Rashaad Ernesto Green being interviewed by Gilli and Ali Glatt
Lucy Walker
Ryan Silbert and family
Sebastian Beacon, Emily Reese, Kristina Nikolova, Samina Akbari, Visra Vichit-Vadakan
Sara Colangelo and her mom
James Franco, John Tintori
Photos courtesy of LA Headshots 2010, Fred Bush
A Birder's Guide to Everything will be alum director Rob Meyer's’ first feature film. The script, which is cowritten by Meyer and alum Luke Matheny, tells the story of a 15 year-old bird fanatic, his equally dorky friends, and a cute new girl from school who embark on an adventurous road trip to chase an extinct bird they may have spotted. The Sundance/Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship focuses on developing projects about science and technology at the Sundance Feature Film Lab towards production.
Meyer's most recent short film Aquarium played at over 50 festivals internationally and has won more than 20 awards, including an Honorable Mention at Sundance, Best Narrative Short at Atlanta Film Festival, Best Live Action Short at Santa Barbara Film Festival, Best Film at Miami Shorts Film Festival and Best Student Short at Woodstock Film Festival.
Debra Granik '01 Takes Home Sundance's Grand Jury Prize and Screenwriting Award for "Winter's Bone"!
"Winter's Bone," Granik's second feature, tells the story of a girl in a desperate search to find her father and protect her family home in the Ozark Mountains. This is Granik's second big Sundance win -- she received the Directing Award for her first feature, "Down to the Bone," in 2004. According to Granik, her approach to narrative films is rooted in previous documentary work observing non-actors in their ordinary lives.
Brad Barnes ’05 wins Best of NEXT for "Homewrecker"!
This year's Sundance featured a new category -- NEXT -- devoted to low-budget filmmaking. Filmmakers within the category voted to award Best of NEXT to Alumnus Brad Barnes' film "Homewrecker." Tisch MFA alums credited on the film include: Brad Barnes '05 (director/writer); Sophie Goodhart ’03 (writer ); Danny Vecchione ’09 (cinematographer); Marni Zelnick ’10 (first asst director). In his acceptance speech, Barnes offered encouragement to all new filmmakers -- celebrating the fact that "Homewrecker" was shot in 13 days. Please join us on Wednesday, February 3 when Barnes will be at Chair's Workshop to screen the film.
Grad Film Alumni Take Home Honors In Every Category at 2010 Sundance
Grad Film also won big in World Cinema and Documentary categories. The complete list of awards:
U.S. DRAMAS:
- Grand Jury Prize, "Winter's Bone," Debra Granik ’01 (MFA, Film) / (former adj. professor) director/writer
- Screenwriting, Debra Granik ’01 (MFA, Film) / (former adj. professor) director/writer, "Winter's Bone"
- Audience Award, "happythankyoumoreplease," Josh Radnor ’99 (MFA, Acting) director/writer (screenplay)/cast
NEXT LOW-BUDGET FILMMAKING:
- Best of NEXT, "Homewrecker"
Brad Barnes ’05 (MFA, Film) director/writer (screenplay); Sophie Goodhart ’03 (MFA, Film) writer (screenplay); Danny Vecchione ’09 (MFA, Film) cinematographer; Marni Zelnick ’10 (MFA Candidate, Film) 1st asst director
WORLD CINEMA, DOCUMENTARIES:
- Audience Award, "Wasteland," Lucy Walker ’98 (MFA, Film) director
U.S. DOCUMENTARIES:
- Grand Jury Prize, "Restrepo," Nick Quested ’93 (BFA, F&TV) exec producer
WORLD CINEMA, DRAMAS:
- Audience Award, "Contracorriente," Rodrigo Guerrero ’99 (BFA, F&TV) producer
HOMEWRECKER
a film by BRAD AND TODD BARNES
JUST AWARDED THE "BEST OF NEXT" AWARD AT THE 2010 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Wednesday, Feburary 3rd @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027
NYU GRAD FILM's Todd Barnes - Director/Writer. Danny Vecchione DP. Sophie Goodhart - Co-Writer. Marnie Zelnick - 1st AD.
Anslem Richardson, Danny Vecchione, Todd Barnes, Brad Barnes at Chair's Workshop
Synopsis:
Mike is a locksmith. He’s also a prisoner on work release, but you wouldn’t know it. He’s just trying to focus on his house calls and reconcile with his ex-girlfriend—until Margo hijacks his day. A live wire kook, who’s certain her boyfriend is cheating on her, Margo bulldozes Mike into spying on the alleged cad. The result: an all-day adventure with a (seemingly) stolen vehicle, a visit to an unlikely drug dealer, and a low blood sugar attack. Potential trouble follows these two around—but maybe something good will come of it?
Brad Barnes - Co-Director/Co-Producer/Co-Writer
After working as Director of Exhibitions at White Cube Gallery in London Brad studied film at the New York University Graduate Film School. His thesis film Choked played at nine festivals including Sundance, London, Cinevegas and Clermont-Ferrand. It was a finalist at the First Run Film Festival in New York where it won Best Achievement in Acting. His other films include we Todd did (Sundance 04) and Engine Trouble starring Christopher Walken, which premiered on Showtime in 2003. He has done numerous music videos appearing on MTV, CBS, CMT and GAC. He currently teaches directing actors at Columbia University.
Todd Barnes - Co-Director/Co-producer/Co-writer/Co-Editor
An entertainment lawyer by training, Todd began his filmmaking career in 2001 with Engine Trouble for the Showtime Network starring Christopher Walken. He has since produced four Sundance shorts (we Todd did, choked, Sick Sex and Acting for the Camera) and one Cannes short (My Blind Brother). He co-directed and edited the recent documentary Peace Queer: The Movie which premiered at the Nashville International Film Festival in 2009. Todd operates Spare Key Productions out of Brooklyn, NY, whose clients include IBM, Victorinox, Lenovo and Vital Source. He currently teaches at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
Sophie Goodhart - Co-Writer
Sophie Goodhart is a graduate of New York’s Tisch Graduate Film School. A writer/director who began her career making documentaries and directing television for the BBC, she has written and developed feature film screenplays in the London and New York for Film Four, Warp Films, Big Beach and Open City. Her short film, My Blind Brother was a favorite at the Cannes film festival.
Daniel Vecchione - Director of Photography
Daniel Vecchione is a New York based cinematographer who has worked extensively with the Barnes Brothers. He has shot award winning shorts and features including Night Falls Fast and the recent In Praise of Shadows starring James Franco.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future Workshops
TBA
February 24th - Marc Parees Feature Reading "Southside of Bethlehem"
FRIDAY, February 26th - George A. Romero, director of "Night of the Living Dead", "diary of the dead", "day of the dead", among others...
March 03 - Katie Jacobs, showrunner/exec producer of "House, M.D."
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
You may also visit the cinecity blog for this information: http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jt42/nyugradfilmprogram/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Two 3rd year Grad Film students are finalists for the $100,000 BET Lens on Talent competition. Be sure to vote!!
Jackson Parish - Edward McDonald - Co-Writer / Director
This 12-minute dramatic short film depicts the story of Trevor Webb, a 27-year-old self-made African American investment banker who is estranged from his poor, southern family. When his grandfather dies, he returns for the first time in eight years to his family's dilapidated farm in rural Louisiana.
"Jackson Parish" If this was your favorite film, text 4 to 79922
After - Kiara Jones - Writer / Director
A woman discovers that her heart is in all the wrong places. Olivia is a smart, sexy, successful young woman who is trying to balance her professional goals with her personal desires. Unfortunately, she's failed to nurture some elements of her personal life as she's focused on her career. Luckily, she has a housekeeper to help clean up the mess she's making of her life. Behind every great woman, there is a great woman.
"After" If this was your favorite film, text 1 to 79922
The Chair's Workshop Presents....
A 35mm PRINT SCREENING OF THE FILM "SHINE A LIGHT" DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORCESE
SPECIAL GUEST DECLAN QUINN, ASC
(DP on "Rachel Getting Married", "In America", "Leaving Las Vegas")
with a Q&A hosted by TONY JANELLI
Wednesday, January 27th @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027
A career-spanning documentary on the Rolling Stones, with concert footage from their "A Bigger Bang" tour, including guests Buddy Guy, Christina Aguilera, and Jack White.
Shot with 18 cameras in 35 mm. Please join Tony Jannelli and a panel of camera people from the crew of this rockin' doc.
Official film website:
http://www.shinealightmovie.com/main.html
Declan Quinn Bio:
Declan Quinn is an Irish-American cinematographer and a three-time winner of the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematographer. While living in Ireland, he met Bono and U2 and began his career filming several music videos and the documentaries U2: Unforgettable Fire (1984) and U2: Outside it's America (1987) for the group.
Quinn permanently returned to the States in 1989 and filmed "The Kill Off". He has collaborated with director Mira Nair on five projects, including "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love", "Monsoon Wedding", "Vanity Fair", and "Hysterical Blindness", which earned him a nomination for the Emmy Award for Best Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie. Additional credits include "2x4", (which won him the Cinematography Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival), "Vanya on 42nd Street", "Leaving Las Vegas", "One True Thing", "In America", "Cold Creek Manor", "The Luck Ones", "Rachel Getting Married", and "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee".
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future Workshops
TBA
February 24th - Marc Parees Feature Reading
March 03 - Katie Jacobs, showrunner/exec producer of "House, M.D."
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
You may also visit the cinecity blog for this information: http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jt42/nyugradfilmprogram/
AMAZON WOMEN, written and directed by 3rd year Grad Film student, Kiara Jones, has been selected to screen at the prestigious Pan African Film Festival in Los Angles, CA
The festival is held February 10th -17th 2010 and combines films with art and performances from the African Diaspora
Show times are Monday, February 15th at 11:30am and Tuesday, Feb 16th at 10:15pm
Culver Plaza Theaters - 9919 Washington Boulevard Los Angeles, CA
Congratulations to everyone at Cultivated Films!
Other festival screenings for AMAZON WOMEN:
Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival
UrbanWorld Film Festival
Mid Atlantic Black Film Festival
African-American Film Marketplace and S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase
Two films directed by 2nd year Grad Film student James Franco will play in the 2010 Berlin Film Festival. Both films, FEAST OF STEPHEN and HERBERT WHITE, were made last year as part of the 1st year curriculum.
HERBERT WHITE, starring 2009 Oscar nominee, Michael Shannon, will also be in competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Congratulations James!
James Franco
From FEAST OF STEPHEN
Alli Haapasalo's feature length Thesis film ON THIN ICE has won the main price at the eleventh Nordic Glory Film Festival in Jyväskylä, Finland. The jury concluded that "ON THIN ICE is a strong work in vision as well as craft and technique" and they "especially appreciated the performances of the actors and the layers of the screenplay."
Congratulations Alli!
The Chair's Workshop presents...
"ST. JOHN OF LAS VEGAS"
DIRECTED BY HUE RHODES
Starring STEVE BUSCEMI, ROMANY MALCO, PETER DINKLAGE, EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI, TIM BLAKE NELSON, SARAH SILVERMAN
Q&A WITH THE DIRECTOR TO FOLLOW
Wednesday, January 20th @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027
Official film website:
http://saintjohnmovie.com/
Synopsis:
After a run of bad luck, John (Steve Buscemi), a compulsive gambler, runs away from Las Vegas and toward a normal job and life. Taking a nondescript position in an auto insurance company, he tries to get ahead in the straight world, amid the ever-present temptations of scratch-off lotto tickets. When his boss, Mr. Townsend (Peter Dinklage), asks John to accompany his top fraud debunker, Virgil (Romany Malco) on an investigation of a dubious car “accident” near Vegas, John sees an opportunity to get a promotion, though he’s concerned about returning to the gambling game. Before leaving he becomes involved with his eccentric co-worker Jill (Sarah Silverman), a dalliance that has the potential to become a real relationship. Soon John is on the road with Virgil, where they encounter a series of offbeat characters, including a wheelchair-bound stripper (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a nude militant (Tim Blake Nelson), a park Ranger (Jesse Garcia), and a carnival human torch (John Cho). While Virgil is the supposed leader of the investigation, it’s John who begins to finally assert himself, pushing the case closer to a conclusion. Through the journey, John’s confidence builds, and he realizes that he can’t escape his gambling addiction by running away from it—it will follow him wherever he goes. It’s only when he returns to Vegas and his experiences there finally send him on the path to breaking free. First time writer/director Hue Rhodes’ SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS follows the wild and funny trip a guy has to take to discover there’s more than one way to hit the jackpot in life
Hue Rhodes Bio:
Hue started his career in the software industry, believing he could change the world through technology. Instead he found himself in a
cubicle, working for a Fortune 100 company. Desperate to escape, Hue applied for asylum at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts MFA program. Hue
and his wife quit their jobs, moved to New York and began a new life in the arts community. His short film Tower of Babel was a world
premiere at AFI FEST and his short film Practice won the Golden Starfish award at the Hamptons International Film Festival. He wrote
SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS while at Tisch and directed it in the Summer of 2008. The film will be in theaters Jan. 29th NY/LA and wider
release Feb. 12th.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future Workshops
TBA
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
You may also visit the cinecity blog for this information: http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jt42/nyugradfilmprogram/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Several films made by students in the Grad Film Program are in competition at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival.
Emily Carmichael is back again this year with the latest installment of her Ledo and Ix series. The film was produced by Josh Hetzler, who also produced "Seed," which was directed by Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird. TischAsia Grad Film student, Frank Rinaldi, is also back in competition this year with his 2nd year film, “LOWbASIC." “In Space," directed by Visra Vichit-Vadakan, is in competition at Slamdance. Visra also stars in "The Visitors," Samina Akbari's 2nd year film that is in competition at Sundance. Yvonne Shirley's "Saturday Morning Blues" was made as part of the collaboration with the Grad Acting department as a 3rd year project.
Congratulations to all!
The list:
- “Ledo and Ix Go to Town” - directed by Thesis student Emily Carmichael, produced by Alumnus Josh Hetzler. World Premiere, 7 min.
The titular 8-bit adventurers are back, this time headed towards a blot on the map that's either a village or brain fungus.
- “In Space” - directed by current student Visra Vichit-Vadakan. World Premiere, 16 min. (Thailand)
A young Thai man living with his grandparents reluctantly becomes a Buddhist monk and finds a safe space between the present and the afterlife.
- “Saturday Morning Blues” - directed by Thesis student Yvonne Michelle Shirley. World Premiere, 12 min.
The light of morning brings a sleepover and a friendship to an abrupt and painful end, as an adolescent gets equal doses of knowledge and poison from her world-wise pal.
- “Seed” - directed by Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird, produced by Alumnus Josh Hetzler. World Premiere, 11 min. (Czech Republic)
An egg and an apple build competing broadcast towers that vie for the attention of a transistor radio.
- “LOWbASIC” - directed by Tisch Asia student Frank Rinaldi. World Premiere, 29 min.
Josh Intrator and Thomas Seely of Punk-Rock-Duo LOWbASiC struggle to maintain their friendship and sanity as they prepare to debut their music on Dr. Bob's Rock 'n Roll T.V. show FALSE MEDIA. LOWbASiC: Beat Your Media.
Josh Hetzler and Emily Carmichael
Congratulations to Director, Kristina Nikolova and the Cast and Crew of her NYU Commercial Directing project "Live Free."
The work has been approved by Everbel, a Bulgarian feminine protection company, and will air throughout the spring in Bulgaria.
Kristina is the first, female, Director/DP to have a commercial air in her homeland.
Emily Tremaine in "Live Free."
Producer Kiara Jones on the set of "Live Free"
Grad Film Alum, Thomas Woodrow, is featured in IndieWIRE, discussing his innovative distribution plan for BASS ACKWARDS. The film, produced by Woodrow, will premiere next month at the Sundance Film Festival.
In New York recently, "Bass Ackwards" producer Thomas Woodrow (left) with Mynette Louie (producer of "Children of Invention") and Ben Howe (producer of "Don't Let Me Drown," "The Exploding Girl," "Treeless Mountain," and "Wild Combination"). Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE
Grad Film alum, Vashti Anderson, took 1st Prize in the Bahamas International Film Festival for her screenplay, COLD CALYPSO. Anderson won the 2008 Columbus/Vague award for the same project.
Directed and Produced by Grad Film Alum, Mitch McCabe
YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN at Lincoln Center
YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN
Film Society of Lincoln Center
"Back by Popular Demand: Our Favorite Films of 2009"
Wednesday December 30, 1:30 and 6:15pm*
*Q&A with Director Mitch McCabe and Co-Producer Elena Parker
In YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN, an age-obsessed daughter of a plastic surgeon (filmmaker Mitch McCabe) takes a journey through America's $60 billion a year anti-aging world. In this Alice-in-Wonderland tale, McCabe spends 2 years traveling across America visiting doctors, experts and lives with a cross-section of characters from Minnesota to Texas who've gone to varying lengths to "beat the clock", to paint a funny, thought-provoking and even disturbing portrait of a country that desperately needs to stay forever young.
For Tickets, click HERE:
YOUTHKNOWSNOPAIN.COM
HEAVEN ETERNAL, EARTH EVERLASTING, the debut feature film by Grad Film alum Li Fangfang, premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The cinematographer of the film is Grad Film alum Lyle Vincent.
Heaven Eternal, Earth Everlasting film review
Li Fangfang and Lyle Vincent take questions at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
NYU Grad Film students went to Spain and created short films for the Madrid Tourism Board's "Madrid Dares You" contest. For the contest, student filmmakers from New York University, the New York Film Academy and Columbia University were invited to submit proposals outlining their ideas for a short film about a hotel. Of 78 proposals, five were chosen as finalists, all from NYU Grad Film, Neil Orman, Fred Guerrier, Mykwain Gainey, Brooke Swaney and Marie Dvorakova.
NY Times article about Fred Guerrier
Recent Grad Film alum, Kim Spurlock, won Best Narrative and Best of Fest at the Miami Short Film Festival in November with her thesis film "Down in Number 5." She also picked up Best Student Film and the Audience Award at the Asheville Film Festival. "Down in Number 5" previously won First Prize in the 2009 First Run Film Festival at NYU.
ST. JOHN OF LAS VEGAS, written and directed by Grad Film alum Hue Rhodes, is due to release on January 29th in NY and LA, and then go into wide release on February 12th. Adapted from "Inferno," the novel by Dante Alighieri, Hue began developing the screenplay as a student in Grad Film.
The film starts Steve Buscemi, Romany Malco, Sarah Silverman, Peter Dinklage, and Tim Blake Nelson.
KINYARWANDA wraps production in Rwanda
Grad Film alums Alrick Brown and Danny Vecchione catch a quick nap on location in Rwanda. photo by Juan M. Crouch
KINYARWANDA, the new film written and directed by recent Grad Film alum Alrick Brown (US: A LOVE STORY) and producer Darren Dean (PRINCE OF BROADWAY), officially wrapped early in the morning on December 3.
Shot over the course of 16 days, the film centers on the as yet untold story of how Muslims and Christians protected each other during the Rwandan Genocide. Focusing on acts of humanity in the face of terror, the film sheds light on both the rehabilitating “Re-Edukation Camps” of former militia and, for the first time, the story of the RPF soldiers who liberated the country.
As six separate stories, told AMORES PEROS-style, the film adopts a non-linear style of filmmaking. The story of a Mufti, a priest, an imam, a child, a young girl and a killer, it tells the tale of innocent people, innocence lost and, in incredible acts of redemption, regaining that innocence.
For both Brown and Dean, accepting the invitation to be part of envisioning Executive Producer Ishmael Ntihibose’s story was a no-brainer. Brown, who, for several years, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, welcomed the opportunity to revisit the terrain as the landscape for his first feature film.
“I’ve been here before, and I’ve made films before,” says Brown, “but I’ve learned more here than I could teach. But it’s hard to work in Africa and not learn more than you’d known before.”
Part filmmaking excursion and part educational endowment, the filmmakers brought along several visiting international crew members (including the Sundance bound recent Grad Film alum DP Danny Vecchione) to facilitate an emerging filmmaking community.
“Part of this process was educational – but not missionary,” says Dean of the first-ever Rwandese executive produced film. “We learned as much from our crew as they did from us. It was our goal to bring on local crew members and actors who have, in the past, participated in supporting roles or as assistants to assistants on larger U.S., Canadian, European or BBC productions. In this case, many Rwandese were given lead positions within the framework of the film, thus creating an infrastructure of filmmakers that would be able and be inspired to pick up a camera and make a film by any means necessary.”
In addition, two U.S. actors were brought along for the ride: Cassandra Freeman (INSIDE MAN; I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE) and Kena Anae, who previously worked with Brown on his short films and stage-work. Freeman, who portrays a RPF lieutenant akin to the legendary Rwandese political icon Rose Kabuye, marveled at the opportunity to research the role with Kabuye herself.
“It was such a humbling experience,” says Freeman. “Working with the local crew and seeing how immediate the relevance was, I think I felt more responsibility for an accurate and honest performance than anything I’ve ever worked on before.”
The internationally acclaimed cast is rounded out by award-winning poet Edouard Bamporiki (MUNYURANGABO; LONG COAT), Cleophus Kabasiita (SOMETIMES IN APRIL), Kennedy Mazimbaka (SHOOTING DOGS; SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL), Assumpta Micho (SOMETIMES IN APRIL), and introduces Hassan Kabera and Hadidja Zaninka.
The film will premiere in Rwanda in April 2010 (as part of a European Commission grant) with a festival run soon to follow.
To view the film’s trailer, please visit KINYARWANDA at www.kinyarwandamovie.com.
For more information, press and interview requests, please contact producer Darren Dean at rutroretro@aol.com
Congratulations to Chloe Zhao, whose 2nd year film, DAUGHTERS, has been accepted into competition at the International du Court Metrage in Clermont-Ferrand.
DAUGHTERS was shot on location in China by 3rd year Grad Film student, Matthew Mendelson.
The Kanbar Graduate Film Program is searching to fill a full-time faculty position on the Arts Professor track (non-tenure, open rank, 1 – 5 year contracts) or on a one-year visiting basis (for a senior faculty applicant or for a professional in the industry) to commence in the 2010/2011 academic year in film directing.
Applications must be received by February 5, 2010.
Click here for more information.
NYU Grad Film will be well represented at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival by a number of films written, directed, produced, and shot by current students, alumni, and faculty.
Debra Granik
U.S. Dramatic Competition:
WINTER'S BONE Director: Debra Granik - Grad Film alum, former Adjunct Professor; Screenwriters: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini; Cinematographer: Michael McDonough - Grad Film alum —An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact. Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Lauren Sweetser, Kevin Breznahan, Isaiah Stone. World Premiere
THE IMPERIALISTS ARE ALIVE! Director and screenwriter: Zeina Durra - Grad Film alum; Cinematographer: Magela Crosignani - UGFTV alum—Juggling the sudden abduction of her childhood sweetheart as well as a blooming love affair, a French Manhattanite makes her way as an artist in an indifferent, sometimes hostile world. Cast: Élodie Bouchez, José María de Tavira, Karim Saleh Karolina Muller, Marianna Kulukundis, Rita Ackerman. World Premiere
HOLY ROLLERS Director: Kevin Tyler Asch; Screenwriter: Antonio Macia; Co-producer: Ryan Silbert - Grad Film Thesis student—A young Hasidic man, seduced by money, power and opportunity, becomes an international Ecstasy smuggler. Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Bartha, Danny A. Abeckaser, Ari Graynor, Jason Fuchs. World Premiere
HOWL Directors: Rob Epstein - Former Grad Film Adjunct Professor and Jeffrey Friedman; Screenwriters: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman; Co-producer: Andrew Peterson - Grad film alum—A nonfiction drama about the young Allen Ginsberg finding his voice, the creation of his groundbreaking poem “HOWL,” and the landmark obscenity trial that followed. Cast: James Franco - current Grad Film student, David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeff Daniels. World Premiere (iW Film Page)
BLUE VALENTINE Director: Derek Cianfrance; Screenwriters: Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne, Joey Curtis and Faith Wladyka; Cinematographer: Andrij Parekh - Grad Film alum —A complex portrait of an American marriage, “Blue Valentine” charts the evolution of a relationship over time. Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Mike Vogel, John Doman. World Premiere (iW Film Page)
Next:
HOMEWRECKER Director: Todd Barnes and Brad Barnes - Grad Film alum; Screenwriters: Todd Barnes, Brad Barnes, Sophie Goodhart - Grad Film alum; Cinematographer: Danny Vecchione - Grad Film alum; A.D.: Marni Zelnick - Grad Film Thesis student—The last romantic in New York City is an ex-con locksmith on work release. Cast: Ana Reeder, Anslem Richardson, Stephen Rannazzisi. World Premiere
BASS ACKWARDS Director and screenwriter: Linas Philips; Producer: Thomas Woodrow - Grad Film alum—After ending a disastrous affair with a married woman, a man embarks on a lyrical, strange and comedic cross-country journey in a modified VW bus. Cast: Linas Philips, Davie-Blue, Jim Fletcher, Paul Lazar. World Premiere
Premieres:
THE KILLER INSIDE ME/USA Director: Michael Winterbottom; Screenwriter: John Curran; Co-producer: Susan Kirr - Grad Film alum—Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small Texan town; patient, polite and well liked, until he starts killing people. Cast: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Simon Baker, Elias Koteas. World Premiere
Spotlight: Documentary
COUNTDOWN TO ZERO/ USA Director: Lucy Walker - Grad Film alum—A fascinating and frightening exploration of the dangers of nuclear weapons, exposing a variety of present day threats and featuring insights from a host of international experts and world leaders who advocate total global disarmament. World Premiere
U.S. Dramatic Shorts:
HERBERT WHITE Director and Screenwriter: James Franco - Current Grad Film student; Producer: Tai Burkholder - Grad Film alum; Cinematographer: Pedro Gomez Millan - Current Grad Film student; Camera Operator: Christina Voros - Grad Film alum—Based on the poem by the same name, a man struggles with his inner demons while trying to live a normal family life.
LITTLE ACCIDENTS Director and Screenwriter: Sara Colangelo - Current Grad Film Thesis student; Producer: Sharon Barnes - Grad Film alum; Cinematographer: Rob Hauer - Grad Film alum—A desperate young factory worker recruits a mentally disabled ex-boyfriend to steal a pregnancy test for her.
THE VISITORS Director/Screenwriter/Producer/Cinematographer: Samina Akbari - Current Grad Film student: Co-producer: Emily Ray Reese - current Grad Film student; Cinematographer: Kristina Nikolova - current Grad Fim student)—A young woman that makes up one part of a interracial relationship copes with the arrival of her family while trapped in a rat-infested apartment. Cast: Visra Vichit-Vadakan - Current Grad Film student.
U.S. Documentary Shorts:
LAST ADDRESS Director: Ira Sachs - Grad Film Adjunct Professor—A composition of exterior images from the last residential addresses of a group of New York City artists who died of AIDS.
"CAMP VICTORY"
Directed by Carol Dysinger
A screening of the film AND Q&A W carol dysinger
Wednesday, December 9th @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027
Using nearly 300 hours of verité footage shot between 2005 and 2008, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, directed by Carol Dysinger, is the first film to examine the reality of building a functioning Afghan military-the initial critical step toward bringing stability and peace to Afghanistan.
About the Filmmaker:
Carol Dysinger was a feature film and documentary editor for the past 25 years. Films she has edited include: DEADLINE, RAIN, PAYAKAN, PUNK, and SANTITOS. Films she has edited or supervised have premiered at Sundance, Berlin, and Venice Film Festivals; have been nominated for Emmy and Academy Awards; and have screened theatrically and/or been broadcast on network, public, and cable television. She also had a career as a screenwriter with scripts produced for 20th Century Fox, Disney and HBO. She is a tenured Professor of Graduate Film and New Media at NYU film school in the Tisch School of the Arts.
Synopsis:
Camp Victory, Afghanistan is a verite documentary that tells the story of several U.S. National Guardsmen stationed in Herat, Afghanistan and the Afghan officers they are assigned to train .
These Americans along with a band of Afghans have been given the enormous task of building the 207th Corps of the nascent Afghan National Army into an institution capable of providing security, stability, peace and justice to a tattered, volatile nation. Although the United States has poured military aid into Afghanistan, money alone does not produce an army; people do. And these Afghans and Americans have more in common than anyone would expect.
With lives on the line and the military budget ballooning, can a modern Afghan army be created when 80% of the enlistees are illiterate; all are impoverished; the weaponry is second rate; and the enemy is elusive, dangerous, and lawless?
Using nearly 300 hours of verité footage shot between 2005 and 2008, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, directed by Carol Dysinger, is the first film to examine the reality of building a functioning Afghan military-the initial critical step toward bringing stability and peace to Afghanistan.
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at
You may also visit the cinecity blog for this information:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cary Joji Fukunaga directs SIN NOMBRE
NYU Grad Film alums garnered a number of 2010 Independent Spirit Awards nominations, announced earlier today, including:
Best Picture: SIN NOMBRE
Best Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Best First Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher - PRECIOUS
Best Cinematography: Andrij Parekh - COLD SOULS
SIN NOMBRE is Cary Fukunaga's MFA Thesis Film for the Grad Film Program at NYU.
Congratulations to all!
DIRECTOR OF:
"MICHAEL CLAYTON" and "DUPLICITY"
WRITER OF:
"The Bourne Identity", "The Bourne Supremacy", "The Bourne Ultimatum"
"Armageddon"
"Dolores Claiborne"
Tony Gilroy is an screenwriter and filmmaker. He wrote the screenplays for the Bourne Series starring Matt Damon. Gilroy's directorial debut was in 2007, when he directed the film Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Gilroy recently directed Duplicity, starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.
Gilroy has written many scripts for film including The Cutting Edge (1992), Dolores Claiborne (1995), The Devil's Advocate (1997), Armageddon, which was the highest grossing film of 1998, Proof of Life (2000), and The Bourne Series (2002, 2003, 2007).
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
You may also visit the cinecity blog for this information: http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jt42/nyugradfilmprogram/
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Chair's Workshop and Focus Features Present....
HENRY SELICK
DIRECTOR OF "THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS"
"CORALINE", AND "JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH"
A PRESENTATION AND Q&A W MR. SELICK
Wednesday, November 18th @ 5:15 PM, Room 1027
HENRY SELICK (Director; Screenplay; Producer; Production Designer)
Henry Selick is an American stop motion director, producer and writer who is best known for directing The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach and Coraline. He studied at the Program in Experimental Animation at Cal Arts, under the guidance of renowned teacher Jules Engel.
While a student at CalArts, his two student films, Phases and Tube Tales, were nominated for Student Academy Awards. After his academic studies, he went to work for Walt Disney Studios. During his time at Disney, he met and worked around the likes of Tim Burton, Rick Heinrichs, Jorgen Klubien, Brad Bird,John Musker, Dan Haskett, Bill and Sue Kroyer, Ed Gombert, and Andy Gaskill.
Selick made his feature-directing debut in 1993 on Burton's production The Nightmare Before Christmas — the first full-length, stop-motion feature from a major American studio. An instant holiday classic, Nightmare was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and won the International Animated Film Society's Annie Award for Best Creative Supervision, beating out The Lion King.
In 1996, Selick followed with a second feature, James and the Giant Peach, his live-action/stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children’s book.
After developing stop-motion animation on Wes Anderson's feature The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Selick joined the Portland, Oregon-based animation studio LAIKA in mid-2004 as supervising director for feature film development. After joining LAIKA, Selick directed his first computer-generated animation film, the award-winning short film Moongirl, the inspiration for Candlewick Press's children's book of the same name.
Selick's first feature with LAIKA is CORALINE, which is based on the book by acclaimed author Neil Gaiman and was released in 2009. It is the first three-dimensional stop-motion animation movie.
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
You may also visit the cinecity blog for this information: http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jt42/nyugradfilmprogram/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations to Grad Film alum, Geoffrey Fletcher, screenwriter of "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire," and to 3rd year Grad Film student, Molly Cooper, Co-Producer of "Fantastic Mr. Fox." Molly Cooper has worked with Wes Anderson previously as an Associate Producer on his 2007 film, "The Darjeeling Limited."
The Chair's Workshop Presents....
"THE NORMALS"
DIRECTED BY KEVIN CONNORS
WRITTEN BY CHRIS CIANCIMINO
a feature length table reading
Wednesday, November 11th @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027
Based on the novel by David Gilbert, "The Normals" is a dark comedy
about human clinical drug trials at a major pharmaceutical company.
Kevin Connors
A graduate of Brown and NYU's Tisch Film program, Kevin has been
writing, directing and producing short films for many years.
His short films credits include "Mini Mall Minivan" about a woman who
leaves her baby in the car on a hot summer's day and most recently
"Chicken Pox".
His first feature credit came as producer of "Brief Interviews With
Hideous Men", written and directed by John Krasinski and based on the
book by David Foster Wallace.
Chris Ciancimino
A graduate of the University of Manchester and NYU's Tisch Film
program, Chris has been working in the independent film industry for
the last 10 years.
Previously Head of Development for UK production company Portobello
Pictures (Kolya, Birthday Girl, The War Zone),
Chris was commissioned to write the adaptation of David Gilbert's
novel "The Normals" and is now a partner in Woodshed Entertainment. As
a writer and director,
Chris made a number of short films, his latest, "The Edge of Town",
won a Fotokem award for best screenplay and was officially selected
for the Woodstock Film Festival 2008.
Chris recently became a member of the Writer's Guild of America.
Synopsis:
The story centers around everyman Billy Schine; aimless Ivy League
Graduate, knee-deep in dept, with no career and a mother suffering
from some kind of expensive mental disorder.
With a debt collector hot on his trail, Billy enrolls in a clinical
drug trial to make a quick buck. Carted out of New York City with a
busload of oddballs, Billy and the rest of the guinea pigs,
affectionately referred to as "Normals", arrive at a hidden research
facility somewhere Upstate. When not popping pills, being drained of
blood, proded poked and color-coded, they spend their days and nights
sneaking around, sleeping around, plotting the destruction of "The
Facility" and driving each other crazy. As the test drags on, just
being there takes its toll, and tensions build until the dam finally
bursts. Billy starts to realize that there is no such thing as
"Normal".
One part comedy of error, one part failed love story, The Normals is
and examination of what it's like to make money with your body whilst
losing your mind.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future Workshops
November 18th - Henry Selick, Director of "Coraline" and "The
Nightmare Before Christmas"
November 25th - NO CW during Thanksgiving Break
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana
Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
You may also visit the cinecity blog for this information: http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jt42/nyugradfilmprogram/
-----------------------------------------------------------
ADELAIDE, written and directed by Liliana Greenfield-Sanders as her 2nd year film in Grad Film, continues to wow judges at festivals.
Adelaide Awards:
2009 National Board of Review Student Grant Award
Grand Jury Prize Best Short Film, 2009 Gen Art Film Festival
Audience Award, 2009 Gen Art Film Festival
Best Short Film, 2009 Woodstock Film Festival
Best Short Film, 2009 New Orleans Film Festival
Special Jury Award, 2009 Austin Film Festival
Special Jury Award, 2009 Indie Memphis Film Festival
Audience Award, Haig P. Manoogian Screenings at DGA Los Angeles
Wasserman/King Finalist, 2009 First Run Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS:
Angelus Student Film Fest (Semi-Finalist)
Aspen Shortsfest
Austin Film Festival
BEFILM Festival
Bend Film Festival
Big Apple Film Festival
Calgary International Film Festival
DC Shorts Film Festival
Gen Art Film Festival
First Run Film Festival
Foyle Film Festival
Haig P. Manoogian Screenings
Indie Memphis Film Festival
LA Shortsfest
Moondance Film Festival (Semi-Finalist)
New Orleans Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
Newport International Film Festival
Oldenburg Film Festival
Palm Springs Shortfest
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
Raindance Film Festival
Starz Denver Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Wassaic Project
Williamstown Film Festival
Woodstock Film Festival
"MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME" A.K.A "FETISH"
DIRECTED BY SOOPUM SOHN
a feature length thesis film
Wednesday, November 4th @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027
Q&A with the director will follow the screening
Please RSVP to Marlie McGovern at mmm306@nyu.edu if you plan to attend this event.
SOOPUM SOHN writer / director / cinematographer
As director/writer, Soopum’s short films include “Island to Island”, winner of a 2002 Student Academy Award, and “Fish in the Sea Is Not Thirsty”, an official selection of the 2002 Cannes Film Festival (Quinzaine). “Make Yourself at Home”, Soopum’s first feature film as a director/writer, was invited to the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival, Gala Presentation, Oldenburg Film Festival, San Diego Asian Film Festival and Athens Film Festival.
As cinematographer, Soopum’s films include “Michellville” (dir: John Harkrider), which screened at the Sundance Film Festival 2005 (American Spectrum); and “SA-KWA” (dir: Yi-Kwan Kang), winner of the International Critics Award at the Toronto International Film Festival 2005.
Soopum holds MFA’s from American Film Institute (cinematography) and New York University (film directing).
Synopsis:
Peter, a Korean-American Christian has returned home from a trip overseas with his beautiful and mysterious new wife: Sookhy. A terrible accident occurs, leaving Sookhy to fend for herself. Sookhy, rumored to be a shaman, fights to keep a piece of the American dream.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future Workshops
November 11th - Kevin Connors' Feature Table Reading
November 18th - Henry Selick, Director of "Coraline" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
November 25th - NO CW during Thanksgiving Break
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
The Chair's Workshop Presents....
ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING
Directed by Tara Autovino and Jae-Ho Chang.
Wednesday, October 28th. Screening @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027. Workshop with Tara and Jae-Ho after the film.
Workshop Topics:
Shooting on no budget
Working on the same project for years
How to scam your local fitness center
How to subsist on fast food only
How to blend in when you clearly don't belong
How to seem Christian without ever admitting your faith
The importance of online coupon codes
How to play the race card
Where to eat in Georgia
What to do when you're not shooting
Avoiding Deliverance-type scenes
Hurting people's feelings the nice way
Using the words 'feature-length documentary' as justification for mounting debt, periods of unemployment, and frittering away years of your life
Synopsis:
Where else but the Bible Belt could a concept that marries Christianity and professional wrestling hatch and thrive? Ultimate Christian Wrestling Ministries did just that. Set in rural Georgia, USA, and filmed between 2006 and 2009, this documentary follows the lives of three members of UCW - "The Modern Day Warrior" Rob Adonis, "God's Property" Billy Jack, and "The Custodial Crippler" Justin Dirt - in an attempt to find a connection between a passion for pro-wrestling, the challenges of everyday life, and a faith described not as religion, but as a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future Workshops
November 4th - Screening of Soopum Sohn's new feature film "Make Yourself at Home (aka Fetish)"
November 11th - Kevin Connors' Feature Table Reading
November 18th - Henry Selick, Director of "Coraline" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
November 25th - NO CW during Thanksgiving Break
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
Legendary Cinematographer and Grad Film alum, Fred Elmes (Blue Velvet, The Ice Storm, Synedoche NY, and many more), conducted a workshop for Grad Film cinematography students. Thanks to Professor Sandi Sissel for organizing the workshop. Thanks also to DeWitt Davis from Kodak, and to folks at Deluxe, for their generous support.
Photos by Joey Kuhn.
Fred Elmes
DeWitt Davis, Fred Elmes, Peter O'Leary, Leonardo D'Antoni
Thomas Kim, Fred Elmes
Kristina Nikolova, Rob Leitzell
Nadiah Hamzah, Fred Elmes, Hye Mee Na, Leonardo D'Antoni
Edna Biesold, Thomas Kim
Kristina Nikolova, Fred Elmes
The CHAIR'S WORKSHOP presents...
NYU Grad Film alums Katie Jacobs and Larry Kaplow visited Chair's Workshop on Wednesday, October 21.
They discussed WRITING FOR TV; developing the concept for a show, getting it set up, the difference between network and cable, creating a pilot, writing a season, and more.
Katie Jacobs is co-showrunner of HOUSE, MD, nominated for three consecutive Emmy Awards for best Drama Series. (See full bio below)
Larry Kaplow is a Television Writer and Producer for HOUSE, MD. He won the 2005 Writers Guild of America Award for "Outstanding Television Script, Episodic Drama" for the House episode "Autopsy" (2.02).
-----------------------------------------------------------
Future Workshops
November 11th - Kevin Connors' Feature Table Reading
November 18th - Henry Selick, Director of "Coraline" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
-----------------------------------------------------------
For ideas, suggestions, questions etc., please email Liliana Greenfield-Sanders at lgs248@nyu.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------
Katie Jacobs Bio:
Katie Jacobs is co-showrunner of HOUSE, nominated for three consecutive Emmy Awards for best Drama Series. Previously, Jacobs served as co-show runner on the critically acclaimed series "Gideon's Crossing" starring Andre Braugher, as well as the futuristic legal drama "Century City" and produced the Emmy-nominated telefilm "A Father for Charlie" starring Louis Gossett Jr.
Jacobs has directed several episodes of HOUSE including the season six premiere, a two-hour movie, chronicling House's journey through the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital. Before turning her focus to television, Jacobs produced several films, including Alan J. Pakula's thriller "Consenting Adults" and the Carl Reiner comedy "Fatal Instinct." Jacobs is a product of the graduate film school at NYU.
Jacobs resides in Los Angeles.
The Chair's Workshop Presents....
John Hamburg
John Tintori, John Hamburg
Susan Hippen, Jay Franklin, John Hamburg
John Hamburg, Elena Greenlee
JOHN HAMBURG
Wednesday, October 14th @ 6:30 PM, Room 1027
After screening his 1996 short film Tick at the Sundance Film Festival, Hamburg wrote and directed the 1998 film Safe Men. Hamburg then found success co-writing Meet the Parents and Zoolander, and returned to the director's chair with Along Came Polly, which he also wrote. He also co-wrote the hit sequel Meet the Fockers. In 2009, Hamburg wrote and directed the hit comedy I Love you, Man. He is currently working on the second sequel to Meet the Parents, entitled Little Fockers.
NYU Grad Film alum, Cruz Angeles, won the Lee Marvin Best Feature Narrative Award at the Woodstock Film Festival for his first feature film, “Don’t Let Me Drown”
Liliana Greenfield-Sanders won the Diane Seligman Award for Best Short Narrative with her 2nd year film, “Adelaide”
IndieWIRE run-down of the Festival
Richard Linklater, Liliana Greenfield-Sanders, and NYU film alum Ted Hope
Cruz Angeles and Marie Topete
Grad Film alum, Tom DiCillo, at a Q&A after a screening of his feature doc, WHEN YOUR STRANGE
Grad Film alum, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, KNIFE POINT, with Molly Donovan and Michael Vincent
Industry Luminaries: Peter Saraf, Emily Russo and NYU Grad Film Adjunct Professor Ira Sachs (flashing the peace sign), at the awards ceremony.
Louis and Rachel Edwards-Glover
Thesis student, Lee Manansala (center) presented a table reading of his "Talky, Romantic, Funny, Dramatic, Loopy, Ridiculous, Articulate, Awkward, and Shy script about young people in love," at the Char's Workshop on October 1.
Several feature projects that have been read at Chair's Workshop in the past few years have gone on to be produced as feature length films, including TRUE ADOLESCENTS by Craig Johnson, FETISH by Soopum Sohn, and ST. JOHN OF LAS VEGAS by Hue Rhodes.
NYU graduate thesis "Adventures of Power," a comedy starring Michael McKean (Spinal Tap), Jane Lynch (Glee), and Adrian Grenier (Entourage) is being released in theaters in October by Variance Films. It will be premiering in New York on October 9th. The movie will also be hosting a benefit party to support music education for kids.
Director Ari Gold welcomes people to read his daily blog about the making of the movie. Also, film students may be interested in the process of making the movie and are encouraged to write to Ari at ari@arigoldfilms.com if they're interested in helping out with the party or the film!
SITE:
BLOG:
TWEETS:
FACE:
TUBE:
SPACE:
Ari Gold in ADVENTURES OF POWER
After a lengthy deliberation to decide who should win the $100,000 Columbus/Vague production grant, Chris Columbus and Richard Vague each donated another $25,000 to the fund, then split the award three ways, giving $50,000 each, to three Grad Film alums; Andrew MacLean (On the Ice), Rob Meyer (A Birder's Guide to Everything), and Dee Rees (Pariah).
Dee Rees, Rob Meyer, Andrew MacLean
Chris Columbus, UGF&TV winner Ben Epstein, Dee Rees, Rob Meyer, Andrew MacLean, and Richard Vague
Richard Vague and Dee Rees
Andrew MacLean with producer Cara Marcous
Rob Meyer, Richard Vague, and Chris Columbus
Grad Film finalists for the 2009 Columbus/Vague Alumni Award.
Front row: Jeff Seymann, Sasie Sealy, Sen-I Yu, Sharri Hefner.
Back row: Dee Rees, Rob Meyer, Janet McIntyre, Andrew MacLean, Ming Ling Chen.
Thomas Ranese, CMO of I LOVE NY, delivers the brief to students from Tisch and Stern at the I LOVE NY promo kick off event. Past sponsors for ProMotion Pictures projects include: Verizon, Heineken, Axe Body Spray, Johnny Walker, and Cisco.
For more information on how to get involved in the I LOVE NY competition, contact Ryan Heller at ryan.heller@nyu.edu.
MILLION IN THE MIRROR WINS COMPETITION
Marc Parees and Ryan Silbert's Public Service Announcement for the Love/Avon Army of Women will be broadcast on Lifetime during the month of October for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The commercial spot, which they co-conceived won the PSA Competition, sponsored by the Avon Foundation and Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. The PSA will also be distributed on the web on Glamour.com. The production's largely NYU crew included Jeremy Brunjes as Director of Photography, Parees as Director and Silbert and Mollye Asher as producers.
Like a Diamond by Glass Ghost from Western Vinyl on Vimeo.
Recent Grad Film alums Nat Johnson and Greg Mitnick have signed with Station Films for commercial representation. Their new video for LIKE A DIAMOND by "Brooklyn art-wobble duo" Glass Ghost premiered on the Village Voice website last week.
Woodshed Entertainment, an independent film production company started in 2006 by NYU Grad Film producing partners Kevin Connors and Chris Ciancimino, is proud to announce that John Krasinski's directorial debut, "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men," opens on Friday, September 25. Krasinski also wrote and stars in the dark comedy, based on the book by David Foster Wallace.
"Brief Interviews," which premiered at the Sundance festival in January, stars Julianne Nicholson as a graduate student interviewing a series of men for her thesis project. Krasinski plays one of the interview subjects, alongside Will Arnett, Dominic Cooper, Bobby Cannavale, Timothy Hutton, Christopher Meloni, Max Minghella and Ben Shenkman. The film was produced by Krasinski, Eva Kolodner, Yael Melamede and James Suskin and exec produced by Kevin Connors.
Woodshed Entertainment is based in New York. The company was established to seek out, develop and produce motion pictures for theatrical release. Woodshed is committed to making independent films with strong commercial appeal and thought-provoking content.
New York University’s Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of the Tisch School of the Arts, has been appointed by President Barack Obama as vice chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The appointment was announced yesterday (Sept. 16) in a press release issued by the White House.
At the same time, the President announced that Tisch School of the Arts’ Dean’s Council member and theatrical producer Margo Lion would serve as co-chair.
President Obama said, “My administration is committed to […] investing in the future of arts and the humanities, and these individuals will serve my team well as we work to accomplish these goals. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
The White House announcement went on to state these distinguished appointments are exemplary of this Administration’s belief that the arts and humanities are at the core of a vital society. And that both individuals bring to the President’s Committee a wealth of experience in the arts and humanities and have, throughout their varied and illustrious careers, demonstrated a deep and abiding commitment to these fields.
NYU Film Alum Karyn Kusama directing JENNIFER'S BODY. Grad Film Visiting Professor Plummy Tucker edited the film, and has edited Karyn's earlier films, GIRLFIGHT and AEON FLUX.
Megan Fox in Karyn Kusama's JENNIFER'S BODY
Armando Diaz with Jose Santana
Armando Diaz visited Chair's Workshop on September 16 with a group of actors from the Magnet Theater to demonstrate improv acting techniques used by actors, writers, and directors. Assistant Arts Professor Jose Santana hosted the event.
Armando Diaz is widely regarded as one of the best improv teachers in New York City and beyond. His list of teaching credits is a long one: the ImprovOlympic Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, The Peoples Improv Theater, and Michael Howard Studios. He has trained dozens of actors who have performed or written for Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Mad TV, and The Daily Show.
A Chicago native, Armando studied improv under Del Close at the ImprovOlympic, Mick Napier at the Annoyance, and graduated from the Second City Conservatory. He performed in and helped create one of the most popular improvised longforms in Chicago, "The Armando Diaz Experience...." For the last decade, "the Armando" has been performed weekly in Chicago, and is now taught and performed in many other cities including Los Angeles and New York.
In addition to writing and producing short films, Armando wrote sketches for the show Upright Citizens Brigade on Comedy Central, and has performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Recent Grad Film alum, Etienne Kallos, won the Corto Cortissimo Lion for Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival with his Thesis project Eersgeborene (First Born). The film also had successful screenings this month at the Telluride Film Festival.
Todd Solondz, Grad Film alum and professor, won the "Osella" for Best Screenplay at Venice, for his new film, Life During Wartime.
Click here for the complete list of winners at Venice.
Hazel Sophie Fox Veileux, born September 10, 2009
Congratulations to Amy and Zach!
"Marina of the Zabbaleen," directed and produced by Grad Film student Engi Wassef as her Thesis project, will open Friday, September 11, at the ImaginAsian Theater. This 70 minute feature documentary tells the story of 7-year-old Marina, who lives in a village of recyclers at the base of a mountain outside Cairo, Egypt.
Marina premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, and won the Silver Muhr award at the Dubai International Film Festival.
Grad Film alum Rob Hauer shot the film. His work is described by Jeanette Catsoulis in the NY Times as 'elegant cinematography, which creeps inside the mind of a child to turn a rat carcass into a shiny toy and mounds of rubbish into a mysterious kingdom."
Click here for the NY Times review.
Tickets for the screenings are available at: www.movietickets.com
Jon Matthews, Jarreau Carrillo, Kiandra Parks
Adriana Cepeda Espinosa, Zach Kerschberg
Uzoma Emukah, Fina Lloyd
Perry Blackshear, Tati Barrantes, Alan Blanco
Anastasia Frank, Heather Jack, Claire Harlam, Uzoma Emukah, Ash Bhalla, Ryan Johnson
Alexis Gambis, Bella Wing-Davey, Jon Mathews
Ryan Johnson, Anastasia Frank, Jeffrey Bliss, Virginia Urreizietta, Jonas Carpignano, Charles Rogers
Bonds being formed at The Apple.
Produced and Directed by Grad Film Alum Mitch McCabe
HBO Broadcast Premiere
MONDAY AUGUST 31, 9PM E/PST, 8PM CT
In YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN, an age-obsessed daughter of a plastic surgeon (filmmaker Mitch McCabe) takes a journey through America's $60 billion a year anti-aging world. In this Alice-in-Wonderland tale, McCabe spends 2 years traveling across America visiting doctors, experts and lives with a cross-section of characters from Minnesota to Texas who've gone to varying lengths to "beat the clock", to paint a funny, thought-provoking and even disturbing portrait of a country that desperately needs to stay forever young.
"Youth Knows No Pain subjects America's anti-aging obsession to an intimate, often unflattering closeup, and with an appreciable lack of vanity, director Mitch McCabe also holds up her own face -- lines, imperfections and all -- for the camera's scrutiny. McCabe's unique perspective as a plastic surgeon's daughter informs this lively, candid and thoughtful piece, which avoids the fashionable alarmism of so many social-issue docs as it weighs the costs and benefits of wrinkle creams, breast implants and Botox injections and allows viewers to decide for themselves. Elsewhere, Youth Knows No Pain smartly and amusingly sends up the $60 billion anti-aging industry..."
-Justin Chang
Variety (June 2009)
an HBO Documentary Films and Open Pictures production
in association with Chipped Nail Polish Productions
Directed and Produced by Mitch McCabe
Produced by Linda Chiu and Kathleen Rosenbloom
Executive Produced by Dale Rosenbloom, Seth Willenson and W.Wilder Knight, II
HBO Executive Producer Sheila Nevins, HBO Supervising Producer Sara Bernstein
Co-Produced by Elena Parker, Carmen Cuba and Ellen Killoran
Edited by Michael Taylor and Mitch McCabe
Featuring Sherry Mecom, Norman Deesing, Julia Allison, Erica Rose, Gary Baldassarre, Lyndsay Bertie, Charla Krupp and Simon Doonan
Grad Film Alum Ang Lee directs Demetri Martin and Paul Dano in TAKING WOODSTOCK
Emile Hirsch and Ang Lee on the set
Ally Sheedy, Paul Reubens, and Shirley Henderson in LIFE DURING WARTIME, written and directed by Grad Film Professor and Alum, Todd Solondz.
LIFE DURING WARTIME, which played at the Cannes Film Festival in the spring, will be in four major film festivals this fall; Toronto, Telluride, Venice, and New York.
Congratulations to NYU Grad Film alums Paul Mezey and Andrij Parekh, who produced COLD SOULS, written and directed by Sophie Barthes, starring Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Dina Korzun and Emily Watson.
Andrij Parekh is also the Cinematographer of the film.
The Princess Grace Foundation - USA announced that Rashaad Ernesto Green has won their prestigious Cary Grant Film Award.
For a complete list of Princess Grace Awards click here.
The Grad Film faculty nominates one student per year to the Princess Grace Awards Committee. Students from Grad Film have now won a Princess Grace Award in four of the past five years, including Cary Joji Fukunaga '05, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean '06, Nikyatu Jusu '08, and Rashaad Ernesto Green '09.
Andrew Okpeaha MacLean was also named as a recipient of a Princess Grace Special Projects Award, which are grants given to past winners for projects that advance their artistic development.
Zeina Durra
Recent NYU Grad Film alums make IFP. Zeina Durra, Ron Eyal, Eleanor Burke, Craig Johnson, Mark Heyman, Thomas Woodrow, and Craig Marsden all will be with their projects at September's Independent Feature Project.
The lineup for the the event is broken down into three sections, as described by IFP: Emerging Narrative (for first-time feature directors currently in post seeking representation, completion funding, and festival invitations), No Borders International Co-Production Market (for producers with partial financing seeking additional partners), and Spotlight on Documentaries (for filmmakers in production, post, or with a completed film seeking financing partners, broadcast/distribution, and festival invitations).
2 projects in Emerging Narrative:
THE IMPERIALISTS ARE STILL ALIVE!, written and directed by Zeina Durra, produced Vanessa Hope, starring Élodie Bouchez (THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS; SORRY, HATERS)
STRANGER THINGS, directed and produced by Ron Eyal & Eleanor Burke (Filmmaker Magazine 2009 “25 New Faces”)
One in the No Borders section for International co-productions:
THE SKELETON TWINS, written and directed by Craig Johnson (TRUE ADOLESCENTS) and Mark Heyman, produced by Thomas Woodrow (TRUE ADOLESCENTS)
One project in Spotlight on Documentaries:
PIPESTONE, directed and produced by Craig Marsden
Grad Film Professor Jose Angel Santana has directed "The Killing" by William Inge, with Neal Huff, left, and J. J. Kandel, as part of the Summer Shorts 3 series of world premiere one-act plays.
.....Todd Solondz................Nancy Savoca....................
Writer/Director and Grad Film alum, Todd Solondz, will join the Tisch faculty on a full time basis in the fall of 2009. Professor Solondz will alternate semesters between the new campus at Tisch Asia in Singapore and the original Grad Film Program in NY.
Also joining the Grad Film faculty in the fall 2009 semester are Writer/Director Maggie Greenwald, Writer/Director Susanna Styron, and Writer/Director Alex Sichel.
Grad Fim alums Tanya Steele and Vincenzo Tripodo will begin teaching in the department this semester. And we'll be welcoming back Cinematographer Tony Jannelli from his tour of duty in Singapore, as well as Writer/Director and Tisch Film School alum, Nancy Savoca.
Julianne Nicholson stars as Sara Quinn and Dominic Cooper stars as Daniel in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Woodshed Entertainment, an independent film production company started in 2006 by NYU Grad Film producing partners Kevin Connors and Chris Ciancimino, is proud to announce that John Krasinski's directorial debut, "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men," has secured U.S. distribution in a deal with IFC Films. Krasinski also wrote and stars in the dark comedy, based on the book by David Foster Wallace.
"Brief Interviews," which premiered at the Sundance festival in January, stars Julianne Nicholson as a graduate student interviewing a series of men for her thesis project. Krasinski plays one of the interview subjects, alongside Will Arnett, Dominic Cooper, Bobby Cannavale, Timothy Hutton, Christopher Meloni, Max Minghella and Ben Shenkman. The film was produced by Krasinski, Eva Kolodner, Yael Melamede and James Suskin and exec produced by Kevin Connors.
IFC will release "Hideous Men" on September 25 in theaters and as a video-on-demand offering. The film also will go through IFC's exclusive DVD rental deal with Blockbuster.
Woodshed Entertainment is based in New York. The company was established to seek out, develop and produce motion pictures for theatrical release. Woodshed is committed to making independent films with strong commercial appeal and thought-provoking content.
...sending text, photos, graphics, and links to Marlie McGovern at:
mmm306@nyu.edu
Jacob Robinson is all smiles as his film Alice Jacobs is Dead wins Best Horror/Suspense Film at the Comic-Con Festival. Jacob is part of the first Dual MBA/MFA Degree class.
Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart with the Comedy Central interns.
Karma Calling, a first feature film directed by Grad Film alum Sarba Das, was part of the aaiff'09 in NYC last week.
"The Raj family is definitely not a household comprised of your stereotypical Asian model minorities living the American Dream. On top of the family’s troubled finances, the family hosts a recently widowed relative, Mausi, a fount of comic disasters."
complete list of aaiff'09 films
Short films by Grad Film alum Wing-Yee Wu Tiger, and current students Han Lee Walking While Sleeping, and ManSee Kong Here to Stay, were also screened as part of the festival.
Carol Dysinger blogs from the the Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab for Filmmaker Magazine.
Dysinger, right, with Associate Editor Michelle Chang.
Alums Ron Eyal and Eleanor Burke were named to the list of "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in Filmmaker Magazine.
25 New Faces of Independent Film
Eleanor and Ron recently participated in the IFP's Rough Cut Lab with their first feature, Stranger Things. They co-wrote and co-directed the film, which served as their thesis project.
Thomas Woodrow has been selected as one of five producers for the Sundance Producing Fellowships with "The Skeleton Twins," a script written by Craig Johnson and Mark Heyman . "The Skeleton Twins" was read as part of the Chair's Workshop Feature Table Reading Series. Thomas produced Craig Johnson's thesis, the feature film "True Adolescents," which is currently on the festival circuit.
Thomas Woodrow visits the Chair's Workshop in April 2009
Grad Film alum, Dee Rees, is a finalist for the Netflix $500,000 feature film award. The script is based on her award winning short film, Pariah.
The Netflix Finalists
Adjunct Professor Michael Showalter stars in a new show on Comedy Central.
NY Times article
Jason Sokoloff's 2nd year film, Mr. Brooklyn, continues its successful festival run, picking up the Best Narrative Short at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival last weekend.
Other stops along the way include:
FESTIVAL WINS:
#1) Mr. Brooklyn wins "BEST STUDENT NARRATIVE" at the 33rd Carolina Film and Video Festival.
#2) Mr. Brooklyn wins "BEST FICTION AWARD" at the Open APPerture Short Film Festival.
#3) Mr. Brooklyn wins "BEST SHORT FILM" at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.
ALL FESTIVALS:
Dam Short Film Festival
Cleveland International Film Festival
Tiburon International Film Festival
International Short Festival Salento Finibus Terrae
Washougal International Film Festival
Palm Beach International Film Festival
Tupelo Film Festival
Siouxland Film Festival
West Chester International Film Festival
Nickel Independent Film Festival
NewFilmMakers NY Festival
Marblehead Festival of Arts Film Festival
New Jersey Film Festival
Nat Johnson, Laura Belsey, Greg Mitnick
Spec commercials made by NYU Grad Film students have notched up some notable successes in recent months.
Four of the ten student finalists in the prestigious AICP awards were commercials made by current students: 'Find Your Match' by Lapo Melzi, 'Timeless' by Harry Mavromichalis and two commercials jointly directed by Greg Mitnick and Nat Johnson, 'Slim Jim' and 'Apple'.
Greg and Nat have also won Gold and Silver Student Addy awards at the local and regional levels with their commercials 'Balloons' and 'Slap', while Lapo has been featured in Shoot magazine's New Directors Showcase for his commercial 'Paper Child', for the African-American Planning Commission.
These projects were largely developed as part of the 'Directing Television Commercials' course taught by Adjunct Professor Laura Belsey, and offered as an elective in the third year of the Grad Film program.
Rising 3rd Year Grad Film student, Kiel Scott, walked off with the Grand Prize in the HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival in Miami last week.
Kiel, his producer Kiara Jones, and Grad Film finalists, Rashaad Ernesto Green and Randy Wilkins, share the stage. Congratulations to all!
Michael, Annie, Nat and baby Ben
Netflix Find Your Voice Film Competition - The winning filmmaker receives a $150,000 production grant, plus donations and services worth more than $350,000.
4 of the 10 Semi-finalists are from NYU Grad Film.
Sasie Sealy - SarahN_12
Maryam Keshavarz - Circumstance
Dee Rees - Pariah
Eric Lin - Why We Pull The Trigger
