Page 239 – NYFA

NYFA Awards “The King of Judo” at Moscow Pitch Fest

The Youth Center of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation held its eighth Pitch Fest for Debutants as part of the 38th Moscow International Film Festival on June 21-22. Over the years, more than 2,000 young filmmakers, from leading art universities and film schools, have attended the Pitch Fest and about 20 of their films have been produced.

This year 686 projects were submitted for consideration (289 – short films, 236 – features, 124 – TV series, and 37 – documentaries) and 10 from each category were chosen for the final Pitch Fest. Young filmmakers had an opportunity to present their ideas to an expert jury consisting of professionals in the field of film and television.

And we are happy to announce that a special prize from the New York Film Academy—a One Week Workshop Certificate in any subject—was awarded to professional journalist and aspiring screenwriter Alexey Khodorych for his television project, The King of Judo.

The King of Judo is a family mini-series adaptation of the eponymous story by Albert Ivanov. This is a story of growing up, which explores the theme of the manifestation of evil in man rising.

Coincidently, Alexey Khodorych had a previous encounter with the New York Film Academy. In 2008 he interviewed NYFA Instructor an award-winning writer, director and producer, Paul Brown, for a major Russian newspaper, Kommersant. At the time, Paul Brown who worked on such series as The X-Files, Quantum Leap, The New Twilight Zone, Star Trek Voyager and Enterprise, was visiting Moscow with NYFA for a hands-on workshop. Now Aleksey can come to Los Angeles to continue their old conversation while learning new crafts and gaining new skills.

We hope to see Alexey Khodorych among our students soon! And we also would like to wish the best of luck to all the Debutant Pitch Fest participants in their careers! Believe, dare, do!

NYFA Broadcast Journalism Students to Cover NATO Summit

One of the biggest global stories this week is the biennial heads-of-state NATO conference taking place in Poland. With Britain’s pending exit from the European Union, and continuing tensions between NATO members and Russia, this summit has taken on added significance.

And NYFA News is there!

Yesterday Alisa Rajkitkul and Urvashi Barua left for Warsaw. Earlier this year, Urvashi and Alisa—thanks to hard work, superior reporting skills, and a bit of luck—were able to become accredited White House reporters. (That’s right, just like the correspondents from ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.)

They were invited by the White House Press Office to travel to the NATO Summit, along with a Presidential visit to Spain on the way back to the United States.

As far as I know, this is the first time student journalists have ever traveled with the President of the United States as accredited reporters. It’s evidence of just how far the skills students learn in the New York Film Academy Broadcast Journalism program can take them…

BFA and MFA Photography Gallery Show

The BFA and MFA Photography Gallery Show of the Spring 2016 graduating students from the New York Film Academy Los Angeles was held at Schomburg Gallery, in the famous Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA. The seven MFA students and three BFA students had a wonderful turn out of 250 people. Aside from family and friends, one of the guests was the retired curator of photography from the Getty Museum – Weston Naef – who stopped by to enjoy the exhibition.

Bergamot Station is a facility housing multiple art galleries in Santa Monica, California. The site 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 on schedule to become a Historical Landmark in the next few years.

The New York Film Academy and Schomburg Gallery at Bergamot Station have created a partnership and the BFA and MFA Photography shows will be exhibited there every semester going forward.

Student Networking Night in LA

Every semester New York Film Academy Los Angeles gathers young aspiring professionals together to provide them with an opportunity to establish new connections and share their ideas and projects while building a strong list of professional contacts. It was a huge turn out for Student Networking Night on June 24th, which was hosted by NYFA’s Chair of Industry Outreach, Barbara Weintraub.

“This is my second networking event at NYFA and it’s very helpful,” remarked MA Filmmaking Student, Daniel Peres Morel. “Here I’m getting all type of connections—meeting producers, cinematographers, people who I become friends with, collaborate with—and I’m very grateful for that opportunity.”

In the creative spirit of “meet & greet,” non-profit organization NewFilmmakers LA (NFMLA) joined the event to share information about all the wonderful showcases and screenings they organize monthly to support emerging filmmakers. NFMLA provides a forum where filmmakers can be recognized for their contributions, have open audience discussions about their projects and connect with industry professionals for insight on distribution, production, acquisition and representation.

“This event is really important, because connections you make here could bring you on further when you go into your life after school,” commented One-Year Acting for Film student Stephanie Weise.

Business cards were exchanged, filmmakers crewed up and lots of pizza was eaten!

“It was a great event to meet actors, actresses, directors, and filmmakers all under one roof,” added One-Year Cinematography student Zachary Haussmann.

NYFA is very excited that students from different programs were able to find collaborators with shared interests.

Former Students Return to Discuss Production of First Feature

New York Film Academy Producing and Screenwriting Alumni Justin Ford and Mark DeBarr spoke with current students last night about collaborations and their first feature film Lemons. Set in New York’s Lower East Side, the low budget film charts the breakup of a relationship between two Millenials.

nyfa mixer — NYFA alumni Justin Ford and Mike DeBarr with NYFA Producing Chair, Neil Weisman

Written and directed by Mike DeBarr, produced by Justin Ford, and shot by fellow NYFA Producing graduate Heikki Herlin, the film is currently in post-production. Mike and Heikki also share producing credit.

Having met at NYFA, Justin and Mike spoke about the development, financing, and production of the project, and shared their marketing and distribution plans in a conversation moderated by Producing Department Chair Neal Weisman.

The team hopes to launch Lemons at a prominent film festival in early 2017. A mixer followed, encouraging current Producing and Screenwriting students to start their own NYFA collaborations.

NYFA Alumni Panel Talks Business, Networking and Movie Trivia Following Screening of “Hellion”

New York Film Academy had the pleasure of welcoming back alumni Tanner Beard, Steven Garcia, Ashley Eberbach, and Ryan Rottman. These former students returned after over a decade, having attended NYFA Los Angeles when it was a small group of offices running out of the Universal backlot.

The evening started with Hellion, starring Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad and produced by Tanner Beard’s production company, Silver Sail Entertainment. They also screened a trailer of an upcoming film from Silver Sail Entertainment. Filmmaking instructor Eric Conner moderated the Q&A that followed.

One of the first things the group focused on was the importance of being a positive person to work with, with Ryan Rottman saying, “In this town, the nicer you are, the more real you are…people appreciate that.” Rottman has acted in several TV series, including 90210, The Lying Game, and Happyland. He’ll be appearing in the upcoming film, Billionaire Boys Club.

Steven Garcia, VP, Current Programing and Development at B17 Entertainment, added, “I’m thankful I’ve surrounded myself with good people. I’ve been a good enough teammate to have them keep me around.”

This went along with the question they were asked about how to network. The whole panel agreed when Rottman said to “talk to other people.” Beard added that students should “surround [themselves] with people who love what you love and do what you do. Once you get out of school you’re so hungry for it, you forget it’s going to take time.”

6 Bullets to Hell – Video Game Doc from Ashley Eberbach on Vimeo.

They did admit how difficult the business could be, but their hope was to show that it is possible to succeed. Beard said that “it never gets easier. It was something I wanted very badly. I took the glass half full approach.”

Rottman advised that students “not [let] it beat you down…just keep going. I know people who booked it…do your best.”

Ashley Eberbach, who works as a photographer and runs a multi-media production company in Los Angeles, chimed in, saying, “I think we all have war stories of like ‘I can’t believe that worked out.’ Make the best of it—the minute you break, that’s when you have a disaster. Making movies is supposed to be fun.”

They reminisced fondly about their time at NYFA, and Beard said that “it is so cool…we are so happy to be here.”

They concluded the evening with a movie trivia contest with prizes like Silver Sail Entertainment T-shirts and a signed event poster. We hope this will be the first of many visits back from these thriving, successful graduates.

Director Alexis Sweet Holds Guest Lecture at NYFA South Beach

An often overlooked but crucial element in pre-production is storyboarding. Recently, the New York Film Academy South Beach invited director Alexis Sweet to the college to speak on the importance of this very topic. Sweet provided several storyboard examples from his own films and music videos, which he has been working on since 1981.

Sweet has worked on feature films and TV commercials as 1st Assistant Director with filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Hugh Hudson, Joe Pytka, John Boorman, Ridley Scott, Nick Roeg, Richard Loncraine, Spike Lee, Mike Figgis, Tsui Hark and others over the years.

From 1995 to 2003, he made a number of wildlife documentaries in Africa for national parks and projects funded by the EU.

By 2002 he had shot over 100 TV commercials for Italy, Romania, Germany, US, England, Kenya and the Middle East.

In 2003, upon meeting Pietro Valsecchi, he was offered to direct two seasons of “RIS Delitti imperfetti,” an Italian television series that is currently number one in Italy and France.

Given the fact that Sweet has such a vast background in the industry, students were able to openly ask questions and get a greater insight into the job of a director.

The New York Film Academy South Beach would like to thank director Alexis Sweet for taking time out from his duties at the Miami Independent Film Festival to come and speak with our students.

LA Students Attend Private Screening of Spielberg’s “BFG”

Students at New York Film Academy Los Angeles were invited to a private screening of Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie, The BFG, starring Academy Award-winning actor, Mark Rylance.

From the moment we heard that Spielberg was doing a 3-D re-imagination of the classic Roald Dahl book The BFG, we knew that something special was headed to our cinema screens.

With mobile phones being locked away, the air filled with excitement and suspense. As the lights dimmed and the projector illuminated the screen, the audience calmed as the titles rolled. Throughout the duration of the film, not a single person stirred out of anticipation or anxiousness to see the film end. Everyone was enthralled with what was happening on the screen.

The music by John Williams was nothing less than brilliant (as per usual) and Spielberg’s direction elevated and revitalized Roald Dahl’s storytelling. From the effects to the acting, the direction to the editing, the film delivered a cinematic experience that would be appreciated by anyone who decides to see it.

Growing up reading the books by the literary legend that is Roald Dahl, we knew that director Steven Spielberg would not disappoint. The combination of both a literary legend and a visionary director made it clear that classic storytelling and modern cinema can work hand in hand to create a film that speaks to all ages, all genders, and all demographics.

This film was entertaining, heartwarming and an overall pleasure to watch in the cinema. Be sure to check it out in theaters this Friday, July 1st!

– by Joshua Thomas – MFA Producing and Samuel Ellis – BFA Screenwriting

NYFA Grads Team Up For “Thumbs Up”

Acting for Film graduate Mey Ferdinand, who came to NYFA from Brazil, has recently spent a week in Los Angeles to act in the Brazilian-American production called Thumbs Up, directed by NYFA alumnus Brian Visciglia. The LA based film was produced in partnership with local and international artists, and the production company Red Line Filmes.

Thumbs Up surrounds Internet celebrity, Gabriel, a young Brazilian artist who becomes lost in his own fame. Dealing with his agent, personal problems, as well as his superficial and selfish decisions moves him into an entirely new lifestyle that is anything but “normal.”

With an international cast and crew, the movie focuses on the fact that today’s Internet stars are the new decision-makers in the entertainment world and, often times, are not prepared to handle the responsibilities. The goal of the film is to show how the Internet influences our youth not only in the US and South America, but in the entire world.

The film is also an important lesson to all of our students, as we always encourage our graduates to work on projects with the people they hit it off with in school.

“NYFA was very important to my career,” said Ferdinand. “Not only for its acting lessons, but all of the networking I was able to do while attending.”

Upon her return to New York, Ferdinand will be acting in another short called Model Life, where she plays a fashion director of a magazine. The film will be released for cable in Manhattan.