As part of our on-going collaboration with the wonderful Young Storytellers Foundation, New York Film Academy students and alumni recently got the chance to film “THE FINAL GLEE BIG SHOW.”

Glee cast members Mark Salling, Dot Marie Jones, Harry Shum Jr., Max Adler, and Alex Newell along with Chrissie Fit (Teen Beach Movie, Pitch Perfect 2) performed four different short screenplays written by a group of inventive middle schoolers.

The connection between Glee and Young Storytellers dates back to the organization’s very beginnings when Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk helped create what is now YSF. Since then, Mr Falchuk has regularly brought the cast of Glee to perform the student’s material as part of YSF’s “Big Show.” With Glee now coming to a close after six seasons, this performance truly marked the end of an era.

NYFA was honored to be part of the experience, and congratulates the cast and crew of Glee as well as all the Young Storytellers Writers.

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As long as there have been movies, drugs have played a part in them. In the below infographic, we look at how culture and narcotics laws have shaped portrayals of drugs in movies, but also at how film has shaped society’s behavior with drugs. The frequency in which drugs have appeared in film has risen and fallen over the years, only to explode in the past fifteen years at a time when drug use in the U.S. is on the rise as well.

In the below infographic, we take an overview of the significant moments—in film, society, and the law—and stats to gain a better understanding of just how intertwined drugs and cinema are.

This infographic originally appeared on NYFA’s Student Resources section.

The post High Cinema: Drugs in Film Infographic appeared first on New York Film Academy Blog.

With more than 80 films to his credit, Director/Producer Harrison Engle came to New York Film Academy to share his vast experience with our Los Angeles campus students. Harrison has directed documentaries for nearly every broadcast and cable network. Among his many films are Benny Carter: Symphony in Riffs (A&E), The Lost Kennedy Home Movies (History Channel), They Came to Play (PBS) and Obsessed with Vertigo (AMC). He has created tributes for seven Academy Awards telecasts and is a past president of the International Documentary Association.

Harrison screened his Emmy nominated film, “The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt,” which he directed for ABC. Recently the documentary has been re-released as a boxed set with Roosevelt memorabilia.

Harrison reminisced about studying film before there were film schools, and hiring the young Philip Glass to score his first short film. Engle’s main message to the students was “perseverance” – “Do what you love because you love it and never give up on your dreams.”

-Lexie Helgerson

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There have been months of rumors surrounding AMC’s spin-off of its huge hit, The Walking Dead. We even had a name for the new series: Fear the Walking Dead. It didn’t take very long for us to get a new trailer, as well.

AMC premiered a short 15 second clip for the new series during the season 5 finale of The Walking Dead:

AMC will be hoping to leverage the massive success of everyone’s favorite zombie show. They also did this with Better Call Saul, a spin-off of Breaking Bad.

Like Better Call Saul, Fear the Walking Dead will be set in the same world as the original series, but in a different time and place. Both spin-offs are prequels of sorts. Also like Better Call Saul, AMC ordered two seasons of the new series right off the bat. This time, however, they did not wait for the original series to end before launching a spin-off.

Fear the Walking Dead is set to premiere this summer. It will be interesting to see if the spin-off sees instant success, and how “success” will be defined for the show.

Back in 2010, The Walking Dead premiered to a viewership of just over 5 million people. It has crushed those numbers, however, as the last couple mid-season premieres and finales have broken the 15 million viewers mark. It is every likely that the new spin-off series will beat the original’s initial numbers. But will people need a zombie fix enough to match The Walking Dead‘s recent numbers?

Time will tell.

The post AMC Gives First Look Into Fear The Walking Dead appeared first on New York Film Academy Blog.

Since Jon Stewart announced his retirement from The Daily Show, the Comedy Central news entertainment program he’s hosted since 1999, speculation has been wild with who would replace him. It’s been especially of interest because there was no clear frontrunner. John Oliver, who filled in for Stewart two summers ago to much acclaim, would have been that frontrunner if his own HBO news program, Last Week Tonight, wasn’t becoming a bigger and bigger hit with each passing week.

Stephen Colbert may have been expected to leave his own follow-up Report to return and helm The Daily Show, but David Letterman quashed that possibility when he and CBS chose Colbert as his successor for The Late Show. Colbert’s mainstream talk show will air later this year.

Focus then shifted to the correspondents on The Daily Show, including long-time veterans and real-life married couple Jason Jones and Samantha Bee. Jones will be starring in a new NBC sitcom and Bee will be helming a new talk show on TBS directly competing with The Daily Show. Fellow correspondent Jessica Williams was predicted to host in Hot Tub Time Machine 2, but Williams quickly responded herself that she was too inexperienced for the job.

So, after a weekend plus of rumors, current correspondent Trevor Noah will be replacing Jon Stewart and hosting the venerated show sometime next year. Though Noah is only 31 and has only been on the show since October, he has hosted a nightly talk show before, in his native South Africa. Noah has also been making a name for himself as a stand-up comedian and is currently touring in Dubai. Comedy Central choice in selecting Trevor Noah, a young, talented, up-and-coming South African star, also signals their effort to broaden diversity in all of their programming.

The post Trevor Noah Will Take Over The Daily Show appeared first on New York Film Academy Blog.

The New York Film Academy Abu Dhabi is pleased to announce that one of its 8-Week Filmmaking students, Debabrata “Arkus” Chakraborty, has had his script Pink accepted into the Oscar Library, and the short Arabic film he created from the script has already screened at more than 10 international short film festivals around the globe.

Pink is a story of Khadijah, a middle aged Arabic woman suffering from depression and low self-esteem after her divorce. The divorce has scarred her and led her to believe that she is no more attractive. Therefore, she begins a quest to look beautiful once again.

Arkus

“I am honored that Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences popularly known as the Oscar library has accepted the screenplay of Pink,” said Arkus. “It gives me a great sense of joy to know that my screenplay will share a room with some of the best screenplays in the world.”

Arkus describes the New York Film Academy Abu Dhabi as his second home.

“I had amazing teachers and staff who took the pain to guide me even after the lectures at pretty odd hours, and my batch mates who made extra efforts to ensure that the film is what it is today. Specifically for the screenplay — maximum credit goes to my two teachers, Norman B. Schwartz and Scott Hartmann, who poured their heart out. I just feel that if I would have listened to them more, the screenplay would have better.”

Arkus continues to screen his film at festivals around the world. After the festival circuit, Arkus plans to team up with a few close friends to create a paper-cut stop motion animated short film Dubai LoveScape, which was screened at Dubai International Film Festival, 2014.

He is also working on a feature film script, which he hopes to find the right sponsors who can someday make it a reality.

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The New York Film Academy has officially announced the opening of a brand new campus located in King’s Landing on the continent of Westeros. King’s Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms located on the east coast of Westeros, contains a diverse population of almost 500,000 people. While the land has fallen victim to attacks over the years—most notably when Lord Tywin betrayed King Aerys II Targaryen and ordered his army to brutally sack the city before turning it over to Robert Baratheon—the people in the region are enthusiastic to learn the arts. Call it their renaissance.

Similar to the Academy’s other locations, the King’s Landing location, situated on Kingsroad, will offer knights, giants, Lords, and even Whitewalkers the opportunity to learn both visual and performing arts in a hands-on intensive environment.

“We’re thrilled to open a campus in King’s Landing,” says NYFA President Michael Young. “We hope our exciting new location will attract not only students from King’s Landing, but also those in the other kingdoms, as well as those beyond The Wall.”

While dragons will not be permitted entry, the school will provide its students with a full RED Epic Dragon camera package, considered one of the most revolutionary cameras in the digital cinema spectrum.

“I absolutely adore the world of cinema,” says future student Tyrion Lannister. “However, it has been one of the many luxuries deprived of me while my father was still alive. I truly look forward to learning the skills necessary to excel in the field of filmmaking.”

NYFA frequently invites guest speakers from the entertainment industry like Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Al Pacino to speak to students on campus. The goal is to continue this model and invite local industry leaders like George R.R. Martin, David Benioff, and D.B. Weiss to speak at the new King’s Landing location.

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A young Adam Nimoy with his iconic father, Leonard Nimoy (AKA Spock).

In memory of Leonard Nimoy, his son Adam Nimoy, will be dedicating his next production For the Love of Spock to his father. Adam, who is an acting and directing faculty member of New York Film Academy in LA, will continue the work on the documentary he started with his father (who sadly passed early this year). Although it will not be considered a “Spockumentary”, it will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek (first aired September 8, 1966).

According to Variety, William Shatner, who played Enterprise captain James T. Kirk, had agreed to appear in the doc.

The new Star Trek’s Spock, Zachart Quinto, is expected to narrate the film.

Although they are not opposed to crowfunding through sites such as Kickstarter, they plan to use conventional financing, which will be needed for licensing from Paramount and CBS. Whichever way they decide to go, we are pretty sure that a film dedicated to Leonard Nimoy will have no trouble raising funds.

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It’s been 10 years since the seminal film Hustle & Flow hit theaters (earning the Audience Award at Sundance, Oscar for Best Original Song and Best Acting Nomination for Terrance Howard) but the movie is just as impactful now as it was then. Just ask the students who attended the screening of Hustle & Flow in the New York Film Academy Los Angeles Theater this week, followed by a Q&A with producer and champion of the cultural relic Stephanie Allian.

As Senior Vice President at Columbia Pictures, Stephanie helped launch the careers of filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and John Singleton. She shepherded Singleton’s Boyz N The Hood, which garnered two Academy Award nominations. Following her tenure at Columbia, she was named President at Jim Henson Pictures.

Stephanie Allain

Stephanie formed Homegrown Pictures and produced Craig Brewer’s Hustle & Flow, which earned the Audience Award at Sundance, Oscar for Best Original Song and Best Actor nomination for Terrence Howard. Since then, she’s produced the directorial debut film of Sanaa Hamri and of Tina Gordon Chism. Stephanie worked again with Craig Brewer, producing his film Black Snake Moan. She’s produced Tim Story’s Hurricane Season and most recently Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Beyond the Lights, and Justin Simien’s directorial debut, Dear White People. In addition to her prolific producing endeavors, Stephanie is Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, Producer of the Spirit Awards, where she sits on the board of Women In Film and Film Independent as a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and of the Producer’s Guild of America. Producer Tova Laiter and NYFA producing instructor Lydia Cedrone moderated the discussion.

NYFA students were hanging onto Stephanie’s every valuable word as she described her rise through the Hollywood ranks, and important lessons she learned along the way. Soon after college she became a script reader when she discovered she could make up to $50 for every screenplay she wrote coverage for. Stephanie described the ability to write good coverage as essential in starting a producing career. This skill is what got Stephanie recognized by studio execs and working in their offices. And it’s the skill that gave her continued success in pinpointing quality material as a studio exec herself. She recommended that students read every script they can get their hands on and write coverage for it, if not only for practice. Her advice to those seeking to hone their screenwriting skills was to read 1,000 scripts and write coverage for them. This, she told students, would help them most in mastering their craft. Stephanie can now spot a bad script from page one. She’ll know if a screenplay is something that she’ll want to get behind because the feeling it gives her is very much like falling in love.

Stephanie described how she shepherded the very unconventional Boyz N’ The Hood script through the studio system. John Singleton, the young genius who wrote the script and would later direct it, was a script reader at the time hired by Allain. John convinced Stephanie to read his script and she was floored. She said to herself, “This is what I’m here to do.” One-by-one she convinced her studio colleagues to read the script as well. This took a few weeks, but when she finally made known her burning desire to champion the film, it was already ingrained into everyone’s consciousnesses. To Stephanie’s surprise her boss green-lit the film and she was promoted to VP, since only VP’s could supervise production and it was clear to everyone only she could supervise this film. Stephanie revealed that one of the determining factors in her success within the studio system was that she was never afraid to give her exact opinion on things. It is these types of people, Allain said, that rise to the top.

Allain described the exciting experiences of discovering directorial sensations such as Robert Rodriquez” (Desperado) and Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow). By the time Stephanie made Hustle & Flow, however, she had become independent with her company Homegrown Pictures. A true believer in one’s power to create their own reality, Stephanie has adapted to the changing times to continue to make the kinds of movies she wants to make and also champion them via the Los Angeles Film festival that she is heading and intending it to become the most diverse festival yet.

We sincerely thank Stephanie Allain for visiting the school and look forward to her next groundbreaking project.

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Greg Louganis as Salvador Dali

One of our BFA Filmmaking students from the New York Film Academy Los Angeles, Ilya Rozhkov, is already making his rounds at the festivals and experiencing critical acclaim with his film Sabre Dance, which imagines a meeting between two historic artists, Salvador Dali and Aram Khachaturian. The story starts with Khachaturian giving a performance to the people of Spain. After the show, the world-famous composer is showered with praise and given the opportunity to meet Salvador Dali. From this meeting, Aram learns that artists can be completely different in their attitude toward life, art and etiquette.

Rozhkov’s film premiered at the San Louis Obispo Film Festival, and has already won a Best Performance Award at the Sierra Canyon Film Festival. Next up for Rozhkov on the festival tour are the Sacramento Film Festival, the USA Film Festival (Academy Award Qualifying Festival), Madrid Film Festival (European Premiere), Cannes Film Festival (Short Film Corner), and the Other Venice Film Festival.

We had the opportunity to ask Mr. Rozhkov a few questions about his film and his experience thus far at the New York Film Academy.

NYFA: Congrats on the success you’ve had so far with your film Sabre Dance! Can you tell us where the idea for your film originated?

Sabre Dance is based on a great story that I’ve known for a long time, but I felt a real connection to it after I read Mikhail Veller’s novelette Sabre Dance, which describes the same events. After reading the novelette, I connected to the story on a personal level.

BFA Filmmaker Ilya Rozhkov working with his actors

Could you describe some of the challenges of working with the actors in your film?

I think one of the biggest responsibilities of a film director is to provide the best guidance for actors to portray the characters of the story. In the case of Sabre Dance, some of these characters are also real historic figures, which gives a responsibility of historical accuracy.

Working with Armen Babasoloukian (who portrayed Aram Khachaturian) was an incredible journey, which required a lot of preparation. Since Aram is not only a composer, but also a conductor, we worked with a conducting coach so Armen could really conduct in front of the camera. He did a fantastic job preparing, and when it came to shooting the orchestra scene, Armen was actually conducting the orchestra. I felt incredibly happy when one of the orchestra players, who actually worked with the real-life Aram Khachaturian, approached Armen and told him that he was looking and conducting just like the real Aram. I’m extremely glad that he received the Best Performance Award at Sierra Film Festival— he absolutely deserved it.

Working with Greg Louganis (who portrayed Salvador Dali) was a very enjoyable experience. I had no idea about his Olympic successes until we started preparing with him for the part. When we cast him, I just saw an incredibly talented actor. And on set Greg proved to be extremely professional, talented, creative and dedicated. His portrayal of Salvador Dali is incredibly authentic and one of my very favorite Dali portrayals.

Working with all the cast members of Sabre Dance was a huge pleasure.

Backtracking a bit — you grew up in Russia. What made you decide to enroll in the BFA Filmmaking Program at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles?

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to direct films. Following advice from a director I know, I first decided to take diplomacy education in Russia to get a broader view on the world, and have an in-depth study of History of Religions, Philosophy, History of Literature, Ancient Cultures, Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, and more. This knowledge I obtained helps me every day while making films and studying at NYFA.

In the summer of 2012, I took an 8-week Filmmaking course. The workshop made me realize that I was ready to start the journey I was preparing for all my life. All the general education classes in my university in Russia were over, and it was time to focus on filmmaking. So as soon as the 8-week course was over, I transferred to NYFA’s BFA Filmmaking Program. I’m incredibly happy that I took that choice and went to NYFA.

Has your training and education at NYFA thus far been helpful in terms of producing your film Sabre Dance?
NYFA education was an essential part of Sabre Dance’s creation.

In terms of producing, Sabre Dance was a challenge. It’s a period piece taking place in Spain, involving a palace, theatre, and a whole symphonic orchestra. All of these things are a challenge to obtain when creating an independent film with a limited budget. Both New York Film Academy administration and instructors who were supervising the creation of the film—Saga Elmotaseb and Will Dickerson— were always incredibly supportive and helpful, always giving the right advice on all of the complicated aspects of the film.

Moreover, I met most of my collaborators at New York Film Academy. We worked together with my cinematographer Egor Povolotskiy on all the films since Mise-en-Scene, the first film we get to shoot in the very beginning of the program. It was an enjoyment collaborating with producers Radhika Womack and Janek Ambros, who are both 2011 NYFA graduates.

I’d love to highlight that the most helpful side of NYFA is the hands-on experience. There is some knowledge you can only learn on set. NYFA provides a lot of practice to master that knowledge, along with the theory to support that practice.

So you’re screening at festivals around the world. What is the overall goal with Sabre Dance?

First and foremost, to tell audiences a story about these legendary artists—explore the theme of artistic ego and the difference in their attitude toward art. Also, reaching the audiences through the festival circuit.

What do you hope to achieve overall as a filmmaker?
Through feature-length films, I want to tell important and interesting stories to audiences worldwide.

Are you working on anything else at the moment or just focusing on Sabre Dance for now?
Currently, I’m in development on an action-adventure feature film, and also writing a family drama. And of course, I’m preparing for my thesis film at NYFA.

Have a look at the trailer for Sabre Dance below!

Sabre Dance Trailer from Ilya Rozhkov on Vimeo.

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As a school that prides itself on being a Top Military Friendly School, the New York Film Academy often highlights its veteran and former military students who have shown achievement and success both inside and outside the classroom. One of our current BFA Screenwriting students, Wil Willis, has already succeeded in finding his way into the business, as he is now hosting the History Channel’s Forged in Fire. The competition reality show—in the vein of Ink Masters or Face/ Off—pits master blacksmiths against one another in head-to-head competition to forge from scratch a weapon that could win them a $10,000 prize.

Willis had been hosting a show for Discovery Channel’s American Heroes Channel, and the producers decided to test him for Forged in Fire. Willis tested well and the job was his.

Before pursuing a career in entertainment, Willis served in the Army as a Ranger, and in the Air Force as a Pararescueman. After fifteen years in the military, Willis found himself working on the set of a Broken Lizard production. From there, he began taking acting classes on the down-low, so his military buddies wouldn’t find out. His decision to step out of the box paid off.

“After acting in a couple films, someone asked me to be a TV show host,” recalled Willis. “I figured why not?” Life is all about adventure and having some cool stories to tell the nurses at the Veterans home.”

From an early age, Willis had a fondness for storytelling and movies — especially 80s B-Movies like The Beastmaster. Given his passion and his goal of obtaining a college degree, Willis decided to pursue his BFA in Screenwriting at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles.

In the process of learning how to properly structure his countless ideas, Willis recently finished a personal project titled Comatose Dad, about a veteran struggling to get his act together in the real world. In the script, the main character kidnaps his comatose father from the hospital and takes him on a road trip.

With his foot already in the door, Willis has extremely strong ambitions. “It would be an honor to graduate with the other guys in my class. As far as achievements go…I want it all,” says Willis. “No one comes into this business wanting to ‘just get by.’ I think you’ve got to want it all to get anywhere. And when you start making progress, you’ve got to want more and push yourself and know that you can do better and that you’ll only be as good as the last project you worked on.”

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It’s a great time to be a filmmaker. With old models of film financing and distribution breaking down and increasingly cost-efficient and easy-to-use film production equipment available, filmmaking has become democratized. A handful of studio heads no longer stand between you and success in the entertainment industry. Now more than ever, the power to shape your career as a director is in your hands. This is the realization that film director and New York Film Academy instructor William Dickerson had a few years ago when a few of his scripts were seeing interest from studio development execs, but nobody was seriously considering him to direct any of them because he had never made a feature length movie. Dickerson and his writing partner decided to write a screenplay that could be made with a “microbudget” for William to direct outside the studio system. The film William directed was Detour, which centers around a man trapped inside of a car during a mudslide. The Hollywood Reporter declared Detour a “tautly efficient thriller that fully succeeds.” Dickerson established himself without waiting for anyone’s blessing and his directing career was underway.

NYFA Instructor William Dickerson

To share the knowledge he gained from his experience of making Detour, William wrote the book DETOUR: Hollywood, How to Direct a Microbudget Film (or any film, for that matter). The book explains how to sidestep, or detour around, the Hollywood system and make a microbudget film by giving a detailed account of how Dickerson literally made Detour, thus DETOUR: Hollywood. This has to be the most clever film education book title in a long while. The book also contains some of the most meaningful and practical instruction on film directing ever provided in a text. For instance, Dickerson breaks down the concepts of Subtext and Point of View, the two most important yet neglected ingredients in filmmaking, in such a complete and digestible way that even directors already well-versed in story will have much to learn from it.

Within DETOUR: Hollywood, William Dickerson analyzes all the hurtles he faced over the many years he spent trying to direct his first feature and the trial and error process that led him to what eventually DID work for him and will for you too. The obvious benefit to the reader is saving you time, money, and from unnecessary headache so that you can start your directing career sooner rather than later. Since making Detour, William Dickerson has experienced increasing success in film directing. Most recently William directed Don’t Look Back, a feature-length thriller that aired on Lifetime Movie Network and exhibits a level of craft in directing that is rarely achieved.

William Dickerson’s book DETOUR: Hollywood, How to Direct a Microbudget Film (or any film, for that matter) comes out April 14th and can be ordered through Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/DETOUR-Hollywood-Direct-Microbudget-matter/dp/0985188634

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Coming up on it’s second year this July 2015, the New York Film Academy at Battery Park has proven to be an invaluable addition to our students and staff. The campus, located in lower Manhattan at 17 Battery Park South, occupies 72,000 square feet on two full floors and offers breathtaking views of Battery Park and The Statue of Liberty.

Each classroom is uniquely designed from scratch to meet the specific needs of the hands-on programs, including state-of-the-art production studios and sound stages. Classes are held in Filmmaking, Acting, Musical Theatre, Screenwriting, Producing, Photography, Cinematography, Documentary Filmmaking, Broadcast Journalism, 3D Animation, Graphic Design and Game Design. This summer, we will kick off our renowned summer camp programs for kids and teens, which has been successfully operating since 1996.

For those of you who are curious about the New York Film Academy and would like to take an introductory tour before visiting us in person, have a look below at our Google Virtual Tour below!

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In addition to film and television, games have become one of the most prominent platforms for artists and writers to tell their story. We’ve seen films adapted into games and games adapted into films. Either way, the multi-billion dollar gaming business continues to grow and allow filmmakers another avenue to reach their audience.

We recently heard from MFA Filmmaking student Kshitij Bal, who currently studies at New York Film Academy Los Angeles. Bal is in the process of developing a 2D puzzle based platformer for Playstation 4 and PSvita. The game, Klaus, aims to provide an experience that is narratively innovative and extremely self aware. Klaus is an office worker who wakes in his basement with no recollection of who or where he is. Almost reminds us of the classic Chris Nolan film Memento.

His only clue is the word Klaus tattooed on his arm — forcing him to find his way out of the mechanical and constructivist world that he finds himself imprisoned in. It his search for these answers of where and who that lead him to the larger question, Why.

During the course of the journey, Klaus encounters a second playable character – K1, a friendly brute who has been damaged by his prolonged imprisonment. Together the two embark on an existentially definitive journey that explores the idea of the 4th wall and a self awareness of the player playing the game. Will Klaus discover his truth? Will he find a way out? These are questions that are at the core of the narrative that the game presents.

In terms of gameplay, Klaus is an organic and reflexive 2D platformer, with 2 playable characters, Boss fights and interactive environments. The focus of the gameplay will be on tight controls, environmental puzzles, exploration and a complex yet accessible interaction of the player with not only the characters, but also movement and rotation of objects, jump pads, platforms etc. The game is best designed for the PS4 and uses the touch pad as an integral part of the gameplay.

“It is an extremely exciting game that allows us to bring our passions and our talents together to collaborate to create a cohesive, creative yet marketable product,” says Bal. “This is a project that is extremely close to our heart.”

Klaus was awarded the 2012 Square Enix Excellence Prize and was recently showcased at the PS Dev Summit 2014 where it received a lot of welcome attention for its unique approach and narrative techniques. It is also the first game to be developed out of Venezuela for the PS4 and PSVita platforms and has received positive media reception from Media outlets within the country. However, it is targeted to audiences worldwide, as it has a universal feel and story.

Bal and Klaus have already been featured on the PlayStation blog, as well as HardcoreGamer, GeekBinge, and other gaming publications.

Klaus is set for release on the Sony Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita platforms that is releasing in August – September 2015.

The post MFA Filmmaker Develops ‘Klaus’ for PS4 appeared first on New York Film Academy Blog.

One of our MFA Filmmaking graduates, Zaid Abu Hamdan, a Jordanian filmmaker who studied at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles, is generating buzz with his newest project Daughter’s of Abdul-Rahman. The film, which raised more than $23,000 on indiegogo, is a dramatic comedy about four estranged and very different sisters.

Following the mysterious disappearance of their father, the eldest sister, Zainab, must now reunite with her three sisters at the family home to find their patriarch. Only by coming together will they be able to locate their missing father, and, in the process, overcome their differences and realize who they truly want to be. A drama with a unique, Jordanian sense of humor that is full of light heartwarming moments, Daughters of Abdul-Rahman is natural and organic. Yet, the screenplay tackles serious issues and taboos in a poetic, dark, but still comedic style.

The four female leads of Daughters of Abdul-Rahman loosely represent the wide spectrum of women in Amman while their old traditional father represents the patriarchal structure in Jordan. Given the endless list of differences between them and their divergent social lives, the four sisters do not choose to embark on a journey together to find their missing father, but they must. The sisters’ journey creates a whirlwind of fear, tears, new discoveries, and laughter. Through difficult times, the daughters find their inner voices, not only as individuals, but also as a union of women—sisters.

“I am a strong believer in the voice of women, the strength of women, the freedom of women, and the much-needed intellectual liberty of women and men in the region,” states Abu Hamdan. “If I wish for something, it would be that this film contributes to a larger movement for women’s liberation in my own country, or even in the Middle East. And when that happens, I will be there, with my mother.”

Abu Hamdan has proven to be a very prolific and successful filmmaker since leaving the Academy. The Jordanian filmmaker has directed a number of short films including Bahiya and Mahmoud, which won the Best of Festival Award at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival and Shortfest, and was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2012.

You can view his award-winning film below.

If you’re interested in donating to Daughter’s of Abdul-Rahman, click here.

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For the second year in a row, Adam Finer (Chair of Industry Outreach and Professional Development) and Nunzio DeFilippis (Screenwriting Department Chair) presented a panel on Franchise Development and Transmedia titled “Story Worlds: The Alchemy of Franchise Creation” at WonderCon in Anahiem, California. Joining them on stage this year for a witty, insightful exchange was Christina Weir (one of the co-creators of the Screenwriting Department’s Transmedia Track). The audience was engaged as the trio imparted wisdom about the world of stories and covered the elements that make up a successful franchise. Current New York Film Academy students and alumni joined the fast-paced and informative session, but the majority of the excited questions and panel interactions came from attendees interested in, or already trying, to create their own story worlds and franchises. The panel closed out Friday Night and attendees stayed till the very end to ask questions of Adam, Nunzio, and Christina, to discuss franchises and how to create or pitch their own ideas.

Adam, Nunzio, and Christina bantered their way through a variety of famous franchise examples, focusing on where they started and where they’ve gone: Batman started as a comic and has expanded to television shows, movies, and games; My Little Pony was originally a toy and grew into three different television series and movies; Harry Potter started as a novel series and has, thanks to fan contribution, grown into website and theme park interactive experiences. These are only a few of the examples, but Adam, Nunzio, and Christina went on to show that as long as you have an interesting world and dynamic characters to populate it, story worlds – franchises – can come from anywhere.

In addition to the panel, New York Film Academy had a strong presence in the WonderCon Exhibition Hall with a booth that featured student work and was manned by Faculty, Staff and Student Volunteers. The booth was NYFA’s first at any comic convention, and our diligent staff and student volunteers were on hand all weekend to answer questions and talk with attendees interested in the wide array of educational paths available at the New York Film Academy.

Written by Jennifer Sterner and Adam Finer

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New York Film Academy Chinese Student Club invited one of our MFA Filmmaking graduates, Jing Wen, a Chinese filmmaker who studied at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles to screen her short film A, B, C or D? followed by a Q&A last week.

“I like to observe people’s facial expression, voice, and body language in order to understand them,” says Jing. “That’s one the most important skills a director needs to learn and practice because film ideas are inspired by observations from life and they are a reflection of reality.” As a writer and director with a record of success, Jing Wen is never satisfied with her own films and always believes that there is something she could do better.

Inspired by the story structure of Run Lola Run, Rushmore and the 2006 Chinese comedy Crazy Stone, Jing wrote the short film A, B, C or D? as her thesis project. Her final shooting script came out after workshops during her thesis committee meetings and was rewritten seven or eight times during her study at the Academy. “The production only took about two days and in fact we shot for one and a half days.” Jing described, “it saved us a lot on budget, but the biggest challenge we face, like many young filmmakers doing student films, is that we lost one of the main cast a few days before the principle of photography started.” It helped that three quarters of the crew working on her short film were friends who she met on classmates’ sets and were doing her a favor. She suggested that our current students at New York Film Academy begin coming up with ideas no later than March if they want to start shooting between May and July. “It’ll give you enough time to absorb others’ opinions and achieve a more mature storytelling,” she said.

Jing not only shared her production experience but also gave important lessons she learned along the way. “It is extremely difficult for an Asian director to climb up the ladder and direct a major hit feature in Hollywood. Your experience and networking are equally important whether you want to stay in Hollywood or go back to China,” she says. In addition to filmmaking, Jing has a strong background working in the Television Industry in China. She started interning at major Chinese TV station at a young age and participated in productions of hit variety shows and games shows when she was only 19 years old. Her advice to those seeking a career in the industry was to build a relationship with people. “The most important lesson I learned is that you can’t work alone as an individual but need a team that supports one another no matter what you do or where you are,” Jing explained. “Teamwork in this particular industry together with the network you built is a weapon that will get you far.”

Jing Wen has been selected to direct a forthcoming feature comedy The Disappeared Fish later this year. The film is scheduled to release theatrically after premiering at 2016 film festivals in China. Jing is currently working with Chinese financiers on a second feature written by her. She’s working in development with a production company and is considering a TV platform release. Our Chinese students at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles campus had a blast listening to Jing Wen’s unique experience and we sincerely thank Jing Wen for taking the time to openly share her insight with us. We also look forward to seeing the Chinese Student Club host more events in the future to benefit NYFA students.

– Wanyin Bo

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Guest lecturer, photographer Stanley Greene, explaining his photography career.

Last week, the New York Film Academy Photography Department was honored to present guest lecturer Stanley Greene.

Renowned for his unflinching and honest conflict photography, Greene is an award-winning photo journalist who has covered an array of human tragedies for more than 30 years.

Mr. Greene showed us early work and seldom seen images. He showed photographs of brutal realities, recorded with complete frankness.  He shared his impressions of war and the psychology of conflict photography, tracing the story of his career from Paris fashion Photographer, to casual shooter at the fall of the Berlin Wall, to full-fledged documentarian of human suffering.  He candidly revealed his reasons for doing the work he does and the emotional complexity it entails.

The evening ended with a slide presentation of recent images captured in Syria. The tragic and beautiful photographs were accompanied by Stanley reading his own poetry.

One of Stanley Greene’s photographs from his recent Syria visit.

A counterpoint to the images, the words recounted his impressions as he witnessed the history of human suffering unfolding before his eyes.

Mr. Greene is a founding member of Noor agency.  He authored the books, Western Front,  Black Passport and  Open Wound.

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Last week New York Film Academy Los Angeles students were treated to a special lesson on “Basic Costume 101″ by renowned costume designer Deborah Nadoolman-Landis followed by a discussion with her. Deborah’s distinguished career includes the classics Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Coming to America (for which she was nominated for an Academy Award), and the groundbreaking music video for Michael Jackson’s Thriller. She served as a two-term president of the Costume Designer’s Guild, Local 892 and is a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture and serves on the Executive Board of the Library of Congress National Film Preservation Foundation. The discussion following Deborah’s lecture was moderated by producer Tova Laiter.

Costume is monumentally important in a movie. It speaks volumes about a character before the character even opens their mouth. However the irony is that it is often the least thought-out (or not thought of at all) aspect of low-budget and student filmmaking. This is a travesty, and Deborah Nadoolman-Landis has made it her life mission to educate filmmakers as to the importance of costume design in all levels of filmmaking.

Tova Laiter with Deborah Nadoolman-Landis

Deborah began the night by calling four student volunteers to the front of the room and asked each student, “Where are you from?” However, Deborah wouldn’t accept a generic answer; she insisted on being told the exact street address of the home they grew up in. Deborah then proceeded to address every article of clothing on each student from their feet to their heads. She asked them where they bought the article of clothing, how much it cost, who was with them when they bought it, and why they choose to buy and wear it, or who gave it to them if it was a gift or who lent it to them if it was borrowed. After this lengthy process, the audience had a much greater understanding of who these people were and what their motivations in wearing these particular clothes were. Deborah explained that she engaged in this dramatically long exercise to prove two very important things: 1) Every article of clothing on every character in your movie must be consistent with their story, and 2) Character details are not general but specific.

Deborah then asked all of the students in the theater to stand up and group themselves in the four corners of the room depending on whether they were wearing white, black, neutral and subdued colors, or bright colors. It was a rather unorthodox, yet amusing, experience for students who are used to remaining in their seats for the whole NYFA event. Deborah then pointed to the people wearing neutral colors and said, “These are your background extras.” To the people wearing bright colors she said, “this is the cast of Glee.” Deborah explained to students how they could stage their extras and supporting characters in the foreground, mid-ground, and background according to where their main character is in order to draw attention to them. Of course, she stressed the importance of making this color choreography appear random since groups of people never divide themselves naturally according to the color of their clothing.

Following these exercises, Deborah gave an hour-long keynote presentation that she had made for the Hollywood Costume exhibit she curated at the LACMA. This presentation emphasized the undeniably important role costume design plays in shaping character and just how powerful of a storytelling tool it is. During the Q&A after the keynote presentation, Deborah explained how she designed the iconic outfit Michael Jackson wore in Thriller. She explained that “design is reductive,” meaning you start with all that choices that are obviously wrong and you begin whittling down your options. Michael Jackson was as 5′ 9″ man who weighed less than 100 pounds and her job was to turn him into a powerful sex symbol. His jacket had to make him stand out in front of the rows of zombies he danced in front of. Black, blue, orange, purple would not have worked. “It had to be red,” Deborah said, “There was just no other choice. It had to be red.” She designed the leather jacket to hold padding in the shoulders and included strong lines creating a V to project masculinity. The straight black pants helped to elongate his body. The result speaks for itself as one of the must iconic costumes in history.

The evening with Deborah Nadoolman-Landis was a truly valuable experience for NYFA students of all disciplines in the audience. If you missed her lecture don’t worry, Deborah has preserved much of her knowledge in educational texts. As a historian with a PhD in design from London Royal college of art, Professor Landis’ books include: Hollywood Sketchbook: A Century of Costume Illustration, FilmCraft: Costume Design, and the award winning 2012 catalogue for the landmark exhibition, Hollywood Costume, which she curated at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and exhibit recently at the LACMA museum in LA to great success. We sincerely thank Deborah for visiting and look forward to what kind of waves in the costume design world she will inevitably make in the future.

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Often the definition of what it means to be successful will vary from person to person. Is there a real point in an artist’s career where he or she can announce “I’ve made it”? New York Film Academy 8-Week Filmmaking graduate Anthony Moorman explores this topic in his documentary Making IT by focusing primarily on artists Eric Fortune, Andrew Bawidamann, and Brian Ewing’s daily struggles of making a living while staying creative.

“Making IT is an idea that came about with my friendship and creative collaborator Woodrow Hinton,” recalls Moorman. “Woody is an illustrator and artist. He was pitching an idea to me about making an art documentary about illustration. I wasn’t sure how to go about that, but over a two year process we figured out the logistics and strategy about telling a story about three working illustrators in the middle of their careers. We told that story through Woody’s eyes. It’s a personal journey about Woody, through his three friends. When Woody came to me with the title Making IT, and said the film is about how artists define success — are they or are they not ‘making it’? I was sold on the idea and knew we could tell an honest and fresh story.”

The film ultimately came together from late 2012 to 2014 with pre, pro, and post, over a three year period on a shoe string budget. Andrew Bawidamann, Brian Ewing and Eric Fortune are three excellent artists who are in the middle of their careers. This stage of their journey is the toughest because they’re on the edge of success, “Making it.” As most of us are aware, the road to success can be very arduous, and in this film, Moorman explores that path through the eyes of students, working professionals, and artists who are working at the top in their field.

Andrew Bawidamann

One of the topics in the film is something that prospective students asks themselves all the time before enrolling at the New York Film Academy: is art school worth it? “We all agree that it’s expensive,” says Moorman. “But we can’t imagine our careers without art school or film school. Film school can be a place where you fail and it’s okay. As long as you learn and grow from that failure, your work or craft can only improve. I do wish I would have been more open to my instructors at NYFA. Sometimes as a film student you think you have it all figured out and you’re awesome. I kind of fell into that trap. Instructors are great people, and they are there to help you to improve. But I would say that if I hadn’t had my 8-Week Workshop experience at NYFA, I’m not sure I’d be where I am today. Furthering your education in any field can really be the key to success. You can’t discover the journey of an artist by living inside your own little world. You need to get out there, experience life a bit, and be okay with failing. Being a filmmaker is all about taking risks.”

Teaser Trailer from Tony Moorman on Vimeo.

Through his honest observations of students, recent grads, and art legends about the struggles and the dark times, Moorman hopes his film will not only inspire artists, but also spark an honest conversation about what it really takes to be a success. “We didn’t want to just say how cool it was to be an illustrator. Making that kind of film isn’t helpful,” said Moorman. “But really explaining to people that they need to work really hard for 10 years before they’ll actually make a living was the key message. I believe that also the message of the film industry. You’re not going to graduate and start working in the business and make a ton of money. No. You’re going to struggle, suffer, and crawl for a while. And if you’re lucky, you will make it out on the other side. So the goal was to make sure we prepared people and be honest to them about how hard it is to get in the business of the art world.”

Moorman is currently in production with Hinton on another art bio documentary on famed local artist C.F. Payne: an American Illustrator.

Making IT is now available on iTunes, Amazon, X-Box, and Google Play.

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