{The New York Film Academy is proud to present an interactive movie scene reenactment contest on the exciting new iPhone app, Shortwave! We’re always on the lookout for talent and now we’re hoping to discover him or her through a new wave of technology. Participants will pick a movie of their choice and reenact their favorite scene in under 30 seconds. Simply record the video on your iPhone and upload it the #NYFA thread on the Shortwave app!
The winners are determined by our unique community voting process – the users decide the winner! The entree with the most votes wins a 1-Week Acting Scholarship to the New York Film Academy!
Submissions begin on March 15, 2013 and end on March 31, 2013. Voting will continue until April 7 to give a fair chance to the later submissions.
You can CLICK HERE to get started!
- Instructions:
- 1. Download Shortwave to your iPhone: appstore.com/shortwave
- 2. From the Explore page, search #NYFA to find the reenactment competition thread
- 3. Reply to the original clip with a reenactment of a scene from the film of your choice
- Rules:
- a. One submission per person (acting in another person’s entry is allowed)
- b. 30 seconds max
- c. Winner will receive a 1-Week Acting Scholarship to NYFA NYC or LA. This does not include flight and housing
Good luck and have fun!
If you have any questions regarding the contest, please email adi@shortwave.co
New York Film Academy’s latest movie musical, GINGERBREAD HOUSE, was in production over the past week. Check out some of the behind-the-scenes shots!
{Thanks to Lenox Coffee for allowing New York Film Academy access to film their next movie musical!
{Making a film with 50 dollars and taking it to Cannes Film Festival. Click here.
Being an Independent Film Producer
“I cannot tell you how much I have sacrificed to realize my dream of being a producer. The commitment necessary to see a project through to the end is not for everyone.”
{If you’re a film student, or just a movie buff, chances are you’ve sat around with friends in an epic “movie game” battle at some point. One person names an actor and the next has to name a movie they’re in. And the chain can go on until everyone is stumped. Last week, we created a virtual “movie game” through our @NYFA Twitter. Fans were firing back movie titles, ranging from Stardust to Philadelphia. Who knew Stardust had such a star studded cast?
We also chatted on Quentin Tarantino’s birthday, trying to nail down his best film. Pulp Fiction? Reservoir Dogs? Not sure if we will ever decide, but we know our followers are huge fans of his. Finally, we had one follower “sold” on New York Film Academy simply from a courtesy tweet. Now that’s what we call loyalty.
{Last week we announced the winner of our 1 week filmmaking workshop @bounjourkatia. Our followers sent their congrats and best wishes to the Mexican native. Plus, we heard from our Twitter Party’s winning country, Turkey. We can’t wait to meet everyone. We also received early reviews from the much anticipated movie, The Hunger Games. Not a single negative review in the house. No wonder the movie is raking in at the box office.
Lastly, we felt the love from our loyal @NYFA followers. Thanks for staying connected with us!
Whatever Happened to Francis Ford Coppola?
Claude Kerven is the Department Chair of Filmmaking at the New York Film Academy’s New York City campus. He has directed over 25 shorts for Saturday Night Live. He was the director for Afterschool Specials, Birthday Boy, Candy Store, and the David Brenner Show. He also co-wrote Mortal Thoughts, starring Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Harvey Keitel.
Last week was the 40th Anniversary of The Godfather. I don’t know if you saw it but the AMC channel aired it repeatedly during the week. Watching those films again, it made me wonder…
Whatever happened to Francis Ford Coppola?
The Godfather was a huge influence. I mean everyone went to see it. I remember I had a friend who was ushering at the movie theater and would sneak me in. It didn’t even matter what part of the movie you came in at, you’d just watch it from there to the end. Sometimes I’d even stay to watch the beginning of the next show. We used to refer to the film as, “the Beast.” That’s how much respect we had for it. A few years later, as a film student, Scorsese became my guy (he was the filmmaker that made me want to be a filmmaker.) The Godfather was still the benchmark and with all due respect and deference to good ol’ Marty, he never made “The Beast”.
Coppola followed up with Apocalypse Now. The stories about making that film are legendary—the enormous amounts of money, equipment, and insanity that went on in the jungles. But whether you like the film or not, you can’t help but be impressed by the enormity of the undertaking and the execution. It is unquestionably the work of a master filmmaker. And then… What? What happened? He never again fulfilled the promise of his early films. It makes me sad. What went wrong? Where did Francis Ford Coppola jump the shark?
It started with a film called One From the Heart. You’ve probably never seen it. Few people have. It was a musical fantasy set in Vegas, and even though it pioneered some video-editing techniques, it was a disaster with audiences. Then there were The Outsiders and Rumble Fish. It seemed to us as young directors as the work of a desperate filmmaker who lost one audience and was trying everything he could to connect with a new one. Next he tried a Godfather knockoff, The Cotton Club. An epic crime drama, it even had the same sort of violent montage at the end. A pale imitation and another box office disaster. And finally, Godfather 3, the last ditch effort to recapture past glory. I don’t even have to tell you what a disappointment that film was.
How did such a great filmmaker lose his way? Was it the disappointing loss of Zoetrope Studios? In 1969, Coppola decided to buck the studio system, which he felt had stifled his artistic vision. He created Zoetrope to fund off-beat films by first time directors. It didn’t work. Was it the pressure of paying off the huge financial debt in which he found himself? Coppola has declared bankruptcy three times. It’s not easy holding onto a personal vision while digging yourself out of a financial hole. Or was it the tragic death of his son? Personal tragedy has a way of putting ambitions of glory in perspective. In the end, perhaps it was just the unimaginable pressure of having to equal something as great as The Godfather.
It’s hard not to reflect on the somewhat tragic trajectory of his life. Early success does have its pitfalls. Compare the careers of directors like Spielberg and Scorsese. They all started out at the same time. They were part of an avant-garde group of filmmakers that were revolutionizing Hollywood. But where Spielberg and Scorsese are viable, influential, Academy Award nominated filmmakers to this day, Francis Ford Coppola has sadly vanished from the scene. I can easily imagine him filled with deep satisfaction and appreciation of what he’s accomplished. I can also imagine him with deep regret at what could’ve been. Ultimately, I’d like to think that with age comes perspective, if not wisdom, and maybe even acceptance. What do you think? Every filmmaker has to come to grips at some point with this issue of art and commerce. How have you handled it? Or how do you envision handling it? I’d like to know.
Click here to learn more about the filmmaking program.
Acting allows you to live other people’s lives without having to pay the price. - Robert De Niro.
#NYFA Twitter Party: Win a 1-Week Filmmaking Workshop!
Does Nigeria love #NYFA? Does India love #NYFA?
Do YOU love #NYFA?
Our admissions team is currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We’ve been celebrating this with Brazilian trivia giveaways and by spotlighting past and current students from the South American nation. Our team travels across the globe to showcase what our programs offer. Over 78 countries were represented on our campuses since our school’s inception and that number continues to grow. We want you to help us decide where our team should go next. Should it be Egypt? The Netherlands? Russia?
During the Open House at the Hotel Astoria Copacabana, we want to bring our international students—past, present, future— together in order to see who loves #NYFA most. We want to know what film project you’re working on. How is your portfolio coming along? Know one of our alumni who’s getting a rad movie made? Which is your favorite movie in global cinema? We’ll collect the best tweets and spotlight you on our blog. But most importantly, we’ll randomly select one tweeter to receive a scholarship certificate for one of our 1-Week Filmmaking Workshops. Yes, you might attend the New York Film Academy for free!
When: Sunday, March 18. Time: 14:00 to 18:00 EST (NEW YORK)
Psst… Follow us on Twitter.
