Hunter Ryan Herdlicka with New York Film Academy Musical Theatre Students

New York Film Academy Musical Theatre students were enthralled with Broadway star Hunter Ryan Herdlicka at a February 7th event in New York Film Academy’s New York location. After his first ever New York audition, Hunter landed the role of Henrik Egerman in Broadway’s revival of the Stephen Sondheim masterpiece A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, alongside Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones, followed by Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch.

Students were in stitches as Hunter explained his dream was to see Sondheim’s street, never dreaming he would ever bump into Sondheim in person. At a second callback, Hunter boarded the elevator with Sondheim (his idol). Hunter was too nervous to press the button so the elevator remained frozen. Once he built up enough courage, Hunter introduced himself saying, “Hi, my name is Hunter Ryan Herdlicka and I am here to sing for you.” Sondheim responded, “Hi, I’m here to listen to you.” In the audition room, director Sir Trevor Nunn started to introduce Hunter, prompting Sondheim to quickly respond, “I know him, we are old friends.”

Hunter captivated the room as he offered his advice:

• Success doesn’t happen overnight for everyone. Some actors take ten years to book a role. Don’t give up.
• You have to “give yourself permission to suck” and take risks in auditions. 
• Acting should be simple and easy. Most of the time, you will be typecast in a role you already fit. Be natural.
• Always be 100% off book for auditions but hold the paper in your hand.
• Know what you are good at and constantly tell yourself that you can and will reach your goals.

Hunter gave a mention to his favorite charity, Broadway Barks, before allowing students to ask questions about everything from the rehearsal process to what Hunter does to keep his skills fresh (bi-weekly voice lessons and acting lessons when his coach is in town). Afterwards, Hunter workshopped monologues with several of the students at the event. It was a wonderful evening and New York Film Academy thanks Hunter for swinging by to share his charm and expertise!

Australia has produced some of the finest filmmakers and actors in cinematic history. Hollywood legends such as Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, and Peter Weir have proven that talent, drive, and persistence can take you to the top of a very challenging industry. New York Film Academy is an institution of excellence which believes in the cultivation of these qualities in its hands-on intensive program. In this spirit, join us this Saturday, on February 11, for an open house celebrating our new programs in Filmmaking and Acting. Come to the Queensland University of Technology campus and meet with the Senior Director of NYFA, David Klein, as well as the Director of NYFA-Australia, Simon Hunter. To RSVP, please contact australia@nyfa.edu to reserve a seat at the Open House. See below for the exact times and location.

Film students shoot on 16mm, HD, Red One, Super-16mm and 35mm cameras depending on the program. Students in all filmmaking programs and workshops edit using Final Cut Pro on Apple computers. The production equipment is comparable to that of the leading degree programs in the United States. Students learn in an hands-on environment using this equipment from the very beginning. NYFA’s model has proved successful throughout the globe, boasting an international group of alumni who are thriving in all areas of filmmaking and acting.

Time:

• 12:00 pm Filmmaking Programs and Workshops.
• 1:00 pm Acting for Film Programs and Workshops.

New York Film Academy one-year film student Jorge Godinez will screen short film The Hierarchy tonight for the first time. The film follows high school student Marti Cooper in her quest for vengeance against a trio of popular tormentors who have made it their mission to harass Marti. Jorge, who returned from Mexico to enroll in the one-year program after first taking an eight-week filmmaking workshop, discusses the process and production of his thesis.

Jorge, thank you for taking the time to sit down with the NYFA Blog. Where did the idea for your film come from?

Well, since I was a kid, I have always been a big fan of horror films and pop culture. I like the idea of mixing comedy with horror. I think it gives the audience more emotions that just watching someone get tortured. I consider The Hierarchy to be a fun and dark short film.

What was the process of preproduction like? 

I loved the whole process including making my production book and selecting my cast! I have an amazing young cast and the adults include Catherine Mary Stewart from Night of the Comet and Rutanya Alda from The Deer Hunter. You never know until you ask! I also loved doing the production design and art direction of my film.

How did you instructors and peers at New York Film Academy help the film get made?

My instructors were great. I have to say thank you to Tassos Rigoupolus, my directing teacher, for supporting a genre that nobody wants to make in film school. To Mandy Menaker, my producing teacher, for giving me the knowledge of how to build my production book and helping me with the permit process. She also gave me tips for how to make a nice atmosphere during the shoot. And to Bryan Norton, my [former] 8-week program teacher and mentor, who supported me in my love of horror films. Bryan helped me get Rutanya Alda and Catherine Mary Stewart on my film, and helped me with my script.

What was the biggest challenge in filming the project?

The biggest challenge was getting all the props, crew, and budget together. At the end of the day everything worked out. I had a goal and I did it. In the beginning it was really difficult for me, especially being an international student, but with the support of my parents, my teachers and my friends, I did it. All the cast and crew had so much fun making the movie.

What comes next for you and the film?

Fangoria Magazine just did an article on my film which is not online yet. I’m gonna send the film to horror film festivals and see what happens! I really want to do a second year at New York Film Academy and possibly write the pilot for a The Hierarchy TV Show. And write more movies!

New York Film Academy graduate Shannon Nering is a reality TV expert. Nering, who took the one-year filmmaking course in 1998, has an extensive list of credits including:

• Supervising Producer on MTV’s Peak Season
• Story Producer on CBC’s The Week The Women Went
• Field Producer on the Dr. Phil Show
• Producer/Field Director on Fox’s Bachelorettes in Alaska
• Director of upcoming Real Housewives of Vancouver

Combine her love of the reality genre with her criticisms of some of the people she has brought to national attention and the result is Reality Jane, a fictitious and hilarious novel that offers a insider’s look at the struggle to make it in the industry. The novel is now available for purchase through Amazon.

Says Nering in an interview with Canadian news group North Shore News, “This is stuff that I’ve either witnessed, heard of or maybe experienced myself - the combination of which I won’t reveal.” The book probes into the reality drama behind the camera as well as in front of it, “Reality TV, well what you see, that’s the scoop…in terms of how the crew is, and all that kind of stuff, well, that’s a different story and that’s what my book really delves into, it delves into both sides.”

Check out an excerpt from her Nering’s new novel, which she hopes to eventually make into a film:

I was completely denied access to food because my directing career had me air-bound 22/6, squeezed into economy class, tummy grumbling, praying for a pretzel. I did, however, get to indulge in bottomless cups of chicory- roasted coffee, brewed in the sky’s finest tap water, served up in a totally anti-eco Styrofoam cup. Nervously chewing the rim provided a stress-busting burst of foamy Polystyrene in my mouth. Always fun after my morning fondle by airport security (which I was strangely beginning to enjoy, and probably the real reason I declined the Rapiscan), en route to produce the next great talk show vignette about yet another American family in crisis. Ah, the glamorous life!

But this was precisely what I’d signed on for. I was reality TV’s current “It Girl,” at my peak, a star producer on the legendary Fix Your Life talk show with Ricky Dean. My life was like a tampon commercial: She can do it all! Rushing around in trendy clothes and a sensible haircut, commuting daily with alaptop in my clutch, able to leap tall buildings while capturing America’s problems one glue-’em-to-the-tube interview at a time.

New York Film Academy graduate Cacá Simon took the four-week Broadcast Journalism workshop in January 2011. She reports back the the course helped her land a great gig in Brazil.

New York Film Academy instructor Paul Warner represented New York Film Academy in China at the “Winter Institute 2012” program, presented by the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Paul was invited by William Sun, Vice President of the Academy. 

The event aimed to begin a dialogue between artists and professors that would merge Western and Eastern techniques in theatre and film. Thirty-plus students showed up for Paul’s “stage-to-screen” film workshop. Paul’s many professional accomplishments include a Grand Jury Prize nomination at the Sundance Film Festival for film Fall Time, which he directed. Check out more photos from the event below. To learn more about New York Film Academy’s upcoming classes in Beijing, China, click here!

Photo: double bubble, Giovanna Lanna, Graduate of New York Film Academy One-Year Photography Course

New York Film Academy celebrates our graduates at the following March one-year final film screenings. Please join us in the screening room for wine, cheese, and cinematic excellence:

• Monday, February 6th at 5:30 PM (Section C)
• Tuesday, February 7th at 5:00 PM (Section A)
• Thursday, February 9th at 5:00 PM (Section B)
• Thursday, February 9th at 8:30 PM (Section D)

See you there! 100 East 17th Street, New York, NY.

New York Film Academy student Ella Nuortila was featured on Finland blog, FINNYC this week. Ella (a Finland native) is in her first year of the one-year producing program at New York Film Academy’s New York campus, and has just wrapped filming her first two short films. Check out what Ella had to say in this great interview:

How do you think the study environment is different here compared to Finland?
E: Our class is very small, only seven people. That makes the studying more “mentor-type” and we get very hands-on education although there is a lot of room for own creativity. We are able to choose our own projects and the crew for the film, even from outside of the school environment. This enables us to build our contacts and exploit our school environment at the same time.

What are the greatest advantages of learning film producing in New York, as we know you are going to finish your studies in Helsinki Metropolia School of Applied Sciences in couple of years?
E: It’s definitely the amount of possibilities in terms of finding other independent film producers, shooting locations, and other professionals in the field. For example, there isn’t really a location specialist title in Finland but here you can request special features for the location and they will find it.

Your school program is only one year; how does your spring look like?
E: We are going to shoot a music video which I’m very excited about – I’ve been part of music videos before but not behind the camera and during the whole process from the beginning with discussing with the artist. In addition, we are doing an advertisement, and as the last project I’ll write my “thesis” that is basically writing the Package for my movie idea that I can later pitch to producers and investors.

And after school? Will you stay in New York?
My student visa enables me to work for 12 months after I finish my studies at the New York Film Academy. I hope to find a paid internship or a job so that I could stay here and take advantage of this time as best as I can. This is definitely an opportunity that everyone and anyone should experience. If you want it, you can do it.

MFA Producing Student Orlando Braun donates blood at the New York Film Academy blood drive.

Organized by MFA Acting student Ashley Drayton, the New York Film Academy blood drive was a great success, with 25 students and staff donating blood to the American Red Cross. She also helped organize a clothing drive to benefit the Red Cross, for those who were unable to donate blood.

Says Drayton, “We had a great turnout! It was really great working with the Red Cross. They’re a group that directly impacts families. They give assistance to military families. They help after natural disasters, in and outside the U.S. They constantly have to replenish non-perishable food, clothes, and blood.”

NYFA staff member Jasmin Deva donated blood, and said, “I’ve been doing it since I was 18. I feel it’s a civil duty that everyone should do. It’s so easy!”

MFA Producing student Orlando Braun commented, “At home [in Canada], I donate blood regularly with the Canadian Blood Services. It never even occurred to me that I would be donating blood here. But it’s great to do things that are socially responsible and will affect our community.” He added, “The Krispy Kreme donuts were a nice touch, too.”

Do you have ideas on how New York Film Academy can help give back to our community? Send an email with your suggestions to joe.hui@nyfa.edu.