Page 318 – NYFA

#NYFASummer Instagram Contest

With New York Film Academy Summer Camp Programs wrapped and others in the full swing of things all around the world, we thought it was time to see what it is you’re all up to. Given the obvious popularity of Instagram amongst all of our students, we figured this would be the best place to stay in touch.

All you have to do is tag your photos with #NYFASummer and we can see what you’re doing. Whether you’re in New York City, Los Angeles, Harvard, Florida, Europe or wherever, you’re all #NYFASummer students at heart!

The best photos showing your support of #NYFASummer will be posted on NYFA’s official Instagram page and a select few will receive the Magic Shutter Ver. 3 App. And if you win this app, you’ll be able to show off some pretty amazing photos to your peers back at home. So, start tagging now!

The best photos will be posted on NYFA Instagram from now until September 1st. The top winners will be announced soon after to receive the Magic Shutter Ver. 3 App.

Here’s a glimpse at what you can win.

Nasser Bin Hamad International Youth Creativity Award

The Cultural Office at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Washington DC would like to inform our international New York Film Academy students and alumni about the Nasser Bin Hamad International Youth Creativity Award in six areas: Science, Architecture, Graphic Design, Art, Photography and Filmmaking.

The aim of the award is to attract and develop young talent while reducing the obstacles that face many of today’s youth may face by giving them an opportunity to express themselves, their talents and their creativity. Moreover, to strengthen the relationship and ties between the youth of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the youth from all around the world, to enable and promote the exchange of experience between youth all over the world and spread the spirit of the competitiveness to create a positive worldwide competition among the participants.

The Prize is intended for all nationalities between the ages 14 – 30 years old with the awards reachingup to $11,000.00 USD for each category. The participation is categorized into three age groups for each of the six areas mentioned above.

The Deadline for Submission is September 1^st, 2014. For more details on how to participate and submit your applications please check the official website for the Award: www.nbhaward.bh

Acting Grad & Instructor Team Up For One-Woman Show

We’re so proud to announce the upcoming production of mislabeledilEMMA: No, I Don’t Have Downs Syndrome, which will make its premiere at the 18th annual New York International Fringe Festival. The show not only features a one woman show written and performed by New York Film Academy AFA Acting graduate, Emma McWilliams, but was also developed and is directed by NYFA Associate Chair of Acting/Departmental Programming, Anne Moore. Moore’s theater credits include the Off-Broadway two woman show, Sit N’ Spin, at the world renowned Atlantic Theater. She also co-founded the critically acclaimed sketch comedy group, The Flying Queens and starred in, Anne Moore and more and more at Catch a Rising Star. Her TV/Film credits include Vegas, Grey’s Anatomy, Good Intentions, and more. She has also won an award for her documentary short film, Czech Daze.

Her newest production, mislabeledilEMMA: No, I Don’t Have Downs Syndrome with Emma McWilliams is an autobiographical account of a quirky girl’s search for identity amidst the confusion of being told she’s “disabled.” She captivates all–transforming into over 20 different unique characters that help share her heartwarming story as she tries to understand her syndrome she was born with spontaneously: Nail Patella Syndrome.

Nail Patella Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that occurs in 1 and 50,000 people. The most obvious symptoms are poorly developed fingernails and kneecaps. Other symptoms include: dysfunctional elbows, stiff joints, kidney failure, and glaucoma. Emma is the first in her family to have the syndrome, and her story deals with the issues of discrimination, gender equality, racism, religion, “fitting in”, and finding your identity. In the end, after many laughs and tears, you’ll learn what changed everything, as Emma learns that labels don’t matter.

First and foremost, Emma wants the world to know that, “NO, SHE DOES NOT HAVE DOWN SYNDROME.” While attending NYFA, Emma’s knack for comedy and standup compiled with her unique look was clearly noticed, and she was encouraged by her former teacher (Moore) to create a one woman show—thus where the project began. Emma is said to be an upbeat quirky girl who will definitely spice up your life. She is a muffin with rainbow sprinkles, a cross between Amanda Plummer and Joan Cusack. She has a wide range that always keeps her having fun; “crazy asylum girl” on Teen Wolf and “the modest girl” on Ant Farm.

Emma’s motto: “To inspire, impact, and entertain the human spirit—one stage, one theater, one seat at a time.”

Please come out and support Emma and Anne in this wonderful show, which runs from August 8th-24th at Fringe NYC. For tickets or more information, CLICK HERE.

MFA Actress Cast in Off-Broadway Play ‘I’m Sorry’

This past June, the Afrikan Women’s Repertory Company put on The Spring into Summer Festival, which consisted of seven plays over the span of one weekend at the Producers Club in New York City. Of the seven plays from playwright and director Vivian Bonnie Wright, the premiere play was I’m Sorry, a too familiar tale of gun violence. The play is a heartbreaking urban tale where four talented and smart teens head off to prom and only three come back.

Playing the role of Christine, a talkative teen with a tender spirit, was New York Film Academy MFA Acting alumnus, Charlotte Makala. Charlotte first became involved with the production simply by applying on Backstage and auditioning for a spot in the cast. Most of the cast had already been selected apart from two roles. At the audition, Charlotte felt an immediate rapport with Miss Bonnie Wright and it was no surprise when later that day she was informed that she would play the role of Christine. The play would be her first outside of NYFA.

“New York Film Academy’s MFA program was and still is integral to my profession because the training helped me understand the technical aspects of what it is I was doing,” says Makala. “It’s one thing to do what you are told but another to know what you are doing. Whenever stage directions were called, I knew what I was doing. Prior to NYFA, I had limited knowledge as to what and why things were – in terms of acting. NYFA’s program helped me get in touch with my creativity for the craft, which I thought I had lost (because it had been two years since I last acted professionally before I joined the program).”

Charlotte stresses the importance of patience in a field that requires countless hours of waiting and auditions. “There is a lot of waiting; waiting for your next audition, waiting for a call back, waiting on set and waiting back stage. So, what’s the key to maintaining your cool in an arduous field with many ups and downs? Have fun! “I’m sure some actors are rolling their eyes right now, but this little “note-to-self” is key in my auditioning process.”

Charlotte’s goal as a professional is and has always been to entertain and to tell stories — stories that matter and stories that capture the essence of what is to be human. As for now, Charlotte says she’s simply living one audition at a time. With her experience, persistence and patience, we’re sure Charlotte has a bright future ahead of her!

NYFA Women’s Basketball Team Off to Great Start

What would a school be without sports? Well, the New York Film Academy didn’t want to find out. As some of you may be aware, we’ve been developing and expanding our school in more ways than one. In addition, to the arts and academics, we understand the importance of athletics and community sports. After all, artists can be athletes, too.

After the successful launch of our men’s soccer team flourish in Los Angeles and thought perhaps it was time to see what our women can do. Well, this past Sunday the newly assembled New York Film Academy women’s basketball team, The Jaguars, beat their opponent by 22 points! We won’t mention the other team’s name, but let’s just say we dominated them up and down the court.

“There are other sports at the beginning stages that I believe will have a profound effect on the current students and NYFA as a whole,” states NYFA Athletic Director, Eric Brown.

If you’re interested in joining one of our teams or would like to find out more about which sports we have to offer, please contact Eric Brown at [email protected].

MEMORIAL DAY SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ANNOUNCED

In honor of the brave men and women who serve or have served in the military, the New York Film Academy set aside two scholarships to its 4-Week Acting for Film Workshop and 4-Week Filmmaking Workshop.

Military members and veterans interested in the scholarships were asked to submit a 90-second video detailing their military background and why he or she was passionate about pursuing acting or filmmaking at NYFA.

Though there were many impressive submissions, NYFA decided on the following two winners:

MELVIN RUIZ VARGAS: AWARDED 4-WEEK ACTING FOR FILM SCHOLARSHIP

Melvin, hailing from Puerto Rico, joined the army in 2003 and was stationed in Baghdad, Iraq for two years of active duty. In 2005, Melvin returned to Puerto Rico where he joined the U.S. Army Reserves and served for six years.

Now, Melvin is passionate about pursuing acting at NYFA. He first discovered the school after attending an open house on the Universal Studios backlot in Los Angeles. “It was a life changing experience just to get a sense of how movies are made,” says Vargas. “I’m looking forward to enrolling in an institution that will allow me to expand my skills and knowledge as an industry professional, especially in acting.”

KRISTINE MAJOR: AWARDED 4-WEEK FILMMAKING SCHOLARSHIP

Kristine is a military veteran, mother and filmmaker who resides in Philadelphia, PA and has been working in the community on several creative projects as an editing consultant, PA, set designer and more.

Since coming out of the armed forces as an airman, Kristine has been diagnosed with MS but her passion for filmmaking hasn’t deterred her in the least. “Filmmaking is therapy for me,” says Major. “The New York Film Academy can take me to even greater heights.”

The New York Film Academy would like to thank everyone who submitted for a scholarship and congratulate Melvin and Kristine on being awarded the Memorial Day Scholarships!

International Photography Award: Emergentes dst

Here is a unique opportunity for New York Film Academy photography students and alumni to win an award for their portfolio. The International Photography Award Emergentes dst is an initiative of Domingos da Silva Teixeira group, organized by Encontros da Imagem, with a monetary prize to be granted to the best 2014 Contemporary Photography Portfolio. The Photography Prize Emergentes dst will be awarded after the Portfolio Review which gives photographers the opportunity to showcase their work to commissioners, gallery owners and expert editors, thus establishing solid foundations for the promotion of their work.

NYFA students and alumni interested in applying to the Emergentes dst Award should follow these rules:

1. APPLICANTS
Every creator who uses photography as main expression may apply, regardless of nationality, gender or age.
2. PRIZE
The Photography Award Emergentes dst grants a prize money of 7,500 euro and an individual exhibition at the Festival Encontros da Imagem – 2015.
3 . SELECTION WILL TAKE PLACE IN A TWO STEP PROCESS
3.1 PRE-SELECTION

At this step, each applicant must submit no more than 20 digital images (b&w or color). It must be an original and recent portfolio.
Deadline for the submission is August 15, 2014. The pre-application fee is 10€.
A pre-selection from a committee of experts will select 80 photographers who shall be invited to submit their portfolio to further review from specialists and photography and visual arts analysts.
Ranking shall be based on interest, originality and coherence of the projects, as well as on the conceptual quality of the work. Finalists shall be notified of the results until September 1.

3.2 SELECTION OF ENTRANTS TO THE PORTFOLIO REVIEW
The second step consists of the choice of 8 experts for the portfolio reading, by each of the selected candidates. Deadline for this choice is September 8. Portfolio analyses will take place during the Festival Encontros da Imagem, on September 17 and 18. The winner will be announced on September 20 in a special ceremony at Theatro Circo, Braga. Every selected candidate will have a 20 minute session with the assigned reviewer. All the finalists must pay a 140 € registration fee, which will also entitle them to the Encontros da Imagem 2014 catalogue. Every selected entrant must upload a chosen digital image (eligible photographs must be size 40×50 and 300dpi resolution) that will be exhibited at the opening session of Encontros da Imagem at September 19.
4. PORTFOLIO REVIEW
During the critical review of Portfolios, each expert shall elect the best portfolio and one photograph to be produced in a format chosen by the author. There will be an exhibition of the whole set of photographs selected by the judges, at the ceremony of the announcement of Emergentes dst Award. The author of the Photography Award Emergentes dst will be elected from the selected portfolios. On September 20, the prize winner of Emergentes dst shall be announced in a formal ceremony where the entitled Prize will be handed out and during which a presentation of the portfolios of the finalists shall also take place. The exhibition of the awarded photographer’s works shall be on display at the official section of Encontros da Imagem 2015.
5. USE OF IMAGES
The finalists agree on the reproduction of images from the portfolios that were sent
for the contest, either to display or to promote the prize. The prize winner is to give the sponsor two pieces produced and exhibited to the venue in 2015. Any other use will be agreed between the Festival and authors.
RULES AND MORE INFORMATION:
Fill in the application form available online at www.encontrosdaimagem.com. You must send the receipt of the application fee along with your portfolio.
[email protected]

How to Make a Better Zombie Movie

Our students and World War Z fans got a special treat this past Saturday at a New York Film Academy Animation School event where they were introduced to the “pre-viz” team that planned out the remarkable visuals for the blockbuster horror film. “Pre-viz” stands for pre-visualization and it is an invaluable technique for planning out complex sequences to not only visualize what a film will look like using CGI but keep costs down as well. Brian Pohl, a leading pre-viz artist and one of the founding members of the pre-viz society, was our host and moderator for the afternoon.

We began with an enlightening discussion of the time honored art of storyboarding, presented by artist Robbie Consing. Working closely and quickly with a director to create storyboards is the start of the process. Robbie made mention that as an artist he not only has to work fast but also quickly discern what each individual director means when he or she describes a shot. A tilt up may be described as a “pan up” and the artist will need to understand and accommodate what the director means in order to move the process along. Robbie also shared some marvelous pre-production matte painting mock ups of set ideas that enhanced existing locations.

Our next speaker, Dan Gregoire is one of the founding partners of Halon the company that executed the pre-viz for the film. Dan mentioned that to sell a film today directors are making use of the technology to also make a “pitch-viz” to use as a marketing tool for showing the proof of concept to a studio. The students were shown the chilling pitch-viz for WW Z which was met with a round of applause at its conclusion. Mr. Gregoire continued by sharing his experience of going on location to scout the locations used from all over the world while taking extensive notes and recording video with a GoPro. Dan said that while the GoPro may have seemed overkill the production always came to him later wanting to know about some little detail they missed, but he hadn’t. The images shot on location are used to provide texture maps for the CGI settings in pre-viz. Dan went on to say that pre-viz was invaluable in planning out set construction and letting production know exactly how much green screen was needed for the shoot. Construction is a very expensive proposition and pre-viz undoubtedly saved many thousands of dollars by supplying excellent preplanning.

Our next speaker was co owner of Halon Brad Alexander who shared many chilling videos of performance tests for zombie movement in which he and his team were often performers. This entailed people acting like zombies while walking or standing up to making running leaps at dummies and biting them viciously. These reference videos were used to provide guidance when animating the CGI characters. Brad mentioned that Halon could work around the clock taking advantage of time zones. Brad would share notes via the Internet from Dan who was just ending his workday in Madrid, and Brad would start his day after the call acting upon those instructions and be ready with dailies for Dan when he started the next day.

The final speaker was Patrick Ready owner of Digilab who stressed the importance of data wrangling in this tech heavy production pipeline. What came as a surprise was that Patrick is responsible for saving and cataloging all the images from the camera and then after that process “erasing” the files from the cameras hard drive so that it could be used again for the next shoot. You can’t make a mistake there!

At the end of the presentation, a robust Q & A followed from a long line of fascinated audience members. Our guests and the pre-viz society drove the point home that pre-viz is here to stay and a valuable part of the film making process.

Special thanks to Juniko Moody co-chair of NYFA Animation along with Clayton Shanks and Brian Pohl of the pre-viz society for making this up to the minute look at current movie practices possible. We hope to see them again soon!

“Affluenza” Screening with Director Kevin Asch and Screenwriter Antonio Macia at Warner Bros.

This week, New York Film Academy Los Angeles students had the opportunity to see a sneak peek screening of the highly anticipated indie film Affluenza at Warner Bros. Studios followed by a Q&A, moderated by Tova Laiter, with the director Kevin Asch and screenwriter Antonio Macia.

The film follows aspiring photographer Fisher Miller (Ben Rosenfield) who in the summer of 2008 escapes for the moneyed mansions of Great Neck, while applying to college in Manhattan. Finding himself on the outside looking in at his beautiful cousin Kate’s (Nicola Peltz) circle of indulged friends, he ingratiates himself with high-quality weed and a vintage camera to document their hard-partying exploits until the financial hit, and the glamorous veneer implodes.

Kevin Asch (Director and Producer) develops and produces projects through his Lookbook Films production company, including Asch’s feature directorial debut, Holy Rollers. The film premiered in the dramatic competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, was released in North America to critical acclaim and played in theaters worldwide throughout 2011. For this debut, Asch won Breakthrough Director at the 2010 Gotham Independent Film Awards and Most Promising New Director at the 2010 Deauville American Film Festival. Antonio Macia (Writer and Co-Producer) has more than 10 years of experience as an independent filmmaker. In 2003, he wrote and co-starred in his first feature, Anne B. Real. This coming-of-age drama won several prizes and was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Kevin Asch and Antonio Macia embody the spirit of true indie filmmakers. The two films they’ve collaborated on to date, Affluenza and Holy Rollers, were passion projects of theirs from the films’ first conception. They make movies for one simple reason and one alone—they LOVE it. This is an obvious fact when you hear them speak. They have a “no matter what” attitude when it comes to seeing their films brought to life and their enthusiasm for filmmaking is downright contagious.

Kevin and Antonio offered some true words of wisdom for aspiring filmmakers. For instance, although Kevin and Antonio consider themselves equal partners, when on set Kevin is captain of the ship because he is the director. They stressed the importance of maintaining one voice of authority in front of the cast and crew. So if Antonio has a suggestion for Kevin while shooting, he will quietly pull him aside and offer the idea. They advise actors to research the filmmakers they audition for. Nothing is more of a turnoff for a director than if the actor who’s reading for them doesn’t have a clue as to who they are or what they’ve done. A little investigation in this respect can go a long way. Kevin and Antonio also recommended to students to not allow fundraising for movies to intimidate them. They raised over a million dollars for Affluenza. Instead of asking themselves whether they could raise one million dollars, which seems like an impossibility, they viewed it as raising $50,000 twenty times. After exhausting their resources and contacts (and their contacts’ contacts) they realized it wasn’t as impossible as it seemed…

Kevin Asch and Antonio Macia are already on to their next project—a movie entitled King’s Highway for Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, which Antonio is writing and Kevin is slated to direct. Set in the 1980s, this gritty crime drama centers on a former Mossad agent living in New York. We wish them continued success with this film and future ones that their passion is sure to bring them.