Tisch Special Programs

Tisch School of the Arts Acting for Stage and Screen Open Arts instructor and studio director, Angela Pietropinto, is in a new independent film Greetings from the Shore. The film recently opened in theatres in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Tisch Special Programs caught up with Angela about her latest work.

Congratulations on Greetings from the Shore! Please tell us about the film.
Greetings from the Shore was shot under a SAG low-budget contract. It is a lyrical, romantic coming-of-age film. It is interesting to note that about 4,000 independent films are shot each year and only about 40 get distribution. Greetings was one of the worthy 40.

In the film you play Mrs. Salducci. Who is your character? How did you prepare for your role?
Mrs. Salducci is a survivor, a woman of a certain age who was born and raised in Lavalette, a small town on the Jersey Shore. She married a seafaring man and raised her family there. At the start of the movie, she is surviving by renting rooms at her family's bait and tackle shop while waiting for her adventure-loving husband to return from his present voyage. I was born and raised and presently live in Greenwich Village (a big-city small town). I raised my family there while pursuing an acting career after receiving my master’s degree from the Graduate Acting Program at NYU Tisch. Mrs. Salducci was not a huge stretch for me - I empathized with the woman upon the first read of the script.

Was the entire film shot on the Jersey shore? What was that like?
Yes, the entire movie was filmed on the Jersey Shore. Being a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, I always summered on Long Island. After filming Greetings, I fell under the Jersey Shore's spell and rented a house on Long Beach Island - a more unpretentious, family-oriented venue to the Ocean than the Hamptons.

The film has received outstanding reviews at film festivals and has won numerous awards. What else can one take away from the film?
The film is full of humor and hope. And offers a believe in your dreams and don't give up message.

What’s next for Angela Pietropinto? What are you working on now?
I am presently filming another SAG low-budget movie entitled STAGS, teaching for NYU Tisch and teaching at The Michael Howard Studios owned and operated by Gabrielle Berberich-the writer and producer of Greetings from the Shore.

Check out Greetings from the Shore on the film festival circuit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493421/awards

For more information about Acting for Stage and Screen, the new Open Arts Studio with Angela Pietropinto at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, please visit http://specialprograms.tisch.nyu.edu/object/ssatacting.html. Application deadline is October 10.

It's that time of year again.

→ Sharpen your pencils.
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→ Check out Tisch Special Programs, where we've got everything you need from Study Abroad, to Open Arts, to Spring at Tisch.

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A recent story in the Irish Independent News offers tantalizing details about what Tisch alum and creator of "Super Size Me" Morgan Spurlock could have done with a semester abroad at the Tisch program in Dublin, Ireland. When asked if the program was available when he was a student, Spurlock responds, "no, but I would have been there in a second." Read the full article here.

For more info, check out all of the exciting programs we offer in Dublin.

On Tuesday, April 29, students from the Tisch Music Video Production program in Dublin premiered their music videos at the Button Factory in the Temple Bar section of Dublin. The premier was a showcase of collaborative work between student directors and ten bands that were selected by Hot Press magazine. This semester's artists include The Coronas, Sinéad O’Connor & The Republic Of Loose, The Future Kings Of Spain, Pamela Connolly, The Brilliant Things, The Mighty Stef, Halves, Not Men But Giants and Choice Music Prize winners Super Extra Bonus Party. Pictures of the event are available on the Hot Press Website.

Videos will be available on the Tisch Special Programs Website soon!

Tisch Visiting Scholar and Open Arts Instructor Aly Rose is one of 5 choreographers selected to feature new work at the 7th Annual Choreographers Showcase.

On April 30th Aly Rose's pod will premiere at the Symphony Space Theatre in Manhattan. Pod is an exploration into shape, suspension, and control. By contrasting the dynamic human form to the simplicity of a sphere, a strange and unfamiliar aesthetic is born. This new piece is performed to the deep sounds of rich Mongolian throat singing, in which six dancers push movement into a new realm.

The Annual Choreographers Showcase features dynamic new work from exciting emerging choreographers. The Showcase is hosted by the Post Concert Dance Company, the performing company of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Each year 5 choreographers are selected to make fresh and daring new work in a variety of styles for this diverse company of dancers.

For more information, please visit Symphony Space.

The Tisch Open Arts curriculum is offering two exciting new classes in gaming for Fall 2008. Introduction to Game Production I and Recapturing Life do not require any prerequisites and students need no prior experience to enroll. They can be taken for undergrad or graduate credit.

For a complete list of all courses offered through the Open Arts curriculum at Tisch School of the Arts, click here.

CCTV International recently ran a story about the Steps, Rhythm and Movement course offered at Tisch School of the Arts and taught by visiting scholar Aly Rose. Offered through the Open Arts curriculum, this course is an introduction to the dances and patterns of movement that have shaped Chinese contemporary dance. This course will be offered again in fall 2008 and is open to all New York University students. Read the story from CCTV International and watch the video and interview with Aly Rose Chinese Folk Dance Celebrated in U.S.

This spring, Tisch School of the Arts students will create music videos for The Coronas, Sinéad O’Connor & The Republic Of Loose, The Future Kings Of Spain, Pamela Connolly, The Brilliant Things, The Mighty Stef, Halves, Not Men But Giants and Choice Music Prize winners Super Extra Bonus Party. Read the story from Hot Press: Latest Hot Press/NYU Tisch School Project Winners Announced

Students are enrolled in Music Video Production at Tisch School of the Arts in Dublin. This course is offered each fall and spring semester.

Brittney Jeng, a student at New York University Tisch School of the Arts studied digital filmmaking in Florence with Tisch last summer. This is Brittney’s overview of the 30-Second Commercial Reel, the program where she created her own reel of short films.

In Brittney’s own words

My short 30-second commercials were about all sorts of things. The goal for the summer was to attempt to make 21 short specs. There was a range we were given that we were trying to do. But in the end, each student did a little of everything. We did black and white specs, stock footage specs, Google images specs, specs all in Italian, PSAs, spoofs, etc.

Our day was basically, wake up, eat breakfast (if you woke up early enough to beat the hungry crowd!) and go to class across the hill carrying your equipment, and edit what you had shot. If you did not have any footage to edit, you would be out in the city shooting something to use and come back to class and edit it later. Most days
were spent editing from morning until about 2 p.m. and then go out and shoot more footage to use for the next day.

Sometimes it would be travel to another city one day, shoot, and come back and edit the entire next day. Every Friday we would screen what we had made for the week.

Lectures were mainly about how to use Final Cut and different techniques you could use to make your footage awesome. Another lecture was how to use Soundtrack Pro which very few people knew about. The best lectures were about Italian art and the history of the world. The lecture on the history of the world given by one Amos Poe is the best lecture you will ever hear. It starts from early age, delves into Italian art and cinema, including fascinating insights into Michelangelo and DaVinci, to the present time period of NYU and the 2008 Presidential Candidates. It only takes a few hours but you find it so riveting you can't pull away. It is told in the vernacular of present day that it is just so awesome to describe. It is more than an experience.

The 30-Second Commercial Reel, May 18-June 28, 2008. For more information, please visit http://specialprograms.tisch.nyu.edu/object/SPC_ItalyComReel.html

Jessica Muse, now a senior at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, began her journey to Africa in Steps, Rhythm & Movement of South African Dance, a course in the Open Arts Curriculum at Tisch School of the Arts. Next she learned about Topics in South African Culture, another course in the Open Arts Curriculum. Immediately, she thought, “I should do this. I am going to apply.” She was accepted to the class for the fall 2005 semester, and traveled to South Africa in January 2006. Jessica chose to stay in South Africa with a study abroad program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She just returned to the United States in December 2007.

Jessica, in her own words

“The Topics in South African Culture is hands down the most influential and life-changing class I have taken at New York University. The program incorporated varied methods of learning (reading, discussion, lecture, seminar, performance, films, television, music, art galleries, food, you name it!) and was taught largely from a South African perspective. Each week we had someone passionate and experienced in their field engaging us as students and as people. These presentations were paired with weekly discussion sessions facilitated by Tisch staff who created a safe learning space where we were able speak our minds. They offered incredible support to us throughout the whole course and on the field trip. And the field trip...amazing!

Continue reading "Jessica Muse: On Living in South Africa for Two Years" »