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Cinematography Grad Hired by DP Tony Richmond for “Diary of Wimpy Kid”

It’s often a difficult and stressful process finding your first job out of college — no matter what line of work you’re in. That’s why it is essential to network and ask around to the people you know best. With one of the New York Film Academy Cinematography program’s recent graduates, Jeremy Harris, he was able to parlay his relationship with the program’s chair, Tony Richmond, into an Assistant to the Director of Photography position on a major motion picture.

Richmond has an extensive background in cinematography, having worked on major productions like “The Sandlot,” “Legally Blonde,” “Men of Honor” and countless others. While serving as chair of the program, Richmond continues to work in the field. His upcoming Director of Photography work will be on the film “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul,” with his former student at his side.

We caught up with Jeremy Harris to find out how he landed the role with Mr. Richmond and what his plans are while on set and in the future.

How did this position come about?

This position came about a month or so before graduation. Our class was with Tony on a production workshop. We were on lunch break, if I can recall, and Tony asked me if I had family in Atlanta, which I do. Then he mentioned he may be working on a film there and wondered if it went through would I want to go with him. Obviously I couldn’t refuse, especially seeing that it’s another opportunity to learn even more from one of the best, and someone who unconsciously shaped my childhood with “The Sandlot.”

Can you tell me a little bit about the role you have with Tony and on-set?

My position on set is Assistant to the Director of Photography. I assume it will be something similar to a Camera PA but whatever the job calls for, I am overly excited and willing to take part in this production.

What do you expect to achieve / learn from this position?

This will be my first feature set I’m taking part in, so I know there will be a lot of learning coming with the territory. Being with Tony every step of the way will definitely allow for some needed new knowledge and skills as an aspiring cinematographer; but I love operating and gripping as well, so I will definitely be keeping a watchful eye on those positions on set and ready with plenty of questions. I will be surrounded by nothing but experienced professionals on set, so I plan on soaking in all the information I can — especially set etiquette and procedures — because I take pride in not wasting time or money on set.

Is your goal to be the main cinematographer on feature films? Is there any style or genre that you prefer?

Yes, my goal is to be the main cinematographer on feature films. I started out as a news and documentary camera operator, which helped me transition into film and I still have a love and passion for operating, but cinematographer is the main objective. Outside of feature films I’ve had a growing interest in creating art installations.

How would you describe your overall experience in the NYFA Cinematography program?

Honestly, I loved every minute of my time in the cinematography program. I’ve learned so much over the course of these two years that I would have never thought I could possibly retain. I think NYFA has the best group of cinematographers to not only instruct us but prepare each and every person that comes through that program for life, in general. This has been the best decision I’ve made in my life.

Are you working on any films of your own that you’d like to share with us?

I recently DP’d a close friend’s thesis that I would love for people to see. I think the story is amazing and very touching. The title is “1 Chance” and I think it is a great representation of the times, and really gives the audience hope in the world we live in today. Other than that, I am really focusing on learning a lot from this upcoming experience with Tony Richmond and coming back to Los Angeles — or wherever I may land — and applying my knowledge and skills to all endeavors to come.

Australia Gold Coast Grad’s “Ravish Blue” Screens at NBC Universal Short Film Festival

New York Film Academy Australia, Gold Coast graduate Jakim Wong’s thesis film “Ravish Blue,” is an Official Selection at the Discordia Sydney Film Festival, IndieFlix, and Indiegogo Film Festival. The film has also screened at the NBC Universal Short Film Festival in San Francisco.

“It’s been over six months since I graduated from NYFA,” said Wong. “Simply put, I have been having fun, which is the most important thing! ‘Ravish Blue,’ my final film, has been in several film festivals nationwide and still going strong. This has pushed me to do even more. ‘Ravish’ is now getting its own soundtrack, adding a scene or two, getting polished up, re-color-graded, and mixed.”

Wong has also completed filming his new short “Rawry McDermott and the Eon Bridger,” which is scheduled to be released on the festival circuit in September 2016.

In addition, Wong has secured a deal with Ipswich’s “Willowbank Raceway,” who are providing him with funding to bring a drag-racing feature to life. This project will be his first feature film. Currently titled “SJDR,” the feature commences principal photography later this year in the Ipswich/Willowbank area of Queensland and will involve race cars, high performance vehicles, car chases, drones and, as Wong puts it, “guaranteed fun.”

NYFA REPRESENTING IN 2016 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

With the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival underway, the New York Film Academy is proud to have both an alumnus and an instructor screening their films at this year’s festival. The two films are:

“Gods Acre” – directed by Kelton Stepanowich and produced by NYFA alumnus Eric Janvier

The film is about an older aboriginal man, Frank, struggling to adapt to a constantly changing world. Isolated in the wilderness, his roots are firmly planted in the customs passed on to him like his ancestors before. The everyday problems of the outside world creep closer to his doorstep. As water begins swallowing up the land his cabin stands on, Frank must grapple with the decision to either abandon his home or adapt to an impossible situation.

“I was able to use the skills I learned at NYFA after graduating,” said Janvier. “I want to thank the staff at NYFA for all the great things they’ve taught me, and I wouldn’t be where I am without the school.”

“Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” – directed by Matt Tyrnauer and edited by NYFA instructor Bob Eisenhardt

NYFA editing instructor Bob Eisenhardt is a three-time Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee. With over 60 films to his credit, he has edited documentaries for Barbara Kopple, Maysles Films, Susan Froemke, Matt Tyrnauer, Marc Levin, David Grubin and Alex Gibney. His recent films include “Wagner’s Dream,” which received an Emmy nomination for editing, “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” “Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing,” “Living Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders” and “Dancing in Jaffa.”

The documentary, “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City,” chronicles legendary writer and urban activist Jane Jacobs’ battle to save historic NYC neighborhoods from the draconian redevelopment plans of ruthless power broker Robert Moses in the 1960s. At stake was whether the city’s historic neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, Soho, and Little Italy would stay intact or be split apart by expressways.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from Sept. 8 – 18.

MFA Filmmaking Grad to Judge Washington West Film Festival

MFA Filmmaking graduate Al Hallak has directed numerous award-winning film projects including his sci-fi thriller “The Paradigm,” which was his thesis film at NYFA. The film earned several honors including The Award of Excellence at Los Angeles Movie Awards.

Since graduating, Hallak started his own film production business in Burbank, CA and received a certificate of recognition from Burbank Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy. He was also commended by The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Given his status as a freelance filmmaker, currently working and residing in Washington D.C., Hallak was recently selected to be a judge at the upcoming Washington West Film Festival in Washington, D.C. The festival was founded upon the belief that story can change the world and aims to spotlight films that provoke us to dream and question what we know to be true. Films that inspire us to see the potential of what could be and that ultimately paint a unique picture of the raw human condition.

“This is a great opportunity; it is a very important film festival sponsored by Boeing,” says Hallak. “I am always proud of NYFA, and I hope to see NYFA students and graduates at the Festival in October.”

WWFF will run from October 19-25, 2016 in Washington D.C.

Broadcast Journalism School Updates for September ’16

NYFA Broadcast Journalism grad, and Cox Media Washington correspondent, George Colli covered an important story over the past weekend. He spoke with the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Tom Frieden, about the failure of the U.S. Congress to provide funding for the ongoing fight against the Zika virus. The CDC and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have run out of money, and it could bring mosquito control efforts and vaccine research to a halt at the end of the month.

On a far lighter note, NYFA Broadcast Journalism grad Chiara Carcano is off on a worldwide adventure. She is one of the participants in Donnaventura, a hybrid Italian travel/adventure television series. Good luck, Kiki!

While the Rio Olympics are now a memory, we just found out that one of our grads was working at the Broadcast Center. Karina Gaudereto was one of the brave Brazilians who came to NYFA in the middle of a cold, wet, dark New York winter. Congratulations, Karina.

Finally, Good Morning America — ABC’s morning chat show — recently introduced a new set and a new format for the last half-hour of the program. But before they could take the show to air, they had to block out all of the camera angles and locations. A group of NYFA faculty and students came by to help play the role of “audience” during the rehearsals. Editing instructor Ed Parada took some still images of the occasion. He even took one of me! Which means, for you incoming students, you now will recognize me on Registration Day.

NYFA ALUMNA ISSA RAE STARS IN HER OWN HBO SERIES “INSECURE”

New York Film Academy alumna, Issa Rae, star of the popular web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” and HBO’s upcoming series “Insecure,” has landed a two-year deal with the network. As part of the deal, Rae will help develop HBO programming across its stable of distribution channels, with a special focus on diversity.

Rae won a Shorty award for “Awkward Black Girl.” The series inspired both an essay collection of the same name as well as “Insecure,” which Rae stars in and is writing with Emmy award winner Larry Wilmore, previously of “The Daily Show” and his own “Nightly Show.”

In the show, Issa’s character works at a nonprofit for inner-city kids, where she is exhausted by her white co-workers, who treat her with a mix of condescension and curiosity. She shares the spotlight with her friend, corporate lawyer Molly (Yvonne Orji), and lives her boyfriend Lawrence (Jay Ellis).

“I want to make this very clear,” Rae said in a Time magazine interview. “This is not the quintessential black woman experience. It’s a very specific experience.”

Rae will become one of the few African American women to create and star in her own series. “It took me a while to realize that the way I am is black,” she said in a Glamour interview. “That being black is not just one thing. That no one could define my blackness, that I could make my own definitions of blackness. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment that happened, but I do know that realizing I don’t need to be limited instilled in me a new confidence.”

Be sure to check out her new series “Insecure” on HBO Sunday, Oct. 9, at 10:30 p.m.

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 Australia Grad Jessica Bridger Lands Camera Gig with Channel 7 News

One of our recent One Year Filmmaking graduates, Jessica Bridger, from New York Film Academy Australia, Gold Coast, is now a Weekend Camera Operator for the local Channel 7 News, which covers Rockhampton and the Central Queensland Region.

We recently caught up with Ms. Bridger to learn more about her and her new career.

If someone was making a movie about your life, what genre would it be, who would play you and what would be the title?

Comedy/drama; Emma Stone or Hailee Steinfeld; and “Adulthood: Are you sure?”

If you had one sentence / log line that could change the world, what would it be?

Do what you love, not what you’re told to.

You’ll always find a way, no matter what.

What did you enjoy most about studying at NYFA?

Definitely working with new and interesting people and collaborating on different projects.

How has NYFA prepared you for working in the “real world” of Film/TV/Entertainment?

If I didn’t have the knowledge I have now, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’ve only been gone a year and already amounted to something in the industry. It’s amazing what can happen within the space of a year.

What exciting project/s and/or plans do you have now or coming up?

Right now I’m just taking each day as it comes. Weekend camera operating is something different everyday. I could be shooting a football game one minute and going to an accident or house fire the next. I’m interested to see where I’m headed in my career.

San Diego Padres Invite NYFA Veterans for Late Season Showdown vs Boston Redsox

Student Veterans from the New York Film Academy College of Visual & Performing Arts (NYFA) were invited by the San Diego Padres as special guests of the organization to attend the Labor Day game against the Boston Redsox.

The Padres’ Matt Coy, Senior Director, Content & Presentation, gave the NYFA veterans a VIP tour of the production booth. The students had the wonderful opportunity to engage with the Padres’ production staff and learn more about the cameras, equipment, and technology that they use to broadcast the games.

Doug Prideaux, NYFA BFA Acting student, stated, “This was an amazing opportunity to attend my first Major League Baseball game with my fellow veterans. To be able to learn more about the behind the scenes production of each Padres game was an incredible experience.”

padres field — View from the San Diego Padres’ Production Booth

The San Diego Padres are very supportive of the military and veteran communities often hosting veterans’ appreciation events each season. NYFA’s Office of Veterans Services is grateful for the support that the San Diego Padres provide to the military community and student veterans attending the New York Film Academy.

“Imitation of Life” Photography Exhibit at Broad Musuem

The Spring 2016 1 Year Photography class from New York Film Academy Los Angeles traveled to the Broad Museum in downtown LA recently to specifically see the large Cindy Sherman retrospective that the museum is exhibiting. This retrospective, “Imitation of Life,” is a range of work she created during the beginning of her career while still living in Buffalo, New York. Of course, they also showed Untitled Film Stills and then more mid-career work like the History series. They also displayed some of her work in the lines of the grotesque and several large prints of work that was created this year.

Overall, the exhibition laid out not just her 40 year career but, because she is so influential, it also touches upon many of the issues that have dominated the arts, particularly in photography, during that period. Sherman is considered a practitioner in the post-modern Pictures generation and her work nudges on themes of feminism, horror, appropriation (of cinema), cinema as a widespread contemporary language, and horror including the grotesque. Because her work is self-portraiture and follows the entirety of her adult life, it illustrates a more personal practice and is increasingly engaged with aging.

Students had plenty of time to peruse the exhibition. They were also able to check out the permanent Broad collection upstairs. The students were genuinely impressed, particularly on a technical level.

One student said that he felt seeing the work was more exciting than seeing the Broad’s permanent collection (even the though the permanent collection has Warhols). They said the Cindy Sherman show seemed “more contemporary.” All the students commented that they found it very satisfactory to see the work in person rather than on a screen, especially since some of the work was so large.

They were surprised that Cindy Sherman is the photographer, director, make-up artist, hairstylist and the subject in all her work. Cindy works alone and the students were more than impressed, they were inspired.