“Christmas Eve,” a film made in collaboration with the New York Film Academy’s Industry Lab, had its debut screening at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus. The red carpet was rolled out for Director Richard Freidman and the cast of the film including Mary-Margaret Humes, Scott Bailey, Vince Lozano, Anthony Emerson, Aaron Parilo, Bethany Caroll, Sarah Castro, Mark Adair-Rios, Hailey Garibay, and Ashley Romans.
“Christmas Eve” is a dark comedy that takes place over the course of a day and follows a heap of interlinking characters. A botched robbery, a detective trying to reconnect with his mother, a down on his luck photographer, and a drug addicted mall Santa.
Not only was this “Christmas Eve’s” debut, but also a special ending was cut together that turned out to be a huge surprise for the actors. Friedman wanted to end the film on a more upbeat note than originally planned. Using clever editing techniques he re-worked the ending but didn’t tell anyone in the cast.
“Watching their reactions was one of my favorite parts of the evening,” Friedman said.
Every crewmember in attendance took to the stage to answer some questions from the students. One student wanted to know about the rehearsal process. Freidman explained that a tight budget did not allow for a rehearsal schedule. In fact, the film, which originally had a twelve-day shooting schedule, was filmed over ten days. Friedman credited the actors with the fast turn around stating, “I’m telling you the key is to get actors you can rely on. These guys all brought it. We never did more than two takes.”
The New York Film Academy would like to thank Richard Freidman and the amazing cast of “Christmas Eve.” To learn more about the film, click here.