It’s been a busy semester at for the Acting for Film Department at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles. In addition to our fabulous curriculum, we also hosted industry guests speakers, produced student directed plays, a 10-minute play festival, and presented our second successful alumni industry showcase.
Next up was veteran Casting Director Tineka Becker, former Manager of Feature Casting at Paramount Pictures. She told tales from the trenches of working with Tom Ford and Robert Zemekis, and on such projects as “Twilight: New Moon” and “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
Finally, Image Consultant and Branding Specialist Tom Burke was a huge hit with students as he helped them recognize what type they are most likely to be hired to play, and how to best promote themselves in a crowded market.
The upcoming guest list includes managers, agents and an expert on creating internet content (her music videos have gone viral with millions of views). Stay tuned!
It was an exciting semester of student directed plays. The students were ambitious with their self-generated projects. The plays included the dark drama, “Mujeres De Arena,” by Humberto Robles (directed by Guillermo Orozoo). This courageous play explores sex trafficking and the exploitation of women.
“All this Intimacy,” by Rajiv Jospeh (directed be Roberto Jadue) explores the protagonist’s inability to have intimate relationships with various women, ultimately causing him isolation and despair.
The very complex play “Arcadia,” by Tom Stoppard (directed Daniel Pareja) is a play concerning the relationship between past and present, chaos and order, certainty and uncertainty.
“A Wrinkle in Time,” by Madeleine L’Engle (directed by Timothy Herrera), is a science fantasy about time travel, finding home, and ultimately that one cannot live without love.
Congratulations to all the students involved this semester!
After an exciting round of auditions, 15 alumni students were selected to participate in our second industry showcase directed by Associate Chair Anne Moore. The actors were showcased in both film and live performance. The turnout was terrific, and many of our actors had opportunities to meet with top agents and managers, as well as casting directors from ABC, NBC, CBS, Warner Brothers, and Sony Pictures.
Our alumni chosen this round were Jordan Knapp, Gonzalo Martin, Jolie Chi, Christopher Akens, Martta Rebekka, Reinaldo Garcia, Demyra Ravyne Payne, John R. Twohy, Victoria Schneider, Christopher Allyn Rybka, Nathan Rosado, Brieyonna Monet, Aditya Joshi, Camila Mejia Duque, and Matt JJ Miller.
Our second playwriting festival was a huge success. The idea for the 10-minute festival originated in David Robinette’s Playwriting Studio Class. He saw it as a great opportunity for our actors to develop their voices as writers. This semester’s location was set in a graveyard. Given the opportunity they had to choose directors, cast the play, and get the plays on their feet for a live performance.
The playwrights chosen were Sam LaFrance, Miranda Guzman, Zane Hudson, and Luis Alfredo Gonzalez. The event was stage managed by our wonderful student Simmie Sangian, Morgan Aiken, and set design was done by Daniela Gerdes.
May 2017 Graduation
It was a beautiful day at Harmony Gold. Lynda Goodfriend gave a touching farewell to our students. Joshua Bitton, our guest speaker, brought lots of laughter and great industry advice to our spring graduates. We want to wish our students great success in their future endeavors. All that hard work paid off. Congratulations, Class of May 2017!