Children’s Aid Society Student Filmmakers/Actors
1. Carolina Amaya
6. Ashley Grayson
2. Kandy Torre
7. Christopher de la Cruz
3. Daniel Cruz 4. Genesis de la Cruz
8. Demerius Bagby
5. Emily T
10.Anity Toler
9. Arturo Carreras
No Hate, which was produced, directed and stars these young people, is a short film about issues that young people deal with in society; it teaches young children how to speak out and say something if something were to happen to them… Funded by SONYC, the Dunlevy Milbank Children’s Center of the Children’s Aid Society provides the area’s most renowned and comprehensive community facility offering an indoor heated swimming pool, a gymnasium with vertical moving walls, a health clinic, a computer technology lab, an arts and crafts room, a kitchen designed for teaching, a library, picnic area and soccer pitch field. Their young people attended the SONYC filmmaking workshops at MCNY to learn the art of Filmmaking. Milbank also provides an array of services including family activities, after school programming, Saturday program, Summer Camp, Youth Development Services and wrap around services for the entire family. Campus Director: Casper Lassiter M.S.W. Teachers: Cherice Bedford, Anwar Hanno
Metropolitan College of New York School for Business Alumni Network Congratulates the MCNY 6th Annual Short Film Festival 2015 And Welcomes all MCNY School for Business graduates to join The School for Business Alumni Network
Panelists Nancy Gerstman is co-president and co-founder of Zeitgeist Films. She has worked in all aspects of film distribution and exhibition including a stint at Landmark Theatre Corp., the largest independent theatre chain in the US. She is in demand as a juror, panelist and commentator on issues related to independent and foreign language film and is Permanent Artist-inResidence in the Master's Program in Media and Communication Arts at CCNY. She was born in Queens, New York. In late 2014/late 2015 Zeitgeist released Volker Schlöndorff’s DIPLOMACY, Talya Lavie’s ZERO MOTIVATION and Signe Baumane's ROCKS IN MY POCKETS and Beth B's EXPOSED. Their upcoming releases include Felix Moeller’s FORBIDDEN FILMS, Chaitanya Tamane’s COURT and Tom Roberts' EVERY LAST CHILD. DVD and digital releases included Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: Satan Came to Eden, Calin Peter Netzer’s CHILD’S POSE and Richie Mehta’s SIDDHARTH. Six Zeitgeist films have been nominated for Academy Awards and one, NOWHERE IN AFRICA, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Our films have been honored by festivals throughout the world with Grand Prizes at Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and IDFA in Amsterdam.
Panelists Bienvenida “Beni” Matias is a Puerto Rican filmmaker, educator and media advocate. She has produced and directed documentaries independently, for public television and nonprofits. Her documentary film El Corazón de Loisaida (The Heart of Loisaida), produced and directed with Marci Reaven, was recognized by the New York Public Library as part of their major film preservation initiative, “Twentieth Century Mirrors: America Through the Eyes of Independent Filmmakers.” She is currently producer/director of the documentary Coquito! (funded by the Latino Public Broadcasting) with producers Tami Gold and Sonia Gonzalez-Martinez. Beni is a founding member of NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers) and its first national coordinator and conference organizer. She recently completed a two year plus stint as NALIP’s acting executive director. She was director of production at the Independent Television Service, executive director of the Association of Hispanic Arts and AIVF, publisher of The Independent magazine, and executive-in-charge of production at WNYC-TV. As a consultant, she works with filmmakers developing all aspects of documentary production.
Panelists Rick Mowat - Producer/ Director/Writer has shot and edited numerous video promos for Kenneth Cole Productions, Bovis Lend Lease, ArtsBridge, Creative Training Arts, The Soho Playhouse, Exponential Ensemble and Reel Executives. Most recently he directed the Red short "The Meet" written by David Tianga. It is currently making the film festival rounds. In 2006, he had three shorts featured at the New Filmmaker's festival at Anthology Film Archives in NYC. Rick came to film directing via a circuitous route beginning with a music degree from The Juilliard School, a dozen years as an improvisational writer/ performer that culminated in theatrical comedy that won #1 Critics Pick by TimeOut Magazine, and directing numerous stage productions including the award winning Can't Cut My Head Off and the sci-fi rock musical, The Last American. As an actor, Rick is also known for roles in Woody Allen's Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown and The Town I Love. He has written and directed six comedic shorts, including Dead Air and Manhattan's Best Friend, which both screened at the Woodstock and Lake Placid Film Festivals.
Panelists Ralph Scott has been a pioneer and advocate for Black films, particularly in the short film genre. Currently the owner of Social Cinema, LLC, where he is producing his own films, he is also serving as Program Director at BHERC/ Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center. Through the course of his career he has created and developed various Film pro-jects for a not for profit film organization that recognize the creative efforts of the independent filmmaker and annually produces a film series for women, an animation seminar for elementary and high school students, a series for male film-makers. Ralph has toured all around the world creating film festivals that highlight amazing films, particularly those from the African American Diaspora. He is best known as the executive producer of BET-J's The Best Shorts and the creator and Executive Producer of Lens on Talent, the premiere location for black short films. Prior to that he served as the Screening and Special Events Coordinator for the NAACP Image Awards, where he was responsible for coordinating all screenings and special events for the Image Awards nominating committee. Ralph has recently produced and directed his own film entitled "Barbasol - the Movie".
Panelists Founder and President: Ron Simons, is a three-time Tony Award-winning producer and actor. Ron leads the strategic planning/development of Theatre and Film projects including the critically acclaimed films: Night Catches Us, Gun Hill Road, Blue Caprice and Mother of George (all premiered at Sundance). His first documentary 25 to Life premiered at the American Black Film Festival where it won Best Documentary. He also produced the Broadway productions of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award for Best Musical), Porgy & Bess (Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk, New Drama Critics and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or OffBroadway Play), A Streetcar Named Desire (AEA’s Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway Award). Off-Broadway projects include Bedlam’s St. Joan and Bedlam’s Hamlet Awards (Off Broadway Alliance Award – Best Revival (for Saint Joan). He also produced the Chicago production of 5 Lesbians Eating Quiche (FringeNYC – Outstanding Production Award).
Panelists Arthur Vincie has over 10 years of film and television production experienceas a director, line producer, and producer. He recently wrote and directed the sci-fi feature "Found In Time." The film was just released on Amazon, Vudu, and other VOD channels by Green Apple Entertainment. It has been to 24 film festivals to date, winning Best Feature at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, and Best Sci-Fi Feature awards at Shriekfest, Intendence, Shockerfest, ZedFest, and Phoenix Comic-Con. Focal Press just published his non-fiction book on preproduction, "Preparing For Takeoff: Preproduction for the Independent Filmmaker." "Caleb's Door," his first feature, is available on DVD and VOD. Arthur's short films have screened at various festivals and art venues, in New York, Phoenix, and Berlin. He's also line produced or production managed 13 features and numerous shorts, pilots, corporate videos, and other projects. Arthur has worked in just about every department, for ABC, NBC, BBC America, MSNBC, Nickelodeon, the Knitting Factory, and various independent production companies. He holds a B.F.A. from NYU.
MCNY 6th Annual Short Film Festival Poster Winner – Mohamed El Shawesh The theme of this year’s Annual Short Film Festival is Converging Futures, intended to inspire discussion and films about Converge in our lives, in our technology and in our Film Industry. Our winning poster this year was created by Mohamed El Shawesh, a Media Management MBA Candidate from the class of 2016. Mr. El Shawesh comes to the School for Business through the Fulbright Scholars Honors Program after completing his undergraduate degree in Accounting at Tripoli University. Mohamed is interested in all of the media industries, with a particular focus on publishing, news and the future of broadcast in his home MENA Region, where he hopes to use the media to effect positive change.
Grave Shift Studios congratulates the MCNY School for Business Media Management Program and Students for their exemplary work on the 6th Annual Short Film Festival.
Specializing in video production; Grave Shift Studios is the fullservice production company you need for your next media project. www.GraveShiftStudios.com
CACICA congratulates the MCNY School for Business Media Management MBA Program faculty, staff and students for their exemplary work on the 6 th Annual Short Film Festival.
Media & Entertainment Management and Production Consultants leveraging 25 years experience in entertainment law, ethnic marketing, special events, music clearances, television & film production. www.cacicamedia.com
Social Cinema congratulates the MCNY School for Business Media Management Program and Students for their exemplary work on the 6th Annual Short Film Festival
Social Cinema is a company dedicated to producing and promoting films that speak to a social issue. wwww.socialcinemaproject.com
Dr. Tilokie Depoo, Associate Vice President and Dean, School for Business, thanks the speakers, participants, filmmakers, faculty and sponsors for their support and congratulates the Media Management MBA students for organizing the MCNY 6th Annual Short Film Festival. Associate of Science in Business Bachelor of Business Administration in Healthcare Systems Management Bachelor of Business Administration MBA in Media Management MBA in General Management MBA in Financial Services Follow us on
@MCNYMediaMBA @MCNYFilmFest
Cherubim Bus Services congratulates the MCNY School for Business Media Management Program and Students for their exemplary work on the 6th Annual Short Film Festival.
Shawn Christensen is a filmmaker, musician, and painter. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Illustration. After graduating, he formed indie rock band Stellastarr* and, while on tour, wrote and sold many screenplays, including Sidney Hall (Fox Searchlight) and Karma Coalition (Warner Bros.). Stellastarr* released two albums on RCA Records and a third album, independently. In 2011, Christensen’s short film, Brink, was an Official Selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and won “Best Festival Film of the Year” by ShortOfTheWeek.com. In 2012, his short film, Curfew, won over 40 awards in Film Festivals before winning the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film at the 85th Academy Awards. Ralph Scott is a producer,
director, and
writer. See Thursday’s panel profile for additional information.
Rick Mowat is a producer,
director,
and writer. See Thursday’s panel profile for additional information.
Paula Landry:, MBA, is a film business and media-marketing consultant, crafting business & marketing plans, and producing branded videos for Fortune 500 companies, non-profit companies and colleges. Ms. Landry also works as a line producer, creating schedules and budgets for projects in all audio-visual formats. She has appeared as a guest on CBS Sunday Morning television show, Bloomberg radio, and WYNC. A member of the adjunct faculty at MCNY, Ms. Landry is the author of Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film, A PanicFree Guide (2011, Focal Press), and a co-author of This Business of Film, (2009, Random House) with Stephen R. Greenwald. Her articles have been featured in Movie Maker Magazine’s Complete Guide To Making Movies, 2010 and 2012 editions. Richard E. Pelzer, II: President & CEO of MEGA Personalities a Business Development Management Firm founded by him in 1994 based in New York City and the President & Managing Director of Global Network of Black Pride. A graduate from Kent State University in Ohio, with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Art History and Business management, Pelzer's strong leadership skills and creative vision assist clients with national and international business opportunities, developments and manages them for clients in the fashion, beauty and/or entertainment industries. Clients included; The NYSE Diversity Council, Sephora, Essence Magazine, Celebrity Makeup Artist Sam Fine, Musical Duo Les Nubians, International Artist Emmanuel Jal, and African American Women in Cinema Film Festival. He prides himself on the ability to cultivate creative partnerships and long lasting relationship to stay within budget in our current economic climate.
(1) Avidite (8:21): A thin line between exploration & complete darkness, a point of no return! What separates us from each other is where we decide to draw the line! MIME, a silent performer shows us how our desires can turn into greed & push us to a point of no return. Avidité means Greed! Avidité is a story that deals with the consequences of greed and why it’s important for us to draw a line between necessity and greed.
Aditya Singh: (2) Based on a True Story (13:53) [US]: (B.O.A.T.S.) follows a pizza boy who is chosen by God to deliver a girl’s soul to Heaven. The journey becomes a battle against himself, the girl, and a pack of Dragon-Alien Ninjas. The original soundtrack features several independent artists from the NY area. Nicholas Molinari : Born in 1993, Nick is a NY based Indian born director, screenwriter, and editor. Since his teenage years, he has helmed, penned, and cut several short films, commercials, and music videos. Nicholas’ first action-thriller The Shed and his dramedy 3Ways to Happiness each has garnered over 30,000 views on YouTube this year. He studies film production at Brooklyn College and is currently developing a feature length horror movie .
(3) Bloodhound(17:10): Tommaso Landucci: was born in 1989. In 2011 director Daniele Luchetti accepted him in director's class of CSC (Sperimental Centre of Cinema), the Italian National School of Cinema. During this years he worked ad assistant director of director Claudio Giovannesi in a movie called "AlĂŹ ha gliocchi azzurri (AlĂŹ has blue eyes)". In this moment he's working with director Luca Guadagnino as personal assistant director.
(4) Estrella (Star)(3:30): "Estrella is a female name" Perhaps the intention is to create a thin line in which a human being can feel abandoned as a pet ... Or maybe simply I try to capture a moment of reality through the imagination of a cinema camera. Roberto Chinet: (Tenerife, 1975) graduated in Biology from the University of La Laguna and graduated in film Written and directed by the Center for Film Studies of Catalonia. With extensive experience in the audiovisual sector he has directed the children's program "Golobica" for K-33 Canal (TV3); made several video clips for national artists like Amparanoia; He has also directed, written and produced ten short films of fiction and documentary, highlighting Novilunio (2009) and Star (2014) that have been selected and awarded in national and international festivals.
(5) HOODY:The Trayvon Martin Experience (13:43) [US]: is a film inspired by the tragic death of Trayvon Benjamin Martin. The film starts as young teenager dreaming about George Zimmerman trial, the beating of Rodney King, hearing voices in his head of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and having flashes of Trayvon Martin pictures roam his mind. As he wakes up he's baffled by the experience of his dream and still holds those images and experiences in his head as he begin his days. He spirals into his own reality, where he finds meaning and awareness in the city that matches the voices and visuals in his mind. Donaiko Joseph (Sage Love): (6) Obama is/ And Me(15:57): In a ghetto outside Paris, on the night of Barack Obama's election, a diverse group of friends celebrates the dawning of a new world of hope, change, and understanding, only to discover society's violent rejection of a hopeful world.. Stevan Lee Mraovitch: Son of a Chinese mother from Taiwan and a Serbian father from Croatia, Stevan was born in New York and raised in Paris. Stevan graduated from the French film school, Ecole Supérieure d’Etudes Cinématographiques (ESEC). He later worked for several years as a director and photographer in commercials and in the fashion industry. His last work as a Director of Photography was the Nike Spec Ad that won the first Grand Prize best video at the national competition «Believe in the Run». Stevan is graduating this fall 2013 from Columbia University, School of the Arts’ MFA film. He is the recipient of the Directing, Producing and Dean Fellowships at Columbia.
(7) Perfect Choice (12:03) [US]: Trapped in a loveless marriage, a chance encounter with his true soul mate leaves Matt Peters questioning just how far would he go for true love. Clynton Lamur: (Producer/Writer/Actor/Director) studied theater and film production at the University of New York at Buffalo where he acquired both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Striving for uniqueness with every project Clynton’s passion for the arts led him to dive into countless theatrical productions, as acting, writing, and producing. Clynton recently made his directorial debut with the short film “Perfect Choices” which he also produced and starred in. Along with the current project being introduced “The Foreigner”, Clynton is developing as a producer, three television pilots and four feature films. (8) Puzzle (8:13): Faced with mood irritated Laurent, her mother Line guess the puzzle is only a pretext for a much more complex problem. Charles Boisseau: is a final year student of Bachelor of cinematography at UQAM. After graduation, he hopes to continue in the field of post-production and specialize in the assembly feature documentary and fiction. "Puzzle" is his first short film and was written at UQAM.
(9) Reunion(4:48) [India]: A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibilities Vivek Krishnanam: is a 23-year-old film student of FTII, India. The film was screened earlier at Brooklyn as a part of CINEMA CLUB's: Change of Guard Thursday on March 19th to rave reviews
(10) The Line (8:39): Louka Boutin: is a student entering his last year in film production at the UQAM, I am a passionate of image creation. Says Boutin, “My main training is as director of photography, but I occasionally direct documentary films. The images of "The Line" depict the portrait of a man who, 25 years ago, was in a Bronx street gang. This project represents my passion for the documentary, for immersion and human contact.� (11) Wings (4:21): Wings is about a girl going through a Sexual Assault in her room, the attacker is represented as typography and the girl tries to escape the experience using her imagination. This is phenomenon called Dissociation (psychology), an experience of having one's attention and emotions detached from the environment. Keren Rijensky: is a graduate from The Neri Bloomfieled School of Design and works as interactive designer at a start-up called Webzai. You can find more information and links to her works at her website at www.kerenrij.com
Ashton Pina hails from New Bedford, Massachusetts. And graduated from Florida International University in 2010. young career including working with Nelson George, Diane Martel, and Beyonce. Ashton is a recipient of the Riant Theatre Youth Empowerment Award and is a Class of 2014 MFA graduate in Media Arts Production from The City College of New York. At CCNY, Ashton wrote, directed and starred in his award winning short film, The Brothers Texas, which was very loosely inspired by relationships with his own brothers. He is currently a candidate for an MBA in Media Management from Metropolitan College of New York. Ashton believes the biggest dreams can come true with courage, hard WERQ and dedication! He’s thankful to God, his family, and to all his pNutz for their love and support! "Never Stop Dreaming! You can check out his work at www.biustv.com
In addition to our sponsors, Faculty and Staff of MCNY, and our Committee Members, who have worked tirelessly on coordinating the festival, we would like to recognize and extend our utmost appreciation to the following individuals for their contributions in making the festival a success: Dean Tilokie Depoo
Davinder Kaur
Prof. Paula Landry
Prof. Edward Kurpis
Prof. Christopher Lanzaro
Prof. Vincent Presti
Jasmine Young
Eric Torvinen
Prof. Alex Sepulveda
Mailroom Staff
Mercedes Melendez
Facilities Staff
Security
Beth Dunphe
Isabel Cabrera
Tina Georgiou
Steebo Varghese
The Office of Admissions
The Film Festival Committee would especially like to thank the following individuals for their continuous support: Nygil Fraser
Daniel Simonette
Robert E. Holley
Ralph Scott
Natasha Alias
Cherice Bedford
Sophia Atwell
Paul St. Florant
Kawas Bhasin
Jessica Vigueras
Paula Sow
George Jordan
Wayvona Lyons