Page 285 – NYFA

NYFA Filmmakers Making ‘Waves’ in the Philippines

It’s no secret that networking is one of the most essential parts of becoming a successful filmmaker. At the New York Film Academy, we encourage students to find like-minded individuals who want to collaborate and are truly passionate about their craft. After all, you can’t create a film entirely by yourself. It’s a team effort.

Recently, a team of NYFA students put their efforts together and filmed the feature film Waves. The film was written by Scott Acornley, directed by Don Frasco, edited by Adrian Morales Ramos, and produced by Anna Skrypka and Don Frasco, all of whom graduated from NYFA.

“NYFA’s intensive hands-on approach worked well for me,” says producer and MFA Filmmaking alumna Anna Skrypka. “We were pushed to wear so many hats that we had no choice but to learn fast and figure our way out.”

The film, which will be Waverly Pictures first feature film, is about intimate friendship, love and heartbreak, revolving around two old friends who test their boundaries on a secluded island in the Philippines.

“Waves is mainly about a man in his later 20s, drowning in his own life, in his own indecision, in his own lack of focus,” says screenwriter and MFA Filmmaking alumnus Scott Graham. “The ocean is a great metaphor for the human subconscious, so I always thought that the main character should be consumed by it, overwhelmed by it. But with the appearance of the whale shark, he kind of starts finding his way. There is beautiful potential inside all of our minds, and sometimes we need to drown and struggle a little bit to find that potential.”

Waves is now available on Vimeo on Demand, and will be theatrically released this June in the Philippines by the Distribution Company Viva. The team is also in the process of getting US and worldwide distribution.

Frasco and Skrypka are currently working on a number of other projects, including a feature that they intend to shoot early 2016. Through the film, Frasco hopes to explore Cebu youth culture from the perspective of two fresh medical representatives tasked to introduce family planning products to rural towns.

“I hope to make films that have a sincere impact on society and its culture,” says director and cinematographer Don Frasco. “I believe that principles can be influenced and shaped through cinema in ways that ignite passion and a resilient interest in contributing to the world.”

There will be a screening and Q&A with the filmmakers at NYFA Los Angeles on March 27th.

Have a look at the trailer below, where you’ll also have the option of purchasing the film to view in its entirety.

NYFA Student Lucas Diercouff to Film “The Gael” in Paso Robles

Lucas Diercouff, a United States Army veteran and current BFA Filmmaking student at the New York Film Academy, has announced his intention to film his short, The Gael, in Paso Robles, California. To help him achieve the goal, he has launched a GoFundMe campaign.

The film takes place in 200AD Scotland, in a time when the Romans were trying to take over the Caledonia region. The story follows as Caer (played by Rachel J. Clark, Miss Scotland 2014), attempts to save her husband (Paul Meixner, NYFA graduate and veteran).

Diercouff chose the Paso Robles area of California to film because he had heard of its resemblance to Scotland. After a bit of investigation and visiting the vineyards in the area, the stage was set.

In a statement given to the Paso Robles Daily News, Diercouff says:

“It has always been my dream to tell the story of a challenged love amidst the struggle of war, the kind of story that suits historical period and is an honest portrait of the passion of ancient Scotland.”

The cast and crew plan to begin filming in May to finish by August, just in time for Diercouff’s graduation. Members of the project include current and former NYFA students, and members from outside the school (along with several veterans that fall into both camps).

AFA Filmmaking Grad to Screen ‘Ticketed’ at Cannes

It cannot be stressed enough how valuable social media and crowdfunding have become in terms of independent filmmaking. As a student filmmaker working on a strict budget, it’s often times an essential part of pre-production. AFA Filmmaking graduate Shantal Freedman took full advantage of this avenue, launching a successful crowdfunding campaign back in September 2014 which raised enough money to get her through the production of her film Ticketed. Freedman recently turned to fans to launch another crowdfunding campaign to raise $7,000 to finish her thesis film.

This May, Freedman will premiere her film, Ticketed, at the Cannes Short Film Festival. The film focuses on a small town cop, Jackie, who spends most of her time writing out parking tickets. As a trained police officer, all Jackie wants is a little more action: to bust a bunch of bad guys like the cops on TV. When the opportunity knocks, a group of miscreants seize the chance to steal a winning lottery ticket worth $60,000,000.

However, fate has other plans when the ticket falls into the safekeeping of Jackie. When the thugs attempt to reclaim the ticket by any means necessary, Jackie winds up on the run.

“More than anything in the world, I want to make movies that as many people as possible can see,” said Freedman. “I also want to get some sort of enjoyment out of it by putting the audience in a better place after viewing the film than they were before viewing it.”

Freedman also hopes to change the status quo in terms of females in the film industry. She hopes to bring more females in front of the camera with deeper characters and equal representation.

The writer, Andrew Freedman, and Shantal have developed Ticketed into a feature. They also have several other scripts that they are shopping around in the horror genre. Ultimately, Shantal hopes to direct action/adventure films.

She is also busy working at several entertainment companies in Los Angeles. She interns for the renowned casting director, Risa Bramon Garcia, and will be helping her as she starts to cast the 3rd season of Masters of Sex. She works for the talent management company, The Robb Company, and the talent management company, Jump Start Talent, where she is on a track to becoming a manager.

Freedman’s advice for current students currently working on short films: “You’ll be your best and your happiest if you go all in and commit 100% to the film. If you do that, you’ll tackle every challenge and you’ll be the most pleased with your work at the end.”

Vine Royalty King Bach is Going Hollywood

Hollywood and Vine means something a lot different now than it has to Los Angelinos. For them, it’s always been a famous L.A. cross-street. But these days, in a post-Facebook twenty-first century, it represents a new and fruitful relationship between two titans of culture.

Since Vine’s launch in 2012, the Twitter-owned video app has been looping millions of six-second videos to a predominantly young demographic. And nobody’s six-second videos get looped more than King Bach, Vine’s most followed user. Bach, 26, has over eleven million followers and is truly the current King of Vine. He has bigger aspirations though, and is getting ready to conquer his next kingdom—Hollywood itself.

It’s a long time coming. Even before he joined Vine in 2013 and earned his fanbase with his quirky six-second sketches, Andrew Bachelor studied at the New York Film Academy and The Groundlings. It was as a struggling actor laboring in the audition mines that Bachelor adopted the stage name King Bach.

Since breaking out on Vine, Bach has already scored guest roles on The Mindy Project and Wild ‘N’ Out. It was a short jump from mobiles to TV and now a shorter jump from TV to movies as Bach has five upcoming movie projects in production. He’s even playing himself in the Zac Efron vehicle We Are Your Friends.

Bach has no plans to retire from Vine, however, appreciating the network he’s building his empire from. He likens himself to Will Smith, who gained movie superstardom from his sitcom role as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. While the Fresh Prince can still dominate the box office, there’s a good chance he’ll be competing with a King someday very soon.

This Friday the 13th, Jason Takes Over Cinema History

Given its Friday the 13th for the second month in a row, the New York Film Academy thought it’d be fun to imagine if the character of Jason Vorhees, from the Friday the 13th franchise, was cast in some of the more popular films over the years. Needless to say, the films would not be the same. Have a look at how far our imagination went, and comment on your favorite Jason character!

braveheart jason — Jason may take your lives, but he will never take your freedom!

dolores — The New Defense of the Dark Arts Minister

eraserhead — In Heaven, everything is fine. But Jason went to hell, so he’s out of luck.

league of their own — There’s no crying in baseball…unless you can hide your tears behind a hockey mask.

lincoln — A house divided cannot stand… especially if it’s divided by a machete.

may poppins — Did you know that “Ch Ch Ch” is short for “Chim Chim Cher-ee?” Well, it is.

taxi driver — You talkin’ to Jason? You talkin’ to Jason?

avengers — You want to know Jason’s secret? He’s always angry.

titanic jason — When Jason tells you he’ll never let go, he means it.

NYFA Instructor Produces ‘Bad Hair Day’; Disney’s Big Hit

In a rare occurrence, it is Friday the 13th for the second month in a row.

While this month’s 13th is sure to have its fair share of entertainment news, a month ago marked the premiere of Disney’s Bad Hair Day.

The original feature film was a huge hit with several younger key demographics, and we are proud to say that Denise Carlson, a NYFA senior producing instructor in Los Angeles, was a executive producer on the project.

Bad Hair Day, which stars Disney Channel’s Laura Marano and Leign-Allyn Baker, amassed 4 million views, making it the #1 kids’ cable TV film for the year, and the #2 cable TV movie overall.

The audience was comprised of 2 million viewers age 2-11 (5.1 rating), 1.6 million viewers age 6-11 (6.9 rating) and 1.4 million viewers among Tweens 9-14 years old (5.9 rating).

While the public television premiere was on February 13th at 8PM, verified users of the Watch Disney XD app got early access on February 6th. During that week of the early release, 435,000 viewers saw the movie on tablets, phones, computers, and set boxes.

NYFA Grad Rohit Gupta Releases Trailer for ‘Midnight Delight’

Dot and Feather Entertainment dropped the first movie teaser trailer for their upcoming Midnight Delight, a comedy surrounding a set of characters who get into hilarious antics as they try to make sense of their lives through conversations with people they have never met before. The narrative throws hits us with several uncanny situations throughout the film.

The feature film was written and directed by New York Film Academy alumnus Rohit Gupta (Life! Camera Action…Another Day Another Life) and co-produced with Saumin Mehta, who is also credited for most of its post-production. Gupta’s earlier productions have won numerous international awards and recognition from around the world including at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

The movie stars: Alexandra Hellquist, Shaheed Woods, Michele Suttile, Dipti Mehta, Rachel Myers, John Crann, Michael Laguerre, Adit Dileep, Sofia Sivan, Bill McCrea, Maggie Alexandar, Josh Echevarria and Michael Lester.

Initial response to the newly posted 50-second teaser has been favorable. Tantalizingly edited to offer a sneak preview that whet fans’ appetite without revealing too much, it has been described as “One of the best teasers from the independent film circuit and Indian-American filmmakers.” It features actors Rachel Myers, Shaheed Woods, Michele Suttile, John Crann and new comer Michael Laguerre.

The movie is slated to release later this year.

New York Film Academy and The Young Storytellers

“In 1997, a group of film students learned that Los Angeles public schools were cutting creative arts programs from the budget. Knowing the value arts-education held in their own lives, they created a volunteer-based creative arts program they could take directly into public schools.” (From http://www.youngstorytellers.com/)

For close to twenty years, the Young Storytellers Foundation has continued to bring art into thousands of students’ lives. Along the way, New York Film Academy has teamed with YSF by teaching production to their high school students and helping them create their own projects on the Universal backlot.

This year – with the invaluable help of YSF’s Bill Thompson & Pilar Alvarez and Valley View Elementary’s Susan Kim – New York Film Academy has become one of a select few colleges running its own Young Storyteller classroom.

For the eight weeks, a dozen NYFA students and alumni will each mentor a fifth grader from Valley View Elementary school. Led by “head mentors” Dean of Students Eric Conner, the mentors will encourage their students to create and write their own five page screenplays which will be performed as a “live staged reading” by a group of NYFA Actors.

YSF’s Pilar Alvarez trained and prepared the NYFA mentors for the daunting task of keeping up with the ten-year-olds’ minds! Each weekly session will be split between a lecture on the fundamentals of screenwriting followed by and the fifth graders workshopping their own ideas. One lesson in and the budding writers from Valley View Elementary have already reviewed the basics of three-act structure and what makes us all love storytelling.

The young writers devised an agreement detailing how the class will be run and what is expected from each of them (and their scripts). Next week’s class can’t come soon enough. Stay tuned!

Husband & Wife Grads Release ‘Bridenapping’ in Kazakhstan

A husband and wife team from Kazakhstan, who are both New York Film Academy MFA alumni, Askar Bissembin and Bayan Yerimbet have just released their feature film, romantic comedy Bridenapping (Svadba Na Troih). Bissembin was the writer/director of the film while Yerimbet produced.

In the film, Azamat agrees to kidnap his best friend’s bride Alia, according to Kazakh ancient tradition. But when his family mistakenly believes Alia Azamat’s wife-to-be, he has to marry his best friend’s fiancée.

The film was their final project that they developed while at NYFA — Askar in Filmmaking and Bayan in Producing.

“Thanks to NYFA teachers, Bridenapping developed into a solid story,” said Yerimbet. “After returning to Kazakhstan, I was able to produce the feature.”

Bridenapping was released all over Kazakhstan on March 5th, 2015.

The husband and wife team are already in pre-production on a sequel.