Page 206 – NYFA

New York Film Academy Welcomes Newest Incoming Veteran Student Class

The New York Film Academy College of Visual and Performing Arts (NYFA) is proud to welcome a new group of veteran students, many of which are transitioning from the military and into higher education for the first time. All new veterans were greeted in their first week with veteran-specific orientations conducted by the NYFA Veteran Services Offices at each of the three US campuses (New York City, Los Angeles, and South Beach) that are designed specifically to accommodate their diverse set of needs and help to set them up for success. Several Veteran Service Organizations (VSO’s) from the local areas sent representatives to educate the new cohort of veteran students on the benefits, resources, and programs available to them at NYFA and in the external veteran community.

veterans in ny — New York: New veteran students in New York are excited to begin their academic journey.

In New York, representatives from The Mission Continues, American Corporate Partners, and Black Veterans for Social Justice provided important information to the veterans about initiatives that are offered by their organizations. These services include professional development assistance, emergency housing and legal assistance, as well as volunteer opportunities for those looking to give back to their communities.

Veteran Services Coordinator, Christopher Paparis announced some new additions for veterans on campus, including the recent opening of the on-campus Veterans Lounge, and a new Fellowship position exclusively available to NYFA veterans with the NYC Department of Veteran Services and NYC City Service Corps.

In Los Angeles and South Beach, Veteran Services Coordinators spoke to new NYFA veteran students about the many services and resources that the NYFA Veteran Services Offices provide, such as military benefits advising, transitioning information, the School’s Veterans Advancement Program and essentials of student life on campus. A representative from the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) came to speak about the various WWP programs and extended an invitation for the veterans to join the organization.

Army veteran and One-Year Filmmaking student, Corey Bourque said, “The LA Veterans team were very helpful in the orientation. They went above and beyond to make us feel welcomed and helped with questions. I also enjoyed learning about all of the programs and resources available from the Wounded Warrior Project. I was unaware that they offered so much. I am proud to be a veteran attending the New York Film Academy and look forward to my time here.”

NYFA is honored to serve our nations heroes and are happy to assist them as they begin their academic journey and their careers within the film industry.

NYFA Alumnus Matty Cardarople Showcases Latest Work in Netflix’s “Lemony Snicket”

On Feb. 8th, New York Film Academy alumnus Matty Cardarople came back to his roots to showcase his latest work in Netflix’s “Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events.”

The popular children’s book written by Lemony Snicket has had fans on the edge of their seats since the show’s premiere on Friday, Jan. 13th. The theater was packed with students eager to discuss a childhood favorite come to life.

Cardarople was seen earlier this year in Mike Mill’s “20th Century Woman” and “Jurassic World.” He’s appeared on television shows “The New Girl,” “Scrubs,” “Bella and the Bulldogs,” “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” and “You’re the Worst.”

Guest Lecture Series Chair Tova Laiter and Christopher Cass, Associate Chair of Acting for Film, hosted the evening at the Los Angeles campus. Ms. Laiter began with the question, “How did you start?” Cardarople replied:

I chose NYFA back in 2002…BC. I’m just kidding. I was nineteen. It was a long time ago. I studied here for a year and then I came back and did my own film with (Industry Lab) ‘I worked in production as a boom operator and a PA. I was an assistant director. I was craft service. I was a camera assistant. I did everything. You guys know. You’ve all learned that stuff.

Then, Luke and Owen Wilson put me in a film called ‘Drillbit Taylor.’ I played a 7/11 clerk because that’s what I do. I play a lot of clerks. Then it really started to take off. I had seven years of commercials here and there. It was kind of dead cause I was going through this heart surgery at young age. It was a bummer.

Then about three years ago I thought, ‘You know, I just really need to put myself out there. I’m going to go for it.’ I started to network and meet a bunch of people. That’s what it’s really all about; meeting good people and forming good relationships.

If you are struggling right now and thinking I’m not going to make it. Just be patient. Just work hard and be nice and you can really go far. If you’re scared right now, it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to work out. Just keep moving forward. That’s my story.

One student asked Cardarople what projects and people he would like to work with in the future. Cardarople responded, “I’d love to work with Jim Carey. I want to make stories that inspire people.”

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Mr. Cardarople for taking the time to speak with our students. This year you can find Matty Cardarople in the HBO series “Crashing” and the feature film “Please Stand By” starring Dakota Fanning and Toni Collette.

NYFA Los Angeles 2017 Winter Graduation

On January 28th, the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles bid farewell to over 120 students as they crossed the stage in their caps and gowns. Amongst teachers, family, and friends, graduates prepared to enter the entertainment field.

To honor their accomplishments we share here the final words of encouragement from the commencement speakers for the class of 2017 in hopes that they’ll help you on your artistic journey. Congratulations to all the graduates from the New York Film Academy.

Tab Murphy, writer of “Gorillas in the Mist,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Tarzan,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” “Brother Bear,” “Superman/ Batman: Apocalypse, and Batman: Year One,” left students inspired with his impassioned address.

“This is such an exciting time in Hollywood. There’s so much opportunity out there. There are so many new venues for content and so many ways to be a creator and a writer. It’s an incredibly exciting time. I encourage you to embrace it all. Be entrepreneurial, don’t have such a narrow vision of yourself as a filmmaker and while you’re doing all of that don’t be afraid to embrace life so that when that door of opportunity opens you have something to say.”
–Tab Murphy

Andrew Leeds has been acting since he was eight years old. He’s done everything from voice over for animation, acted for television shows including “Bones,” “Cristela,” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” improvisation with Groundlings Theater. He is in the holiday comedy “Office Christmas Party” and is now writing and producing for television. Leeds used his life experience to provide students with practical life advice to survive in Los Angeles.

“If I could leave you with one thing today it would be, believe in yourself. Bet on yourself. However hard you think you’ve worked up until now, work harder. Create, innovate, and bring things to the table no one before you has brought. Every person in here has what it takes to do it. And, if I’m smart, I’ll take my own advice and do it too. Congratulations to all of you as you embark on the next phase of your life.”
-Andrew Leeds

Peter Medak has been making movies for close to sixty years and is passionate about the craft now as he was when he first began. He’s directed episodes of “7th Heaven,” “Breaking Bad,” “Cold Case,” “Hannibal,” “Twilight Zone,” “The Wire,” and “Tales from the Crypt.” His films include “The Changeling,” “Species II,” and “Romeo is Bleeding.” Here our his final words to the Filmmaking graduating class of 2017.

“It’s pure magic. Magic is what you can do with those lenses. You’ve had your training you know about the lenses. You know about lighting, which is so important.

I had to shoot in South Africa and make it look like Sunset Boulevard but we were in Capetown. It doesn’t exist I said to the producers, ‘You’re all out of your mind. It is impossible to do that.’ But you know I saw it was quite possible. You have to be very clever about it. Choose very carefully what you show in that frame.

You’re going on an amazing journey and I congratulate you. I want you to follow your dreams. That’s the most important thing.”
-Peter Medak

Congratulations to the class of 2017!

MFA Acting For Film
Christopher Lee Akens
Sienna Eve Benton
Ainur Burkutbayeva
Maria De Los Angeles Cabrera Toledo
Rita A Casman
John O’brien Johnson
Aditya Joshi
Yu-Hsuan Lee
Camila Mejia Duque
Gina Simone Parris
Demyra Ravyne Payne
Shelby Simkin
Jesselynn Stegall
Nanli Wang
Michael Wilson
Zhe Zeng
Alem Zewdu
Wanyao Zhang
Khorlan Zholzhaxynova

BFA Acting For Film
Morgan Aiken
Leo D’hemery
Michael Elston
Alfred Gabidullin
Reinaldo Garcia
Kristina Karpechenkova
Fiona Ketter
Justin Lightfoot
Grace Michelle Wangui Mbayah
Thomas Oakley
Tayla Jan Schaffner
Milbelynn Soto
Marcella Unate
Anlezia Mone Venter
Joel Wright
Ekaterina Zaytseva

AFA Acting For Film
Helmer David Arango
Jenný Arnthórsdóttir
Montana Cypress
Vanessa Esquivel
Paloma Fernandez Vigil
Andrew Forner
Daniela Maria Gerdes
Tomas Gudmundsson
Christopher Holani
Lena Annalisa Kane
Kelsey Kummerl
Martta Rebekka Maki-Petaja
Badr Moussa
Josiah Portukalian
Nathan Rosado
Christopher Allyn Rybka
Ivan Sharudo
Valita Stoke
Pranay Unadkat

MFA Screenwriting
Ashley Helg
Casey Hempel
Efsane Karayılanoğlu
Timothy Kirkpatrick
Tricia Lan
Linn Markussen
Kayla Maurais
Karthik Menon
Chiedozie Orjiako
Eduardo Faustino Rivera Jaso

BFA Screenwriting
Kine Brown
Kyle Del Fierro
Jinghui Jia
Daria Leshchenko
Jamaul Phillips
Florian David Sutalo
William Willis

AFA Screenwriting
Hong Bin Zhang

MFA Game Design
Yi Chen
Tianyi Wu

BFA Game Design
Hasan Cheikhali
Maresh Escoffery

MA Film And Media Production
Medardo III Abad
Stephanie Adusei-Boateng
Lamia Alshwwier
Hardik Aswani
Oscar Avila Letelier
Elizaveta Bolshunova
Eric Owen Bridges
Maria Lorena Carrocci
Sheila David
Yanhua Gao
Yunhong Guo
Albandari Tariq Hakeem
Naimah Hawsah
Kiyanoush Jahaandideh
Adebowale Johnson
Ajay Marri
Manikandan Mathivanan
Kyaw Kyaw Min
Sadedin Piralievich Nuraliev
Olzhas Nurbayev
Daniel Peres Morel
Tianyu Ren
Andrea Rodriguez Sanchez
Nataliya Tsvetkova
Gudiveti Venkata Raghavendra Reddy
Chuwei Wang
Xiao Wang
Yanping Wang
Sarai Waters
Shengsheng Wu
Fei Xie

AFA Filmmaking
I-Chen Chung
Peter Farquhar
Desmond Goldson
Sergey Korchinskiy
Samuel Mcknight
Joshua Prince
Ben Zimmerman

MFA Cinematography
Saleh Aldwayyan
Abdulaziz Almutari Talaq
Amy Lynn Brown
Jessica Gray
Joseph Hamilton
Haoxun Jiang
Sam Krishna
Tian Liu
Yang Liu
Dhruv Saxena
Carlos Suarez
Jaan Kristjan Utno
Jing Wang
Haowei Wen
Yue Xue

MFA Producing
Louis Brown
Qian Dong
Melissa Gutiérrez Clavijo
Florian Christian Handler
Zororo Makamba
Ana Cindy Quijada R.
Daniel Wayne Smith
Funeka Sowazi
Joshua Thomas
Alexandre Wilson
Hanjie Zhang
Yanjun Zhu

AFA Producing
Nicole Tatlock

MFA Photography
Nilangana Banerjee
Pamela Garcia-Aguirre
Tingting Lou
Hao Yang
Yiwan Zhang

BFA Photography
Polina Krasovicka
Xiao Xu

BFA Animation
Yahui Cheng

MFA Filmmaking (Feature Track)
Bandar Mohayl Almutairi
Vanness Diane Hughes

MFA Filmmaking
Marvin Akanyi
Mohamad Al Yamani
Abdulelah Alqurashi
Hua Bai
Fanzhen Bu
Luis Fernando Camargo
Yang Chen
Yucheng Geng
Fei Guo
Nicole Harris
Lei Hong
Shiman Hu
Hanyang Huang
Amir Kadiev
George Leone
Shaobo Li
Ziwei Lu
Pedro Ludwig Marcial
Milton Lyons
Haihua Ma
John Mccain
Obianuju Obiejesi
Jorge Andres Ospina Sanchez
Chanel Page
Keyu Qu
Olga Solodukhina
Pavel Suslov
Hiroshi Takano
Diana Esperanza Trejo
Daniel Velasco
Rui Wu
Wei Xiao
Qin Yan
Zhiyuan Yuan
Yuqing Zhang
Tian Zhou
Duxiao Zhu

BFA Filmmaking (Feature Track)
Hamzah Ahmed F. Tarzan

BFA Filmmaking
Noor Matook Al Yaseen
Paul Araujo Coronel
Abdullah Bamajboor
Diego Barragan
Nikita Belomestnykh
William Berkowitz Jr.
Joseph Brandon
Alexis Brown
Charles Clark
Nicholas Cunha
Guojiang Deng
Christopher Di Edwardo
Joel Jerry Duran
Robert Ford
Kristen Kiertzner
Yassein Koptane
Andrew Kunkle
Haochang Liu
Luke Murphy
Samuel Nieves
Cindy Osegueda
Taylor Paluso
Mariel Quintero
Shivalik Shankar
Alexander Stamm
Shammika Tomar
Arturo Trapaga
Hao Wang
Joann Wong
Shiyao Yao
Jiasu Ye
Yufei Zhang

NYFA Acting for Film Alumnus Stars in “Life According to Saki” at 4th Street Theatre

Tom Machell is an actor, writer and comedy performer originally from the UK who decided to attend the New York Film Academy’s Acting for Film program for the school’s hands-on approach. “There is no school in the UK that offers as much on screen time as NYFA,” said Machell.

Machell is part of the award-winning comedy team zazU, a group that has had sell out runs at the Soho Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and are currently developing their work for television and radio.

As an actor, Machell has worked in the UK, Europe and the USA and can currently be seen in feature film “Dinosaur Hunter” starring Jenny Agutter and shorts “Litterbugg” “Sticky” and “Die Agentin,” which have been screened at the BFI and the Berlin Film Festival respectively. Tom is currently filming the BBC Television Movie “Babs.” His theatre credits include New York City’s Shakespeare in the Parking Lot playing Antipholus E in “The Comedy of Errors,” “The Love and Devotion of Ridley Smith” at the Old Red Lion Theatre, London, and three runs of Guinness World Record holding comedy show, “News Revue,” which he also writes for.

Machell is now making his Off Broadway Debut in the award-winning play, “Life According To Saki.” The play’s life began at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was the winner of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award. It is the debut play of award-winning author Katherine Rundell and will play at The New York Theatre Workshop at the 4th Street Theatre in Manhattan until March 6th.

“Life According to Saki” is inspired by the life and short stories of British satirist Hector Hugh Munro, nicknamed “Saki.” We meet Saki in November 1916 at the Battle of the Somme, where he and his fellow soldiers bear witness to a world turned on its head. Their only refuge is the fantastical world of the imagination — Saki’s world.

Each actor has multiple roles in the play. Machell’s main character, Walter Spikesman, is Saki’s right-hand-man in the trenches.

“My NYFA training really helped me in the rehearsal room, as there was a lot of devising and focus needed to make the piece,” said Machell. “During my training we had a lot of improvisation training, which hugely aided in creating the multitude of characters that I needed to create for the play. Also, by having such an international class, I was able to pick up numerous helpful accents along the way.”

“Life According to Saki” is now playing at the 4th Street Theatre until March 5, 2017. For tickets and information, please CLICK HERE.

NYFA BFA and MFA Photography Gallery at Famous Bergamot Station

The New York Film Academy BFA and MFA Photography Gallery show of graduating students was held at the famous Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA. The four MFA students and two BFA students had a wonderful turnout of 210 people, not including family, friends or alumni.

olive banerjee — photo by Olive Banerjee

The curators from the various Bergamot Station galleries themselves said that the show has a beautiful cohesiveness, and, once again, one of the guests was the retired curator of photography from the Getty Museum, Weston Naef, who stopped by to enjoy his third New York Film Academy MFA/BFA exhibition.

Bergamot Station was previously a railroad station from 1875 to 1953, serving the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad and later the Santa Monica Air Line. The station was named after the Wild Bergamot flower, which once grew in the area. The Bergamot Station is in line to become a Historical Landmark in the next few years and it currently houses multiple art galleries.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Bergamot Station for hosting our students. Congratulations to our graduating MFA and BFA photographers on this excellent showcase.

NYFA AUSTRALIA GOLD COAST ALUMNUS MAKES TV DEBUT ON ABC TV’S “NEWTON’S LAW”

New York Film Academy Australia Gold Coast alumnus Makwaya Masudi will make his television debut on ABC TV’s latest legal drama “Newton’s Law.”

The Australian television series follows a suburban solicitor’s journey as she resumes her career at the bar.

Masudi acts alongside a star-studded Australian cast, including Claudia Karvan, Toby Schmitz, Georgina Naidu and Miranda Tapsell. His character, Zareb Mulumba, is a young refugee who settles in Melbourne to work as at a law firm. Masudi was able to draw from his own life, as the NYFA Australia alumnus grew up in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.

“My life experience provides me with more than just an emotional element to my craft, it also shows me what I don’t want to ever go through again,” says Masudi. “And that’s my reason to strive forward in my career.”

Masudi impressed the casting panel from the very beginning, and he was immediately asked back for a second audition, leading to a meeting with director Jennifer Leacey.

Masudi says the greatest challenge for him was to portray the myriad of emotions that his character goes through in the story in such a short amount of time. It was especially difficult due to the fact that the series was shot out of sequence.

“NYFA Australia taught me how to break down a script so that I could find the hidden clues that help me understand the story and character better,” said Masudi. “To be honest, if I didn’t know how to break down a script like I learned at NYFA, I would have never made it to the call back. So thank you NYFAA GC.”

Masudi says he is now working on another project that he is not allowed to disclose just yet, and is also training his London, Brooklyn, New York and South African accent.

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.

NYFA Student’s Film “Dr. Elevator” Selected to 32 Film Festivals

Born and raised in Bhopal, India, Kartikye Gupta always longed to entertain and inspire people’s lives. “I think, before going and making a film, film education is very essential, so when I finished my high school, New York Film Academy was always on the top of my list,” says Gupta, who is a BFA Filmmaking student at NYFA Los Angeles. “It’s the most hands-on film school, the student gets to write, direct and edit a short film every week, which made me get better and better. More importantly, the school provides an opportunity to interact from different professionals from all over the world and to learn more about different cultures and filmmaking styles from around world.”

Gupta has a firm belief that a film should be a medium of entertainment, where one creates an environment for the audience to forget all their problems and fully enjoy.

His most recent film, “Dr. Elevator,” was officially selected in 32 film festivals for Best Short Film and screened in major cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, New Orleans, Wellington, Punjab, Queensland, Phoenix, Idyllwild and Copenhagen. The short film takes place in a trapped elevator, where a woman goes into labor, forcing an Indian mathematician with Asperger’s to rise to the occasion and deliver the baby.

“When Cody Smart, NYFA MFA Screenwriting alumnus, narrated the story, I instantly loved the characters,” said Gupta. “It has a very simple, funny conflict with very interesting characters meeting at the same time. I trusted my actors, gave them a lot of freedom, but still told them what I needed; and they did a great job.”

“I am honored to be a student at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles,” he says. “My lifelong dream of becoming a filmmaker is moving forward, thanks to a generous college like yours. Being a film student at New York Film Academy was a great advantage for me to produce, shoot and edit this film. I used to get notes, feedbacks from my screenwriting and directing instructors on the script, and the film when it was completed, which helped me to make it better and better.”

Gupta hopes to get “Dr. Elevator” on Amazon in order to reach a larger audience. He’s currently editing another short film, which he directed last year, and intends on submitting it to top tier film festivals.

A Look Back at The 48th NAACP Image Awards

The 48th NAACP Image Awards — which are presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor people of color in entertainment — were held this past Saturday night, Feb. 11, 2017, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.

Denzel Washington won an award for best movie actor for his role in “Fences,” the adaptation of August Wilson’s play, which Washington also directed.

“It is a privilege, an honor, a responsibility, a duty and a joy to bring his brilliance to the screen,” Washington said of the late Wilson, whom he called among America’s greatest playwrights. Last month, the New York Film Academy welcomed one of Washington’s co-stars, Russell Hornsby, who also praised the late playwright for being so influential on his career. “Wilson forced actors to bring their authentic self,” Hornsby said to a room full of NYFA students. “You bring your pain [to the role].”

One of the big winners of the evening was “black-ish,” the TV sitcom came close to sweeping its categories, taking the award for best TV comedy and stars Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross getting top acting trophies. In non-televised awards given Friday, the show earned honors for co-stars Laurence Fishburne and Marsai Martin and a writing trophy for creator Kenya Barris. “The People Vs O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” also cleaned up the television comedy and drama categories with three wins, though newcomer Queen Sugar was recognized as the best drama series. Interesting note: NYFA Instructor Ken Lerner played attorney Howard Weitzman in “The People Vs O.J. Simpson” —the lawyer who is ultimately replaced by attorney Robert Kardashian, played by David Schwimmer.

American musical recording artist, actress, and model Janelle Monáe, left, American actress and singer Taraji P. Henson, American actor, film director, and producer Kevin Costner, and American actress Octavia Spencer arrive on the red carpet for the global celebration of the film “Hidden Figures” at the SVA Theatre, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016 in New York. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

However, the directing award went to Donald Glover for his hit comedy series “Atlanta,” which also won a Golden Globe earlier this year. “Hidden Figures” and Taraji P. Henson were also winners, as the fact-based drama about the contributions of black female mathematicians to the U.S. space program won the award for best movie, while star Henson was honored as best actress.

Beyoncé dominated the music categories with five wins, including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Album for Lemonade.

Back in the film world, “Moonlight” ran away with four awards including Outstanding Independent Motion Picture and two writing and directing wins for Barry Jenkins.

“Queen Sugar,” created by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, was named best drama series, and “This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown claimed the award for best TV drama series actor.

Lonnie G. Bunche III received the NAACP President’s Award for his work as founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Last but not least, the popular wrestler turned actor, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, was named entertainer of the year in online voting. Last year, one of our Acting for Film graduates appeared in a video with Johnson, promoting his new Youtube channel.

NYFA Student’s Documentary “Soul” Screening at Berlin International Film Festival

The Berlin International Film Festival is underway, and we’re thrilled to see New York Film Academy Los Angeles Fulbright student Pedro Peira is Executive Producer of the documentary film “Soul,” which will be screening at the festival this Sunday, Feb. 12 and Monday, Feb. 13.

The Spanish documentary, from filmmakers José Antonio Blanco and Ángel Parra, focuses on Eneko Atxa, a three Michelin star chef who runs a restaurant complex near Bilbao in the Basque region. His exploration of the “soul” of cooking has him traveling to famous colleagues in Catalonia and Japan. Throughout the documentary, some of the most relevant personalities of international gastronomy such as Michael Ellis, manager of the Michelin guide, or Joël Robuchon, the chef with the most Michelin stars in the world, take us into the secrets and the vicissitudes of a profession based on effort, which is continually being reinvented and requires huge sacrifices.

“What I’ve mainly learned from NYFA is to be able to tell stories,” said Peira. “Of course I’ve learned about image and sound, which are also important, but being able to include some kind of drama in a story stands out above the rest. As a matter of fact, during the final editing process of ‘Soul’ I would call the director while he was editing the film and, after watching the cuts together, he applied what I was discovering at NYFA. I think is has helped the film.”

“SOUL” Trailer from Festimania Pictures on Vimeo.

“Even though I’ve just finished my first semester at NYFA, I’ve felt an evolution in my work,” added Peira. “When I arrived, my approach to documentary was an informational one. After screening my final project of the semester, I felt that I had started to be able to generate emotions. When people laugh or cry when watching your films, you know you have been doing something right.”

For tickets and more information on “Soul” and its screening at the Berlin Film Festival, CLICK HERE.