New York Film Academy took part in the 2012 Tribeca NY Fest Soccer Day. The event was held on Saturday, April 24 on Pier 40 in New York City to benefit local kids. The entertainment industry tournament boasts well over 40 teams, including Facebook, ESPN, Tribeca Enterprises, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features and many more.
The celebrities included people from the sports and entertainment industries including Detroit Lions Defensive Back Ndamukong Suh, former US National Team soccer players Claudio Reyna, Jeff Agoos, Brian McBride, Eddie Lewis, Chris Armas, along with a plethora of entertainment talent.
New York Film Academy Graduate To Screen Film At Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival was created in 2002 by Robert De Niro, in response to the declining vitality of Manhattan’s Tribeca community following the attacks of 9/11. Since its launch ten years ago, Tribeca Film Festival has established itself as one of the premier film festivals in the world for independent features, documentaries, and shorts. Their mission: “to enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film by redefining the film festival experience.”
This year, Tribeca recognized one of New York Film Academy’s international graduates, Martin Rosete. Martin came to New York Film Academy in 2007 thanks to a scholarship from the La Caixa Fellowship Program in Spain. “At that time I could not even dream everything that I was about to learn at NYFA and all the opportunities that this would give me in the professional world.” Now, Martin has a film, Voice Over, being screened at Tribeca and an agent at William Morris Endeavor. His future is ripe for success.
What drives you as an artist?
Outstanding stories. That is what moves me. When I fall in love with a script or story, I am able to commit myself to all the time and pressure that goes into making a movie. If the story is not amazing, it is not worth putting all your energy into. That’s what happened to me with Voice Over. When the writer, Luiso Berdejo, let me read it, I fell completely in love with it and I told him that I would die to direct it. Fifteen months later, we finished Voice Over and now we’re in Tribeca amongst many other film festivals. I also have an agent from William Morris Endeavor and I’m reading many feature scripts. It is a really exciting moment.
Can you tell us about your experience at NYFA?
NYFA is a great place to study filmmaking. It completely focuses on the hands-on experience. I was shooting almost every week on my projects - or classmates’ projects.
In addition to directing, you also gain a sense of each department (sound, photography, editing, etc.) When you leave NYFA, you have a strong understanding about what it takes to make a movie, and that puts you in a great position to enter the professional world.
Also, what I loved the most about NYFA was their advanced equipment (cameras, lighting, etc.) I was able to use the equipment all the time. So, if you go there with the idea of shooting constantly, they will provide you with the resources to shoot 24/7. That is something that no other film school is able to offer.
What is your perspective on screening at film festivals? Advice on the process?
Film Festivals are the main doors to the professional world. Being in the big ones and winning awards, gives you the visibility needed to find the right producer, agent, or investor, interested in your work. My work has been selected in more than 500 film festivals, winning over 100 awards. The only secret is to have something good to show and finding the resources to distribute your work.
With Voice Over we have been super lucky to find the support of the distribution company Marvin & Wayne, The Line Between, Mas Medios, and Genepsis Media who are taking care of the online marketing and social media.
What kind of advice would you give to the aspiring filmmaker and NYFA student dreaming to succeed?
Whatever you do, do it right. Even if you are doing a small project with no budget. Try your best. Put all of your energy and passion into it. Sometimes the result won’t be great, but you may get a good lesson that you can apply in the next shooting. I always joke with my crew, even on low budget sets, telling them that we have to face the shoot as if we were doing Ben-Hur. That kind of commitment from everyone makes the difference. And besides all of that, for me it’s very important to show respect for the profession and for the professionals involved.
New York Film Academy’s Weekly Roundup
“Fans need to take a breath, and chill.” - Michael Bay
- Michael Bay Messin’ Around With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leave it Michael Bay to add a little twist to a classic tale. Don’t tell us he’s actually turning the Turtles into aliens?
- Mad Men Returns for a 5th Season The popular AMC drama returns this Sunday. Creator Matt Weiner leaves us guessing. Can Don Draper actually remain faithful?
- Tribeca On Demand Can’t make it to New York City for the Tribeca Film Festival? Watch it On Demand!
- Home Alone 5? The Home Alone franchise announced yet another sequel. This left us with one question: “When did they release a Home Alone 4?”
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Another Hangover in Hollywood Warner Bros announces release dates for Hangover 3 and a prequel to 300. Couldn’t they just combine the two? Sparta’s Hangover?
New York Film Academy Graduate Sells Documentary to Harvey Weinstein at Tribeca Film Festival
Documentary The Bully Project, directed by New York Film Academy graduate Lee Hirsch, just sold to Academy-Award winning producer Harvey Weinstein at Tribeca Film Festival. Hirsch previously won an Emmy for his debut film, Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony, which also won the Audience and Freedom of Expression Awards at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
A student in The Bully Project says he is afraid to return to school because other students sit on him and strangle him.
Hirsch’s latest film, The Bully Project, follows five kids and families over the course of a school year as they deal with bullying. Stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. The film examines America’s bullying crisis and aims to be the catalyst for beginning a dialogue, educating and empowering America, and creating an alliance for a safer world. Says Hirsch:
Emmy-Award winning filmmaker Hirsch
“The goal is to just build this massive movement that has tools and that has actionable activity that can really help community, family and individuals deal with this issue in a concrete way.”
Outside of traditional film screenings, The Bully Projectis using social media to spread the movement of inclusiveness and asking people to write in and donate on Facebook. Hirsch comments that kids who bullied him in the past and caught word of the project have reconnected and donated online.
The Bullying Project Trailer - click here to watch on youtube
Tribeca Film Festival Juror Whoopi Goldberg adds, “I’m standing up for the 18 million kids who will be bullied this year. Will you join me? …I just saw this incredible documentary that brought me to tears. Check out the trailer.”
Join the movement online: http://www.thebullyproject.com/movement.html
