Jinn, the new supernatural teen drama from Netflix, features two New York Film Academy (NYFA) Filmmaking workshop alumni in its cast—Anouar Hadj Smaine and Hana Chamoun.
Smaine graduated from the 8-week Filmmaking workshop at NYFA’s Burbank-based campus in early 2010. The Algerian-born actor, director, and playwright has numerous credits across several different disciplines, including as an actor in The Looming Tower, Westworld, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and the upcoming season of Veronica Mars. He also wrote, directed, and starred in the award-winning film Battle Fields.
Chamoun was born in Lebanon and attended the 4-week Filmmaking workshop at NYFA’s New York City campus in July 2013, before starting her career as an actress. Since then, Chamoun has appeared in 3000 Nights; Medinah; Salam; and Same, Old.
Both Smaine and Chamoun appear in Jinn, which premiered on June 13. The supernatural coming-of-age drama is the first Arabic-language Original from Netflix, and was written and executive produced by Elan and Rajeev Dassani (Scandal) and Christian, Lucien, and Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, and directed by Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya.
The story revolves around a group of teens who come across a malicious spirit while visiting Petra, Jordan and bring it back with them to their high school. Another spirit is brought along as well, turning their mundane teen lives into an epic battle of good versus evil. Smaine plays the principal of the school while Chamoun plays Ms. Ola.
New York Film Academy congratulates Filmmaking Workshop alumni Anouar Hadj Smaine and Hana Chamoun on their appearances in Netflix’s exciting new Original series.
The Lionsgate Talent Acquisition team gave a special presentation to New York Film Academy (NYFA) military veteran-students and veteran-student alumni on June 19, 2019 at the NYFA Theater at our Los Angeles Campus in Burbank.
Vice President of Talent Acquisition, Anita Noe, and Senior Recruiter, Hugo Vergara, were on hand to discuss employment and internship opportunities to NYFA veteran-students. The presentation opened with a company overview and then segued into the company’s structure, operations, vision for the future, and—most importantly—how to effectively apply for internships and employment with Lionsgate. Having many subsidiaries, including Starz Inc. and Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate also assists in their staffing as well.
Veteran-students were highly engaged in the presentation, posed many questions, and came away with a wonderful insight into the company.
“Hearing what Lionsgate had to say was both motivating and very informative. They provided a lot of information on resumes and effective job searching that I will take with me post-graduation. Lionsgate would be a wonderful company to be a part of and I will be exploring the opportunities that they have in the very near future,” said Elcor Aragundi, US Army veteran and NYFA BFA Filmmaking Student.
Based out of Santa Monica, Lionsgate is one of the industry’s leading production companies and distributors. Along with The Hunger Games and John Wick franchises, they are responsible for popular titles such as Uncle Drew, The Big Stick, La La Land and Sicario, among many other current movies and television Shows.
The New York Film Academy Department of Veteran Services would like to sincerely thank Anita and Hugo—and the rest of the Lionsgate team—for their time and generosity.
The New York Film Academy (NYFA) community get to add some Golden Popcorn statues to the ever-growing list of award wins this year, after winning at this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards. The ceremony was hosted by Shazam! star Zachary Levi and aired on June 17 after being recorded two days prior in Santa Monica.
The trendy MTV Awards aims toward a younger audience and—unlike the more traditional Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and various other Awards season ceremonies—it especially prides itself on its unique and progressive categories, typically not differentiating between gender or media platforms. Instead, it groups broadcast, streaming, and theatrically released content together in genderless groupings.
The top prize in television, Best Show, went to HBO’s fantasy epic Game of Thrones, which ended its eight-season run this year. NYFA 3D Animation & VFX alum Alex LoRusso worked on some visual effects for the last few episodes of Game of Thrones’ final season, including “The Last of the Starks” and controversial but explosive climactic entry “The Bells.”
The other big winner of the night was Marvel Cinematic Universe record-smashing blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, which picked up awards for Best Hero (Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man), Best Villain (Josh Brolin as Thanos), and top prize Best Movie.
Competing with Avengers for Best Movie was Netflix original To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, starring NYFA Acting for Film camp alum Lana Condor and actor Noah Centineo. The pair managed to pick up the Golden Popcorn trophy for perennial favorite popular category, Best Kiss. Additionally, Centineo won Breakthrough Performance for his role in the film.
Another winner of the night was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court Justice profiled in feature documentary RBG, who won Best Real-Life Hero. The film, shot by cinematography and NYFA Documentary Filmmaking instructor Claudia Raschke, racked up an impressive amount of MTV Award nominations, including Best Documentary, Best Fight (for Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs. Inequality), and Most Meme-able Moment (for her nickname The Notorious RBG.)
New York Film Academy congratulates this year’s MTV Movie & TV Award winners and is elated to see the NYFA Community continue to gain recognition for their hard work!
Here is the full list of MTV Movie & TV Award nominees and winners:
BEST MOVIE Avengers: Endgame – WINNER BlacKkKlansman Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Us
BEST SHOW Big Mouth Game of Thrones – WINNER Riverdale Schitt’s Creek The Haunting of Hill House
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE Amandla Stenberg (Starr Carter) — The Hate U Give Lady Gaga (Ally) — A Star is Born – WINNER Lupita Nyong’o (Red) — Us Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) — Bohemian Rhapsody Sandra Bullock (Malorie) — Bird Box
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW Elisabeth Moss (June Osborne/Offred) — The Handmaid’s Tale – WINNER Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) — Game of Thrones Gina Rodriguez (Jane Villanueva) — Jane the Virgin Jason Mitchell (Brandon) — The Chi Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina Spellman) — Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
BEST HERO Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel) — Captain Marvel John David Washington (Ron Stallworth) — BlacKkKlansman Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) — Game of Thrones Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) — Avengers: Endgame – WINNER Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) — Shazam!
BEST VILLAIN Jodie Comer (Villanelle) — Killing Eve Joseph Fiennes (Commander Fred Waterford) — The Handmaid’s Tale Josh Brolin (Thanos) — Avengers: Endgame – WINNER Lupita Nyong’o (Red) — Us Penn Badgley (Joe Goldberg) — You
BEST KISS Camila Mendes & Charles Melton (Veronica Lodge & Reggie Mantle) — Riverdale Jason Momoa & Amber Heard (Aquaman & Mera) — Aquaman Ncuti Gatwa & Connor Swindells (Eric Effiong & Adam Groff) — Sex Education Noah Centineo & Lana Condor (Peter Kavinsky & Lara Jean) — To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – WINNER Tom Hardy & Michelle Williams (Eddie Brock/Venom & Anne Weying) — Venom
REALITY ROYALTY Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta – WINNER The Bachelor The Challenge Vanderpump Rules
BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) — Crazy Rich Asians Dan Levy (David Rose) — Schitt’s Creek – WINNER John Mulaney (Andrew Glouberman) — Big Mouth Marsai Martin (Little Jordan Sanders) — Little Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) — Shazam!
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) — Crazy Rich Asians Haley Lu Richardson (Stella) — Five Feet Apart Mj Rodriguez (Blanca Rodriguez) — Pose Ncuti Gatwa (Eric Effiong) — Sex Education Noah Centineo (Peter Kavinsky) — To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – WINNER
BEST FIGHT Avengers: Endgame — Captain America vs. Thanos Captain Marvel — Captain Marvel vs. Minn-Erva – WINNER Game of Thrones — Arya Stark vs. the White Walkers RBG — Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs. Inequality WWE Wrestlemania — Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair
BEST REAL–LIFE HERO Alex Honnold — Free Solo Hannah Gadsby — Nanette Roman Reigns — WWE SmackDown Ruth Bader Ginsburg — RBG – WINNER Serena Williams — Being Serena
MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE Alex Wolff (Peter) — Hereditary Linda Cardellini (Anna Tate-Garcia) — The Curse of La Llorona Rhian Rees (Dana Haines) — Halloween Sandra Bullock (Malorie) — Bird Box – WINNER Victoria Pedretti (Nell Crain) — The Haunting of Hill House
BEST DOCUMENTARY At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal McQueen Minding the Gap RBG Surviving R. Kelly – WINNER
BEST HOST Gayle King — CBS This Morning Nick Cannon — Wild ‘n Out – WINNER Nick Cannon — The Masked Singer RuPaul — RuPaul’s Drag Race Trevor Noah — The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
MOST MEME-ABLE MOMENT Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club — The Lilo Dance Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood — Ray J’s Hat RBG — The Notorious RBG RuPaul’s Drag Race — Asia O’Hara’s butterfly finale fail The Bachelor — Colton Underwood jumps the fence – WINNER
BEST MUSICAL MOMENT “Shallow” – A Star is Born –WINNER Live Aid Concert – Bohemian Rhapsody “Just a Girl” – Captain Marvel “Masquerade” –Chilling Adventures of Sabrina “Look at that Butt” – On My Block “Seventeen” – Riverdale “Sunflower” – Into the Spider-Verse “I Think We’re Alone Now” –The Umbrella Academy
The New York Film Academy (NYFA) community came away with some Golden Popcorn statues this year after winning at this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards. The ceremony aired on June 17 after being recorded two days prior in Santa Monica, and was hosted by Shazam! star Zachary Levi.
Unlike the more traditional Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and various other Awards season ceremonies, the buzzworthy MTV Awards aims toward a younger audience and prides itself on its progressive categories—typically not differentiating between gender or media platforms. Instead, it groups broadcast, streaming, and theatrically released content together in genderless groupings.
The big winner of the night was Marvel Cinematic Universe record-smashing blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, which picked up awards for Best Hero (Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man), Best Villain (Josh Brolin as Thanos), and top prize Best Movie.
The other top prize, Best Show, went to HBO’s fantasy epic Game of Thrones, which ended its eight-season run this year. NYFA 3D Animation & VFX alum Alex LoRusso worked on some visual effects for the last few episodes of Game of Thrones’ final season, including “The Last of the Starks” and fiery climactic entry “The Bells.”
Also nominated for Best Movie was Netflix original To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, starring NYFA Acting for Film camp alum Lana Condor and actor Noah Centineo. The pair picked up the Golden Popcorn trophy for perennial favorite popular category, Best Kiss. Additionally, Centineo won Breakthrough Performance for his role in the film.
Another winner of the night was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court Justice profiled in feature documentary RBG, who won Best Real-Life Hero. The film, shot by cinematography and NYFA Documentary Filmmaking instructor Claudia Raschke, racked up an impressive amount of MTV Award nominations, including Best Documentary, Best Fight (for Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs. Inequality), and Most Meme-able Moment (for her nickname The Notorious RBG.)
New York Film Academy congratulates this year’s MTV Movie & TV Award winners and is overjoyed to see the NYFA Community continue to rack up accolades for their hard work!
Here is the full list of MTV Movie & TV Award nominees and winners:
BEST MOVIE Avengers: Endgame – WINNER BlacKkKlansman Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Us
BEST SHOW Big Mouth Game of Thrones – WINNER Riverdale Schitt’s Creek The Haunting of Hill House
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE Amandla Stenberg (Starr Carter) — The Hate U Give Lady Gaga (Ally) — A Star is Born – WINNER Lupita Nyong’o (Red) — Us Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) — Bohemian Rhapsody Sandra Bullock (Malorie) — Bird Box
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW Elisabeth Moss (June Osborne/Offred) — The Handmaid’s Tale – WINNER Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) — Game of Thrones Gina Rodriguez (Jane Villanueva) — Jane the Virgin Jason Mitchell (Brandon) — The Chi Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina Spellman) — Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
BEST HERO Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel) — Captain Marvel John David Washington (Ron Stallworth) — BlacKkKlansman Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) — Game of Thrones Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) — Avengers: Endgame – WINNER Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) — Shazam!
BEST VILLAIN Jodie Comer (Villanelle) — Killing Eve Joseph Fiennes (Commander Fred Waterford) — The Handmaid’s Tale Josh Brolin (Thanos) — Avengers: Endgame – WINNER Lupita Nyong’o (Red) — Us Penn Badgley (Joe Goldberg) — You
BEST KISS Camila Mendes & Charles Melton (Veronica Lodge & Reggie Mantle) — Riverdale Jason Momoa & Amber Heard (Aquaman & Mera) — Aquaman Ncuti Gatwa & Connor Swindells (Eric Effiong & Adam Groff) — Sex Education Noah Centineo & Lana Condor (Peter Kavinsky & Lara Jean) — To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – WINNER Tom Hardy & Michelle Williams (Eddie Brock/Venom & Anne Weying) — Venom
BEST MUSICAL MOMENT “Shallow” – A Star is Born – WINNER Live Aid Concert – Bohemian Rhapsody “Just a Girl” – Captain Marvel “Masquerade” – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina “Look at that Butt” – On My Block “Seventeen” – Riverdale “Sunflower” – Into the Spider-Verse “I Think We’re Alone Now” – The Umbrella Academy
REALITY ROYALTY Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta – WINNER The Bachelor The Challenge Vanderpump Rules
BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) — Crazy Rich Asians Dan Levy (David Rose) — Schitt’s Creek – WINNER John Mulaney (Andrew Glouberman) — Big Mouth Marsai Martin (Little Jordan Sanders) — Little Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) — Shazam!
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) — Crazy Rich Asians Haley Lu Richardson (Stella) — Five Feet Apart Mj Rodriguez (Blanca Rodriguez) — Pose Ncuti Gatwa (Eric Effiong) — Sex Education Noah Centineo (Peter Kavinsky) — To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – WINNER
BEST FIGHT Avengers: Endgame — Captain America vs. Thanos Captain Marvel — Captain Marvel vs. Minn-Erva – WINNER Game of Thrones — Arya Stark vs. the White Walkers RBG — Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs. Inequality WWE Wrestlemania — Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair
BEST REAL-LIFE HERO Alex Honnold — Free Solo Hannah Gadsby — Nanette Roman Reigns — WWE SmackDown Ruth Bader Ginsburg — RBG – WINNER Serena Williams — Being Serena
MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE Alex Wolff (Peter) — Hereditary Linda Cardellini (Anna Tate-Garcia) — The Curse of La Llorona Rhian Rees (Dana Haines) — Halloween Sandra Bullock (Malorie) — Bird Box – WINNER Victoria Pedretti (Nell Crain) — The Haunting of Hill House
BEST DOCUMENTARY At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal McQueen Minding the Gap RBG Surviving R. Kelly – WINNER
BEST HOST Gayle King — CBS This Morning Nick Cannon — Wild ‘n Out – WINNER Nick Cannon — The Masked Singer RuPaul — RuPaul’s Drag Race Trevor Noah — The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
MOST MEME-ABLE MOMENT Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club — The Lilo Dance Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood — Ray J’s Hat RBG — The Notorious RBG RuPaul’s Drag Race — Asia O’Hara’s butterfly finale fail The Bachelor — Colton Underwood jumps the fence – WINNER
Washington, DC is about as far away culturally from Hollywood as one can get in this country. However, for New York Film Academy (NYFA) Screenwriting and Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS) instructor Terah Jackson, his hometown (DC, not Hollywood) provides a wealth of experience to draw upon.
Jackson doesn’t just write politically-minded movies, but also mixes genres such as science fiction to—as he says—“add some Hollywood flair.” A director and writer of both stage and screen, Jackson has trained at Lincoln Center and worked off-Broadway. He’s also won awards and garnered attention from the WGAW, Nicholls, Film Independent, and Sundance.
Currently, Jackson teaches NYFA classes such as Playwriting and Great Playwrights as well as courses like Genre Studies and Writing the Feature Film. He took some time from his busy schedule to discuss Washington, DC, his career, and his civic responsibility as an artist—based on his ties to the civil rights movement.
New York Film Academy (NYFA): How did you discover theatre?
Terah Jackson (TJ): You mean outside of holiday kindergarten pageants, where I was an outstanding Tree #3?
I’d say it began with my mother. She’s a master storyteller and as a child I’d follow her around to different storytelling gigs like Three Stories Tall, the first show on NBC4’s 1980s Saturday Morning lineup. She would ask me how she did, and I would give her my notes on her performance and story structure. In time she grew to appreciate it—I think! Those experiences shaped who I am as an artist and storyteller today.
NYFA: How did your experiences in Washington, DC influence your writing? Do politics—local or national—inform the themes and issues you explore?
TJ: Growing up in Washington, DC was, for me, a tale of two cities. There’s Washington—the stuff of The West Wing—then there’s DC, which at times resembles The Wire (which is set in Baltimore). While my neighborhood had its own international gangs, I took the E2 bus line to schools that daughters of diplomats might attend. It was a good life, but confusing crisscrossing cultural and class divides. My sci-fi thrillers, political period pieces, and comedies speak to these experiences.
But if you mean more directly “does working in the Pentagon and youth detention centers show up on the page?” Yes, absolutely. To me, working in Hollywood is like DC, but with flair. Take what I did in the DC government, working on adult education and special needs services, dress it up with a little flair like invading aliens posing as lobbyists, and there you g—that’s my sci-fi thriller, Primrose. The customs are different, but the work, the negotiations, and the characters are strikingly similar. There has to be a demand to make a deal.
NYFA: Your parents were in the civil rights movement. Can you talk about that—and how that also influenced and shaped you?
Civil Rights Activist Bayard Rustin
TJ: Yes, both my parents were civil rights activists at Howard University and in the city at-large. As the child of civil rights activists, it’s important to me that my work carries forward the spirit of what they fought for—even if it is sci-fi or comedic—that it carries a sense of human dignity. Their work is unfinished. The struggle continues.
As an artist I have a civic responsibility to amplify or envision the kind of future we all deserve. It’s an important role to reflect and shape culture as well as one’s sense of self within society. We don’t often discuss it, but Harry Belafonte, Maya Angelou, Sammy Davis Jr., Lorraine Hansberry, and Marlon Brando in their own ways and to varying degrees were influential to making events like the March on Washington what they were. When you look at their artwork they often speak to human dignity and the betterment of society.
NYFA: Any projects of yours you’d like to highlight?
Rustin, a feature, probably is the project that honors my parents and their generation the most. It started at AFI as my thesis and was developed further at Film Independent and with support from the WGAW. It’s about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s strategic advisor Bayard Rustin, who is pushed out of the civil rights movement because he’s gay. But when he returns, he organizes the March on Washington of 1963. It honors the work of Bayard and the civil rights movement and hopefully reminds us to keep on working for a truly inclusive and equitable society.
NYFA: What are you currently working on?
TJ: Quite a few projects, but today it’s all about Displaced, a sci-fi pilot, about a lowly janitor who finds he’s receiving pranks calls from inside his bedroom wall from a phone on his own dead body—or at least someone who looks identical to him. Without giving too much away it’s a bit of a doppelganger thriller that I’ve been developing over the past year or so alongside a few other concepts for TV that I can’t talk about yet. Displaced definitely draws on my experience growing up asking those “What if” questions.
NYFA: What are your favorite classes to teach at NYFA and why?
TJ: My favorite class to teach at NYFA are the ones when a good mix of students from across the world—from various ages, ethnicities, classes, and those with military experience and those without—are all in the same room together investigating a deep tenet of writing or film that reflects what we are up to in life. In that moment we all learn from each other. It’s dynamic, electric, and enriches everyone.
NYFA: What advice do you have for students looking to get into playwriting?
Take risks that you wouldn’t in film and television. Read and see lots of plays. Act in plays. Seek to understand the mechanics of how they are structured. And write, write, write. Develop your writing routine. Connect with other playwrights. Go outside and listen to people and how they speak. Jot down moments of striking human interaction. Piece them together. Theatre often calls for you to dig deep into yourself. So take care of your relationships, spirit, and your health as you do all this. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
New York Film Academy thanks Screenwriting and LAS instructor Terah Jackson for taking the time to speak with us and wishes him the best in all his creative endeavors.
On June 2, members of the Broadcast Club at New York Film Academy (NYFA) attended the 2019 National Geographic Contenders Showcase. The club is one of many co-curricular activities available to students at our Burbank-based Los Angeles campus.
The 2019 National Geographic Contenders Showcase is a one-of-a-kind event held outside, featuring concerts, screenings, and other fascinating, interactive events. This year’s Showcase was held at the Greek Theatre.
The Showcase began with a picnic in the early evening. Additionally, it featured a VR experience and photo exhibit to bring people up close and personal with the animals of NatGeo’s Hostile Planet, as well as puppies up for adoption.
Also offered was a unique cryo-spa with ice cold facials to show off the NatGeo production Life Below Zero. The Broadcast Club students and other attendees were also able to get henna tattoos and create their own charms as they spoke with the producers of The Story of God, featuring Morgan Freeman. For 90s arcades fans there were nostalgia-inducing games inspired by NatGeo’s Valley of the Boom.
Along with a behind-the-scenes look at hit Julianna Margulies medical thriller The Hot Zone was a picture and sound editing demo of Academy Award-winning documentary Free Solo. Attendees could feel what it was like first hand when New York Film Academy editing instructor for the Documentary department Bob Eisenhardt sat down and put the film together. Additionally, Free Solo subject and record-breaking rock climber Alex Honnold was on hand to meet everyone and sign his book.
The night ended with a final live concert event hosted by Morgan Freeman and featuring footage from Free Solo; Hostile Planet; and The Flood, narrated by Angela Bassett.
Check out photos of the Broadcast Club taking in the Showcase below!
Los Angeles culture publication VoyageLA recently interviewed busy filmmaker and New York Film Academy (NYFA) AFA Filmmaking student Nicolas Varela, speaking with him about his work, his struggles, and the friends and support system that keeps him going.
Varela was originally a stage actor in his home country of Chile, before moving to Los Angeles to study Filmmaking at our Burbank-based campus. He enrolled in the AFA Filmmaking program at NYFA in Fall 2017 to earn his degree.
Students at NYFA hit the ground running, working on their first films very early in the semester.One of the shorts he made in his first two months at NYFA, Aphrodite, quickly started gaining buzz and screenings at multiple film festivals. These included appearances at Outfest Fusion, Newport Beach Film Festival, and the prestigious Los Angeles Live Score Film Festival.
“Film festivals have been huge in pushing me forward into the industry,” Varela told VoyageLA. “I have met professionals, friends, mentors or just people simply interested in my art and there to help me out.”
He added, “Ever since my first festival, I feel like my confidence has grown, as that Chilean outsider, becoming more and more accepted and involved in the industry here across the ocean.”
Varela was quick to name many of the people who provide him support and help him along his way as he continues to develop his talents as a filmmaker. Varela pointed out NYFA instructor Robert Taylor and NYFA Director, Film Festivals Crickett Rumley as two important members of this network of support.
New York Film Academy congratulates AFA Filmmaking student Nicolas Varela on the buzz surrounding him and his film Aphrodite!
New York Film Academy (NYFA) Filmmaking and Cinematography alum Jean de Meuron can add another award to his mantle—his short film Megan was a Silver Winner at the 40th Annual Telly Awards.
The Telly Awards were founded in 1979 to recognize achievements in local, regional, and cable television commercials with non-broadcast video and television programming included shortly after. The Telly Awards have kept up with the times and now embraces media content that can be seen on all screens—from the theater to your smartphone. This also includes awards for VR, television commercials, web series and branded content. This year’s event had a record-breaking amount of entries, with over 12,000 from five continents and all 50 states.
Megan, a short film that also serves as a proof of concept for a feature science fiction epic in the vein of J.J. Abrams’s popular Cloverfield series, was a Silver Winner in the General – Online category. The proof of concept features breathtaking action bolstered by perfectly executed special effects, including a harrowing helicopter crash and the appearance of a colossal, ominous spaceship.
Jean de Meuron produced the short along with Giuseppe Mercadante and Olcun Tan, with Greg Strasz directing. Megan previously won Best International Sci-Fi Short at the 2018 London International Short Film Festival as well as four awards at the 2018 Pitch to Screen Film Awards: Best Proof of Concept, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, and Best Editor.
de Meuron hails from Switzerland and first enrolled at New York Film Academy in 2009, taking several workshops, including in Filmmaking. He followed his short-term studies with NYFA’s 1-year Conservatory in Cinematography.
Megan producer Jean de Meuron and director Greg Strasz
Since then, he’s been hard at work making award-winning projects. In 2017, he executive-produced the short film La femme et le TGV, which earned an Academy Award nomination. The accumulating accolades of Megan are just the latest of his achievements.
“I am deeply honored, proud, and humbled that my team and I won a Telly Award,” de Meuron says of Megan’s Silver trophy. “This came as a complete surprise since companies like Disney, Lucasfilm, Netflix, Paramount, Viacom, CBS, DC Entertainment, and so forth were also honored for their work in various categories. We share the Silver Winner Award with CBS in the category 2019 Online: General Viral.”
New York Film Academy (NYFA) congratulates Filmmaking & Cinematography alum Jean de Meuron on the success of Megan and its Silver Winner Award at the 40th Annual Telly Awards!
‘Megan’ dir: Greg Strasz, producers: Jean de Meuron, Giuseppe Mercadante, Olcun Tan
‘Megan’ dir: Greg Strasz, producers: Jean de Meuron, Giuseppe Mercadante, Olcun Tan
‘Megan’ dir: Greg Strasz, producers: Jean de Meuron, Giuseppe Mercadante, Olcun Tan
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.
Debris, the award-winning short film by New York Film Academy (NYFA) instructor Julio O. Ramos, is screening in competition at this year’s Palm Springs International Shortfest. Ramos is an acting instructor at NYFA-Los Angeles’s Burbank-based campus.
The film was written by Lucas Micelles from a story by Ramos, who directed the short as well. Debris is a thriller set against the bleak backdrop of human labor trafficking and focuses on Armando (Tenoch Huerta), a hard-working construction foreman who needs to resort to unconventional methods to deal with an accident on his site. After the contractor (Karren Karaguilian) discovers what Armando is up to, Armando is forced to face the consequences of his actions.
“My intention with Debris is to shed light over this grim world of labor trafficking, focus on the vulnerable lives of illegal construction workers, and break the stereotypical notion that labor trafficking only happens somewhere else,” says Ramos. “We must ask ourselves: Who are the people building the homes of America? Where did they come from? Who hired them? America’s obsession with cheap labor has led to a complicated immigration policy intertwining the everyday American life with the global transgressions of labor trafficking.”
Ramos adds, “It happens right here in America and, arguably, we are all responsible.”
Debris premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and since then has competed in nearly 100 film festivals, picking up awards including Best Narrative Short at the 2018 Sidewalk Film Festival, Special Mention of the Jury at the 2019 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and two Jury Awards for Best Narrative Short Film and Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Oxford Film Festival in Mississippi.
The film’s latest achievement is screening at the 2019 Palm Springs International Shortfest. The festival, now in its 25th year, takes place across seven days every June, hosting more than 350 short films annually as well as a series of panels, seminars, roundtable discussions, and master classes.
New York Film Academy congratulates Acting instructor Julio O. Ramos on the success of Debris and wishes him the best of luck at Palm Springs International Shortfest.
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The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
