Page 254 – NYFA

Disney Animator Darrin Butters Shows off “Zootopia”

In what looks like a sure hit for Disney, the masters of animation have created an environment consisting of a modern mammal metropolis in their 55th feature Zootopia. In the film, there are habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything.

Providing the New York Film Academy 3D Animation School with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at this world was Darrin Butters, who has been an animator for all of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ top hits including Big Hero 6, Frozen and Tangled.

In front of a full house of animation students, Butters introduced the story, which focuses on rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin), who discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery.

Perfecting the motion of each animal was the main focus of Butters’ and his team’s research before beginning to animate the production. “We’re not shooting for realism, but it has to be believable,” said Butters before adding a joke. “The most important animation problem we had to figure out—how does a tiger dance?”

Butters had the privilege of working on what could be the funniest moment of the film, where Judy and Nick enter a DMV run entirely by excruciatingly slow-moving sloths. As he was animating the slow laugh of one such sloth, Butters recalls going against everything he was ever taught in animation—he purposely dragged everything out to play into the humor of the situation. The risk paid off tenfold.

His best piece of advice for young animators working on an animation team: “Show your work early and show often,” said Butters. “You want that collaboration.”

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia, a comedy-adventure directed by Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, The Simpsons) and co-directed by Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero), opens in theaters on March 4, 2016.

NYFA Documentary Department Presents ‘Stranger Than Fiction’

New York Film Academy is honored to present the 2016 Winter Season of “Stranger Than Fiction.”

Our inaugural presentation, Making a Murderer, hosted filmmakers Laura Riccardi and Moira Demos in a unique extended conversation with documentary guru, Thom Powers. The small, exclusive event was a runaway success, giving attendees an unprecedented look into the craft and creation of perhaps the biggest pop-cultural phenomenon of 2016.

Beyond Making a Murderer, “Stranger than Fiction” offers an iconic Tuesday night documentary series held at the IFC Center. The series functions as a key gathering spot for New York’s independent film community and a launching pad for new talent.

Stranger Than Fiction is hosted by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen. STF presents an eclectic mix of documentaries—sneak previews and lost classics—followed by discussions with the filmmakers and post-show receptions. Now in its eighth year, STF has fostered new talent, won loyal audiences, and provided a gathering spot for New York’s independent film community. Esteemed speakers have included Michael Moore, Ira Glass, Laurie Anderson, Jonathan Demme and Barbara Kopple.

“Documentary filmmaking has become the field where, as the New York Times put it, ‘all the cool kids are,'” said NYFA Documentary Chair, Andrea Swift. “We believe that Toronto International Film Festival / DOC NYC programmer, Powers, has been a driving force behind that trend, and are excited to create a partnership in which our students will have the opportunity to participate closely in Powers and Raphaela Neihausen’s singular documentary series. We believe it balances perfectly our unique approach to teaching documentary filmmakers: At NYFA, students learn to make films by literally making films.

Under Power’s direction, STF’s thoughtful exploration of the form perfectly complements, NYFA’s intensive, hands-on programs, which pair rigorous instruction with mentoring in order to support students as they work on a series of their own documentaries.

NYFA’s Documentary Filmmaking Department offers Conservatory and MFA programs, as well as equally hands-on short-term workshops. Recent graduates of NYFA’s Documentary program have garnered an Academy Award-nomination, an Emmy Award, top honors at Toronto, Sundance and other major festivals, and have excelled in creative positions with Robert Redford, VICE on HBO, Rolling Stone, VICELAND, Fusion, Wall Street Journal, and many, many others.

Students Introduced to New WeMash Platform

Last week, students at New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus spent an evening with Quincy Jones, III and Sal Siino, co-founders of the exciting new Internet media company, WeMash.

WeMash provides a cloud-based platform that provides users access to world-famous, top-quality content (studio blockbusters, television series, news footage, sports coverage, documentaries, music and more). The users repurpose and edit the existing content to create brand new works for distribution.

Quincy brings almost three decades of producing top-selling Rap and R&B albums, as well as documentaries about the music industry’s most famous artists. Sal brings twenty years of experience leading content-based media companies and as a transactional attorney. With their reputations in the entertainment industry, they’ve been able to secure licensing deals with the likes of NBCUniversal, BMG, Reuters, Downtown Music, America’s Funniest Home Videos, and a long list of independent content owners. Their rapidly expanding library already contains over 100,000 hours of video and music.

WeMash users have unique access to this material (which is meta-tagged for easy search, preview and retrieval), and share in advertising revenue generated by their new creations. The WeMash creator platform is currently in an invitation-only access phase, with broad access expected later in 2016. During the Q&A, Sal and Quincy announced a great opportunity for NYFA students to apply for early creator status during this preliminary rollout.

“WeMash is excited to connect young talent with the world’s most celebrated content so they can re-imagine content beyond its original context, and we’re thrilled to invite NYFA students on to the WeMash creator platform,” Sal told Sonny Calderon, Dean of the College at New York Film Academy.

Quincy added, “As a music producer in the early days of hip-hop, I had a unique vantage point into the proliferation of music sampling. I see the same movement happening in video today. Mash-ups are the video equivalent to sampling, and we are set for the next explosion in this art form.”

wemash sonny calderon — Sonny Calderon, Dean of the College at New York Film Academy; Quincy Jones, III; Sal Siino

After moderating the Q&A, Sonny Calderon reflected on the opportunities sites like WeMash can afford up-and-coming visual storytellers: “In today’s climate, all visual storytellers—actors, writers, directors, animators, and others—must create a brand for themselves. And they must generate awareness of that brand. Who are you as a storyteller? What are you capable of creating? WeMash gives artists a free opportunity to help create that brand awareness.”

New York Film Academy is grateful for the chance to partner with WeMash, and eagerly awaits what our students will create on the site.

Screening of 2016 Oscar Nominated “Room” with Oscar Nominated Director Lenny Abrahamson Q&A

New York Film Academy students gathered in a Warner Bros. theater to watch the 2016 Oscar nominee Room followed by a Q&A with Director Lenny Abrahamson. The students were blown away by the film, which was released last September to rave reviews and recently awarded actress Brie Larson with Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Lenny Abrahamson inspired and enlightened the students with the discussion that followed. The event was moderated by producer Tova Laiter.

Lenny emphasized the importance of students networking with each other. He has a longstanding, deep relationship with his producer, composer and writer—which has been a key factor in his projects being realized. When it’s more than just you, it helps in believing what you’re doing is actually real. In an industry where it’s easy to start feeling like your dreams are impossible, the support from the nucleus group is vital. Therefore, NYFA students’ greatest resource is their fellow students.

Since a large part of the film took place in a single room, one NYFA student asked whether blocking actors in such a limited space proved to be difficult. Lenny said that initially this was a concern of his. He was challenged to take inventory of all the director’s resources—shot size, varying backgrounds, etc.

Once he got into the thick of it, Lenny found that the story fueled him with enough variations to have the tiny space not be a limitation, except for the difficulty of squeezing the crew. Perhaps the best art comes not from the freedom but from limitations imposed on us.

tova lenny — Tova Laiter with Lenny Abrahamson

Another question was about directing a seven-year-old boy, Jacob, to an especially praised performance. Mr. Abrahmson said that some of the technique was mimic, some improv; and toward the end Jacob was really on point and flowing. Having a child on set also helped lead actress Brie Larson—when things got too depressing, Jacob was on set to lighten the mood. Lenny also made sure Brie and Jacob had time to bond before the movie started.

Lenny finally discussed his famous pitch letter to the author of the bestseller book and how it helped him get the job that so many other directors wanted. Most other directors just said how wonderful the book was, but he wrote a five-page letter about his vision while telling her why the other approaches she might have had would not work. Clever, productive and got the job done! (You can read the letter on the Internet or IndieWire blog.)

NYFA Australia Sydney’s Ben Osmo Wins Oscar for Best Sound Mixing

Coming in with a “technical” knockout in last night’s 88th Academy Awards was Mad Max: Fury Road, winning six behind-the-scenes Oscars. The groundbreaking visuals and sound from the production paved the way for its momentous evening, which included New York Film Academy Australia, Sydney Instructor Ben Osmo, who won an Oscar for Best Sound Mixing.

The acclaimed film, shot in both Namibia and parts of Australia, is about a woman who rebels against a tyrannical ruler in post-apocalyptic Australia in search for her home-land with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper, and a drifter named Max. Director George Miller put together quite an impressive cast and crew in this critically and financially successful sci-fi adventure.

Passing on that successful production experience to our students will be none other than Instructor Osmo, who teaches hands-on production and sound workshops, which take our students out of the classroom and directly onto a real set environment.

We’re so proud of Mr. Osmo and would like to congratulate him on his Oscar win!

NYFA Works with Pan African Film & Arts Festival

In celebration of Black History month, the New York Film Academy Industry Lab partnered with the Diversity department with the 24^th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles from February 4th -15th. Established in 1992, PAFF is a non-profit 501 (c)(b) corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural understanding among people of African descent and is dedicated to racial tolerance through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression.

Ardrian Newell, a current documentary student at New York Film Academy, Maram Al Joaser, a recent graduate from the Masters of Cinematography program, and Allyson Manno, a graduate from New York Film Academy’s Masters in Filmmaking program, all industry lab members, got the opportunity to work three of the screenings and panels.

The first panel was a conversation with Nate Parker about his directorial debut feature film The Birth of a Nation. In addition to directing, Nate played the starring role in this Biopic about Nat Turner and his famous slave revolt in Northern Virginia. The film garnered much buzz at this year’s Sundance Film Festival before being purchased by Fox Searchlight.

The second panel followed a screening of Oscar nominated film Creed director/screenwriter Ryan Coogler and screenwriter Aaron Covington. They discussed at length their motivations and inspirations for making the film and Coogler’s quick rise as a powerful voice in Hollywood as an acclaimed filmmaker.

The third panel followed a screening of the documentary feature by Abby Ginzber and Frank Dawson, Agents of Change, which tells the story of the unrecognized individuals whose commitment to justice and equality paved the way for the student activists of today. The film, which is the centerpiece of this year’s PAFF, acts as a reminder of all that was done to achieve equality, dignity, and equity on education campuses as well as paving the way for societal reform in America, during the 1960’s and beyond.

The New York Film Academy is proud to collaborate with this year’s PAFF in bringing diverse voices to the public conversation and look to expand our collaboration in the future.

NYFA Grad Cinematographer on ‘Neerja’

Released in the US over the weekend, the Indian film Neerja has been receiving numerous praises for actress Sonam Kapoor’s portrayal of the life of the courageous Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life while protecting the lives of 359 passengers on the hijacked Pan Am flight 73 in 1986.

Working as the cinematographer with one of the best Indian directors in the business, Ram Madhvani, was New York Film Academy alumnus Mitesh Mirchandani. The NYFA grad has worked on a few commercials with Madhvani and working with him on Neerja was a no brainer.

“When I first met Ram, he said, ‘Mitesh, I would like to shoot this film in a particular way—no lights, 360 degree shooting, long takes, really long takes, freedom for the actors and let’s be completely candid in our approach,” recalled Mirchandani. “At first I was a little reluctant as it was a feature, but soon enough I realized what we were after. We had close to 45 minute takes in almost every sequence without any rehearsals or marks for the focus pullers.”

With four cameras rolling at all times, the cast and crew gelled together seamlessly, as though there was only one camera rolling on set. The entire film was shot without using any lights.

“You really need crew that’s as crazy as you to pull this off,” said Mirchandani. “I was really blessed to have the best crew ever assembled. I didn’t want the film to feel framed and lit, it needed to be as if we were there capturing what was happening at that moment.”

The hard work paid off, as the Fox Star Studios film has been doing well both critically and at the box-office.

“I learned a lot from NYFA—the faculty was amazing and really helpful,” added Mirchandani. “The access to equipment really prepared me to get out there and be confident about what I was shooting.”

Mirchandani is currently busy shooting TV commercials.

Students and Alumni Attend Women in Entertainment Awards

Recently, New York Film Academy’s own women’s club, “Les Femmes du Cine” sponsored a trip to the 17th annual Women’s Image Awards with club advisor Jesselin Berry. The evening hosted by Carol Leifer, best known for her writing on Saturday Night Live, The Larry Sanders Show, Seinfeld and Modern Family, was a star studded event that celebrated the incredible contributions of women in the industry. A seven time writer for the Academy Awards, Liefer reminded the audience that the award ceremony was like the Oscars except in this show being a man does not help you win.

With each award a central theme emerged of empowerment and women supporting women to move the bar on gender equality in the entertainment industry. Marti Noxon, first known for writing and producing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, shared the perspective that, “It’s so important that we fight back against the image of women that is unattainable and not real.” This drive to show women as they really exist is a clear driving force behind her current shows Unreal and Girlfriends Guide to Divorce. Abigail Disney reiterated the theme in her acceptance speech for women of the year award in saying, “The entertainment industry exports a mythology of war and toxic masculinity. Nothing short of a revolution is acceptable… If we wait for gender parity, it will be 2095 before we get there at this rate.”

Other notable awards went to Diary of a Teenage Girl, for best feature and best director went to Maya Forbes for Infinitely Polar Bear. Another highlight of the evening was listening to Lily Tomlin recount the evolution of the industry from the beginning of her career in Rowan Martin’s Laugh In to her current role on Grace and Frankie while accepting a lifetime achievement award.

In the words of recent NYFA alum Mariana Robles Thome, “It was an incredible opportunity to be surrounded by amazing women filmmakers and to see how we can all be a strong part of the paradigm shift in the industry.”

I hope that we all stand with Abigail Disney in recognizing that “the path to peace will not be achieved until the voices of women reverberate loudly in every corner of media.”

NYFA students and alumni in attendance include:

Anastasia Reinhard
Krystina Olivia Christiansen
Vanness Diane Hughes
Diana Esperanza Trejo
Diana Valencia
Paula Neves
Mariana Robles Thome
Rumena Dinevska
Jessica Nave Serio
Mara Topic
Ariel Spaugh
Yara Ferreyra
Rafael Marques Thomaseto
Melinda Graves

NYFA Documentary Adviser’s Short Up for an Oscar

Geof Bartz, New York Film Academy Documentary Master Class instructor and curriculum adviser (and Supervising Editor of HBO’s Documentary Department), is up for yet another Oscar this year! You may remember that Veterans Dial 1, the film Geof edited last year, won. This time he’s nominated for his editing work on Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s A GIRL IN THE RIVER: The Price of Forgivenes (Documentary Short category).

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s A GIRL IN THE RIVER: The Price of Forgiveness chronicles the story of a 19-year-old Pakistani woman, Saba Qaiser, who was shot in the face and thrown in a river by her father and uncle for marrying against their wishes. But Saba survived, only to face another challenge: how to bring justice to her attackers in a legal system that allows “honor killers” to be “forgiven” and set free.

More than 5,000 women are the victims of such honor killings worldwide each year. Sharmeen’s movie has already begun to draw the attention of critics in the US, including Nicholas Kristof’s piece in the NY Times last month.

TRAILER – A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness from Sharmeen Obaid Films on Vimeo.
And Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has promised to push his parliament to amend honor killing laws because of pressure brought by the nomination of Sharmeen’s film.

A GIRL IN THE RIVER:The Price of Forgiveness will premiere on HBO and be available on HBO GO in early March. Meanwhile, you can check out the Oscars this weekend and see how it fares against four other terrific short documentaries!