew up in the Hamptons and I taught him to swim and surf at the same beach which is the opening scene location. Michael created a “Romeo & Juliet” in the Hamptons story and his knowledge of the Hamptons provided him with the beautiful Hampton scenery as well as the inspiration for a compelling Romance/Drama which morphs into a Romance/Thriller.

NYFA: What has been the hardest part of completing this film?

ND: We are currently marketing the film, attending film festivals, seeking distribution opportunities, etc., to successfully monetize the project. Finding a successful route to making the film financially viable seems to be the greatest hurdle for first-time filmmakers.

NYFA: When did you first know you were in love with cinema?

ND: In my youth, I read classic American novels (by Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John O’Hara, and James Michener) and developed an appreciation for great storytelling that morphed into my interest in great films. Among my favorites: Casablanca, It’s A Wonderful Life, To Kill A Mockingbird, Dr. Strangelove, Rocky, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Forrest Gump, and ironically The Graduate.

NYFA: Why are you passionate about producing?

ND: I prefer to introduce myself these days as a “filmmaker,” rather than as a “producer.” I am more passionate about the creative side (filmmaking) as opposed to the business side (producing). Michael has allowed me to creatively participate in his project, and I have really cherished that opportunity to work alongside my son from creation to distribution. I have been primarily a businessman for most of my life, so I had that experience to offer Michael, but both Michael and I have had to learn the business by trial and error.

NYFA: What advice do you have for young producers?

ND: As trite as it sounds, follow your dream! If you are not “passionate” about your project, take a pass! Optimally, strive to balance your energies between your dual responsibilities as a creative filmmaker and as a business-oriented producer. While Michael was pursuing his acting career, I encouraged him to take college business courses to develop a business sense and an understanding of basic business principles.

NYFA: Why should people see Love & Everything in Between?

First of all: Location! Location! Location! The Hamptons has a global appeal to moviegoers and LEIB is a cinematic treat for the eyes with spectacular drone shots and scenery of the Hamptons and Montauk that — and I say this with all humility — has never been achieved before in previous Hamptons’ films. At our World Premiere, the Culver City Film Festival in Los Angeles, California, the judges agreed; we garnered the “Best Cinematography” award (Thank you Red Dragon!)

While your eyes are being dazzled by the scenery, story, and character development, the romance/drama unfolds unexpectedly into a romance/thriller that never stops moving while accompanied by an outstanding musical score that appeals to all generations.

Secondly, LEIB is a socially relevant story. In writing LEIB, Michael never intended to create a controversial film, but so it is — much to our surprise. The controversial aspect of the film, which deals with sexual assault, became obvious in test screenings that we held at several Hampton libraries. At these events, college students wanted to know if they could bring LEIB to their campuses as a teaching or learning tool for students. As a result, we have developed a program to provide public service screenings for colleges and universities, particularly during “April: Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” utilizing TUGG.com and TUGG.edu.

There is one word that continuously surfaces from viewers: “Amazing!” A sure sign that LEIB made a significant effect on viewers was the consistent feedback from many viewers that the story and the music stayed with them days later. I often heard “I can’t get the music (or the story) out of my head!”

As a matter of fact, LEIB was selected and screened at the Socially Relevant Film Festival NYC in March 2018. In February 2018, LEIB received The Grand Prize – Best Feature Film at the Silicon Beach Miami Film Festival and has already been nominated as a finalist for a REMI Award as Best Feature Film at Houston Worldfest in April 2018.

NYFA: What projects are you working on next?

ND: We have a number of projects and several episodic series in various stages of development to be filmed primarily in the Hamptons and Los Angeles. Michael’s personal next feature film preference is The Butterfly & the Butcher, a colorful character crime drama to be filmed primarily in the Los Angeles Artist and Warehouse Districts. Followed by a paranormal love story to be shot on location on Shelter Island, New York. The Marakesh Story is my personal true story of my experiences as a nightclub owner (played by Michael) in the Hamptons and Palm Beach during the champagne/cocaine-fueled disco era of the 1970s-80s, with additional shooting locations in New York City, Washington D.C., the Cayman Islands, Central America, and other locations. TV episodic series include South Beach Spirit and an untitled Hamptons project Michael is developing. However, film financing and future producer/partner relationships may determine the scheduling of our next projects.

NYFA: Is there anything else you would like to add?

I could not have effectively assisted my son as a producer without the NYFA Producing Program and have great respect for the professionalism of the administration, staff, and faculty at NYFA L.A. I view this opportunity to screen LEIB at NYFA as a way of “giving back” by sharing more details of what it is like to be a first-time filmmaker. I am developing a “Dos & Dont’s” list for the Q&A Session on June 7, 2018, following the NYFA L.A. screening of LEIB.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Ned and Michael Dougherty for graciously attending this Q&A and sharing their story with our students. They are a true example of teamwork and great minds coming together to collaborate on a project for which they hold a great deal of passion. We look forward to continuing to follow their journey and watching the rise of their success that undoubtedly awaits them in the future!

If you are interested in attending a NYFA program, you can find more information here.

Broadcast Journalism Summer School, Wind Summer Festival, and Invisible Love From the New York Film Academy

Summer is well underway here in New York City, and that means the NYFA Broadcast Journalism Summer Session is in full swing too. Once again this year, we have students from seemingly everywhere: Abu Dhabi, Brazil, Connecticut, Uzbekistan, and Washington, D.C.! Below is the “Official Unofficial Class Picture.”

On Saturday, the group was outdoors practicing their shooting technique. (Which was good, seeing as today they are shooting their first project!) Our students work with Canon C300 cameras, which are better than the equipment many TV stations actually use. Battery Park, located right across the street from NYFA, is a great location to shoot. Especially on a lovely Summer day.

Trust me, as serious as the folks in the picture below look, the short-term workshops really are fun. (NYFA grads reading this email can back me upon this…)

Speaking of having fun …

NYFA Broadcast Journalism grad Chiara Carcano is one of the hosts of the Wind Summer Festival, a combination performance series and singing contest seen on Canale 5 and heard on the Radio 105 network in Italy. (The skills you learn at NYFA don’t always lead to newsroom careers — they can be used in a variety of ways!) This is also an example of how English remains the linqua franca for many international cultural events.

As most of you reading this know, I have spent my professional career creating non-fiction video. But that has changed, as I’m now part of the creative team producing an independent feature film called Invisible Love. In fact, I am an executive producer. (Nothing like starting at the top…) A China/Vietnam/U.S. co-production, I got involved thanks to the work I did in China last year for my soon-to-be-released documentary Shanghai: 1937. I have to say, it’s exciting to see my name on a movie poster.

That poster makes it clear this is a drama. The story takes place in what was then called French Indochina, during the 1930s.

NYFA Acting for Film grad Kazy Tauginas has been cast in a major role. He plays an American doctor haunted by his troubled past, whose involvement with a Vietnamese nurse leads to tragedy. (You can see Kazy in the new Denzel Washington film The Equalizer 2.)

The Invisible Love team had a booth at the film market associated with the just completed Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). We’re looking for theatrical presentation in China and Vietnam, as well as international theatrical and TV distribution.

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO FEATURES NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY’S MATTHEW MODINE & MANUEL GARCIA-RULFO

The much-anticipated follow-up to 2015’s Sicario, which earned three Oscar nominations, premiered at Cannes, and banked $78.5 million worldwide, finally hit theatres this week. Smashing box office expectations with a $19 million opening weekend, Sicario: Day of the Soldado features performances from two notable New York Film Academy (NYFA) community members: NYFA Board Member and Master Class Lecturer Matthew Modine, and NYFA Acting for Film alum and Guest Speaker Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.

Led by returning stars Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin as a loose-canon team, Italian director Stefano Sollima’s Soldado pulls no punches in a controversial and bloody tale that centers on terrorism, drug cartels, and human trafficking at the U.S./Mexico border.

Matthew Modine, who has been called “one of the best, most adaptable film actors of his generation” by legendary NY Times film critic Vincent Canby, appears as James Riley, one of Brolin’s “ruthless” bosses, who conceive a kidnapping scheme to start a civil war among the cartels. Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (Wind River, Sicario) dove headfirst into dark moral dilemmas and furious political unrest with his character-driven, operatic screenplay.

Modine recently won the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, together with his Stranger Things castmates. He is a member of the New York Film Academy’s Board of Directors and generously donates his time as master class instructor at NYFA.

“What we do is very important,” Modine has told NYFA students during his workshops. “We tell stories that change people’s lives.”

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who last year was featured in Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven and Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express, portrays the amoral smuggler, Gallo — a character the actor admits was a challenge to play during this political time.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado can now be seen in theatres nationwide. The New York Film Academy congratulates Matthew Modine and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo on their powerful work.

Insomnia on STARZ Executive Produced by New York Film Academy Alum Slava N. Jakovleff

Many artists dream of creating something entirely original, but to realize that dream on prime-time television is extra special. New York Film Academy (NYFA) Los Angeles Filmmaking grad Slava N. Jakovleff has done just that, distributing not one but two of his original series to major networks; Siberia, to NBC, and Insomnia, now seen worldwide on STARZ.

Here, Slava shares some of the amazing story behind producing his hit series with the NYFA Blog.

*Please note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.

INSOMNIA | TV SERIES | TRAILER 1 [HD] | STARZ from Slava Jakovleff on Vimeo.

NYFA: First, can you tell us a little bit your journey, and what brought you to NYFA?

Slava: I wanted to be an actor — this is my passion. I graduated as an actor after four years at one of the best and most famous Russian acting schools in Saint Petersburg, and then got a PhD as an acting and voice teacher. I always thought about directing and producing. I figured out that the knowledge of acting and directing was not enough to make my dream happen. I needed to study filmmaking. And where is the best place to do it? Of course in Los Angeles, the global center of the film industry.

I checked online resources and found that New York Film Academy had Filmmaking courses at Universal Studios. So, I joined the school at 36. Yes! At 36. It’s never too late to learn.

NYFA: You wear many hats, as an actor, director, and producer. What inspires you about these various roles, and how does changing between them inform your work?

Slava: It’s great that now I know something more about acting, directing, and producing. I know how to play, how to be an actor on the set or on the stage. For me, acting is an absolutely phenomenal state of mind. To me, it’s not a job! It’s a state of mind, of soul. Acting is a study of the human soul. This is the first and inner circle.

Acting really helps me to direct. I’m more an actor’s director than just a director; I love actors and love to work with them. Directing makes it possible to not only deliver the story and actors’ emotions to the audience, but also to make the audience think, laugh, or cry — in short, feel something — while watching a screen or a stage. This is the second circle, a bit wider.

Producing is the third, wide circle, and gives me the opportunity to care for the first two circles and bring all of these three circles to the audience.

NYFA: Do you have any favorite NYFA moments from your time studying with us?

Slava: I loved how the learning process was organized at the Academy. I got so much professional information in such a short time.

NYFA: Before establishing yourself in Hollywood, you worked as an actor in Russia. How did you navigate that transition from one industry to another, including acting in another language?

Slava: Yes, I was a pretty established actor at that time in Russia. When I moved to LA for business reasons, only one thing was important to me: I wanted to establish myself in Hollywood as a producer and director. … But regarding acting as a whole, if you are a professional, educated actor, it doesn’t matter in which language you act. It’s only about the professionalism.

NYFA: Can you tell us a bit about your company, Welldone Production?

Slava: I founded Welldone Production as my own company in 2004, during my time at NYFA, as a filmmaking company.

The first project I did in LA was a stage play called The Last Night of The Last Tsar, a mysterious story about the last night of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II Romanov and his family — and what happened with the lead executioner, Yurovsky, exactly 20 years after the execution. We played 6 weeks at the Stella Adler Theater in 2005. It was a successful run, and I told myself, “Let’s start to write the script for my own feature film.” We are now in pre-production. I rewrote the script many times since the start, researching historical information and studying archives. And now I am completely happy with the script I have, titled Swampy Roads. It seems like a very long journey just for one project, but I am completely satisfied and proud of that.

At the same time, my company and I did many projects in Russia and the U.S. One of them was my first TV project here in Hollywood, Siberia (2013), where I was an executive producer and director of some episodes. Siberia was completely independently financed, and afterward the show was bought by NBC for prime-time airing. It was the first time that a Russian producer sold his own independent TV show to NBC. I am very proud of that.

Siberia TV Series_NBC_ Official Trailer from Slava Jakovleff on Vimeo.

NYFA: As executive producer and director for STARZ series Insomnia, what inspired you to take on this project?

Slava: Insomnia was also a completely independently financed TV series, and when the show was completely ready it was picked up by STARZ.

My Russian friend, a producer, showed me a story on which he was working at that time. I loved the concept, because I thought this could work for any audience around the globe. I bought the license from him to make an English version, and invited an American-Canadian writing team to rework the story. At the end we got a deep, very edgy psychological thriller, an action story with sci-fi elements.

I knew that not everyone would like this story, and some networks and streaming platforms would be afraid to put it on the air, saying that the story is too extreme for them. My team and I tried to show the truth that human life costs nothing in modern life. My entire team, cast, and crew members — including one of the best directors of cinematography, Primetime Emmy winner John S. Bartley (LOST, X-Files, Bites Motel), and one of the best casting directors, Primetime Emmy winner Stephanie Gorin (Fargo) — tried to make it happen. I understood that many of us would not like to hear the truth. I really do not like it either, but I needed to say this about it to sort it out myself. I needed to say it without any “politeness” and “polishing.” I wanted to make the viewer think and draw conclusions.

After the show was done, STARZ picked up the series for worldwide distribution. I am very proud of that.

NYFA: Were there any challenges along the way in bringing Insomnia to Starz?

Slava: Bringing any projects to any network or distributor is a big challenge for every team, and this project was no exception.

The story of Insomnia was set for filming in Washington D.C., but when I was scouting locations there I realized it was impossible. I took a week-long break and announced to my team that the show would be filmed in Moscow, Russia, and the first day of filming should be June 1. This was a real challenge: the team was booked for principal filming starting on April 15 in D.C.

We had only six weeks for making changes in the script, finding a local Russian production company, organizing to bring the entire American-Canadian team to Moscow, rescheduling the production, new location scouting, language problems (as we had two teams), etc. But we went through all these incredible difficulties (just imagine the problem with visas or understanding between two different languages and mentalities on set) and began to shoot exactly as planned, on June 1.

Then we figured out that Insomnia is not just the title of this series, but actually what became a way of life for the cast and crew! Filming for all eight episodes took place over 68 working days, 2/3 of which were night shoots. We needed to shoot everything by the end of August, as the story takes place during four consecutive summer days. Management of the production was critical, as filming night scenes during the summer in Moscow was challenging — some nights only had around 2-3 hours of darkness, and the weather is unstable: the sun, clouds, and storms.

The entire show was filmed in Moscow, with scenes set in New York and Cambodia being filmed on sets. We were able to film in unique locations, such as Red Square and near the Kremlin, Bolshoi Theatre, the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the Four Seasons, and the Ritz Carlton Presidential Suite with its authentic view of the Kremlin and Bolshoi Theatre — no other foreign production companies have been allowed to film in this location before. By the way, Insomnia’s production company, Welldone Production, is the only foreign production company in the last 20 years to be able to film in the highly secure Red Square.

All explosions, car crashes, gunshots, and underwater scenes were filmed without CGI, and all action scenes were filmed by the main unit team (we didn’t have second unit).

Then, we spent months editing the series here in Los Angeles in one of the best post-production facilities in town: Burnish Creative. They’re such a talented, professional, and passionate young team. When the show was picked by STARZ, we entered the delivery process and had to go through quality control. It was such a great challenge and big experience.

The series employed 720 people from nine countries and filmed around 750 total scenes. And I want to again say thank you to my entire team and the people who worked for Insomnia.

[su_carousel source=”media: 27044,27043,27042,27041,27040,27039″ link=”lightbox” target=”blank” width=”780″ height=”360″ title=”no” autoplay=”0″]

NYFA: What is your best advice for NYFA students who are interested in following your footsteps and founding their own production companies, in Hollywood or elsewhere?

Slava: In short I can say: break the rules (which is very tough sometimes), and never give up.

NYFA: Would you say your time at NYFA was at all useful in preparing for the work you are doing now?

Slava: No doubt!

NYFA: Anything I missed that you would like to speak on?

Slava: Many years ago, when we were young, my army friend, on the day when we finished our service in the tank troops, gave me a simple drawing of our tank with the inscription, “Follow your star!” Here I am, still following.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Slava N. Jakovleff for his generous interview.

Gold Coast’s Village Roadshow Studios Hosting New Major Co-Production

Filming has begun on the largest Chinese-Australian co-production ever, and with the project Australia’s Gold Coast continues its importance to the film industry as a whole. Students at New York Film Academy (NYFA) Gold Coast are reaping the rewards by learning their craft in the heart of Gold Coast as more and more major movies are shot around them.

Legend of Sun and Moon, based on a famous Chinese legend, will star Dililreba Dilmurat and Dao Xiao, and—unlike most Hollywood blockbusters—will be written and directed by a woman, Eva Jin. The film will be financed, produced, and distributed by a collaboration of Chinese and Australian companies, with assistance from the Queensland government’s film programs.

While Hollywood may be most associated with the film industry, plenty of other cities and nations provide hundreds of films each year to audiences all around the world. The Chinese film industry in particular has been steadily growing for a long time, with many co-productions with other countries proliferating since the early 21st century successes of films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. Chinese cinema is now one of the largest film industries in the world.

While Australia’s film industry isn’t as large as America’s or China’s, it has played an important role in co-productions, offering a wide array of spacious landscapes and consistently pleasant weather that originally attracted film productions to similar climates like Los Angeles. Plenty of Hollywood blockbusters are shot on location or in soundstages in Australia, including in Sydney and in Queensland, such as Thor: Ragnarok, The Matrix, The Wolverine, Kong: Skull Island, and Mission: Impossible 2.

Many productions in Australia are supported by government organizations and programs, including Screen Queensland and the Production Attraction Strategy. This not only bolsters Australian cinema but fosters jobs and growth for the community. According to Screen Queensland CEO Tracey Vieira, “Legend of Sun and Moon will provide approximately 300 jobs and spend over $15.3 million in Queensland.” The film will shoot at Village Roadshow Studios, one of Australia’s foremost production facilities, which consists of nine sound stages.

The use of Village Roadshow Studios is also one of the biggest advantages to studying at NYFA Gold Coast. In addition to being amidst Hollywood productions and a working international film studio, NYFA Gold Coast students also study and can shoot their own films on a professional backlot.

Located at Southport, the NYFA Gold Coast campus also has a two-level, state-of-the-art facility for students to use, situated in an ideal, convenient space close to light rail transport and student service amenities such as libraries, cafes, restaurants, shopping centers, and immigration services. In addition, the facility is located directly across from the Gold Coast Broadwater, with a popular waterfront promenade, large estuary, and attractive parklands that make for perfect filming locations.

Not too far from the campus are other diverse, incredible filming locations that students can use for their productions. Gold Coast has fifty miles of coastline and is considered a surfer’s paradise, while also home to tropical rainforests, rugged country, exciting and epic theme parks, and a modern cityscape. Additionally, the capital city of Brisbane is just a short drive away, with its museums, artistic attractions, and other cultural opportunities in students’ reach.

Along with its stunning locales and modern facilities, NYFA Gold Coast offers students the experience and guidance of a talented, knowledgeable faculty. Many of the chairs and instructors have industry awards and illustrious credits including House of Flying Daggers, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Meet the Robinsons, Mako: Island of Secrets, Inspector Gadget 2, The Dark Knight Rises, Rocky Balboa, Moneyball, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and many, many more. These faculty members work closely with NYFA’s students throughout the entirety of their courses.

With such close proximity to a talented faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, the Hollywood grandeur of Village Roadshow Studios, and the majestic scenery of Queensland, New York Film Academy Gold Coast students are in perfect position to achieve their dreams of acting in and making movies. Legend of Sun and Moon will no doubt be followed by even more and even bigger international productions in the Gold Coast, and NYFA students will get to see it firsthand.

If you’re interested in studying at New York Film Academy Gold Coast, you can find more information here.

New York Film Academy Screenwriting Instructors Pen New Comic Miniseries Dragon Age: Deception

New York Film Academy Screenwriting Chair Nunzio DeFilippis and NYFA Instructor Christina Weir are returning to the Dragon Age franchise with a comic miniseries, Dragon Age: Deception, which will launch in October 2018.

Dragon Age: Deception is a three issue comic book miniseries, set in the world of the best selling and award-winning video game series, Dragon Age. The miniseries, published by Dark Horse Comics, follows the story of a failed actress turned con artist who sets out to con the heir to a magically gifted family and gets caught up in something much larger.

The announcement for the miniseries can be found on the Dark Horse website.

About their experience writing for Dragon Age DeFilippis and Weir said:

Nunzio DeFilippis: We’ve been lucky to be able to create our own story worlds in our creator-owned books, but there is a thrill we get out of working within an established universe that has its own history, characters, and fan-base. And in the case of Dragon Age, we’re both huge fans of the franchise. We know all the lore, and all the characters, and that was a huge plus going into the project.

Christina Weir: WithKnight Errant and now Deception, we’ve been able to build our own central characters, and that’s exciting. We’re adding pieces to the Dragon Age canon. But we also get to work with characters we’ve loved in the games. In the last mini, we worked with Varric and Sebastian. In this one, we’re working with… well, I’m not sure we’re supposed to spoil that just yet. But there’s a small role for a fan-favorite in this mini. And he was a great character to interact with in the games, so we had a real thrill giving him a few scenes.

Nunzio DeFilippis: There’s a big piece of emerging lore that we got to put into this story – something that shapes the franchise going forward. When we started this mini, we had a long conversation with the Dragon Age story team at Bioware, and they told us where they saw the story world going forward, and we asked how we could help advance that. And they let us, which was awesome. This universe is evolving, through the games, the books, the comics… and we get to help it along the way.

Nunzio DeFilippis is the Chair of Screenwriting and Dean of Faculty at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus. Christina Weir teaches TV and Comic Writing at the Los Angeles Campus, as well as Story Generation and Character Development. The two are a writing team who were writer/producers on HBO’s Arliss and wrote for the Disney Channel series Kim Possible. They have had features optioned at Hollywood Pictures, Process Media and Humble Journey Films. They developed a video game at Sony, and a TV movie (Two Step) at Oxygen. The pair has written in comics for almost two decades, and beyond Dragon Age, they have written New X-Men, Adventures of Superman and Batman Confidential. They created the comic franchises Bad Medicine (in development at Closed On Mondays with NBC), The Amy Devlin Mysteries (in development as a TV series at E!) and Frenemy of the State (co-created with Rashida Jones, optioned as a feature film by Imagine Entertainment/Universal Pictures).

DeFilippis and Weir have worked on one previous Dragon Age miniseries in 2017, entitled Knight Errant.

RBG, Shot by New York Film Academy Documentary Professor Claudia Raschke, Is Box Office Hit

This year’s breakout documentary, RBG, shot by Director of Photography and NYFA Documentary Department Cinematography Instructor Claudia Racshke, tells the story of Supreme Court Justice and surprise millennial icon Ruth Bader Ginsberg (aka “The Notorious RBG”), The Flatbush, Brooklyn-born Justice was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1992, becoming only the second female to serve at the highest federal court in the United States.

When the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, we highlighted Claudia on the NYFA blog, and Filmmaker magazine also featured an interview. Sundance and American Cinematographer spotlighted her on their “Women Who Shoot” panel. MovieMaker magazine also ran an article exploring her equipment preferences.

And why not? Claudia’s previous work has already been nominated for Academy Awards four times, and has won a Peabody, a DuPont, and a National Board of Review Award, among many others. She has worked on such acclaimed documentaries as My Architect, about Louis Kahn, Mad Hot Ballroom, which focuses on a New York dance program, and Small Wonders, which documents a music teacher in East Harlem.

On its opening weekend, RBG scored the second-highest-per-screen average at the box office, second only to Avengers Infinity War. The film has also earned a 93 percent Fresh rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It then spent the next three weeks among the Top 10 overall Box Office earners, holding its own in the company of blockbusters like Avengers: Infinity War, Ocean’s Eight, Black Panther, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Deadpool 2, and A Quiet Place.

Claudia Raschke with Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Photo provided by Claudia Raschke.

RBG has also already worked its way amongst the 25 highest-earning documentaries in history, and its run is far from over. NYFA would like to congratulate its Documentary instructor Claudia Racshke on her impressive work on an already important film. You can watch the official trailer below.

Alum Ludovic Coutaud Brings Lunatic Clowns to the Drama Book Shop

New York City is a thrilling and challenging place to be an artist. For NYFA Acting for Film Conservatory alum Ludovic Coutaud, creating site-specific shows crafted to play off iconic performances spaces within the city has helped him forge a specific and entirely original path as a performer, producer, and creative director.

Coming up this summer, Lunatic Clown And Cie, the international theatre company Coutaud founded and serves as artistic director, brings The Book Wives Club (or The Closeted Beards) to the iconic Drama Book Shop library. Here, he tells the NYFA Blog what it’s like to perform original clown shows in New York City, and why it’s important for artists to produce their own work.

NYFA: First, can you tell us a little bit about your journey and what brought you to NYFA?

LC: I studied Acting for Film at NYFA in 2011, and had a blast learning from this very talented faculty. I had visited the campus two months prior as a New York tourist with my parents and loved the idea of studying acting in another language among other foreigners. That is something that makes New York Film Academy such a strong, diverse school. We were 12 students in my class and only three Americans were present. I remember liking to call my class the United Nations of NYFA.

NYFA: Why acting and directing? What draws you to storytelling through performance?

LC: I started directing in Marseille, France where I am from, with my first acting teacher directing the end-of-year kids’ shows. It was a true leap of understanding the craft even better, and I found myself being able to communicate my directions more specifically having known what it was like to receive notes. It also taught me the importance of collaboration.

NYFA: Do you have any favorite NYFA moments from your time studying with us?

LC: I loved every class for several reasons. The one I discovered entirely and had the most fun with was maybe Maggie Reed’s TV Sitcom and Soap Opera class during the second semester. These formats are very uncommon where I am from (especially the laugh tracks in the background). I learned lots of new tricks and techniques that I still use to this day.

NYFA: Tell us a bit about your company Lunatic Clown And Cie. What inspired you to start the company, and how do you juggle your multinational and genre-bending productions?

LC: I have written, directed and produced a dozen of shows in New York City under my name and I have developed a new style through these selections of projects. I’m now six years into the process — but I’ve been called a “clown” all my life!

For those who know, clowning is a word that resonates out of the ordinary for certain cultures. For example, here in America clowns are often associated with birthday parties and dark serial killer stories. Well, my company, style, and the values behind every show aren’t remotely close to that. I call my clowns “tall children,” or poetic souls. Many names could be found. The style is complex.

When I first discuss it with the actors involved in my company, I share information with them — like a chart of what to do and not do, and how to find the goal to achieve. Each clown piece is one simple, heartfelt story. I want to always find all the possible nuances and converse about the topic with all my clowns one on one.

After 7 years juggling between the arts and other wonderful jobs, I have luckily been able to maintain my main target to why I came to New York in the first place. That’s also why it was time for me to brand all of my style under a name that would be catchy, mysterious yet personable: Lunatic Clown And Cie.

NYFA: As a producer and performer, what challenges do you face when creating your shows, and how do you overcome those challenges?

LC: Producing a show is hard work, yes, but if you do believe thoroughly in the project, things seem to flow a bit more. Throughout the years, struggles have shifted. My hat of producer joins creative, executive (financing), and supervising roles. Where other projects would hire three people, I found myself loving to do these three positions. My style being different, I needed to have very strong collaborators by my side who would understand me 100 percent. From show to show, I have found that person to assist me along the way on one or two projects, co-direct or even invest in the shows — and most importantly, friends who believed in my work.

To this day, gathering a group of passionate risk takers, willing to join a community of artists and be clowns, has been a challenge. From all these hats, I would say I added the one of “eager artist hunter” to amplify the panel of the performers who I had the chance to work with.

NYFA: Your summer show The Book Wives Club (or The Closeted Beards) uses clowning to explore the theme of denial. What an interesting combo — what led you to this theme? Why this show, now?

LC: The Book Wives Club (or The Closeted Beards) takes on the very important theme of denial indeed because it has been a subject of mine for a long time. My first short play Denial was a success, also at the Drama Book Shop, in 2016. It was a piece with words and lots of audience members came to find me afterwards and said, ”Did you write this? Thank you. I would love to see more about that theme from you in the future.”

I remember thinking how interesting that was, so I did find the inspiration to write two new pieces: Look at Me, and now this one. This time, I decided to explore that major topic through physicality only. Again, you realize that clowning and performance art here is the same family for me.

Timing is very interesting and the society we live in fascinates and aggravates me at the same time. I had a list of eight shows of mine waiting around and I picked this one because I got the Drama Book Shop. This the third time that I have contacted the Drama Book Shop team. Four pieces of mine have swept the stage of the Arthur Seelen Theatre already and this time I had decided to rock the library.

That location is ideal for several reasons; it is an actor’s temple, it gathers stories waiting to be told, it is a pleasure to work with the staff and is a centered location for many involved. The show is not Rated R but for everyone. This piece is for all. I look forward to discussing this piece with the audience members.

NYFA: What’s next for you and The Book Wives Club (or The Closeted Beards)?

LC: The Lunatic Clown And Cie show Voyage will be next at the New York New Works Theatre Festival 2018 at Theatre Row in September.

NYFA: Would you say that your time at NYFA was at all useful for preparing for the work you are doing now?

LC: NYFA was indeed very helpful since I had the chance to work on several student films and learned from other departments and teachers. My curiosity and the proximity of campuses made me eager to keep learning and that hasn’t changed.

Congratulations, Ludovic! If you’re in New York City, get your tickets for The Book Wives Club (or The Closeted Beards) here.