Spike Lee Interview!

Great suggestion from Julie! Attached is a conversation between Spike Lee and Leonard Lopate regarding his latest film "Red Hook Summer". Enjoy!

PA Position Available!

AWOL Logline: Days before her deployment to Afghanistan, Joey, 19, returns to rural Pennsylvania for Christmas with plans to go AWOL with her married older lover Rayna.
Writer/Director: Deb Shoval Producer: Jessica Caldwell

SAG Ultra-low budget feature filming in Northeast Pennsylvania seeks on-set production assistants and interns. Must be able to drive, and if you are willing to bring your own car that would be even better! No pay. Credit only. We will provide food, hotel, and reimburse for gas/mileage. This feature is based on an award-winning 2011 Sundance Film Festival short film. We are a group of talented young professional cast/crew from NYC. This is a great credit and networking experience. It will be hard work but lots of fun! 

Shooting Dates September 4-14th (Shoot part 1 – Summer Portion) December 1-14th (Shoot part 2 – Winter Portion)

 It’s totally fine if you are only available for one of the two shoots, but we’d love to have you for both! Producer Contact Information: Jessica Caldwell jessbcaldwell@yahoo.com jesscaldwell.com (website)

Film Festivals!

Made a short film? Don't just stop at Alpha Channel! There are many film festivals you may submit your short to. You have nothing to lose (except maybe your admission fee!) and submitting your film is usually an easy process. The following festivals accept short films and their submission deadlines are within September or October:

- Hollywood Black Film Festival

- Terror Film Festival


- Big Apple Film Festival

- Macon Film Festival

- New York Los Angeles International Film Festival

- La Femme International Film Festival

- Indie Fest

- Bronx International Film Festival

- Laugh Out Loud Short Film Festival

- Three Rivers Film Festival

- United Film Festival - New York

- International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival

- Cineview Film Festival

- Literati Film Festival

- Women's International Film & Arts Festival

And don't forget to register with Without A Box for daily updates and easy submission to all festivals worldwide!  Good luck!

Alpha Channel Poster!

Greatness Article - MUST READ

"YOUR REAL COMPETITION IS THE 5,000 OTHER DRAMAS SHOT WITH SHALLOW DEPTH-OF-FIELD AND DIGITAL EFFECTS THAT GO UP EVERY WEEK." - From SOTW

In case you didn't know, I am a consistant contributor to the web site "Short of the Week". The site is included in our blog feed. If you are looking for shorts to inspire you, I highly suggest that you go there frequently! We just started a series of articles that discuss short filmmaking. Yesterday one of the editors, Andrew S. Allen, published the first of this series titled, "Greatness - Why Good isn't Good Enough." It's a fantastic read that breaks down how the democracy of filmmaking has made an impression on our industry. Now more than ever, the only thing that will separate you from the masses is your ability to be a storyteller! Please read and comment. (Click on the title for the link to the article) Thanks!

A student's reaction to EDMC's decision

Like many of you, I'm a DF student here at Ai and I was shocked to hear that EDMC have decided to cancel the Digital Filmmaking program. Although I am graduating before the film program is gone, I am still very much affected by this bad news.

After high school, I worked as a make-up artist for many years. I made a decent living but I hated my job. At twenty-five I decided to stop and change my life around in order to pursue my true passion. Unfortunately most film schools in NYC require a portfolio in order to enroll; I was a cinephile who had never picked up a camera. Ai was the first school that gave me a chance. At first I wasn't sure what to expect out of the program, but I was happy to find that a lot of the classes were so hands-on; while my friends were watching Citizen Kane for the upteenth time over at another film school, I was learning how to work with a production team and how to operate equipment. I was also happy to work with such a diverse group of students, many of whom I hope to collaborate with in my professional career. Sure, like any other student I've had some complaints here and there, but overall I found the film program and faculty extremely helpful and motivating. The film program here is tailored to get you out into the work place and as someone who had moved back with her mom in order to return to school full time, that was exactly what I was looking for.

My story is not special. A lot of students here have their own stories, their own struggles. The DF program has given a lot of people with limited options an opportunity to pursue their passion in the film capital of the world. To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement - I think I speak for most of us when I say I feel like a mixed bag of emotions (a big one being anger) and I'm left with many unanswered questions. Knowing that EDMC made this decision based on business matters only adds salt to the wound.

So what now? I don't know. But what I do know is regardless of whats happening, I'm going to take what I've learned here at Ai and continue to sharpen my skills and create as much as I can. I love filmmaking, and this situation only motivates me to work harder at what I do. Let's take advantage of our time here and get together to help each other out on our projects. Continue to create, continue to work hard. Take all that anger and work your way to the top.

- Melissa Fortunatti

Rules of the Cage

We are sorry about what has recently unfolded here at the Art Institute but we must move forward. Please watch this video about updates for the Cage

Reaction to letter from President

Opportunites for Women in Film

Women have had a big hand in filmmaking from the earliest days of cinema to the present. From Alice Guy and Gene Gauntier to Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow, the history of women in filmmaking is as long as film production itself. However, as a woman in this male-dominated industry, there can be many obstacles we might experience along the way. Luckily, there are many organizations that provide support and various services to women involved in filmmaking.

Women Make Movies is an awesome non-profit media arts organization that provides distribution services, fiscal sponsorship, low-cost media workshops and information services for women in the film industry, with a special emphasis on women of color. Women can especially benefit when it comes to fundraising, a hurdle most independent filmmakers experience with their projects. Click here for more information on WMM.

New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is another great non-profit organization that offers support for women in film, television and digital media. They provide training and grants to women in the industry through a variety of funding programs. Our own Roz Sohnen has been involved with NYWIFT for quite some time. Click here for more information on NYWIFT.

I'll end this post with one of my favorite quotes from a female director:
"If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies." - Kathryn Bigelow

New York shows post-production some love

Good news for New Yorkers involved in post-production: Gov. Cuomo signed a bill that will triple the state's post-production tax credit. Sorry, LA.

The new bill will increase the credit from 10% to 30% on post-production costs, making it the first of its kind in the country. This applies to projects that spend 75% of their post-productions costs in the state. This bill will surely encourage more projects to bring their post-production work to the Big Apple, which will benefit many in the industry.

Read more information on the new tax credit here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/incentives/tax_credit_overview.shtml

Career Building Workshop on Monday!

Monday August 6th 12:15 in the Gallery! Please attend and get a head start on your career!