Solondz Nurtures His Indie Cred

(From The New York Times)

IF Todd Solondz, assiduous chronicler of suburban ugliness, perversity and despair, had directed “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” what sort of movie would have invaded theaters? Would Cameron Diaz’s goofy Natalie have started a rocky romance with a man with cerebral palsy? Would Lucy Liu’s tough-as-nails Alex have attacked a Planned Parenthood office? Would Bernie Mac’s dutiful Bosley have harbored a secret sexual fetish steeped in racial taboos? These are the sorts of themes Mr. Solondz has explored in his offbeat, frequently queasy oeuvre, and so he was surprised when, in the early aughts, Drew Barrymore met with him to discuss the possibility of him overseeing the “Charlie’s Angels” sequel.

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White Night, a film made by student Teresa Lee in the Tisch School of the Arts Open Arts Fundamentals of Filmmaking class, will be screened at the Asian American International Film Festival on Friday, July 16. Director Teresa Lee will be available for a Q & A after the screening.

Fundamentals of Filmmaking is taught by Rosanne Limoncelli, director of production for film and new media in the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film, Television, and New Media at Tisch School of the Arts.

2010 Creative Arts & Primetime Emmy® Award Nominees: On July 8, 2010, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the nominees for the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy® Awards. The Awards recognize outstanding achievement in all fields of primetime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast from in any primetime period (6:00 PM – 2:00 AM) during the 2009 calendar year. With representation from its Dean’s Council, faculty and alumni community, the Tisch School of the Arts family racked up 50 nominees! Break a leg! The Primetime Emmy® Awards will be broadcast on August 29, 2010 on NBC.

Outstanding Art Direction For A Multi-Camera Series
How I Met Your Mother • Duel Citizenship • Of Course • Hooked • CBS • Twentieth Century Fox Television
Stephan G. Olson ’87 (MFA, Design), Production Designer

Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series
Glee • Pilot – Director’s Cut • FOX • A Ryan Murphy TV Production in association with 20th Century Fox TV
Christopher Brown ’99 (MFA, Design), Art Director

Outstanding Casting for A Drama Series
Mad Men • AMC • Lionsgate Television
Carrie Audino, CSA ’97 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Casting

The Pacific • HBO • Playtone and Dreamworks in association with HBO Miniseries
Jennifer Euston, CSA ’97 (BFA, Cinema Studies), New York Casting Director

Outstanding Cinematography For A Half-Hour Series
Nurse Jackie • Apple Bong • Showtime • Showtime Presents, Lionsgate Television, Jackson Group Entertainment, Madison Grain Elevator, Inc. & Delong Lumber; A Caryn Mandabach Production
Vanja Cernjul ’98 (MFA, Kanbar, Film), Director of Photography

Outstanding Cinematography For A One Hour Series
Breaking Bad • No Mas • AMC • Sony Pictures Television
Michael Slovis ’79 (Kanbar, Film), Director of Photography

Outstanding Costumes For A Series
The Good Wife • Crash • CBS • CBS Productions
Daniele Hollywood ’85/’86 (BFA/MFA, Design), Assistant Costume Designer

Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming
By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama • HBO • Green Film Company, Citi Productions, Class 5 Films and GOOD in association with HBO Documentary Films
Sam Pollard, Faculty (Kanbar, F&TV), Editor
Arielle Amsalem ’06 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Editor

Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic, Multi-Camera) For Variety, Music Or Comedy Programming
Saturday Night Live • Host: Betty White • NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC Studios and Broadway Video
Rick McGuinness ’82 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Lighting Director

Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics
Saturday Night Live • Host: Blake Lively (Song title: Shy Ronnie) • NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC Studios and Broadway Video
Andy Samberg ’00 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Lyrics

Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Justified • FX Networks • Sony Pictures Television and FX Productions
Oscar Owens ’97 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Music

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Glee • FOX • A Ryan Murphy TV Production in association with 20th Century Fox TV
Matthew Morrison ’01 (Drama) as Will Schuester

30 Rock • NBC • Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Media Studio
Alec Baldwin ’94 (BFA, Drama) as Jack Donaghy

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Dexter • Showtime • Showtime Presents, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company, Clyde Phillips Productions
Michael C. Hall ’96 (MFA, Acting) as Dexter Morgan

Outstanding Comedy Series
Modern Family • ABC • Twentieth Century Fox Television
Paul Corrigan ’94 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Co-Executive Producer
Brad Walsh ’94 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Co-Executive Producer
Bill Wrubel ’93 (MFA, MTW), Co-Executive Producer

Nurse Jackie • Showtime • Showtime Presents, Lionsgate Television, Jackson Group Entertainment, Madison Grain Elevator, Inc. & Delong Lumber; A Caryn Mandabach Production
Evan Dunsky ’81 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Co-Executive Producer
Richie Jackson ’87 (BFA, Acting), Co-Executive Producer/Executive Producer
Alan Taylor ’91 (MFA, Kanbar, Film), Director

Outstanding Drama Series
Dexter • Showtime • Showtime Presents, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company, Clyde Phillips Productions
Michael C. Hall ’96 (MFA, Acting), Executive Producer

Lost • ABC • Grass Skirts Productions, LLC in association with ABC Network and Studios
Damon Lindelof ’95 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Executive Producer
Elizabeth Sarnoff ’91 (BFA, Drama), Co-Executive Producer

True Blood • HBO • Your Face Goes Here Entertainment in association with HBO Entertainment
Alexander Woo ’03 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Producer

Outstanding Made For Television Movie
You Don’t Know Jack • HBO • Bee Holder, Cine Mosaic and Levinson/Fontana Productions in association with HBO Films
Lydia Dean Pilcher ’83 (MFA, Kanbar, Film), Executive Producer

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart • Comedy Central • Central Productions, LLC
Steve Bodow ’95 (MPS, Kanbar, ITP), Supervising Producer
David Javerbaum ’95 (MFA, MTW), Executive Producer

Saturday Night Live • NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC Studios and Broadway Video
Lorne Michaels, Dean’s Council

Outstanding Special Class Programs
82nd Annual Academy Awards • ABC • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Alec Baldwin ’94 (BFA, Drama), Host

The Simpsons: 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! • FOX • Warrior Poets
Morgan Spurlock ’94 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Executive Producer

Teddy: In His Own Words • HBO • Kunhardt McGee Productions in association with HBO Documentary Films
Jacqueline Glover ’88 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Supervising Producer
Sheila Nevins, Former Faculty (Kanbar, F&TV), Producer

Outstanding Reality Program
Dirty Jobs • Discovery Channel • Produced by Pilgrim Films and Television, Inc. for Discovery Channel
Eddie Barbini ’84 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Executive Producer
Scott Popjes ’88 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Supervising Producer

Exceptional Merit In Nonfiction Filmmaking
Sergio • HBO • Silverbridge Productions and Passion Pictures in association with Screen Pass Pictures, Impact Partners, Motto Pictures, BBC Storyville and HBO Documentary Films
Sheila Nevins, Former Faculty (Kanbar, F&TV), Executive Producer

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
The Pacific • Part Five • HBO • Playtone and Dreamworks in association with HBO Miniseries
Daniel S. Irwin, MPSE ’92 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Supervising Dialogue and ADR Editor

Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming
The Amazing Race • I Think We’re Fighting the Germans, Right? • CBS • World Race Productions Inc.
Troy Smith ’89 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Re-Recording Mixer

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series
Saturday Night Live • Host: Joseph Gordon-Levitt • NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC Studios and Broadway Video
Barry Frischer ’72 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Camera

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Lost • The End • ABC • Grass Skirts Productions, LLC in association with ABC Network and Studios
Damon Lindelof ’95 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Writer

Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart • Episode #15040 • Comedy Central • Central Productions, LLC
Steve Bodow ’95 (MPS, Kanbar, ITP), Head Writer
David Javerbaum ’95 (MFA, MTW), Writer
Elliott Kalan ’03 (BFA, Kanbar, DDW), Writer

Real Time With Bill Maher • 721- With Rachel Maddow, Niall Ferguson, Joe Queenan And Michael Ware • HBO • Bill Maher Productions and Brad Grey Television in association with HBO Entertainment
Jonathan Schmock ’78 (BFA, Acting), Writer

Saturday Night Live • Host: Betty White • NBC • SNL Studios in association with NBC Studios and Broadway Video
James Anderson ’81 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV), Writer
Jessica Conrad ’07 (BFA, Kanbar, Goldberg DDW), Writer
Lorne Michaels, Dean’s Council, Writer
Marika Sawyer, Writer ’05 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV)

The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien • #146 • NBC • Conaco & NBC Universal
Matt O’Brien ’92 (BFA, Kanbar, Goldberg DDW), Writer

Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Special
82nd Annual Academy Awards • ABC • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Colleen Werthmann ’92 (BFA, Acting), Writer, Special Material

To view a full list of nominees for 2010, download the PDF.

In ceremonies over the weekend, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences celebrated the winners of the 37th annual Daytime Emmy® Awards. The Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards are divided into the Telecast Awards and Creative Arts Awards; they recognize outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production and are presented to individuals and programs broadcast from 2:00 AM-6:00 PM during the 2009 calendar year.

This year eleven members—including nine alumni—of the Tisch School community received statuettes for their achievements.

Outstanding Children’s Animated Program
Curious George (PBS)
Executive Producers: Ron Howard (Parent of Alumnae) and Brian Grazer (Dean’s Council Member)

Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show
Cash Cab (Discovery)
Writer: Brock Mahan ’04 (BFA, Kanbar, Goldberg DDW)

New Approaches – Daytime Entertainment
Unplugged (MTV)
Lighting Designer: Christopher Landy ’96 (MFA, Design)

Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama Series
All My Children (ABC)
Costume Designer: David Zyla ’88 (Drama)

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Drama Series
All My Children (ABC)
Lighting Director: Daniel Kinsley ’81 (MFA, Design)

Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling
Sesame Street (PBS)
Costume Designer/Muppets: Polly Smith ’75 (MFA, Design)
Costume Designer/Muppets: Jason Weber ’87 (MFA, Design)

Outstanding Achievement in Single Camera Photography (Film or Electronic)
The Electric Company (PBS)
Camera: Aaron Medick, ’97 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV)
Camera: Shaun Harkins ’81 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV)

Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera /Video Control
Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade (ABC)
Camera Operator: Chad Smith ’95 (BFA, Kanbar, F&TV)

For a full list of Creative Arts Winners, click here.

For a full list of Telecast Winners, click here.

Presenters:

Nina Berman , Ed Kashi and Larry Towell
Monday, June 21, 6:30-8:30pm
Tisch School of the Arts
721 Broadway (at Waverly)
Dean’s Conference Room, 12th floor
Free and open to the public.
Photo ID required up on entry to the building.

For a photographer, how is it possible to judge the impact of one’s documentary work on society? Do the people in the pictures, or others like them, gain from one’s intervention? To what extent are collaborations with non-governmental organizations effective? Can a photographer manage to work independently? What strategies are being used to alert the public? photography & human rights:

WHAT WORKS?
Larry Towell
Ed Kashi
Nina Berman

These issues will be discussed in tandem with possible pathways, insights and practical advice for young and emerging documentary photographers and human rights activists whose aim it is to work in a changed yet still evolving media environment.

A panel discussion moderated by Peter Lucas.

This panel is presented the Department of Photography & Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU in collaboration with the Magnum Foundation as a part of the Summer Program in Photography & Human Rights.

Presenters are Nina Berman, documentary photographer with a primary interest in the American political and social landscape; Ed Kashi, photojournalist, filmmaker, and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times; and Larry Towell, documentary photographer, writer, poet, and folk musician.

Summer Session II: June 28-August 6

Producing in the Digital Revolution
This is an interdisciplinary course, for film and non-film students. It is designed for aspiring film producers who want to better understand the industry and the historical and creative significance of digital cinema as well as anyone interested in exploring the brave new digital world. Some of the films discussed will include Miguel Arteta’s Chuck and Buck, Lars Von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark, Brian  De Palma’s Redacted, Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble, David Fincher’s Zodiac, Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity, among others.

View the full summer course list for Open Arts.

Armed Robbers & Smoking Guns: Crime Cinema
As a genre of popular film, crime films play a significant role in the history of both French and American cinematic traditions. This course examines both the American crime film and the French policier – with specific focus on their gangster and heist variants – as cinematic mediations of their respective national cultures and as cultural markers of the sociological and political values of each nation.

View the full summer course list for Cinema Studies.

Playwriting II
The course covers the writing and completion of a full-length play. Required work in the class includes extensive scene work.

Screenwriting II
The course covers the writing and completion of a full-length screenplay. Students must come to the first class with an outline or treatment for a full-length film.

View the full summer course list for Dramatic Writing.

Theatre in NY: Cracks in the City
This course explores the ecology of artistic creation in the “downtown” New York scene. New venues, performance forms and modes of expression and distribution are attracting audiences to unconventional experiences in “the cracks of the city.”

Studies in Shakespeare: Shakespeare on Film
The study of Shakespeare on film offers an opportunity for observing actual historical artifacts (the films) in relation to the texts on which they were based (the plays). By engaging directly with performed versions of the scripts, it is possible to more fully consider how changing social, cultural, political and technological mores affect the performance and interpretation of seemingly fixed texts that are often the object of deep cultural reverence and a purist devotion to the “original.”

Stonestreet Screen Acting I Workshop
This course covers film and television training from the audition process to performance and production. All areas of film and television acting are covered: film (dramatic and comedic), dramatic series, sit-coms, soap operas, commercials, as well as vocal and physical work as it applies to film acting.

CAP 21: Summer Musical Theatre
This studio course provides young artists with the extensive technique and experience required by the professional field of musical theatre performance. This comprehensive six-week program trains you to become a balanced performer, powerful in all disciplines of musical theatre performance.

View the full summer course list for Drama.

The bright lights of Broadway took to Radio City Music Hall last night for The 64th Annual Tony Awards.

New York University Tisch School of the Arts congratulates our four winners for receiving Broadway’s most sought after prize:

Best Scenic Design of a Musical, American Idiot
Christine Jones ’92 (MFA, Adjunct Teacher, Design for Stage and Film)

Best Sound Design of a Musical, Fela!
Robert Kaplowitz ’95 (BFA, Drama)

Best Revival of a Play, Fences
Producer Scott Rudin (Tisch Dean’s Council member)

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Fences
Denzel Washington (Tisch Parent)

Viola Davis and Denzel Washington in “Fences.” Photograph by Sara Krulwich for The New York Times.

Mr. Washington made history last night, along with best actress Viola Davis, as the first time a Tony was awarded to two black performers in a play for the same theatre season. He was also the first black actor to win for a leading role in a play since James Earl Jones won in 1987 — for the original Fences, playing the same role, Troy Maxson.

Additional alumni and other members of the Tisch community performed or presented at the 2010 Tony Awards.

Read about the evenings festivities and get a full list of nominees and winners in The New York Times.

Tisch School of the Arts Open Arts instructor Aida Shahghasemi will be lending her vocals to the presentation of Persian poets at Zoraspace on June 26.

Aida Shahghasemi recently moved to New York City. She is a traveler between Iran and the States in order to play with individuals and ensembles in Tehran, Minneapolis (where she resided prior to New York), and most recently, New York. She learned the Daf from Amir Samadi and has worked on the Persian Classical Vocal repertoire under the supervision of Parissa.

Aida Shahghasemi will be teaching Iran Arts Activism this fall as part of the Tisch School’s Open Arts curriculum. The course is open to all New York University undergraduate students.

Register on Albert today!

Students at New York University are providing positive feedback about Acting for the Camera Workshop. Academy Award© nominated documentary filmmaker Joan Horvath teaches the popular course in the Open Arts curriculum at Tisch School of the Arts.

Check out what our students have to say about Joan Horvath and her class:

“…one of the most enriching classes I have taken at NYU. The use of a camera in this course reveals to you the inner life of your performance, helping you to accelerate your growth as an actor to an extent that otherwise would not have been possible.”

—Ryan Johnston, B.S. Stern School of Business

“Beyond world class instruction, Joan Horvath’s perspectives and guidance help provoke students into an exploration of self, human nature and the motivations behind human interaction.”

—Carmela Gallace, NYU-Steinhardt/ABT Pedagogy,
Former Professor-American Samoa Community College
Former Soloist-Riverdance and The Moiseyev Ballet

“…I learned how to bring authentic emotion to my screen acting. The scenes, the one-on-one work-shopping sessions, continually challenged me to expand my range. And at the end of it, I had great footage for a reel!”

—Amelia Saul, MFA Studio Art, Performance Artist and Filmmaker.

“…to be inspired, to have that nurturing environment, that moving moment and figure that helps you realize your potential — and experience the motivating forces to pursue it –invaluable! That is what I found in Acting for the Camera…”

—Sinsu Co, Actor: End of Our Lives (Filming), New York I Love You (2009)
Light Years (2008); TV Personality: MTV’s Paris Hilton’s My New BFF (2008)
Guest Appearances: Oxygen’s Tyra Show (2008)

“Without the ability to guide an actor’s performance to a place of emotional truth, the filmmaker will never understand how to bring the story to acceptance by audiences expecting increasingly more realistic portrayals of life on the screen. Acting for the Camera Workshop provides a unique and daring opportunity for the directing student to hone this most crucial part of his or her craft. The Workshop was a game-changer for me not only as a director, but as an actor, a writer, a producer, and most of all, as a storyteller.”

—Asher Goldstein BFA, TSOA Film/TV ’05
Winner 2006 First Run Film Festival, King Screenwriting Award, 2^nd Place Wasserman
Executive, Traction Media (Company credits: Half Nelson, Hard Candy, The Secret in their Eyes)

NYU students can take Acting for the Camera during the fall and spring. It’s open to everyone, including those not part of NYU, during the summer. Register today!

Claire Schmidt, a student in our Spring at Tisch Acting for Stage and Screen 2010 program, shares her thoughts about her semester here in Greenwich Village:

This past year I enrolled in NYU’s Open Arts Studio for acting, and I am so grateful that I did. I was able to push myself in a way that I have never done before. Three days a week I worked closely with fourteen other passionate and supportive students from 9:30AM to 5:30 PM. I studied under five different teachers each week. They opened my eyes to five new aspects of acting (scene study, movement, voice, improvisation, film acting) and unfamiliar styles of teaching. I challenged myself emotionally in scene study and improvisational exercises to be more open and impulsive. In movement class, I was pushed physically as we worked on front handsprings and forward rolls. From this class I have learned to be more comfortable in my own body. I have learned how to relate honestly to others. More importantly, I gained the ability to respond to constructive feedback from my classmates and teachers and apply it later on.

Throughout these fourteen weeks I have witnessed such tremendous growth in my classmates, and even in myself, and to me that is a truly amazing thing. Although I have not mastered the methods that we were taught by any means, I have learned so much that I have been able to apply to my life outside of acting. The things that I was taught in this class have helped me to become a better, more confident person. I am so thankful to have had this wonderful opportunity.

Thanks, Claire!