ACTING & FILM SCHOOL

What makes our Producing Programs unique?

The New York Film Academy’s Film and Television Producing Program is housed within our film school and is designed to illuminate one of the most important, yet misunderstood, jobs in film and television. Students eager to control their own destiny in the business world of film and television flourish in this intensive hands-on program. It is geared to students with little or no experience in producing, but who recognize that an intensive and demanding program, much like the job of producing itself, will provide them with the knowledge they seek.

Students are treated as Producers throughout the duration of the course, and are challenged each step of the way. Students are encouraged but not required to bring a piece of intellectual property — adaptation projects which might consist of: a book of fiction, magazine article, newspaper article, biography, autobiography, or original idea (if deemed appropriate) at the beginning of the course which serves as the foundation for their thesis project. Students take this project through the various stages of development: pitch, treatment, script, talent search, budget, schedule, and plans for marketing and distribution. Students learn the real-word strategies for successful producing and are encouraged to develop the professional network needed within the film and television industry.

Students must be prepared for full-days of intensive work throughout the entire year. They must be committed to a fastpaced, intensive learning and production schedule, and willing to work collaboratively with our filmmaking, screenwriting, and acting students. The program is offered at our New York, Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi campuses.

SEMESTER ONE OVERVIEW

Producers are confronted with a number of visual, dramatic, financial, legal, logistical, managerial, and technical challenges. Instructors encourage students to artfully work through these challenges while working to complete several film and television projects.

From the first day of class, students are immersed in a hands-on education. Students undergo a thorough regiment of class work and film production that lays the groundwork for a professional life in the film arts. They learn both the creative aspects of producing, as well as the more technical, line producing side. All students participate in an intensive sequence of classes and hands on workshops.

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SEMESTER TWO OVERVIEW

The second semester challenges students to develop their production craft artistically and technically. The focus is on hands-on production, and learning through immersion in the process. It is designed to enable students to create a fully conceived short film in collaboration with their peers. Working in groups, students oversee and manage all aspects of pre-production, production, and post-production.

Year one COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Producer’s Craft
This study of the craft of Producing outlines the essential roles, tasks, and obstacles faced by film and television producers in Hollywood and independent production of film, television, and new media. Suitable time is spent on script coverage, which is the deconstructing of a screenplay’s log line, synopsis, and commentary, which then leads to an understanding of style, genre, and story content of a submitted script. Everything from distribution, marketing, and packaging to networking will be covered.

Producer’s Roundtable
In this class, students begin to develop their year long producing project, which must be one of the following: a feature film of any genre with a completed Sundance Lab grant application, television pilot of any genre, feature length documentary with completed ITVS grant application, or a concept and breakdown for a series of webisodes. Students develop the following elements for the project where applicable: logline, synopsis, treatment, partial spec script, business plan, basic marketing plan, basic distribution plan, budget, shooting schedule, potential attachment of a director and principle actors, and an explanation of the attachments.

Pitch Meetings
Students are instructed in the process and honing of pitching skills for narrative features, sitcoms, dramatic television content, reality TV, and/or feature length documentaries. They present their pitches in workshops and perform them for professionals and faculty.

Industry Speaker Series
These are information sessions featuring discussions with producers of American independent, foreign, and Hollywood films, network and cable television, as well as directors, actors, agents, managers, lawyers, foreign sales representatives and many others. These sessions may be coupled with screenings of new films or television shows brought by these guests.

Directing for Producers
Even if a producer never plans to direct anything, he/ she needs to know how directors carry out their visions. Producers should create a nurturing and artistic production environment that enhances each director’s skills and provide the support needed to make the best possible film or television show. Here producing students learn about using the camera and working with actors – the two central tools of any director. In hands-on sessions students break down a short script into a shooting plan and direct a scene with actors on digital video. Students have the opportunity to edit the scene and present it at their final class meeting.

Intro to Line Producing
The Line Producer is responsible for the physical production of a film, from preproduction through the end of production. In this class we dissect the Line Producer’s responsibilities, covering budgeting, hiring crew, scheduling, scouting, prepping shoot & post, as well as managing relationships with the director, crew, and studio/ financiers.

Special attention is paid to the duties and relationships within the production team (Line Producer, UPM (unit production manager), Assistant Directors, and Accountant) and to the balance that the Line Producer has to strike between accountability to the studio/investors and to the director’s vision.

Film Craft
In Film Craft, students learn the basics of practical production. They are educated through hands-on instruction in basic cinematography, lighting, sound, and digital editing.

Entertainment Law : Contracts, Intelectual
Property , Negotiations Drafting, and Ethics
This course is an overview of contract law and how it impacts the entertainment industry. Students study legal issues regarding television, films, recordings, live performances and other aspects of the entertainment industry. Topics include contracts, copyright law, compensation, celebrity status (including privacy and publicity rights), First Amendment, intellectual property, and talent representation. This course addresses legal issues to preserve, protect and actualize the intellectual, entertainment, and technological property of people working in entertainment industry.

Screnwriting Fundamentals
This course helps students develop their analytic skills in the areas of structure, plot, story, momentum, tone and characterization, and master the tools of story genesis and development for film and television. The course also develops an understanding of genre, theme, imagery, working with writers, and other professional issues as they relate to creative producing. The focus is on the definitions and implementation of story, drama, conflict, and the difference between story and script. There are discussions about the hiring of a screenwriter to work with producers on the development of an idea or concept for a reality television pilot, feature film, or other creative forms they wish to pursue, as well the WGA and how it functions in relation to the producer and writer.

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