Page 249 – NYFA

Acting Grad Gianlorenzo Albertini Cast in “ONE: The Hip Hop Dance Musical”

Italian actor and New York Film Academy BFA Acting for Film alumnus Gianlorenzo Albertini’s acting, singing and dancing chops caught the eye of the producer of a major hip-hop opera that has been over sixteen years in the making, landing Albertini a part in the first fully-staged production of “ONE: The Hip Hop Dance Musical,” by Walter Robinson, scheduled to premier in Los Angeles in the summer of 2016.

The retelling of the story of Exodus began as “Moses,” a gospel opera first performed in Boston in 1999. The piece was performed in a concert or workshop setting several times over the past twenty years. For the past several months, Robinson has been work-shopping the piece in the Philippines with support of a three-year grant from Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.

“I feel incredibly thankful and honored for being able to be a part of this project,” says Albertini. “It is very exiting because Walter is the creator and writer, and I was overwhelmed to find out that this was the first fully realized production. I felt compelled to start working with Walter, especially after I read the script. It explores the innocence of the human condition through the seduction of money, drugs and power.”

“I believe God is Love,” says the young actor, who is about to start two months of rehearsals for the production. “‘ONE’ translates various passages of the Bible with a modern and artistic approach that carries along the core of the musical. I appreciate that the musical translates the Bible passages in a modern way that is easily accessible by the young people who are the target audience of the play.”

This isn’t the first time producers and directors have recognized Albertini’s musical gifts. A conservatory-trained classical guitar player, Albertini also lent his composition and performance skills to his own award-winning short film, “Immortality In Blue,” an exploration of Pablo Picasso’s “Blue Period.” Albertini’s guitar performances were also captured along with his performance in the short film “Sound of Silence,” released in 2015.

Adam Zucker Screens “The Return” at New York Film Academy

Last week, the New York Film Academy, in association with the City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, presented a special screening of Adam Zucker’s documentary, The Return. The film follows the lives of four young women who are representative of a generation of Poles who were raised Catholic only to discover they were Jewish in their teens. The film highlights their struggle to create a living Jewish identity and community in a virtual vacuum—within the country that was once the epicenter of the Jewish world.

Introducing the event was NYFA Senior Executive Vice President, David Klein and moderating the Q&A after the screening was NYFA Documentary Chair, Andrea Swift. Zucker’s most recent film, Greensboro: Closer to the Truth (2007) screened at over 35 festivals in the U.S. and abroad, and received the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Rome International Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Dead Center Film Festival. In addition, the film’s Audience Engagement effort, The Closer to the Truth Project, is facilitating the film’s use as a catalyst for change in communities across the U.S.

Adam has edited numerous award-winning documentaries, including Rory Kennedy’s American Hollow (Sundance Film Festival and HBO) and Homestead Steel Strike (History Channel, Ten Days That Changed America series), Michael Kantor’s Broadway: The American Musical (PBS), Madison Davis Lacy’s Richard Wright: Black Boy (PBS), Ken Burns and Steve Ives’ The West (PBS), Dori Berinstein’s Show Business (Tribeca Film Festival and Showtime) and Josef Astor’s upcoming Lost Bohemia.

As for the film of the evening, The Return, Zucker says, “How did I end up spending four years traveling across three continents to track the lives of four young Polish women as they explored their newfound Jewish roots? Because that’s what I do. I’m a documentary filmmaker. I try and get into the lives of people and make sense of their various turns and choices: the stories of how people change over time.”

The Return has already screened in over eight different countries and will be screening at DOC NYC this upcoming November, 2016.

ADAM NIMOY’S ‘FOR THE LOVE OF SPOCK’ PREMIERES AT TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

To further ensure Leonard Nimoy’s legacy, both personally and in television, his son, Adam Nimoy, produced a documentary For the Love of Spock, which made its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival over the weekend.

In his introduction to the premiere, Nimoy gave a shout out to New York Film Academy graduate, Luke Snailham, who was one of the two editors of the film. Nimoy also thanked NYFA for its support, which included filmmaking resources and other students and staff as part of its crew. In addition to teaching at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles, Nimoy has directed over forty-five hours of television including episodes of NYPD Blue, The Practice, Ally McBeal and Gilmore Girls. Now, Nimoy set his sights on something very close to home.

“For The Love Of Spock” celebrates the upcoming 50th Anniversary of Star Trek through a personal, intimate look at the life and career of Leonard Nimoy, and his alter-ego, Mr. Spock, as told by his son, Adam Nimoy.

The film initially began as project headed up by Adam and his father. However, after the passing of Leonard, Adam was determined to complete the film in honor of his father’s contribution to television, as well as to highlight his own personal relationship while growing up with the icon. After raising over $660,000 dollars though a Kickstarter campaign, Adam knew his film was bound to prosper.

The documentary includes appearances and stories from several of original Star Trek cast members such as William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and George Takei. Narrating the film is Zachary Quinto, who played Spock in the most recent Star Trek movies from J.J. Abrams.

While Star Trek fans will undoubtedly adore the documentary, the film should also strike a chord with traditional audiences through its emotional and heartwarming exploration of the Nimoy father, son relationship.

For more information on For the Love of Spock, please visit their website at www.fortheloveofspock.com.

Colonel Jack Jacobs: The Hero’s Story Continues

col jacobs — Sue Jacobs, Col. Jack Jacobs, and NYFA’s Jim Miller

Last week, at the historic Asbury Park Convention Center, almost 2,000 New “Jerseyans” gathered in the vast weather-beaten theater to celebrate the state’s most accomplished citizens. The occasion was the 8^th Annual New Jersey Hall of Fame (NJHOF) induction ceremony.

This year’s 12 inductees were selected based on a rigorous nomination and election process. The awardees were deemed to have made invaluable contributions to society and the world. Past inductees include the likes of Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Yogi Berra, Meryl Streep, and Frank Sinatra.

The 2015 honorees are no less stellar and include the New York Film Academy’s own, Colonel Jack Jacobs, Chair of the Veterans Advancement Program. Colonel Jacob’s valor in Vietnam is legendary. He has earned the Medal of Honor, three Bronze Stars, and two Silver Stars, for saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. He has had several successful careers in business, public service and the philanthropic field.

This year’s inductees also include Jon Stewart, Derek Jeter, Kool & the Gang, and Christie Rampone; however, it was only Colonel Jacobs who received a standing ovation that night in Asbury Park. As I stood among the applauding crowd of New Jerseyans, I was overcome with gratitude, pride, and emotion, not only because Colonel Jacobs’ valor was honored in such a significant way, but also because he has unselfishly committed his limited valuable time to supporting NYFA’s veteran students.

Congratulations Colonel Jack Jacobs! You are truly a New Jersey hero, the Nation’s hero, and a superhero of the New York Film Academy!

“Breakfast in Beirut” Nominated Film of the Year

When we last caught up with New York Film Academy MFA Filmmaking graduate Farah Fuad ALHashem, she had been at dozens of festivals around the world to screen her film Breakfast in Beirut. The fictional documentary combines illusion with reality, converging a parallel honest side of Beirut.

As of now, the film has officially been selected in various international film festivals, nominated as “Film of the Year” in Lebanese Film Festival (LFF Sydney, Australia) 2015, and received critical acclaim and special mention by the Jury of Nour Cherif competition at the Alexandria Film Festival For Mediterranean Countries in Egypt 2015.

Breakfast in Beirut has also received an honorary recognition by the municipality of Treviso, Italy and in collaboration with the Gallery in Venice, Italy both have decided to name their Art Festival “Breakfast in Beirut Art Festival” as a way to honor the film and Farrah ALHashem. The film will officially premiere in Treviso followed by a press conference and series of continuous screenings around northern Italy.

Under the patronage of Lebanese Embassy in France and VIOLETSKYE Films, the Official Premiere, for one night only, will be held at Le Brady Cinema in Paris on April 29, 2016 at 8pm. On April 30, it will screen in Venice and in Treviso, Italy at the “Breakfast in Beirut Art Festival,” which, as we mentioned, was renamed after Farrah ALHashem’s film as an honorary step by Italian curators Daniel Buso and Enas ELKorashi in collaboration with the municipality of Treviso.

For those of you in the Paris area, please CLICK HERE for tickets and more information.

NYFA Students Learn Cutting Edge Techniques in Image Based Lighting for VFX

Virtual lighting expert and Animation department faculty member Fred Durand treated students of chair of animation Mark Sawicki’s digital effects cinematography class to a guest lecture and demonstration of Image Based Lighting. Mr. Durand has served as a digital artist for Disney Animation, Sony Imageworks, The Mill and Digital Domain on such projects as “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” “Tomb Raider,” “Shark Tales” and “2012.”

The demonstration began with the students lighting and executing a simple dolly move toward a performer sitting at a table. After the dolly shot Sawicki demonstrated how to shoot a 360 degree High Dynamic Range Image of the set using a Fish Eye lens and one of the school’s Canon 5D cameras. Each of the 4 camera views of the set was shot plus and minus 4 stops of exposure capturing the extreme latitude of the entire foot-candle range of the lights on the set. Both the dolly shot and the HDRI data were given to Mr. Durand to add synthetic computer graphic props in time for the next class session.

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In the lecture portion of the exercise Durand explained the process of stitching together all 36 HDRI images to create a virtual bubble onto which was mapped the location and intensity of all the lighting instruments and reflective objects on the set. At this stage Fred also had to create a matte painting to “paint out” the tripod legs underneath the Canon camera. This bubble of set image was then placed around the computer graphic coke bottles to light them with what were essentially the same lights that were used for the live action dolly shot. The “image” of the lights lit the computer graphic props giving them an ultra realistic look that matched the live action exactly.

To ensure that the virtual Coke props stayed locked to the table and tracked seamlessly Durand had to remove all of the rectilinear lens distortions of the live action lens to create a “perfect” lens that would match the perfect lens of the virtual camera that mimicked the dolly move to virtually photograph the Coke bottles. After the virtual camera tracked the CG props the distortion was added back to the virtual photography to match the live action lens so that the virtual dolly move could be composited atop the original dolly move for a perfect match.

At New York Film Academy we strive to have our students take a multi disciplinary approach as they enter the field as cutting edge filmmakers. Our student cinematographers now have the skill sets to light on set with traditional methods and an understanding and vocabulary to collaborate with digital artists in the up to date virtual world of today.

“Frankie” Selected for Prestigious Nastro d’Argento

One of the most prestigious honors for a filmmaker in Italy is to have his or her film selected into the “Nastri d’Argento,” which is essentially the Italian Academy Awards where journalists vote on their favorite films of the year. Former One-Year Filmmaking graduate from New York Film Academy, Francesco Mazza, accomplished this feat with his thesis film, Frankie (Italian Roulette).

Selected as a finalist for Best Short Film in this year’s Nastri d’Argento, Frankie depicts the story of an Italian immigrant, Frankie Tramonto, and his struggle to earn a Green Card in New York City. Mazza’s film was nominated alongside Brando De Sica, the nephew of famous Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica, and Fulvio Risuleo, whose short film Varicella won “La Semaine de la Critique” in Cannes.

While at NYFA, Mazza was quite fond of his experience and instructors. In fact, last summer he and his former cinematography teacher, Piero Basso, worked on a documentary for Italian broadcaster Sky Arte. Last fall he worked with Instructor Ben Maraniss in the 8-Week Screenwriting Program on the feature version of his script, which is called The Green Card Lottery. Speaking further on his time at NYFA, Mazza said:

Without NYFA there would be no Frankie at all. At NYFA I made one of the most important encounters of my life: Amos Poe. He taught me not to worry about which cameras I’m shooting on, but to keep in mind one obsession: the emotion, and how to deliver it to the audience in the best possible way. Amos is a cinematographic genius.

I’m also in debt to Michael Sandoval, my first directing teacher. I’ve never met anybody else with that kind of sensitivity for narrative beats. He taught me how everything you do in a movie—even the color of the t-shirt of an extra in the background—is a choice you must have control over.

I also want to mention Ben Maraniss, my screenwriting teacher: he is such a great teacher (and a great person). Before coming to NYFA I was already a TV writer in Italy (for the Italian comedy show “Striscia la Notizia”) but Ben took my skills and pushed them to a completely different level. And Ben Cohen: his cinema studies course made me understand that beyond the 3-act structured, classic American narrative movies there is a whole new universe that I just find more interesting.

Some advice Mazza would like to extend to our current students is to submit only to Academy qualifying festivals (and some from the Moviemakers lists) and if they don’t accept you, save your money for the next movie.

Speaking of festivals, Frankie will be screening at the seventh annual NYC Independent Film Festival on Thursday, April 28 at 12:00pm at the Producers Club in Manhattan. For tickets and more information, please visit: www.nycindieff.com/film/frankie-italian-roulette.

NYFA South Beach’s Movement Club Performs at Olympia Theater

New York Film Academy South Beach Instructor Susie K. Taylor founded The Movement Club as an outreach organization of students whose purpose is to spread light through the “healing art of acting.” Late last month, The Movement Club put on an all-female performance called “Freedom is Beauty!! #F.I.B. at Olympia Theater in Miami, Florida.

“The New York Film Academy South Beach is excited to be a part of the Celebration of Women’s Month at the Olympia Theater in Downtown Miami,” said NYFA South Beach Director, Elli Ventouras. “Under the guidance of our inspirational Movement Instructor Susie K. Taylor, the female performers of our Movement Club will perform an Interpreted Dance. Susie has really motivated our students to reach their full potential!”

“In the Lobby Lounge…ETC!” is Olympia Theater’s very own homage to classic Vaudeville and variety shows. Anything from sketch comedy to alternative entertainment, burlesque and improv. Produced by the Front Yard Theatre Collective, this month’s “ETC!” featured an epic collaboration of all-female, Miami based performers, celebrating Women’s History Month.

“When I founded the Front Yard Theatre Collective, I never imagined we would find a home in the historic Olympia Theater,” said Gabriela Fernandez from The Olympia Theater. ‘Thanks to “In the lobby lounge…ETC!’ we can maintain our primary goal of offering free quality entertainment for the benefit of our community.”

NYFA’s group performed Pick A Song, a game where a lucky audience member offers up his or her favorite song and the F.I.B creates a couture movement piece for that specific song.

The experience was wonderful and Susie K. Taylor was “beyond thrilled with the students” as they joyfully applied their class work to their performance.

Congrats to The Movement Club on putting on another successful performance. We look forward to the next show!

A Talk with the VFX Artists Behind ‘Sharknado’

A storm whipped through the New York Film Academy Theatre last week—a combination of wind, water and sharks, known by the title Sharknado. After the screening, NYFA students welcomed Emmy Winning VFX Artist Glenn Campbell and VFX Supervisor Joseph Lawson from “The Asylum” Studio. NYFA Animation Chair Mark Sawicki moderated the event.

Sharknado was a made-for-TV disaster film produced between the SyFy Channel and “The Asylum” Studio. Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante and starring Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, and John Heard, the film has been a cult sensation since its release, spawning a franchise that includes three sequels (the fourth installment will be coming out this summer, titled Sharknado: The 4^th Awakens).

Following the screening, Glenn Campbell and Joseph Lawson showed a reel featuring shots from the movie before and after the visual effects were added, with their own personal commentary on the process. They showed scenes from the first three films in the Sharknado franchise.

Campbell and Lawson explained that visual effects aren’t just for storms featuring murderous aquatic creatures—it’s for things as simple as turning a blue sky into a stormy sky, or removing satellite dishes from houses.

They both agreed that planning was a very important part of the process—making sure that all necessary shots are taken, knowing what you want before you start setting up. “Don’t change your mind so much,” they advised.

They also spoke to the importance of things like storyboards to help with planning and getting the best performance out of the actors. “It’s a challenge…nothing can replace the tangible, someone holding something in their hands.”

Finally, a student asked them if there is, or should be, a limit with visual effects. “There is no limit,” they responded. With enough time and creativity, anything that one could imagine is possible with visual effects.

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