March 4, 2020
AFI Alum Heidi Levitt On Collaborating With Directors and Casting Sally Potter’s New Film
AFI alumna Heidi Levitt (Class of 1987) has established herself as a versatile casting director and producer, crisscrossing artistic mediums from theater to television to film to commercials. Her new film, THE ROADS NOT TAKEN, recently had its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. Reuniting with director Sally Potter for the fourth time,…
February 4, 2020
Production Designer Yong Ok Lee on her Sundance films MINARI and THE FAREWELL
Following her work on the critically-acclaimed THE FAREWELL – a 2019 AFI AWARDS recipient, AFI alum Yong Ok Lee (Production Design, Class of 2013) returned to Sundance for the second year in a row with MINARI – which won the U.S. dramatic grand jury prize and the dramatic audience award at this year’s festival. The film, inspired by director…
January 16, 2020
AFI Alumni Projects to Screen at SXSW 2020
SXSW Film Festival announced their 2020 lineup and we’re proud of the many alumni who will be representing the AFI Conservatory and keeping it weird in Austin this March. Here is the full list of the alumni and their projects that will be screening at SXSW 2020: BE WATER Cinematographer: Caleb Heller (AFI Class…
January 13, 2020
AFI Alums earn Oscar Noms
On January 13, 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards®. Congratulations to the following AFI Conservatory alumni for their Oscar nominations: Scott Silver (AFI Class of 1992) Best Adapted Screenplay – JOKER Robert Richardson (AFI Class of 1979) Best Cinematography – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN…
January 7, 2020
AFI Alum Scott Silver Scores BAFTA and WGA Nominations for JOKER
Congratulations to AFI alum and Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Scott Silver who received a BAFTA nomination and a WGA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing JOKER, alongside writer/director Todd Phillips. This marks his second BAFTA and WGA nominations, after he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for THE FIGHTER in 2011. JOKER, which premiered at…
December 18, 2019
Alex Michaelides On Writing “The Silent Patient,” Uma Thurman’s Advice & Plan B Optioning the Movie Rights
When Alex Michaelides (AFI Class of 2004) released his first novel “The Silent Patient” earlier this year, he not only had a taut and spellbinding psychological thriller on his hands, but also a hit novel that debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers List. Michaelides studied English literature at Cambridge University, received…
December 17, 2019
AFI Alumni Shortlisted for Academy Awards
Congratulations to the AFI thesis film MILLER & SON which has been shortlisted for an Academy Award® in the Live Action Short Film category! It was just two months ago that MILLER AND SON director Asher Jelinsky (AFI Class of 2018) won a Gold Medal at the Student Academy Awards®. And STAY CLOSE, a labor…
December 13, 2019
Television Academy Honors AFI Conservatory Thesis Films
Another proud moment for AFI Conservatory Alumni! Two AFI thesis films – THEY WON’T LAST and BALLON – received nominations from the Television Academy’s 40th Annual College Television Awards for excellence in college student-produced films. And the AFI film FORT IRWIN was named as the recipient of the 2020 Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Scholarship….
December 12, 2019
AFI Alumni Receive Grants for Directing and Screenwriting Achievement
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2019 AFI Alumni Awards! AFI Alumni Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in directing and screenwriting, were awarded to the following members of the Class of 2018 during a private alumni reception at this year’s AFI FEST presented by Audi. Omer Ben-Shachar received a Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence…
December 10, 2019
AFI Alumni Projects Feted by Golden Globes
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association just announced the nominations for the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards – Congrats to these film and TV programs on their Golden Globe nominations and the AFI Alumni who helped bring them to the big and small screens! Best Motion Picture – Animated THE LION KING Caleb Deschanel (AFI…
December 6, 2019
AFI Alumni at Sundance 2020
Sundance Film Festival announced their 2020 lineup and we’re proud of the many alumni who will be representing the AFI Conservatory in Park City! Here is the full list of the 34 alumni and their 27 projects that will be screening at Sundance 2020: ARABIAN ALIEN Producer: Almotaz Aljefri (Class of 2019) Cinematographer: Aakash…
November 18, 2019
Kayla Emter on Editing HUSTLERS, Crafting a Strong Female Perspective and Being Inspired by OUT OF SIGHT
Based on Jessica Pressler’s 2015 New York Magazine article, HUSTLERS follows strippers-turned-conwomen Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) and Destiny (Constance Wu) who band together in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession. To make ends meet, the women turn to drugging and running up the credit cards of their wealthy Wall Street clientele. Earning rave reviews out…
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