Ten students from the New York Film Academy (NYFA) starred in NYFA’s episode of The College Tour, an online television show that showcases colleges and universities around the country. NYFA’s episode launched as part of the series’ ninth season and will stream on Amazon Prime and Apple TV in October 2023.
If you’re a high school student visiting colleges, you’ve likely heard of this hit series with host Alex Boylan (The Amazing Race, DreamJobbing), and producers Lisa Hennessy and Burton Roberts.
The television series The College Tour gives viewers a firsthand look at higher education institutions across the United States through the perspectives and authentic experiences of its current students. Each episode showcases student life, academic programs, facilities, faculty members, and unique student opportunities.
The ten chosen students to represent NYFA in this episode were drawn from the school’s three U.S. campuses in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Representing NYFA’s Los Angeles campus, were Angelo Baxter (screenwriting), Lara Minotto, and Omarion Williams (filmmaking), Laila Wright (3D animation), and Hanna Hartenhauer (acting for film). From the New York City campus were Mario Greiner and Violet Ahmad (musical theatre), Juniel Cotto (acting for film), and Dhwani Shah (screenwriting). From the Miami campus was Erick Alarueva (acting for film).
NYFA’s episode of The College Tour is currently available to watch on the Academy’s episode page, and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime and Apple TV this October 2023.
The College Tour’s production crew found themselves immersed in the world’s most hands-on film, media, and performing arts college when they came to the campuses for a week-long video shoot. Thanks to the backdrops, on-campus sets, student activity, and natural hustle, NYFA’s episode is one of the most visually stunning episodes of the television series.
At NYFA, student experiences extend beyond the classroom. As shown in the school’s episode of The College Tour, students have the opportunity to showcase their skills in marketing projects in addition to their regular programming, including student showcases, musical theatre performances, festival competitions, and pitch fests.
Students learn about their disciplines through an array of hands-on educational training. As an educational institution, NYFA believes the pursuit of a passion in the film, media or performing arts is based in practice. Students across the New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami campuses have access to equipment labs, soundstages, dressing rooms, editing equipment, and industry video technology, as shown in the episode.
Throughout all five days of production, students showcased their acting skills in front of the camera with NYFA’s dazzling array of equipment, scene sets, and stages forming a splendid backdrop. Following production week, the NYFA team collaborated with the post-production crew to gather additional footage to showcase all campuses, including those outside of the United States like the Gold Coast, Australia and Florence, Italy.
Notable filming locations included the famous Studio 5 soundstage at Burbank Studios, NYFA’s Riverside building, and the Universal Studios backlot, where students participate in production workshops to hone their skills using advanced equipment in a professional filmmaking environment. The legendary Universal backlot is where iconic films like Back to the Future (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), War of the Worlds (2005), among others were filmed.
Also featured are the iconic cities themselves including landmarks like the Hollywood sign, the Warner Brothers water tower (in LA), the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center, Battery Park, Broadway, Washington Square Park, the New York City subway, Miami Beach, Lincoln Ave (in Miami), and more.
Acting, 3D animation and visual effects, editing, performance, and theatre classrooms were captured, giving the production crew an in-depth glimpse into the spaces where students learn the fundamentals of film, media, and television before applying them to soundstages, equipment labs, recording studios, and other production facilities.
In NYFA’s episode, audiences witness the dazzling array of equipment including boom mics, c-stands, dollies, flags, industry-standard RED and SONY cameras, lights, and professional-grade sound studios. These sights are often only witnessed by enrolled students themselves, but are showcased publicly thanks to The College Tour.
This fall, NYFA will be inviting students, staff, faculty, and locally-based alums to an on-campus Watch Party across all three of its campuses across the U.S.
Stay tuned for the full episode, students segments, and more in the coming months on nyfa.edu/collegetour.