Page 24 – NYFA

Q&A With Acting For Film Alum Z Tozum on What Motivates Her as an Actress & Staying Positive

Posted on April 27, 2021November 16, 2022 by nyfa

From switching careers and hopping into the world of acting Zeynep (“Z”) Tozum, found a new world where she realized she fit in and belonged. After years in a different profession, the Acting for Film alum decided it was time for a change and to pursue her love of cinema and explore the performing arts.

New York Film Academy caught of the Acting Conservatory alum to discuss her plans post-graduation, staying creative during a worldwide pandemic, and her latest project Zoomin’.

New York Film Academy (NYFA): For so many people, switching careers is such a tough decision. What made you knew you could do it/want to leave and pursue acting?

Z Tozum (ZT): Honestly, I didn’t know if I could actually do it at first. I knew I was a curious/restless learner and was finding myself in a season of feeling stagnant, a familiar place similar to the one I was in 12 years ago when I embarked on a different professional transition; I felt the urge to move into another area. This time though, it was more of a conscious decision to leave my all too comfortable profession and learn a completely new set of skills.

To start off, I knew I wanted to do something around Cinema. Watching movies has been like breathing to me since the age of 10 when my dad instilled in me the love of the movies. While considering studying, I realized that unless I understood what acting was all about; studying filmmaking or screenwriting wouldn’t really make sense to me. And yet, I hadn’t even worn a tutu as a child, nor ever walked on stage with the exception of my earlier career as an executive. So I decided to give it a chance and took some classes in Portland, Oregon, where I fell in love with acting.

The following year, I set my eyes on NYFA, put my business on hold and took the 8-Week Acting For Film program to explore whether or not I could do it. After graduation, the fabulous Blanche Baker took me by the hand and set me up for an audition to apply for the 1-Year Conservatory Program. The rest is history!

Why I love acting is a question I continually ponder and the answer changes every other week: these days, I believe acting makes me feel more alive. The moment I say that I realize in how many different ways, it actually has bewitched me.

NYFA: What made you want to come to NYFA?

ZT: I was impressed that faculty was chosen from working artists and experts. I come from a corporate background, so I care a lot about practicing and learning from those experiments and failures. I sensed that the coursework would go beyond foundational theory and intellect around the matter and really teach through practice, and that grabbed me. Understanding that I am joining the game much later than my classmates, I needed to be as ready as I possibly could in order to launch myself into the work straight out of school.

NYFA: Do you have any advice for incoming students?

ZT: I’d recommend putting aside what they already know, lean into their incompetence, and trust their teachers when they get challenging assignments no matter how uncomfortable they may feel. As students at NYFA, we had the luxury of having this huge safety net: our teachers. I often felt like a baby bird, unaware that I had wings and when asked to fly off the branch and couldn’t breathe, there was always an instructor to catch me if I fell (and I’ve learned how to fall too). How rare it must be to have a support system like this in the alleys of this profession!

Stay curious about themselves; praise will be plenty but stay hungry for stretching feedback too. Lastly, stop whining about the non-stop anxiety: when I stopped, accepting that it’s part of the work, life got better

NYFA: What projects have you worked on?

ZT: As soon as I graduated from NYFA and got my OPT/work permit, I started auditioning. Barely four weeks into that process, COVID-19 hit us all. I had a year ahead of me to work as an actor, to get some commercial credits for a longer-term artist visa, and boom! That movie had ended so abruptly.

Then I took a deep breath in and created my own project: a mini web series with a group of very talented people, called Zooming In, which went live on YouTube in November 2020.

Screenshot from Zooming In Episode 4- “If You Can Even Call It That”

NYFA: Can you tell us more about your new series Zooming In that you created? Where did you get the idea and how did it come to be?

ZT: After a few weeks of mental and emotional stress, I decided that I needed to create my own project in order to keep my sanity intact and to keep working on my craft despite the industry’s complete shut-down. I had been thinking a lot about how social lives had been reduced to the size of a phone or computer screen and how that must be affecting people in many facets given their psychological make-up, experiences, habits, and will to survive. One evening, I found myself imagining the life of a working woman, living by herself and struggling on all fronts of life. I wrote a synopsis and the first episode for a mini web-series idea.

I sent it to Jenna Mate, my teacher from NYFA and a theatre director. She liked the idea and very generously offered to direct it (all on Zoom of course). Honestly though, I don’t know that I could ever do this project if it wasn’t for Jenna’s encouragement and ability to refine the idea, get writers to write the remaining episodes, and enroll other actors. Her work with us on this project was crucial. I realize now that if there is hope and will, there is always a way. Then there is the element of luck too, but luck is not enough on its own either; it’s really choosing NYFA as my drama school, the way they set us up for challenges, and Jenna Mate’s big heart and professional expertise that made it all come together.

NYFA: It’s been a tough time for the film and entertainment industry, how have you stayed positive?

ZT: Accepting the circumstances (no jobs; threatened health; isolation), staying sharp with what I wanted (to act), creating options to practice (continuing training in specific areas of the craft), and ferociously reading and watching performances…all these helped me preserve my mental and emotional sanity. While writing these words, I am realizing how similar it is to the process of acting: know your circumstances, know your objective, go and get it in any way you can. I am thinking that acting is all about living, and the reverse is equally true too.

Lastly, the power of hope. That is why we called it “Project Hope.” All cast and crew members donated their time to bring this project to life. We hope this will create a wave of “hope” among performing artists who are facing trials/ hardship during these disturbing and challenging times.

NYFA: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

ZT: Four months have passed since Zooming In went live and my mind is already set for doing a new/better/different project. That keeps me energized and growing and while the chaos of our days can be disturbing, I do believe we risk perishing in an excess of stability as well. Hence the beauty of welcoming change and acting on it!

I’d like to end with a moving quote from W. Saroyan (from the introduction to his play called Time of your Life):

“In the time of your life, live so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”

New York Film Academy would like to thank Z Tozum for taking the time to share more about how she got her start in acting and her motivations for the craft.

How NYFA Alum Camilo Navas Created His Animation Project “George is Hungry”

Posted on April 8, 2021November 16, 2022 by nyfa

What does it take to actually make a creative animation sequence? Hard work, a bit of training, and the drive to manage multiple skillsets at once. From Game Design to Animation, NYFA students are taught the tools they need from some of the most skilled instructors in the business to create some of your favorite pieces you see every day in the digital world.

Colombia native Camilo Navas came to New York to visit a friend, who introduced him to an instructor that taught at NYFA. The instructor then told Navas about scholarships and ways to make studying at the school possible for what he wanted to study.

“I liked the city and the school was film and media-focused, so I loved it. The next semester after that, I started my admissions process, although I started studying Game Design and then I found out that what I really wanted to learn was Animation, so I was able to swap my program.”

During their course, Animation students are trained to use multiple tools to create their assignments. For one project, Navas created a sequence called “George is Hungry,” and explained that he used Zbrush for modeling, Motion Builder for the animation and motion capture, and Maya as the 3D software, among others.

Still from “George is Hungry” (Photo courtesy of Camilo Navas)

For this same assignment, the NYFA alum decided not to storyboard it as some other creators may choose. “I actually didn’t storyboard the film because I’m not a great drawer,” he shared. “I had the plan of implementing motion capture, which would allow me to make an animatic. It was a great idea because it adds the timing of the acting and lets me place the camera wherever I want. It was like shooting a movie that I could rewind and fast forward, and I didn’t have the pressure of being on a budget or limited time for shooting.”

For the whole process, Navas revealed that there was a workflow he followed to create his project that made the work more seamless, due to the complicated nature of animation. His process included the following order of operations:

Scripting the story
Modeling the characters
Rigging
Motion capture
Animation editing
Blocking the camera
Animatic
Dynamics
Rendering
Compositing
Editing
Sound design
Exporting the final result

“I chose the tools that needed the smallest investment of time and effort in order to get results faster and make corrections multiple times. It could be considered an iterative process. The project itself needed 5 months to be completed including the sound.”

For this project, Navas needed sound to make the sequence complete, so when that was ready, the 1-Year 3D Animation alum had his finished project ready. “What happens on the screen is what creates the need for sound and music.”

With this project now finished and Navas graduated from NYFA, he is looking to produce a second episode and eventually make George’s universe from “George is Hungry” into a series. Navas also encourages those who are interested in animation to seek it out and pursue their passion.

“There are probably a lot of people like me, who think that you need to be super smart and a talented illustrator in order to achieve some success in this field. I previously said that before NYFA I didn’t know anything about animation or I even didn’t have skills like drawing. Sincerely, I still don’t know how to draw the human body with its proportions, but it really doesn’t matter because creating an animation piece is a colossal amount of work that it’s very likely for anyone to find a job to do where they are good at it.”

New York Film Academy would like to thank the NYFA alum, Camilo Navas, for sharing more about his experience studying in the Animation Conservatory at NYFA and for giving readers insight into what goes into creating a full animation sequence.

The Snyder Cut of “Justice League” – How Fans Got a Different Film

Posted on March 23, 2021November 16, 2022 by nyfa

It’s here. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is finally here.

After three years and four months campaigning against the theatrical release that was put out by Joss Whedon and Warner Bros., the fandom finally prevailed and the fabled Snyder Cut of the Justice League film was released on HBO Max on March 19, 2021.

Before diving into the four-plus hour epic, let’s rewind it back for some context as to why a new cut was necessary and shouted into existence by the fandom and Snyder himself.

After the tragic death of Snyder’s daughter Autumn, he departed Justice League to be with family. At this time, the film was pretty much completely shot and all that was left was digital effects, some reshoots, and editing. Enter Joss Whedon who was brought in to do the rest of the reshoots and rewrites, however, he was given more creative control. Thus, a film very different from Zack Snyder’s vision was put out into the world. This film was released on Nov 17, 2017. Then on Nov 19th, just two days later, the online campaign for the Snyder cut began.

The original release of Justice League was so poorly received that the campaign to release the Snyder caught traction from the cast and Snyder himself, who began to jump on the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement. Warner Bros. had no choice but to give the fans what they wanted.

(Left) Whedon’s opening cut with Superman and (Right) Snyder’s opening cut with Superman

Snyder was then given free rein (mostly) to put together his vision of Justice League as he intended it to be, and in 2020 it was announced that it would be released on HBO Max. That vision included a film presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, divided into multiple parts, and given an R rating. Not to mention, the film is over four hours long, so prepare to schedule plenty of bathroom breaks and an intermission stretch.

Let’s talk about the film.

It’s good. It’s not great, but it’s not bad. This version of the film could truly have been great had there been just a little less of it. A little less of…everything.

First off, while the story in parts was a great idea in place of the film that was already released and seen by the entire fandom, there could easily have been 30 seconds shaved off of nearly every scene. Did we really need the entire Norwegian song at the end of the first Bruce Wayne and Arthur Curry scene? Do we need THAT much slo-mo? And while it was a cool sound effect the first few times, did we really need the wailing Amazon sound effect on every single Wonder Woman scene? Probably not.

Snyder is well known for being an overindulgent filmmaker as evidenced by his directorial style (300, Watchmen, Suckerpunch), with a penchant for highly extended versions of past films and an excess of every detail in some of the most mundane scenes. So it’s not entirely a surprise

Still from Snyder’s “Justice League” ending (HBO Max)

Next is the ending. This film would have had the most perfect ending had the film ended with the final scene of the entire justice league officially assembled for the first time post-victory. Instead, we get an epilogue that’s an additional 20 minutes in length which includes a dream sequence that is completely disconnected from the story told in this film. While the final scene, which was shot for the first time for this release, does indeed pertain to some events that have taken place within the Snyderverse, it would have been better served as a mid or post-credit scene. Placed where was, only serves to confuse the audience.

Important additions that needed to be made.

The most apparent change to the story comes with the inclusion of the storylines for people of color in the film. In the theatrical cut, the people of color who play a strong pivotal role in the story of the film, their scenes of character development, and the overall arcs of some of these characters were completely cut out by Whedon.

Joe Morton, who played Victor Stone a.k.a Cyborg’s father, played an immensely pivotal role in the entire film. Without understanding his relationship with his son, his desire to right his wrongs as a father, and his direct involvement with the Mother Box (an item of interest to the antagonist of the film), you do not have a compelling foundation for Ray Fisher’s Cyborg at all.

Whedon’s cut had Victor’s screentime cut down dramatically, along with the complete removal of scenes with Kiersey Clemmons, Harry Lennix, and Zheng Kai. Most notably, Snyder’s cut gave us more Cyborg, while in Whedon’s cut, the lack of Cyborg was an absolutely disrespectful and full-on disservice to Cyborg’s involvement in the storyline and his own character arc.

Fisher’s anger towards Warner Bros. and Whedon seems to be in full merit based on the performance showcased in the Snyder Cut. In fact, Cyborg is the heart of the film and is the reason this film’s narrative is so good. Cyborg’s story, coupled with Fisher’s performance, is the only reason you need to sit through this four-hour epic.

Cyborg, The Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman (HBO Max)

Other improved elements include Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash, who all receive more fleshed-out storylines in Snyder’s cut. Steppenwolf also gets more on-screen time to cement him as a phenomenal villain with emotional range and purpose. In addition, Synder’s cut treated true DC fans to the reveal of Darkseid and a revived Superman donning a black suit and cape.

What’s next?

This is a new era; one in which the fans can strongarm major companies and bend them to their will with a simple keyboard stroke. With the success of Snyder’s Justice League, Warner Bros. would be hard-pressed to not turn their back on the fans and continue his vision for the rest of the DC Snyderverse. Do they turn back the hands of time and pick up where they left off or is this it?

Only time and fans will tell.

How To Direct a Short Film For Adult Swim

Posted on March 5, 2021January 4, 2024 by nyfa

Whether it’s long-form or short-form content, there are so many different ways to storyboard, direct, write, shoot, and experiment with film. But how does one exactly bring a concept to life from start to finish?

NYFA alum Dylan Mars Greenberg, who has been hailed as a cult filmmaker, explains that it’s all about surrounding yourself with the right people. Greenberg, known for feature films Dark Prism, ReAgitator, and the upcoming film Spirit Riser, recently directed a short for Adult Swim’s Smalls compilation called The Puppeteer’s Assistant, which required a skilled team to pull it off.

How To Direct a Short Film For Adult Swim: Interview With NYFA Alum Dylan Mars Greenberg & The Crew of “The Puppeteer’s Assistant”

The Puppeteer’s Assistant was comprised of live-action and CGI elements. It was an ambitious project that required a group effort to get the concept off the ground from paper to screen and shoot during the COVID-19 pandemic. Greenberg, along with collaborators Hannah Schilsky and Glitter Macabre, spoke with NYFA about how they were able to bring their short to life and create the magic and majesty of the live-action/CGI puppets.

New York Film Academy (NYFA): How did The Puppeteer’s Assistant come to be? How did it get picked up by Adult Swim?

Dylan Mars Greenberg (DG): At the encouragement of my friend Avi Ezor, I originally brought some of my ideas and past work to Development Meeting, an excellent streaming show which unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore. The format was that anyone can call in and pitch things to the hosts and, if they like it, they send you a few hundred dollars. They liked what I showed them and sent me some money, so that was a really wonderful way to get a foot in the door. Then, Avi encouraged me to reach out to Dave Hughes, who is in charge of the Adult Swim Smalls and creator of the show Off The Air, on Twitter. Dave was very friendly and cool and invited me to email him! So I pitched him a few ideas, which just didn’t exactly fit the bill of what they were looking for until I remembered a puppet story, which I had actually come up with a while ago. I sometimes would just tell people about how puppets can’t drink saltwater as a joke because my natural sense of humor is to make up facts about things that just obviously don’t make any sense. So I pitched that and it clicked!

New York Film Academy (NYFA): How did you get involved in The Puppeteer’s Assistant?

Hannah Schilsky (HS): Dylan called me up very excited one day saying she had a project she wanted me to work on. While she explained the premise of the story they had written, in my mind, I had already decided I was on board. All of the creepy but beautiful wooden puppets I would get to sculpt appealed to my aesthetic, and the story is so absurd, it’s hilarious!

Glitter Macabre (GM): A year or two ago Dylan told me and Matilda Sabal (who created the miniature set seen in the short) a bit about puppets who drank salt water and turned evil. The idea was very silly and ominous, so I loved it. Dylan and I collaborate often, and when the idea was picked up by Adult Swim we started talking makeup and styling. Dylan asked me to create concept sketches for the puppets.

NYFA: When making this kind of short, what comes first: the concept or budget? How did you begin to envision the production as a whole?

DG: The concept definitely came first! I had actually thought about making it into a short earlier, just on my own, but making it for Adult Swim was a million times cooler! Once that came into place, I knew immediately for the live-action actors I wanted Jac Bernhard, who I met on the set of the movie Adam, and my friend and long-time collaborator Josafat Concepcion. I wanted to have a wide array of people with very distinctive voices do the puppets, so I got one of my closest collaborators, actor Amanda Flowers, to voice the princess puppet. Then, I reached out to my friend since elementary school Nicolai Gorden, who is now working as a voice actor professionally. I got Avi [Ezor], my friend Bonnie Bloomgarden from the band Death Valley Girls, who has a distinctive high voice, and I decided to voice the clown puppet myself. The next step was to figure out how to make the puppets actually come to life, which is where Hannah Schilsky and Glitter Macabre come in.

HS: My roles as both a producer and the 3D artist making all of the CGI put me in a position where I felt incredibly invested in this project and wanted to push it as far as I could. When Dylan sent me the script I knew right away how time-consuming of an endeavor this would be to pull off. I didn’t want to limit the story based on how much it would take to realistically hire a 3D artist. Having a producer title and seeing my time as an investment made a huge difference in the way I interacted with every aspect of the project. It motivated me to throw myself wholeheartedly into working on it every night after working a full-time day job. Ultimately, we ended up with a short film that included every frame of the original storyboards and that’s something I am really proud of.

GM: For me, the concept comes first-but both Dylan and I tend to start thinking about how to do something right away. Almost as soon as the idea was pitched she had created a storyboard. Those drawings inspired my designs for the characters. For example, she wanted The Boy to have a little ruffle around his neck and a curl painted on his forehead. We talked about the budget and supplies I would need early on while I was collecting pictures of suitably cute-and-creepy marionettes and rocking horses. Since the film was created in quarantine, we discussed filming the whole thing by ourselves.

At one point she [Greenberg] asked if I would put her in a big white beard and I would play the Boy. I am delighted he was instead played by Jac and that so many fabulous elements could be incorporated.

NYFA: With multiple elements involved (live-action/puppetry/animation), how did you and the crew juggle it all to combine seamlessly?

DG: I know this is such a cliché statement, but it was definitely a learning process. I had done a short film with Khloaris productions called The Bathtub, where we shot the actors on green screen and then composited them into miniatures. So, I had some experience with that concept and felt the best way to do it would be to once again shoot everyone on green screen. Believe it or not, I usually don’t do this, but in this instance, I did in fact storyboard each shot. I think that was essential for all the elements to blend together because that immediately puts us all on the same page in terms of what is happening where. I wanted the live actors and the animated characters to feel consistent which is where Glitter’s styling came in. Aside from the clown, which was fully designed by Hannah, Glitter drew each puppet character in detail, and then Hannah rendered them in three dimensions.

Then Glitter drew sketches of what we’d make the live actors look like, and actually made them look just as cartoonish with the power of makeup. That created a real consistency. Matilda Sabal also designed the set, which is a real miniature, and then I actually was tasked with photographing it from hundreds of different angles, sending it to Hannah, and then Hannah scanned those images and rebuilt the set on the computer. She’s a genius, I still can’t wrap my head around that. Then, there was basically the filming with the live actors, which took about four hours, and once the models were rendered, several sessions of essentially directing the animation like it was live-action. So, in real life, Adam Ninyo was the DP and in the animated world, Hannah is the DP, because she’s in control of the virtual camera, and in a way, she’s like a God. I say that because I’m asking her to make these creatures move in a certain way but she’s the one actually making them do that. It really felt close to directing living actors, I’d never experienced that before.

HS: The true ring leader behind that operation was Dylan. While I was in a work bubble only worrying about what I had to do they were herding the cats, myself included. She was personally involved with every aspect of the production, on top of tracking progress and dependencies, and that is how things ran so smoothly.

GM: Dylan was the center of communication between the production team. Once the script/storyboard was created, things were in motion. Hannah designed the clown puppet. It was perfect and told me how the marionettes should be proportioned, how they would move. I illustrated the other four puppets and sent ideas for textures, colors, fabrics. I looked at photos of the voice actors as references. The Fairy Princess puppet was directly inspired by Amanda Flowers. I believe the first time we met on one of Dylan’s music video shoots, she was wearing a giant fluffy pink dress! I also talked to Matilda about the set colors to make sure no one would be blending into the walls. It felt like a very smooth and positive process to me. I love the details that Hannah brought to life – like one of the King puppet’s eyes being a moving spiral. Everyone’s work came together really well, which speaks to the strength of Dylan’s vision and passion for this project.

Dylan Mars Greenberg (Left) shooting “The Puppeteer’s Assistant”

NYFA: What were some challenges you faced along the way? Is there anything you wish you would’ve known prior to working on the short?

DG: I think I was really lucky in that I had such a great team working with me, there were very few problems. We did however shoot this in a pandemic so we had to keep everything as COVID safe as possible. We had all the crew and myself wearing masks at all times. Glitter wore a mask while doing the actor’s makeup in the first location. However, they had to redo some makeup once we were on set because we had to transport the actors to the set in a car and we all wore masks in the car, so the masks smudged the makeup a bit. I also made sure the actors themselves were distanced from each other, and I shot one scene where Josafat leans in to tell Jac something in two separate shots because I didn’t want to risk Josafat possibly getting even a small amount of saliva on Jac’s face while speaking. So, we filmed Jac reacting, and then Josa leaning in, and combined both shots together in post. Also, I wanted to make sure we had everything perfect with the green screen because so often there are problems with keying and you get artifacts of green around the actors. So, I made sure there was enough in the budget for a really good green screen studio with proper lighting, which BC Studios provided. I had the editor on set to check each shot we did and during a break actually do some test shots, to make sure the green was keying out properly.

HS: This project was my first time attempting to render an entire short film using the cinematic tools inside of Unreal Engine. There was never an out-of-control moment where I felt like it wasn’t going to work, but I was definitely battling with a bunch of features before I took a step back and revisited the documentation. There will always be information that would have been very useful to know before starting a project, but it’s the sink or swim situations where I really level up.

GM: My only wish is that I had asked for some extra time on makeup! It was a crazy hot day, one of the hottest of the year, and we only had a few hours to shoot on green screen. Jac and Josa were sweating in full makeup and face masks on the way to the location, and I was quietly panicking. But I am very happy with how things came out.

Jac Bernhard behind the scenes in makeup as The Boy

NYFA: What are some other parts about making this project that you would like to share?/Is there anything else you would like to add?

GM: This is the first animated film I have worked on. I have been inspired by animation since childhood, particularly stop motion films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride-I was very much thinking of those character designs while working on this project. Seeing my illustrations come to life in this way was very special.

HS: For anyone who has watched this I hope it brought you some joy in these crazy times.

DG: I’d like to thank everyone who helped me on this project. It truly was a collaborative effort and I couldn’t have done it without the incredible team of young brilliant artists who all made this a truly hilarious and beautiful short. I’d also like to encourage all filmmakers reading this to embrace weirdness, and if you have an idea floating around in your head that keeps making you laugh, or cry, or feel something, to write it down. Even if you don’t make it immediately, that idea could come in handy years from now.

New York Film Academy would like to thank director and alum Dylan Mars Greenberg, producer and animator Hannah Schilsky, and puppet artist and stylist Glitter Macabre for taking the time to share their experience making The Puppeteer’s Assistant for Adult Swim.

To watch the short, click the video below.

The Puppeteer’s Assistant

Created and directed by: Dylan Mars Greenberg
Starring: Jac Bernhard, Josafat Concepcion, Amanda Flowers, Nicolai Gorden, Bonnie Bloomgarden, Avi Ezor, and Dylan Mars Greenberg
Music by: Matt Ellin
Produced and animated by: Hannah Schilsky
_________

Director of photography: Adam Ninyo
Edited by: Phill Skokos
Model built by: Matilda Sabal
Humans and puppets styled by: Glitter Macabre
Associate producer Avi Ezor
Makeup assistant: Leor Freedman
Sound: James Boylan
Additional animation: Ezra Pailer
Color: Gene Rosati Jr.
Shot at BC Studios
Special thanks to Dave Hughes and Danya Levine

Create Your Own Short Film at NYFA

At NYFA, filmmaking students create their own short films and media content. Learn the entire process in one of our hands-on programs!

Q&A With Alum Alfredo Tavares About What It’s Like to Work as an Actor in The Film Industry

Posted on February 25, 2021December 15, 2022 by nyfa

Two years ago, Alfredo Tavares graduated from the 1-Year Acting for Film Conservatory program at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus. Since he graduated, chances are, you have likely seen the Acting alum appear in one of your favorite shows or films, with Tavares having over 90 credits as a professional actor.

From Netflix’s Bridgerton and Hulu’s The Great to Academy Award-winning film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the forthcoming Matt Reeves film, The Batman, Tavares is racking up incredible credits and remains booked and busy through 2021.

During some downtime between filming, New York Film Academy had the opportunity to speak to Tavares about some of his upcoming projects, being a professional actor in Hollywood, what it was like to work with Quentin Tarantino.

New York Film Academy (NYFA): What made you decide to come to New York Film Academy?

Alfredo Tavares (AT): I wanted the best school in the world for acting because my dream since my childhood was to go to Hollywood after watching icons like Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme and having been trained in karate/ kickboxing as a black belt.

NYFA: Do you have any advice for incoming students? What about international students coming to study at NYFA?

AT: Students should not hesitate to come and study at NYFA because it’s the best school with the most hands-on intensive programs in the world. The teachers are professionals and they take care of students when they don’t believe in their dreams and help them to get the energy and motivation necessary to achieve their goals. The class sizes are purposefully made to be smaller so teachers give you more attention and you have more time to express yourself. NYFA also helps you when you struggle to find a place to stay or need help with documentation or your payments. They work with you, listen, and are more than teachers – they feel like family! I was alone in the USA because I came from France, but when you study at NYFA you never feel alone. Some of my instructors and fellow classmates have become my best friends!

Tavares on screen for Hulu’s “The Great”

NYFA: You have some exciting titles across film and television. Can you share more about the projects you have worked on and which ones are your favorite?

AT: I’ve only been working as a professional actor and model in Hollywood for two years. After I graduated from NYFA, things went so fast and the next week I signed a contract for the TV series The Coroner, my first job as a professional actor in Hollywood. From there, I began working every day in different movies and TV series. After three weeks I joined SAGA-AFTRA.

Two years later, I have been working in big movies and Tv series as a lead actor (For The People, 100 Humans, Allo Portugal), as a featured actor (Venom, The Statistical Probability of Love at The First Sight, Temple), as a stunt-double-stand in (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Fast & Furious 9, Stellar Vortex, 355, The Nevers). A full list can be found here.

My favorite project that I ever worked on and I will remember for my whole life was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, produced and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Margot Robbie, and Dakota Fanning. Wow, it was just so exciting to work alongside these famous actors in the same movie. Tarantino donned no gold or watch, just sneakers, a t-shirt, and jeans, and was always smiling. He would sit and eat with the extras and talk with us, which is very rare for one of the most famous producers/directors in the world.

Tarantino picked me out at the Central Casting Agency to replace Kurt Russell as a Double/Stand-In for Russell to rest and when we couldn’t see his face. Before I started shooting, Tarantino once said to me: ‘Alfredo, today I want you to be in a good mood. Tell me, what would you like to eat to give you energy?’ I exaggerated and told him ‘pizza, a Big Mac, and ice cream.’ He called his assistant and every day when I was filming she was going to buy that.

Some of my other favorite projects include the TV series For The People with Vondie Curtis-Hall and Regé Jean-Page. He was my lawyer and I was a bad guy named “Carl French”; the Netflix TV series 100 Humans with 30 experiences, one of which was called the sperm dance; and Bridgerton with Regé-Jean Page (again) and Phoebe Dynevor. I was in some erotic scenes and scenes where I danced at the balls. I had lots of fun!

Tavares behind the scenes of “Shiddat” Photo courtesy of Alfredo Tavares)

NYFA: You’re currently working on Matt Reeves’ The Batman, one of the most anticipated films of 2022, can you share anything about your experience on set or the safety precautions in place?

AT: We started filming in February 2020 some scenes in Central London and some at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, but one month later everything stopped because of the pandemic. Now, if everything goes well, the film should be released in March 2022. In The Batman, I’m a forensic going to investigate a murder of a man who was murdered in a living room. My character investigates everything inside the living room and finds some blood on the floor, which is very important…this scene was one of the most important that I filmed in the movie. In the next scenes, I still don’t know how those will pan out because of the current pandemic situation.

NYFA: What, as an actor, is the most important thing you have learned while on set?

AT: Being at school versus being on set there is a huge difference. One teaches you and the other doesn’t have time to teach you. After you graduate and they book you to be in a movie or TV series, they consider you a professional actor. They don’t care if you just came from school.

I remember when I went to audition for For The People, they gave me one page to memorize in 15 minutes. Then, with my lines in my mind, I went to see the casting director and I tried to use my imagination where I was in the scene with my character’s voice and body. Then I was on set with the other lead actors that I never met including the famous Vondie Curtis-Hall and Regé Jean-Page and I tried to imagine what was my character’s objective with the other actors just with my dialogues in mind.

Sometimes they said ‘cut’ just to add one sentence to my dialogue and straight away…action. Crazy! It was one camera at an angle and just one rehearsal with two shoots. They [the production team] don’t have time to do ten takes in each angle. Time is money. They rented the location just for one day and the overtime is expensive especially for the main actors.

NYFA: You’ve got a lot going on. Do you have any upcoming projects coming up that you can share?

This year is the most important for projects. I’m going to be the lead actor in Subwater and Our Last Prayer that I have signed an NDA for.

New York Film Academy would like to thank Alfredo Tavares for taking the time to speak on his experience as a professional actor and looks forward to the exciting catalog of upcoming films and television shows that Tavares will be featured in.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q&A With South Beach Alum Yulia Korotkova on “Waters” and What Inspires Her as a Creator

Posted on February 15, 2021February 21, 2023 by nyfa

Like many creatives, New York Film Academy (NYFA) South Beach alum Yulia Korotkovia was focused on finishing her degree and doing it during a pandemic. Not to let the current situation of learning and creating from home hinder her creativity, Korotkova decided to create a short film at home using her iPhone. The finished product, Waters, went on to win the Student Choice Award at the NYFA South Beach Made at Home Film Festival, and also we won proper use of location award from New York Film Academy Filmed at Home Festival.

Korotkova’s Waters then got screened outside the NYFA community, earning an Official Selection at The Lift-Off Sessions – UK, the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, and the Miami Independent Film Festival.

NYFA caught up with the Acting for Film alum to talk about her film Waters, advice for incoming NYFA students, and her next projects.

New York Film Academy (NYFA): How did you decide to pursue acting for film and film in general?

Yulia Korotkova (YK): I was always passionate about storytelling and acting. I have previous experience in the theater, but after I immigrated to the US I became shy about my accent and that shyness slowly grew over time. A friend of mine who studied in NYFA before suggested that I check out the program and take a workshop.

NYFA: What made you decide to come to New York Film Academy and the South Beach campus?

YK: I live in Miami Beach so NYFA South Beach was an obvious choice. I loved the hands-on approach and the 4-Week workshop flew by. My love for acting and film came back, so I chose to enroll in the MFA Acting for Film degree.

After the school went fully online because of COVID, I got to audit several filmmaking classes and learned more about the technical part of producing and filmmaking. In my summer/fall break I took it a step further and enrolled in an online cinematography class from NYFA as well.

NYFA: Do you have any advice for incoming students?

YK: Prepare yourself to be submerged in the world of opportunities. Open your mind and be a sponge. Ask as many questions as you have and enjoy every minute of learning. Remember, this is the place to learn from your mistakes, so don’t be afraid to take risks.

NYFA: Can you tell us more about your film Waters and how you came up with the idea?

YK: Waters came to life as a desperate need of a creative outlet. Being enclosed in our homes, and not having easy contact with my classmates and friends, while in Zoom classes, was a very new and strange experience that took a toll on everyone’s mental health. My husband got an idea for an experimental shot while playing with the phone camera and I instantly came up with the story and the script for Waters.

At the moment we got excited and didn’t think about our lack of equipment. We filmed on an iPhone, used our shopping cart with a tripod attached to it for dolly shots, taped the iPhone to a Swiffer mop for the feet walk shot and we used a regular straw to blow the water to create a ripple effect.

NYFA: What about your film Freedom?

YK: Freedom is a thesis project of one of my acting classmates, Alejandra Vergara. Because of all the restrictions due to COVID, we all had to cut, fix, and adjust our projects. Alejandra, the writer, and producer of Freedom, asked me for help to just film her on an iPhone. But when I saw the script I knew this film had to be made and shown to the world, and an iPhone would not do it justice. Freedom talks about questions we all face every single day and I believe everyone who watches the film will be able to keep a piece of it for themselves.

NYFA: As an actress and filmmaker, do you think it is important to specialize in multiple places in the industry?

YK: I believe multi-proficiency is always a benefit. Actors/writers and writers/directors have been on an uprise. I recently attended a NYFA organized event with Tova Laiter and President of MGM’s Motion Picture Group, Pam Abdy, who mentioned how studios prefer a writer who can direct their films and actors who can write and even co-direct or direct. I was in an acting program but being able to learn to write, produce and even direct my own material was a very unique NYFA experience. I don’t want to sit down and wait to be discovered. I want to be on set, and I want to create and tell stories. [At NYFA] it was amazing to have so many wonderful instructors who are happy to guide and teach at any time.

NYFA: What gets you excited about working in the industry and creating? What stories interest you the most?

YK: I love everything about the industry. It is so powerful but with power comes the responsibilities. We are here to entertain, but also to educate, create awareness on different topics, and to influence people to be better. I, personally, love comedies and mystery but when it comes to writing I feel the need to tell stories of struggles and stories that will give hope to uplift the audience and give them the strength to believe in themselves and to keep fighting.

NYFA: Do you have any upcoming projects coming up that you can share?

YK: I am currently in post-production for the short that was my thesis film iN-siDe, which creates awareness for Dissociative Identity Disorder and I am also working on the early pre-production stage and a fundraiser for my script Step Away, which addresses different types of domestic abuse, such as emotional, mental and physical. Some of the scenes are based on true stories.

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

YK: Never stop creating and whatever you do, do your best, give 150% and enjoy while doing it. Never ever let anybody kill your dreams.

New York Film Academy would like to thank Yulia Korotkova for taking the time to share more about her time as a NYFA student and about her process when it comes to creating engaging stories and pursuing your work.

“For Your Consideration” – How to Qualify a Short Film for an Oscar

Posted on January 27, 2021February 21, 2023 by nyfa

Winter is awards season in Hollywood, the time of year when actors, directors, screenwriters, and other creatives are honored for their work by critics, trade guilds, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and most famously, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. With Oscar nominations slated to be announced on March 15, 2021, the New York Film Academy is proud to announce that films by three alumni are currently qualified in the Best Live Action Short category.

According to the Academy’s official rules, there are three ways for a short film to qualify for an Oscar nomination. Continue reading to learn more about each one:

HOW TO QUALIFY FOR AN OSCAR AS A SHORT FILM

1) By winning a qualifying award at one of more than ninety film festivals officially recognized by the Academy.

Each year top festivals honor short live-action, documentary, and animated films which can then be submitted to the corresponding Oscars category. These festivals range the globe, from Hollyshorts in Los Angeles to the New York International Children’s Film Festival, from Cartagena to Bengaluru to Busan.

The Atlanta Film Festival is where Arabian Alien, a film by BFA Screenwriting alum Meshal Aljaser, qualified by winning the best narrative short award. The festival’s jury called it, “a layered, suspenseful and powerfully strange tale of societal taboos and marital tension, told with emotional precision, silent-film-evoking visuals, cultural authenticity, and startling humor.”

2) By screening the film in a public movie theater for seven days in a row in one of these major US cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, or Miami.

This year two short films qualified by showing in cinemas.

2ḦOOM [Zoom] by Acting for Film Workshop alum Dr. Ariel Orama López is an experimental live-action and animation hybrid short film about two brothers from the Caribbean who discover what unifies them. Using the backdrop of the current pandemic and the all-too-familiar COVID communication platform of choice, Zoom, the film includes voices and talents from the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain, and Italy.

This is Dr. Orama López’s second consecutive nod for Academy Award consideration with his previous short film, One, qualifying for an Oscar nomination in 2020. “I feel blessed by the opportunity to qualify for the Oscars two years in a row,” Dr. Orama López shared. “I believe that films more than entertain. They can heal us and represent who we are as humans.”

Saving Chintu by Tushar Tyagi, an alum of NYFA’s 1-Year Filmmaking program, qualified by showing in theaters as well. After a prolific festival run with official selections at over twenty film festivals — including the Oscar-qualifying Outfest and Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival — Tyagi’s Oscars campaign manager suggested they go for a theatrical run. They set one up at the Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles, only to see it canceled due to pandemic restrictions. Still, the Academy accepted a letter of intent to exhibit from the theater as a qualification, so the short is now officially in the running.

“When your film, which talks about basic human and LGBTQ rights, HIV and adoption, is being watched and celebrated at the top film festivals and praised by so many, it is a very blissful feeling,” said Tyagi. “Now that we are a part of the 2021 Oscars race, it’s almost unbelievable.”

3) By winning a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Medal in the Student Academy Awards.

Winning the Gold Medal at the Student Academy Awards is what qualified NYFA Guest Speaker Asher Jelinsky’s film (Miller and Son). Starring Jesse James Keitel of the new David E. Kelley / ABC drama Big Sky, the film was shortlisted for the 2019 Oscars.

NYFA students in degree-bearing programs (AFA, BFA, MA, and MFA) are qualified to submit to the Student Academy Awards. Just this past year MFA Filmmaking alum Phyllis Tam’s stunning Fragile Moon was a finalist.

Once filmmakers qualified for the 93rd Oscars, they had to submit applications to the Academy by December 1, 2020. Now, they’re waiting as members of the Academy review the films before going through three rounds of voting. After the first round, a shortlist of ten finalists in each of the shorts categories — Live Action, Documentary, and Animated — will be announced on February 9, 2021. The second round of voting will trim the list down to the five finalists in each category, which will be announced on March 15, 2021. Finally, Academy members will vote for their favorites for the last time, with winners being announced live at the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021.

NYFA congratulates Meshal Aljaser, Dr. Ariel Orama Lopez, and Tushar Tyagi on their Oscar qualifications and wishes them great luck. Watch this space to find out if they make the shortlist — we’ll know on February 9th.

Want to learn how to make award-winning short films yourself? Explore our filmmaking degrees, programs, and workshops to find one that’s right for you.

Q&A With BFA Filmmaking Alum Raquel Bordin on Her Career in Film Marketing and Showing Her Film at Cannes Film Festival

Posted on January 25, 2021November 16, 2022 by nyfa

Learning how to be a filmmaker isn’t just applicable to being a film director, writer, or working on a film set, it’s also about how you can tell a story and communicate with others. For NYFA Filmmaking alum Raquel Bordin, her skills she has developed over the years, coupled with her knowledge of the film industry, have equipped her with a successful career in film marketing and even starting her own company, Archetype Films.

From big-budget films like Avengers: Infinity War and It, to smaller films that have made a big splash like Ready or Not, Bordin has had a hand in creating how audiences are presented with a proof of concept or a teaser of what a film will bring prior to its release and when it’s ready for home viewing.

NYFA caught up with the Filmmaking alum to ask her more about her career in branded content, her past film screening at Cannes, and more about her experience at NYFA coming from Brazil.

New York Film Academy (NYFA): What first got you interested in filmmaking?

Raquel Bordin (RB): I have always been a person with a voice and I always thought that the most efficient way to communicate and show people a different point of view, was through the art of storytelling. Make people think and question things that they have never before.

NYFA: What made you want to come to NYFA?

RB: NYFA was always a dream school for me. I have lots of art formation, and I have built a Very artistic way of looking at life, but I didn’t know how to use the filmmaking tools to do it. The school gave me the hands-on experience that I needed in my repertoire.

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A post shared by Raquel Bordin (@raquelbordin)

NYFA: Do you have any advice for any incoming students?

RB: I think the biggest advice I can give is: nobody is gonna make your dreams come true other than yourself. It’s all about dedication and hard work. If you don’t go knocking on doors, even if they are closed, nobody will open them for you. Focus is very important in a such competitive industry, and you need to be confident in your own skin. No idea is a bad idea; remember that one day someone said in a meeting “what about a tornado of sharks?,” and here we are with the Sharknado franchise.

NYFA: Your thesis film Tip Toe was a critical success. What did it feel like to have your film recognized and even having it shown at Cannes Film Festival?

RB: It was an honor to have my first little short receive so much recognition. Even though I wasn’t totally happy with the movie due to some problems, I felt that I was able to accomplish what I came here for and to be able to become someone in this industry. It worked as an incentive to keep on going.

NYFA: You’ve worked on branded content for some big-name films from It to Avengers: Infinity War. For those unfamiliar, what is branded content and what was it like to get to work on projects like that where you have to work closely with top film studios?

RB: So branded content is the content we make to promote the movie. It’s like marketing packages that I have been designing along with some producers on how we are going to sell the film. I have done that for A LOT of films, and it’s amazing because we are able to watch the films even before they come out in the theaters.

I always apply for this type of job and sometimes I get the honor to make these packages. Prior to this, I worked for Google for two years which helped me a lot in understanding how we are able to capture an audience’s attention and seek our product.

NYFA: Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to share?

RB: For now I’m focused on working with these big studios, and I have lots of new things going on in that department but, for now, I can’t speak about it due to NDA contracts.

New York Film Academy wishes Filmmaking alum Raquel Bordin all the best on her upcoming studio projects and looks forward to seeing branded content created by the Bordin for some of the entertainment industry’s top films in the future.

NYFA Acting for Film Student and Veteran Freddie Basnight on The Balance Getting His MFA and Working in The Industry

Posted on January 20, 2021November 16, 2022 by nyfa

MFA Acting for Film student Freddie Basnight is making the transition from serving in the US Army for over a decade to acting and directing.

Though he graduates in May 2021, Basnight is already actively involved in the industry with a 5-Star reviewed film on Amazon Prime under his belt and a forthcoming film alongside Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore on the way.

NYFA was able to catch up with Basnight to learn more about the actor and creator’s background in the film industry, studying at NYFA, and his upcoming projects.

Ashley Green (Left), Freddie Basnight (Middle), and Shawn Ashmore (Right) on set of “Aftermath”

New York Film Academy (NYFA): Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what brought you to New York Film Academy?

Freddie Basnight (FB): Well, I’m from Fort Wayne, Indiana and I served in the US Army for over 10 years and also in Iraq in 2008. I moved to LA from Colorado after getting out of the military in 2016 to pursue acting at NYFA. I actually started acting in middle school, high school, and doing a couple of live plays during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

I enjoy reading, traveling, movies and tv shows, writing, directing, producing projects, and collaborating with other artists. I’m also a member of SAG-AFTRA and have been since 2018, all while going to school at NYFA. I currently have multiple representations in LA and North Carolina.

NYFA: Can you tell us more about what you’re working on?

FB: I’m currently working on my MFA Acting degree. Since arriving in LA and attending NYFA, I’ve been hustling and grinding the whole time. I’ve attended acting classes outside of school, casting director workshops, networking events, and numerous movie screening events.

I’ve done tons of auditions for commercials, film, and TV Shows like, The Punisher, Euphoria, This is Us, S.W.A.T, Seal Team, and many others. In 2019, I booked a feature called Aftermath with Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore, which will come out next year. I also booked a new TV show titled Coyote, working alongside Michael Chiklis (The Shield, Fantastic Four), which recently aired on CBS All Access on January 7, 2021. For the three projects I have currently on FilmFreeWay, I’ve won 40 film festivals so far; domestic and international.

NYFA: Can you tell us more about your latest project & how you got involved in the project?

FB: Well after the COVID-19 situation, a lot of things slowed down within the entertainment industry, unfortunately, including the number of auditions I was getting at the time, but in June 2020, I wrote and directed a short horror film in the meantime. The film is called The Strange and is currently in the post-production phase. I decided to do this film because I’ve always been interested in doing something horror-related at some point and I felt this was the perfect opportunity to do it. I’m also in the development stage of my thesis project as well as another collaboration with an amazing actress that I’ve worked with on a romance film I directed titled Forbidden Love, which can be viewed on Amazon Prime.

NYFA: What did you learn at NYFA that you applied directly to this project and others?

FB: My initial mindset when attending NYFA was just set on acting, specifically, but what I’ve learned over the four years was so much more than I could ever imagine. I’ve learned about editing, producing, writing, directing, lighting, theatre, new media, set etiquette and terminology, as well as auditions. In the NYFA acting program, Shakespeare is taught, as well as Voice-Over work, improvisation, various acting techniques, and voice/movement classes. This experience and training has allowed me to be better prepared for a career in the industry, as well as to have the skills to compete and be at the top of my game.

New York Film Academy would like to thank NYFA Acting for Film student Freddie Basnight for taking the time to share more about his experience at NYFA and upcoming projects, and encourages everyone to check out Coyote, now streaming on CBS All Access.

Alumni Update!

Freddie Basnight has been in rehearsals for Diavolo Veteran’s S.O.S Signs of Strength set to premiere at the Wallis Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on March 18th and 19th 2022 at 7:30pm!

Basnight describes the project as a journey of sacrifice, belonging, connectedness, and survival. Be sure to grab your tickets if you’re in town!