Page 32 – NYFA

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY (NYFA) WELCOMES ‘BRITNEY VS SPEARS’ DIRECTOR ERIN LEE CARR TO THE Q&A-LIST SERIES

Tova Laiter (left) with Erin Lee Carr (right)

New York Film Academy (NYFA) had the honor of hosting a live video Q&A with two-time Emmy nominated filmmaker Erin Lee Carr in a conversation with Tova Laiter, curator and moderator of the NYFA Q&A-List Series. The guest spoke about her latest documentary, Britney Vs Spears now available to stream on Netflix and was ranked #1 most-watched film on the platform in 25-100 countries.

Erin Lee Carr is known for exploring criminal justice, femininity, and virality. In 2020, her four-part docuseries How to Fix a Drug Scandal was also released on Netflix, ranking within the top ten most-watched shows during its first week on air. Earlier in 2020, Erin’s documentary At The Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics, was the proud recipient of the Emmys Television Academy Honors.

Currently, she is working with HBO on two forthcoming docu-series and an undisclosed film. She’s also a consulting producer on Hulu’s Michelle Carter scripted adaptation, The Girl from Plainville, in which Elle Fanning stars as the derisive defendant.

Erin Lee Carr is consulting producer on Hulu’s The Girl from Plainville to star Elle Fanning

Laiter asked Carr how Britney Vs Spears came about. According to Carr, “I worked with Netflix on a series called How to Fix a Drug Scandal, and we were sitting with my executives, and I don’t often get alone time with Netflix executives on park benches. I had six to eight pitches in my head. I had done six hours of research on the executives and so when they asked me ‘What do you want to do next?’ I said, ‘I want to do Britney Spears.’”

At the time of May 2019 when this event unfolded, Carr noted that it wasn’t yet clear how Britney Spears felt about being in a conservatorship, but “because of my background in mental health and the films I made, Netflix selected me as the person they would go forward with and do it.”

Carr discussed how the project evolved with the evolving subject matter as she gained additional details surrounding the pop star. The biggest problem was not having access to Britney but they did journalistic work and one of the biggest surprises to both Carr and journalist Jenny Eliscu depicted within the documentary and knew Britney, was their (her and Britney)’s failed attempt at obtaining a self-chosen lawyer for Britney Spears. According to Carr, “when I was making the film, I was like, ‘Am I crazy?’ Why is this something she’s not able to do? And the sheer number of times Britney requested her own lawyer–it just was sort of mind-boggling. So that was going to be a really strong center of the piece from the start.”

Erin Lee Carr was producer and director of the Netflix 2020 docu-series How to Fix a Drug Scandal

Laiter then asked Carr how and where she selects her subjects. Carr notes, “I have a development deal with HBO, where I developed all my films and content for them, and so I’ve been able to assemble a small team and we have a binder of ELC–that’s my three initials and my ideas. I have a bullet point of–I need it to be focused on women or non-binary people.”

The conversation was then opened to student questions: “How do I start, what’s the most important thing to have?” “Access to your subject Matter- said Erin “and connect to the community”.

Laiter asked about budgets: “You made your first documentary for $5000-10,000… In that price range- what are the most important things to spend the money on?” Carr was very clear: “Cinematographer and Editor.”

When asked if a director has to have an emotional connection to their subject matter and if yes, how do you stay neutral. Carr admitted it was tricky: “when Britney spoke during the June 23rd hearing saying that they’ve done a good job taking over her life, so she wanted this to finally end, I remember crying ..it was one of the best days of my life too.”

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Erin Lee Carr for sharing her time and perspective with NYFA students and alumni.

Watch the full conversation below:

These guests are not faculty and do not teach at NYFA, but they have appeared to share their stories and experience with our students. As guest speakers are scheduled based on their availability, NYFA cannot guarantee whether a guest speaker will visit during a student’s attendance or who that guest speaker may be. This guest speaker forum is not part of any NYFA curriculum and attendance at guest speaker events is purely voluntary. Students should be aware that guest speaker events do not represent a job opportunity nor are they intended to provide industry connections.

NYFA MFA Screenwriting Alum Bruce Purnell’s New Feature ‘Boxing Day’ Unwrapped for the Holidays

Bruce Purnell, New York Film Academy (NYFA) MFA Screenwriting alum, director and producer, has a new feature film coming this holiday season. Boxing Day, the story about a British author living in the United States who returns home to London for Christmas to introduce his American fiancée to his eccentric British-Caribbean family, is a romantic comedy co-written by Purnell. The main character’s relationship is put to the test, as his fiancée soon discovers the world her partner left behind.

The new romantic comedy was co-written with director Aml Ameen in his directorial debut. The plot of the film was inspired by director Ameen’s own life and will star Ameen himself. Boxing Day will also star Aja Naomi King, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The film will be the first UK holiday film to feature an all-black cast.

Promotional poster for Boxing Day (2021)

Financed by BFI and Film4 with Warner Bros. Pictures as a distributor for the film’s release in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Boxing Day is produced by Ameen and Purnell’s new label Studio113.

In a statement featured in a Deadline article, director Ameen quotes, “It is such an honor to be teaming up with Warner Bros. Pictures, Film4, and BFI to bring Black British Culture to the world in this universal holiday rom-com. It’s long been a dream of mine to capture films that reflect the wonderfully multi-cultural city that raised me while sharing stories from the diary of my life.”

NYFA MFA Filmmaking alum and writer Bruce Purnell (left)

Screenwriter Bruce Purnell has also worked as a director and producer, having developed and filmed several short films, including One Heart, Moments in the Grey, and Learning to Share. New York Film Academy congratulates Bruce Purnell for his success with his newest feature Boxing Day, coming to theaters this holiday season.

Twelve New York Film Academy Alumni at the 2021 Red Sea Film Festival

Twelve New York Film Academy (NYFA) filmmaking, acting, screenwriting, and short-term workshop alumni have works that were selected for Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. This festival marks the first big international film festival since the country’s long-standing ban on cinema was lifted.

The happiness and the success of these alumni is shared across everyone at NYFA. As said by Crickett Rumley, NYFA’s Director of the Film Festival Department, “Watching the festival unfold from afar, I am blown away by the pomp, circumstance, and star power that they presented in their inaugural year. And it’s incredibly exciting to see that so many of the programmed films were made by or starred NYFA alumni — what a testament to their talents and ability to put their knowledge to work as professionals!”

Daughters of Abdul-Rahman directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan
NYFA program studied: MFA Filmmaking
Film synopsis: Years after escaping a dictated life, four estranged and offbeat sisters are forced to come together to find their suddenly-missing father. In their secret searching journey, secrets are revealed and more.

Rupture produced by Aymen Khoja
NYFA program studied: MFA Filmmaking
Film synopsis: A pregnant Saudi woman must distinguish reality from dreams, drug-induced delusions, and perceptions of death before a killer gets to her and her family. Her fractured life and memory are not the only things that stand in her way. The film casts Fayez Bin Jurays who was also a student of the NYFA BFA Acting for Film program before withdrawing.

Amira directed by Mohamed Diab
NYFA program studied: 1-Year Screenwriting Conservatory
Film synopsis: More than 100 Palestinian children have been fathered by prisoners, using sperm smuggled out of jail to the men’s waiting partners. Amira’s fictional story is grounded in this remarkable fact. Bubbly teenager Amira’s father Nuwar has been in prison since before she was born. She has grown up believing she was conceived with his smuggled sperm. That belief is shattered when tests show Nuwar to be infertile. As the family implodes and the community gossip swirls about her, Amira resolves to try to find her biological father and thus her real identity, a search that will lead her to form a new sense of herself.

Junoon directed by Maan Bin Abdulrahman
Produced by Noan Ribero
Screenplay by Pedro Araujo
NYFA program studied: BFA Filmmaking
Film synopsis: Khalid, a wannabe vlogger, travels with his wife and best friend from Saudi Arabia all the way to Southern California, hoping to catch some great footage of paranormal happenings. When his wish comes true, will the three of them have the presence of mind to turn the cameras off and flee? Director Maan B plays Khalid himself and narrates the story, creating an atmosphere of suspense from the moment they set off into the unknown.

Kayan directed by Hakeem Jomah
NYFA program studied: MFA Acting for Film (withdrew)
Film synopsis: Kayan tells the story of a Saudi couple visiting friends in Egypt with their young baby. On their way home one night they get lost and decide to spend the night in a hotel. But this is no regular hotel and soon they find themselves held captive by the ghosts of their past. They are forced to confront their sins in a nail-biting journey to dawn. The film casts Summer Shesha, a NYFA alum from the 4-Week Acting for Film program.

Route 10 produced by Almotaz Aljefri
Screenplay by Khalid Fahad
NYFA programs studied: BFA Filmmaking, 6-Week Filmmaking, 1-Week workshop
Film synopsis: Maryam and Nasser are set to travel from Riyadh to attend their father’s wedding in Abu Dhabi, until the flight is cancelled. Undaunted, they decide to make the journey by car instead. Their time together will mend a relationship that has frayed since their mother’s death as they share their feelings about their overbearing father––but, they underestimate the many hazards of the desert road, including an angry stranger whose terrifying pursuit has the brother and sister driving for their lives. The film casts fellow NYFA alum Baraa Alem.

My Vibe directed by Faizah Ambah
NYFA program studied: 6-Week Filmmaking
Film synopsis: When cinema comes to the old neighborhoods of Jeddah, the lives of three teenagers are forever changed by the experience.

Little Bird directed by: Khalid Fahad
NYFA program studied: 1-Week Workshop
Film synopsis: In a world where Malik lives alone, he must face the fateful challenges in his life.

Covida the 19th directed by Omar Al Omirat
NYFA program studied: 1-Week Workshop
Film synopsis: Surviving the quarantine and showcasing another perspective of lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic, the film highlights the subsequent lifestyle changes that affected the public sphere and familial life, and how these changes eventually became for the best.

Acceptance Land produced by Bilal Albader
NYFA program studied: MFA Cinematography
Film synopsis: In 2096, after the Third World War, a homeless maid struggles to take care of a child in an era where people are represented by the color of their clothes. The film casts Maan B, a fellow NYFA alum from the BFA Filmmaking program.

My Dear Fiction directed by Ahsan Minhas
NYFA program studied: 8-Week Filmmaking
Film synopsis: A man tells an absurd story about the comedy and darkness of heartbreak, how it happens, and how one could find perseverance after it.

Maskoon directed by Lina Malaika
NYFA program studied: 8-Week Filmmaking
Film synopsis: An American archaeologist (Paris Verra) is working alongside the Saudi ministry of culture on excavations in Al-Balad, Jeddah. Strange events, however – including the discovery of an ancient box and an unnerving encounter with a local antique dealer – make her increasingly uneasy.

The New York Film Academy wants to congratulate all the filmmakers and actors for their well-deserved recognition and for being selected for this year’s Red Sea Film Festival.

Please note: NYFA does not represent that these are typical or guaranteed career outcomes. The success of our graduates in any chosen professional pathway depends on multiple factors, and the achievements of NYFA alumni are the result of their hard work, perseverance, talent and circumstances.

MFA Filmmaking Alum Zaid Abu Hamdan Wins ‘Audience Award’ at Cairo International Film Festival

New York Film Academy (NYFA) MFA Filmmaking alum Zaid Abu Hamdan premiered his latest feature film Daughters of Abdul-Rahman, to a global audience at this year’s 43rd Cairo International Film Festival. The film received recognition for its storyline and continues to compete on the festival circuit.

The film Daughters of Abdul-Rahman surrounds the story of four estranged sisters who escape highly dictated lives and are then forced to come together to find their suddenly-missing father. On the journey to search for their father, secrets are revealed. Inspired by the director’s own mother’s story, Zaid Abu Hamdan tells Variety Magazine about his mother’s inability to achieve her aspirational goals within their own home country of Jordan. He says, “Having to be the perfect eldest sister, then a young wife living up to the social standards expected of her, then a mother to four boys, all that seemed to put her personal plans on hold.”

To gather information about women’s perspectives, the director distributed surveys to various Jordanian women of different religious, educational, and socio-economic backgrounds and found that “So many of the women fantasized about screaming their truth and shouting out their anger,” he shares in an interview with Variety.

The film stars Saba Mubarak, Farah Bsaiso, Hanan Al Hilo, Mariam Al Basha, and Mohamed Bakri and was produced by Pan East Media, Lagoonie Film Production, Arab Media Network, and iProduction. At the Cairo International Film Festival, Daughters of Abdul-Rahman won the ‘Youssef Cherif Rizkallah Award,’ otherwise known as the ‘Audience Award’ which is granted to only one film among the many within the international competition.

Daughters of Abdul-Rahman was selected as a finalist project and received a grant from the Tribeca Film Institute among other organizations. The film was also screened at the Saudi Arabia 2021 Red Sea Film Festival. This festival marked the first big international film festival since the country’s long-standing ban on cinema was lifted.

At the Red Sea Film Festival this year, Abu Hamdan also won $100,000 for the festival’s Red Souk competition for ‘best project by a non-Saudi filmmaker,’ which will grant him funding to develop The Zarqa Girl, a genre film about a tough street-fighting heroine who rises to power in a world dominated by male thugs.

The film’s success is felt across everyone at NYFA. As quoted by Crickett Rumley, NYFA’s Director of the Film Festival Department, “I feel like there’s a special kind of thrill around winning the Audience Award at an internationally respected film festival like Cairo. It means the filmmaker’s story connected with its audience, touched their hearts, made them feel seen. I’m so happy that Zaid got to have this experience live and in person, to talk to his audience, participate in Q&As. Because at the end of the day, isn’t that what filmmaking is about? Impacting your audience? I wish Zaid all the best and can’t wait for this film to land in the US so that American audiences can enjoy it.”

According to Abu Hamdan’s former Instructor at NYFA, Senior Directing Instructor at the Los Angeles campus Nick Sivakumaran, “I couldn’t be more proud of Zaid! He was an amazing student and such a passionate and visionary director. Even though I worked with him over ten years ago, I still remember his talent and determination. I’ve loved hearing about all his projects since he graduated from NYFA and can’t wait to see Daughters of Abdul-Rahman!”

With professional experience ranging from assistant directing, producing, and his work in television, Abu Hamdan created Zaha Productions, which produced the highly acclaimed short film Baram & Hamza. With the subject of women and women’s issues at the forefront of his professional career, the director shares his latest work and next project in his interview with Variety, “My latest work was MAC Cosmetic’s Ramadan miniseries Qata’ef, featured in Vogue Arabia, which starred five beautiful women. What I realized is that empowered female characters with a distinct point of view excite me, and working with actresses [is] a challenge that I adore.’” Abu Hamdan’s next feature film will also center around the subject of women.

New York Film Academy would like to congratulate Zaid Abu Hamdan for his well-deserved recognition for the film Daughters of Abdul-Rahman and wish him success with the film as it continues to delight audiences internationally.

NYFA SOUTH BEACH INSTRUCTOR DANIEL ABRUSCI NOMINATED AT 45TH ANNUAL SUNCOAST REGIONAL EMMY

New York Film Academy (NYFA) Sound Instructor Daniel Abrusci was recently nominated for ‘Best Sound’ at the 45th Annual Suncoast Regional Emmy for his work on the documentary Earth Walker.

The Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a nonprofit Florida corporation dedicated to excellence in television. The chapter offers the Regional EMMY® Awards called The Suncoast Regional EMMY® Awards to television markets in regions across Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Puerto Rico.

The Awards ceremony will be held virtually on December 11th, which can be viewed live on the Suncoast Chapter’s website.

Daniel spoke with us about Earth Walker and the documentary’s nomination.

NYFA Sound Instructor and Sound Technical Expert, Daniel Abrusci (above)

New York Film Academy (NYFA): Can you tell us a little about Earth Walker?

Daniel Abrusci (DA): The Earth Walker is a documentary that was done in the middle of a pandemic. It talks about the journey to discover how COVID-19 has impacted many lives. This documentary uncovers how experts, families, and people from different cultures have been affected by telling their side of the story and how they reinvented themselves to survive the pandemic.

NYFA: How did you craft your approach to this project?

DA: I try my best to make every project unique. I do so by approaching the project specifically on whatever that project needs. To me, sound design is all about helping tell the story with sound. When working on documentaries, the approach is more organic, but a lot of times, you also get to play with sound design for specific parts, usually for slow-motion scenes and scenes where there might not be a lot of dialogue but some action by the character.

NYFA: What was the biggest technical sound challenge you faced while working on Earth Walker?

DA: The biggest technical challenge was getting talents into the studio for recording ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement which is the process of re-recording audio in a more controlled and quieter setting). Due to the fact that this was done mid-pandemic, setting up an ADR session became harder than usual due to the fact that there needed to be a lot of remote work. Thankfully, the recording was done in a very organic way, and with small crews, so most of the production audio was in very good shape.

NYFA: Can folks watch Earth Walker online? Will it be released to certain streaming channels/audiences?

DA: It will be available online, but nevertheless, the production company is in negotiation at the moment for streaming distribution.

Still from the documentary, Earth Walker

NYFA: What other projects are you currently working on?

DA: At the moment, I’m working on several short films. I feel like there’s a lot going on right now, and I love that feeling. In all aspects of production, on set, in post-production, there’s a lot of production going on, and that only means that our industry is growing faster and stronger than ever!

NYFA: What advice would you offer to the students at NYFA about working in sound for film?

DA: The best advice I can give is that sound is 50% of the film and your project will be as good as your weakest link. I think that sound-wise, students should make sure all elements of their production are taken care of. It all starts with production audio, you can have amazing sound designers and mixers, but if they don’t get good recordings to start with, they won’t be able to do much.

Make sure that you are recording properly (try always to use lavaliers and boom mics if possible), and make sure that all of your elements in post-production are there (for example, ambiances, foley, sound effects, and music).

If you do that and you have a well-balanced mix, the sound will always help tell the story and make it more engaging.

New York Film Academy congratulates Sound Instructor Daniel Abrusci in South Beach for his nomination and we have our fingers crossed as the film Earth Walker competes for ‘Best Sound.’ Be sure to check out the Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards Ceremony on December 11th.

Read more about Daniel and his work, including his work on Christmas Lights, a BBC Latin America segment, which won him a Gold Promax Award for outstanding achievement in sound design and mixing.

Deadline Magazine Interviews NYFA’s Colonel Jack Jacobs on Roku Docu-Series ‘Ten Weeks’

New York Film Academy’s (NYFA) Division of Veteran Services (DVS) is delighted to share a recent news piece highlighting Colonel Jack Jacobs, Medal of Honor recipient, and Chair of NYFA’s Veteran Advancement Program, published last month in the entertainment industry digital magazine “Deadline.”

“For those choosing to join the United States Army, their journey from citizens to Soldier begins with basic training,” a quote from Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston that’s a direct correlation to ten-part docuseries on the US Army’s basic training ritual, Ten Weeks. In an interview with “Deadline,” Colonel Jacobs explained that the show was inspired by a book he wrote, Basic: Surviving Bootcamp and Basic Training. This docu-series follows five young Americans through 10 weeks of basic training, showing their transformation from civilians into Soldiers.

Ten Weeks was originally greenlit by the startup streaming service, Quibi, however the subscription streamer has been acquired by Roku in early 2021. The 8-10 minutes in length episodes are now available to free stream on the Roku Channel in the U.S., Canada and U.K. Executive producer and chief content officer of production firm “We Are the Mighty,” Chase Millsap states, “I am proud of how Ten Weeks captures the equally exhausting and exhilarating experiences of the military and look forward to sharing these inspiring stories on the Roku Channel.” The stories of the five Soldiers represent the collective sacrifice, bravery, and resilience of the more than half a million Americans who serve in the Army and Army Reserve today. This series is executive produced by Jason Blum, Jeremy Gold, Marci Wiseman, Mary Lisio, Chris Rowe, David Gale, Chase Millsap, Col. Jack Jacobs and Val Nicholas.

On February 2, 2021, NYFA held a virtual panel event with Colonel Jacobs, David Gale and Chase Millsap, that was moderated by Tova Laiter, Director of the NYFA Q&A-List Series, which can be viewed here.

In the past 10 years, NYFA has proudly welcomed nearly 2,500 veterans and servicemembers’ dependents as students at NYFA; the NYFA community is grateful to each for their service to our country. For more information, please contact NYFA DVS, at [email protected] or 818- 333-3558.

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY (NYFA) WELCOMES OSCAR AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER/MANAGER MICHAEL SUGAR

Tova Laiter (left) with Michael Sugar (right)

New York Film Academy (NYFA) had the honor of hosting a live video Q&A with PRODUCER/ MANAGER MICHAEL SUGAR. Sugar produced the feature film, Spotlight (starring Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo) which won the Oscar for “Best Picture.” Sugar is also CEO and Founder of Sugar23, a management and production company with a multi-year deal with Netflix.

Previously a partner for many years at Anonymous Content, Sugar has produced a number of acclaimed series and features, including The Laundromat, Dickinson, Maniac, I Am The Night, The Report, The OA, The Knick and the hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.

Sugar recalled his background and his early decision to enter into the entertainment industry, He then recalls his introduction into the world of management “I was having lunch with a friend who was an agent at William Morris and he said, ‘You should be a manager. It’s a great way to learn the business and to meet the right folks.’”

Michael Sugar was Producer for the Oscar-Winning film Spotlight (2015)

Laiter then asked Sugar about his lengthy career as a manager and producer at the highly acclaimed production company, Anonymous Content. Sugar describes how he entered the company, “In the spring of 2005 I signed a director who had done a film and they alerted Steve Golan, who was the founder and CEO of Anonymous Content. He called me up and said, ‘come over,’ and I said to myself, I don’t want to work anywhere. I wanted to be on my own. But he gave me this incredible pitch about this platform that he was building there, and I knew it was going to be an easier place for me to grow my business.”

Following his background, Sugar and Laiter discussed the role of a good manager. Sugar offered his own perspective of the role as, “a person in an artist’s life who is directional–who is meant to bring out the best opportunities across their myriads of whims, dreams, and hopes. I look at my job and it changes on a daily basis, in terms of the specificity in going into micro issues and how to macro issues.” Relating the idea of a manager to the business realm, Sugar notes, “If I look at it like Procter and Gamble, each brand has its own manager, right? Each artist has multiple brands, the brand of writing, the brand of directing, the brand of film, television, playwriting, or writing books. My job is to be as much of an expert as I can be across all of them, and make sure that everybody is operating.”

Michael Sugar was Executive Producer for the hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why

When Laiter and Sugar pivoted the conversation toward Sugar’s newest startup, X4Y, which is a subsidiary of Sugar23. Sugar describes the company as a tech lab platform designed to link creators and brands to pay for their creatives. The reason behind the company, according to Sugar, was because he realized that for a “commercial director” to be discovered and to get paid they need to make a commercial that then goes on the shelf. And I remember thinking to myself how inefficient this is–that people are spending their money, making very creative commercials, without the benefit of a creative agency buying it.

Creators that make content that is not brand specific, have the opportunity through X4Y to have their work paid for by companies that express interest in this content at a lower expense than tailored content. According to Sugar, creators can “make a commercial for health and wellness and let any of the thousands of health and wellness companies that would love to have a piece of commercial content, or even a shortfilm, to put the content up on Instagram, or Snapchat, or Twitter. Let them pay you for it because they can. So this is designed to take away the need for permission to create.”

Michael Sugar is the founder of X4Y, a new digital marketplace that links content creators with brands

A student then asked Sugar about the differences between attracting clients now versus 10 years ago. Sugar noted that nowadays “the difference is that they/we see it as a media canvas, such as We’re looking at how does an audio podcast become a TV show, become a consumer product, become a book? And so that’s why we built this ecosystem to service all of those things because you just never know the best way to adapt something. We want to help them, and we’re seeing a lot of innovation on the brand side.”

Michael Sugar was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, two Television Academy Honors, two AFI awards, and two Peabody Awards. You can catch his other work in his newly launched X4Y, a marketplace for creators to sell their work and be discovered by brands worldwide.

New York Film Academy would like to thank Michael Sugar for sharing his time and background with NYFA students and alumni.

Watch the full conversation below:

SPIELBERG’S ‘WEST SIDE STORY’ REMAKE COMING TO THEATERS DECEMBER 10TH

The New York Film Academy (NYFA) is very excited to share the highly anticipated Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story, coming to theaters on December 10th, 2021. The film will feature actress, singer, dancer, and NYFA Musical Theatre alum Ilda Mason. Cast as the ‘Sharks’ member Luz, Mason will showcase her professional dance and acting skills to a global audience.

The film was directed by Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Emmy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg, whose work has been named some of the most influential films in movie history (Jaws, Schindler’s List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park). The screenplay adaptation was written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning writer Tony Kushner. Based on the book and stage play by Arthur Laurents, the 2021 film will feature the original West Side Story (1961 film) star and actress, Rita Moreno.

The film’s anticipated release was met with much acclaim and excitement online. West Side Story became a global sensation when it hit Broadway in 1957. The show was both dazzling and gritty, painting a Romeo and Juliet romance between Tony and Maria over a contemporary story of street gangs, racism, and violence.

When director Robert Wise and choreographer Jerome Robbins adapted it into a film in 1961, West Side Story broke the box office record for musicals and dominated the Oscars, winning 10 awards, including best picture. Six decades later, the stage show has toured the world and been revived repeatedly.

Movie poster for West Side Story (2021)

The actress, dancer, and NYFA alum, Ilda Mason, expressed her excitement on Instagram, captioned in a picture she posted during filming, “This is one of my favorite photos with Ariana and Ana Isabelle. I remember the excitement of rehearsing in costumes, on the street as we would on the day of the shoot, and even today, two years later my heart flutters. I can’t contain my excitement to watch what we’ve all created together. See you in the movie theaters on December 10th!”

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A post shared by Ilda Mason (@ildamason)

Mason has previous experience in the West Side Story production, having performed in Ivo van Hove’s adaption of West Side Story on Broadway in New York City. She also performed in West Side Story productions at both Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, and the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. As a professional dancer, Mason also performed in the Gloria Estefan Broadway musical On Your Feet and production of Legally Blonde in China, along with a national tour of Cinderella as an ensemble member. In Latin America, Mason is known for her stellar performances and dancing for two seasons of Panama’s Dancing with the Stars.

Mason studied with NYFA in 2015 in our 2-Year Conservatory in Musical Theatre. Her extraordinary talent in dance was indicative as a young student. “Ilda was an engaged, focused student and an integral member of the NYFA Musical Theatre community,” says Kristy Cates, NYFA’s Chair of Musical Theatre. “We are all so proud of her many successes and look forward to watching her star continue to rise.”

Ilda Mason (left) on the set of West Side Story (2021) alongside director Steven Spielberg (right)

New York Film Academy congratulates Musical Theatre alum, Ilda Mason, on her recent successes as well as her role in the upcoming Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story coming to theaters soon.

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY (NYFA) WELCOMES WRITER/DIRECTOR HANNAH MARKS & ACTOR BEN ROSENFIELD

Tova Laiter (above left) with Ben Rosenfield (above right) and Hannah Marks (bottom)

New York Film Academy (NYFA) had the honor of hosting a live video Q&A with writer/director Hannah Marks (Mark, Mary & Some Other People, After Everything), and actor Ben Rosenfield (Mark, Mary & Some Other People, You Mean Everything to Me, Mrs. America). Tova Laiter, Director of the NYFA Q&A-List Series, moderated the event and conversed with the two guests on their latest collaboration, Mark, Mary & Some Other People.

Hannah Marks was named by Rolling Stone magazine one of their ‘25 Under 25’ artists changing the world and featured as one of Forbes Magazine’s ‘30 trailblazers under 30’ in the Hollywood and Entertainment field.

Having started her career as an actress at a young age, Hannah Marks received recognition for her work as a director and writer for both short and feature-length films. She credits her skill in writing as a result of reading a larger number of scripts than most artists. Similarly, Marks has always been curious, recalling moments from her childhood while on movie sets, “I liked to ask every crew member what they’re doing and how they do it. And I think, as you know, coming from an 11 or 12-year-old, that was probably very annoying and precocious, but it paid off now.”

Ben Rosenfield started in theatre, with his first professional job at the New York Theater workshop on an adaptation of a film for the stage. According to Ben, at the time that type of adaption wasn’t popular but had this to say about the production, “I guess it’s happening more and more now that Disney owns Broadway. It’s an adaptation of a Bergman movie called Through a Glass Darkly. It was an incredible first job. Lots of my experience before that was doing plays in my high school, growing up, in middle school, and stuff like that in New Jersey.”

Movie poster for Mark, Mary & Some Other People (2021)

When asked by Laiter about one of the subjects of the film, open romantic relationships, Marks notes, “I think people are opening their mind to what relationships can look like now, just because it didn’t work out in our movie, I don’t want to preach that I think it can never work out because everyone is so different. You know, I personally am just more of a fan of a bittersweet ending – emphasis on the bitter.”

Laiter then asked Rosenfield about his career ambitions, to which he said, “Yeah, I certainly have interest in directing. You know, I feel I’m pretty focused on the acting thing right now, but I am writing some stuff with some people that I want to get put up eventually, and I am interested in directing. I think one thing I’ve learned from Hannah is that we meet a lot of people along the way as actors and it can be helpful to make the most of that.”

When asked by a student about nontraditional relationships gaining more screen time and whether the subject matter drew Marks and Rosenfield, the director noted her favorite types of films are the ones that do not take a stance, but rather offer a different perspective: “Mark and Mary had very valid interpretations of why they wanted to have the experience that they wanted to have. So to me, that’s the most exciting part. There’s part of me that’s really traditional and old-fashioned, and another part of me that’s progressive, and what happens when you put those two people together and they have to duke it out? Neither of them are bad people and that’s what makes something enjoyable for me to write.”

Movie still from Mark, Mary & Some Other People (2021)

Another student asked Rosenfield his experience performing in theatre versus film. He notes, “That’s a great question. As far as the preparation, at least when you do a play like in New York, off-Broadway, on Broadway, major regional theater like the Geffen or Steppenwolf, or something like that, you’re going to have at least four weeks of rehearsal. You really don’t really get that in movies, especially in an independent movie. I met the co-star Hayley three or four days before we started shooting.”

Rosenfield then noted that acting for both stage and film is a great experience for an actor, “I think performing for theatre is an important thing for actors to do because one other major difference is you tell the story in order every night. You don’t get to say, ‘Oh, sorry, I screwed that one up. Can we take it back?’”

Both guests have some important upcoming projects. Marks will be directing the upcoming film adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down, while Rosenfield plays opposite Cate Blanchett on FX’s limited series Mrs. America. When asked what he learned from Cate Blanchet in this movie: he said that when she has to say expository dialogue which can be boring but necessary, she infuses it with feeling. ‘Nobody will remember what I said, but they will remember the feeling they got from it”.

The New York Film Academy would like to thank Hannah Marks and Ben Rosenfield for sharing their time and perspectives with NYFA students and alumni.

Watch the full conversation below: