This month, New York Film Academy graphic design students visited the studios of Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic. This exciting opportunity was made possible by NYFA faculty Jee-eon Lee, who worked at Glaser’s studio as a young designer.
The students got a first-hand look at Glaser’s studio and works in progress. They were able to ask questions about the world of design and how Glaser see’s design going forward.
Glaser is perhaps the most well known graphic designer working today, with an international presence and a reputation as a Renaissance man who has changed the graphic design industry with his uniquely intellectual and creative approach to animation and design. He is the creator of the I (heart) NY logo and was awarded the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
Students then visited with Mirko Ilic, where they were able to see works in progress and discuss design, activism and protest as seen through the lens of graphic design.
Ilic’s diverse design career has included holding art director position for Time Magazine International Edition as well as the New York Times Op-Ed pages. He also runs his own firm, Mirk Ilic Corp. His work has been recognized with many awards and in in many collections, including the Smithsonian Museum and MoMA.
“So inspiring to hear such honest insight from both Milton and Mirko,” said NYFA Graphic Design Faculty Member Jee-Eon Lee.
This month, the Los Angeles campus of the New York Film Academy welcomed writer/director/ producer Kelly Fremon Craig to a Q & A following a screening of her award-winning directorial debut, “The Edge of Seventeen.”
The film stars Hailee Steinfeld as angst riddled teen Nadine and Woody Harrelson as her down-to-Earth teacher. Also featured in “The Edge of Seventeen” is NYFA alumnus Hayden Szeto. Szeto plays Erwin, the love-struck classmate of Nadine.
Introducing Craig was Associate Chair of Screenwriting Adam Finer. Finer brought his class after a student told him this was his favorite film of the last year. The theater was overflowing with students eager to hear the writer/director tell her success story. Director of the Q & A Series Tova Laiter hosted the evening.
Laiter asked Craig about how she got her script into the right hands after only writing one script before that. Craig shared some advice she received in her early 20s: “If you write a really good script you can throw it over the side of a freeway in Hollywood and somebody will find it and produce it.”
Through persistence and hard work, she landed an agent after her first script got attention — and that agent submitted her second script to legendary writer/producer James L. Brooks, who produced the project.
Tova asked, “In what ways did Brooks influence your writing?” There were two pieces of advice Craig took to heart. While she focused on making the script funny, he told her: the most important thing you have to do is figure what out what you are saying about life. “It was such a gift to me.” Craig said. “Essentially he was asking, ‘What is the point?’”
The second piece of advice was, “Always do research.” Craig heeded this advice and visited many local high schools to speak directly with students about their life experiences. She would be a fly on the wall of classrooms and group settings. “There are so many details you pick up there that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.”
One student asked, “How did you approach making both a flawed and empathetic character?”
Craig responded, “That was always the biggest challenge. I wanted to allow her to be every shade. In those moments where she’s being a jerk, you can sympathize with her because you remember the moments of pain.” As a writer, Craig was aware of these moments. In the actual shooting of the film, she tried to keep that balance at the forefront of her mind. She would have Steinfeld do takes on a spectrum. Each take would be a little more or less than the last but would give her many options for nuances at the editing room.
The New York Film Academy would like to thank Craig for taking the time to speak to our students. “The Edge of Seventeen” is available now on Blu-ray/DVD and VOD.
New York Film Academy Instructor Craig Caton has created a new plug-in on Autodesk Maya that may revolutionize the way digital puppetry in both independent productions and major motion pictures.
The new software is called Animservo. It is non-real time facial recognition software that allows a single puppeteer to craft and save a performance before ever arriving on set. The software records a performer using a go pro. Facial recognition software captures the performance, and it is then uploaded into the puppet. With Animservo, the nuances of facial recognition performance by the puppeteer are recorded and then uploaded to Maya. The performance is refined and then downloaded into the puppet.
Utilizing a GoPro and marker-less facial recognition software, the puppeteer does not even have to be in the same state as the production. A recent test allowed a puppeteer to give a performance in Texas for a puppet in Los Angeles.
Usually, crafting a performance with a puppet requires quite a few performers. For example, the T-Rex in “Jurassic Park” utilized five union performers: one controlled the eyebrows, another the mouth, a third the neck, and so on.
Animservo can save productions a ton of money on performers and allows directors to have a picture-ready performance with less rehearsal time. If a director changes his or her mind about the way a performance looks it will take the puppeteer just a few minutes to make adjustments and the puppet will be ready for the next take.
As great as this invention is both financially and on a time crunch Caton says he has “something even better on the horizon.” In the mean time, Caton will be previewing Animservo at SIGGRAPH, or the Special Interest Group on Computer GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques in Los Angeles.
In order to get this new plug-in sign up for the training class here. The software comes free with the class.
“A Girl in the River” has been nominated for three Emmy Awards, including Best Documentary and Best Documentary Short. The HBO documentary was edited by New York Film Academy’s own Master Class Lecturer and Curriculum Advisor Geof Bartz.
Directed by Sharmeen Obaid, executive produced by Sheila Nevins and Tina Brown, and produced by Lisa Heller, the film follows the story of one woman who survived an “honor killing” attack in her native Pakistan.
Geof Bartz is Supervising Editor of HBO Documentary Films. “A Girl in the River” marks Geof’s 12th Emmy nomination (with five prior wins). The film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject, which marked Geof’s fifth Oscar, and director Sharmeen Obaid’s second. It’s an incredible awards season journey that, perhaps even more remarkably, has made a real-world impact.
“First they won the Oscar,” observed NYFA New York Chair of Documentary Filmmaking Andrea Swift. “Then they won the DuPont. Now, the Emmy nomination. Yet the most important and satisfying part of all, is that ‘Girl In The River’ actually inspired the Pakistani government to reconsider their laws.”
The New York Film Academy will hold a master class with Geof Bartz in early August that will include a special screening of “A Girl in the River.” The film will also serve as a jumping-off point for student instruction and exploration.
“We’re all looking forward to watching the movie with Geof and discussing the intricacies of creating Oscar-worthy docs,” noted Andrea Swift.
The New York Film Academy community played an integral part in the making of “Dead House” (King Bach, Emmanuel Hudson, D.C Young Fly), a new scripted sitcom from one of the world’s top digital comedians, Vine star Andrew Bachelor — also known as “King Bach.”
A LionsGate production, “Dead House” is executive produced by Kevin Hart and, as seen in the Hollywood Reporter, launched on the star’s online comedy network Laugh Out Loud, or LOL.
“Dead House” portrays the complicated living arrangements when a human joins the cast of a reality show where four zombies must live and work together in one house.
“We had almost a full NYFA crew w Alumni and staff,” NYFA Faculty Member and Director of Photography Travis Hoffman. This included NYFA Alumni and Director Andrew Bachelor, and NYFA Faculty Member and Producer Anthony Cook.
Many more from the NYFA community filled out the crew. See a full list below:
NYFA Staff and Alumni who worked on shoot:
Director – Andrew Bachelor (Alumni)
Director of Photography – Travis Hoffman (Faculty)
Producer – Anthony Cook (Faculty)
Casting Director – Alex Perry (Faculty)
Production Designer – Prarthana Joshi (Faculty)
Gaffer and 2nd Unit DP – Richard Greenwood (Faculty)
Best Boy Electric and 2nd unit Gaffer – John Acevedo (Staff)
The New York Film Academy would like to congratulate all our alumni and staff who worked on “Dead House.” The show is released Aug. 3 on Laugh Out Loud.
NYFA photography alumna Sinem Yazici is no stranger to success. As her interview with Asli Pelit illustrates, Sinem was a successful ad agency director before the age of 30 in her homeland of Turkey. This alone is an impressive feat, not least of all because she’s a woman, but more impressive still is her decision to leave her profession and start from scratch as an aspiring photographer.
As a NYFA photography student in New York she was able to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion photographer, proving that it’s truly never too late to pursue your dreams. Her dedication to the craft has quickly made her one of the rising stars in men’s fashion photography and while she has changed careers, her determination and success remains unmuted.
She recently sat down with us to discuss her experience at NYFA, her passion for New York City and men’s fashion photography.
New York Film Academy would like to congratulate Sinem and wish her continued success in her endeavors.
Below you can find her full interview with Asli. Note: the views and opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect those of the New York Film Academy.
Asli: New York is a difficult city to be successful or to live in. To be successful is even more difficult. To leave your life behind you and start over again and even start a totally new career, which is photography that you have never done before also as a woman, how did you decide to come to New York?
Sinem: Of course! I should tell you a little bit about my life before I answer this question. I was in the advertising business. For about 15 years I worked for a big international agency and two of the biggest companies in Turkey. When I became a director at my company I was 29. My goal had been to become a director before I turned 30 years old. After I reached my goal, I started asking myself, “Ok what is going to happen now? What is my next goal or target?” because I always set goals and targets for myself in life. When I started asking myself these questions I realized that I did not want to work in advertising anymore. I was so tired, and felt like I had been working for 30 years: never ending meetings, writing back and forth, working on the weekends. I remember that some days I was working 20 hours a day. At the time that I asked myself these questions, I already had an interest in art and photography. While I had never been the type of person to walk around with a camera everywhere I had been in the photo studio a lot and had worked with photographers because of my job in advertising. So I said to myself, “Why don’t I do this job? I would love to do this! What can I do about it?” One of my clients was a photographer. I called him my brother, Kerim Sandiman. I went to him and said “Kerim can you take me as an assistant to work for you? I don’t want money. I just want to learn what you are doing.” He said, “My dear Sinem, you have to take a class first.” So I said “ok,” and I started going to a class instructed by Muhammer Yatmaz, who is a photography teacher. I loved his classes and I had a great time. I completed two levels. I started taking pictures of my friends and family and I was enjoying it. I told myself I had to educate myself more about photography. I decided to go to NY because Advertising business was almost done for me. When I started doing this, I was up and down and I couldn’t decide what to do but I didn’t stay home and do nothing, I kept learning about photography. I came to NY and took a program at the New York Film Academy. The program was extremely fun and for years I had been dying to live in New York City. This period in my life was fun and I made a lot of good friends. I was stopping people in the street and telling them “ I am sorry, are you a model? Can I take your photograph?”
Asli: Yes, it is a classic NY story.
Sinem: I took a lot of pictures in NYC and then I went back to Turkey. I started working this time with Tamer Yilmaz, who is a professional photographer and my client. I started working as his assistant and editor. I got a chance to see the real fashion world when I worked with him. When I started taking pictures, I knew I wanted to be a fashion photographer, and mostly I wanted to photograph men’s fashion. My advertising background taught me to focus on one thing and do your best. I told myself that this was my goal, and I wanted to focus solely on being a photographer. I am really enjoying what I do. I worked one year with Tamer and slowly, slowly started missing NY and started wondering if I should go back. I decided to go back. It was a really tough decision but I told myself this, “If I do something really good in one year, I will give myself one more year, but if I cannot do anything, at the end of the year I will go back and continue my photography career in Turkey”. I came to NY on a tourist visa and I had to leave the country every six months. After the first six months, everything went very well. I realized that I had not done a portfolio because I was taking pictures of my friends and family. I started working with professional models, and while I was doing this I submitted everything that I had done and sent my photography everywhere. All of a sudden I started seeing my photos all around and set-up two or three photo shoots a week. That was unbelievable and I started to have a good network of models, agents, hair and makeup artists. I saw that everything was going very well and decided to do my own portfolio. When I did the portfolio, I decided to try to get an artist visa and I was able to get it two years ago. Now I am working legally, I have my clients, and everything is going well but NY is a tough city. There are always ups and downs. I have one more year and we will see after that.
Asli: When I look at your industry from the outside, men have all the good positions. Do think that women in this industry are behind men or are they equal?
Sinem: Openly, I cannot say that they are equal. There are a lot of successful women photographers but when I look at the top 10, 70 or 80% are male. As someone who wants to be in the men’s fashion photography business, I’m pushing my luck because the business is already male dominated. There are a lot of gay photographers in this business. As a woman photographer, I am trying to survive. Being a woman, I believe gives me an advantage. The feedback that I am getting from my models and agents is that there is a difference as to how a gay male photographer sees a male model and a woman photographer sees a male model. I believe this minor difference makes my work unique.
Asli: And this gives you an advantage.
Sinem: Yes, yes, yes.
Asli: Generally, when I look at the world and we talk about women’s rights, human rights and women doing two jobs at the same time – on one side they have a family, and at the same time try to have a career – do you think there is anything that has to change or do you believe that this idea gives women a chance at a higher position at work? Do you have any advice that you would give women?
Sinem: Clearly, until this time, I was able to accomplish this as a CEO, but I believe I got tired. That was the reason I stopped my career. When I look at successful women’s lives as a CEO or Executive level, they have a great family life. This shows how strong we are already. You are a mom at home but you are a CEO or boss at work. When I search their personality, the successful ones always listen to their brain, not their heart. We, as women are very emotional and when we leave the emotions on the side we become equal with men. Men do not work with their emotions. I experienced this 15 years and the last six or seven years, I experienced it a different way. I believe that if women leave their emotion on the side there is nothing that can stop them. They can do anything. That is the only advice I can give. Other than that, we are already strong and powerful.
Asli: I know that two years will go by quickly, but I hope that you stay here longer and continue your career here. What is your goal now in your career?
Sinem: Hmm, I want to be in the top ten. You know, there is the top ten in the world. There is already a Turkish photographer in this top ten, Mert. I am very proud of him, he is my idol. I hope to reach his level. This is a big dream for me. If I do reach his level, I will be the happiest person in the world. Even if I cannot, I would be very proud if people are discussing the work of a woman Turkish photographer. I don’t want this just for myself, I want to represent my country. We have a lot of problems in Turkey right now and when people hear this type of story they get happy. This would be my other goal if I cannot be very famous. This is my plan for the next couple of years. I don’t know what I am going to do after that, we will see.
NYFA BFA Filmmaking and MFA Screenwriting Alumnus Tim Kirkpatrick
NYFA Veteran alumnus Tim Kirkpatrick is on the road to success, joining the team at We Are The Mighty (WATM) after completing both is BFA in Filmmaking and MFA in Screenwriting at the New York Film Academy.
While serving with U.S. Marine Corps, 3rd Battalion 5th Marines (Known as Dark Horse) as an FMF U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman, Tim Kirkpatrick wrote his first script during his deployment to Afghanistan in 2010-2011. Tim’s experiences in Afghanistan, and his passion for films, led him to pursue his passion of filmmaking at the New York Film Academy.
After returning stateside and transitioning out of the U.S. Navy, Tim pursued his education at the New York Film Academy College of Visual and Performing Arts (NYFA) in Burbank CA. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Filmmaking and then completed his Master’s degree in Screenwriting, all at NYFA.
It was while Tim was enrolled at NYFA that he attended an employment and internship event hosted by NYFA’s Veterans Office, which featured the veterans organization We Are The Mighty (WATM).
Tim’s skill set matched the WATM mission, which is to engage and entertain America’s 114 million military, veterans and their families with original content, branded campaigns and experiential events across multi-channel platforms and distribution partners.
He was offered an internship with WATM. Tim succeeded as an intern and was eventually hired full-time. He is currently serving as the editorial coordinator for WATM, working underneath David Gale, WATM’s CEO. Mr. Gale was previously an executive at MTV Networks.
Tim is truly a Renaissance man. In addition to using his talents on behalf of We Are The Mighty, he also works as a military consultant, and has successfully written, produced, and directed several short films, music videos, and commercials.
New York Film Academy musical theatre alumnus and Netflix’s “Brown Nation” star Jaspal Binning has made a big splash with his directorial debut, “Doomsday,” which qualified for Emmy nominations and received a write-up in Emmy magazine.
“Doomsday” is an independently produced short-form series created by a team of actors who decided to go ahead and make the kind of series they always dreamed of working on. The series is written by Sonja O’Hara, who also portrays a leading role as a futuristic cult’s recruiter.
The article on “Doomsday” in Emmy highlights the series’ diversity: as distinguished from current series that tackle similar subjects like post-apocalyptic worlds or eerie cults, the world portrayed in “Doomsday” is a youthful and diverse cult led by a Swedish woman and her British-Indian second-in-command (portrayed by Binning).
Binning explained to Emmy that the show’s emphasis on diversity and uncertainty is particularly relevant in today’s world: “”There’s complete unpredictability over what’s going to happen next. That’s the political climate in England and in America, and it’s exactly the same for a cult.”
The series is carving out a unique place with its brooding tone and edgy subject matter, which served to attract a group of passionate creators to join forces. As Binning, who co-directs with O’Hara, explained to Emmy magazine, “We were lucky to find very committed actors. They’ve taken it to a different level.”
“Doomsday” won Binning and O’Hara the best director award at New York Television Festival. Binning shared that it was actually the process of using the Meisner acting technique that inspired him to want to direct, saying, “Working with actors and also seeing them get better really excited me.”
Though “Doomsday” was not nominated for an Emmy, the series’ award-winning journey through the big three television festivals (New York Television Festival, Independent Television and Film Festival, SeriesFest ) and it’s surprise qualification for the Emmys have delighted its creators. As O’Hara told Emmy, “We didn’t think that we, outside the Hollywood system, could make a show that was Emmy-eligible … It’s incredibly exciting to even qualify for the Emmys.”
Read more about NYFA musical theatre alumnus Jaspal Binning’s recent visit with the “Brown Nation” team as a Guest Speaker, and about his short film “Ovum.”
New York Film Academy 1-Year Documentary Filmmaking Program alumnus and former Teacher’s Assistant Todd Leatherman served as camera operator on the Netflix Original Series “Daughters of Destiny,” which premiered worldwide on July 28, dropping simultaneously in over 100 countries and in 30 languages. Leatherman was shooting for Oscar-winning documentary film director, Vanessa Roth, who also happened to be his instructor at the New York Film Academy.
“Daughters of Destiny” is an original documentary series that sheds a light on the systemic educational failures and human rights issues facing India’s lowest social caste: the Dalit (Untouchables). The documentary follows a group of children over the course of seven years whose families, unlike many of their peers, have found a pathway to access education through the remarkable Shanti Bhavan school in Bangalore.
The documentary offers an unbiased peek into the lives of the Dalit girls throughout their years of study at the Shanti Bhavan school, with an impartial eye on both the triumphs and difficulties. The school encourages its students to choose to study and pursue careers that will be of service and help lift their communities out of poverty — perhaps even at the sacrifice of their dreams.
As Decider’s Radhika Menon observes, the film is “not so much an investigation into the caste system as it is a showcase for the idea that systemic inequalities can be overturned when paired with opportunity.”
“Daughters of Destiny” is now available to stream on Netflix.
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