March 16, 2016
AFI Conservatory Celebrates First-Ever Writers’ Room Ready
On Monday evening, the AFI Conservatory hosted a reception to celebrate promising screenwriters and to mark the first year of AFI Writers’ Room Ready. This new annual program aims to cultivate the next generation of television writers by pairing select AFI Conservatory Screenwriters from the year’s graduating class and their original television pilot scripts with…
February 29, 2016
Congrats to AFI Conservatory Alumni on Their Oscar-Winning Films
AFI is proud to highlight the AFI Conservatory alumni featured in the 88th Academy Awards®, which followed an unprecedented awards season run for AFI graduates. Producer Steve Golin (AFI Class of 1981) received the Best Picture Oscar® for SPOTLIGHT. The film’s credits also include cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi (AFI Class of 2002) with a special thanks to Pulitzer…
January 14, 2016
Congrats to AFI’s 2016 Oscar Nominees
Four AFI Conservatory alumni have been nominated for 2016 Academy Award® — in the Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, Best Live Action Short and Best Cinematography categories. Director/writer Henry Hughes’ (AFI Class of 2014) AFI Conservatory thesis film DAY ONE received a Live Action Short nomination following an awards season winning streak that included the gold medal at…
December 10, 2015
The AFI Interview: UNREAL Creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (AFI DWW, Class of 2012) continues to receive acclaim and accolades as co-creator of the Lifetime original series UNREAL, which grew from her AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women (AFI DWW) short SEQUIN RAZE. AFI spoke with Shapiro about her series’ meteoric success story, and how her AFI DWW experience shaped her…
December 8, 2015
AFI and Lifetime Team Up to Employ Female Filmmakers
AFI and Lifetime will join forces next year to create and offer production jobs for each graduate of the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women (AFI DWW) throughout the A+E Networks’ portfolio of platforms starting with the Class of 2015. The alliance is part of Lifetime's Broad Focus initiative to provide women with more opportunities to write, develop,...
December 1, 2015
The AFI Interview: MR. ROBOT Creator Sam Esmail
Sam Esmail graduated from the AFI Conservatory in 2004. Since then, he's directed a feature film and created a hit television series beloved by critics and viewers alike. Here's our interview with the AFI alum. Please introduce yourself. My name is Sam Esmail. I was born to Egyptian parents in the lovely city and state of Hoboken,...
October 21, 2015
AFI Conservatory Alumni at AFI FEST 2015
The main portion of AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi boasts 18 films from 39 AFI Conservatory Alumni. They are: THE 33, writer Michael Thomas (AFI Class of 1978), and assistant art director Haisu Wang (AFI Class of 2014) 45 YEARS, editor Jonathan Alberts (AFI Class of 2001) ANOMALISA, director/producer Duke Johnson (AFI Class of 2006),…
September 14, 2015
AFI Conservatory Continues Winning Streak With Alum Duke Johnson’s Grand Jury Prize Win at Venice Film Festival
AFI Conservatory alumnus Duke Johnson’s (AFI Class of 2006) ANOMALISA won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival this weekend. ANOMALISA was directed/produced by Johnson and Charlie Kaufman (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND). Shot by Cinematographer Joe Passarelli (AFI Class of 2006), the film included several other…
August 25, 2015
AFI Conservatory Sweeps The 2015 Student Academy Awards Narrative Category
AFI Conservatory alumni won all three spots in the Narrative category of the 42nd Student Academy Awards competition with thesis films created during their time at AFI.The sweep is unprecedented. AFI has the most wins of any film school this year. The winning films by graduates of the Class of 2014 are: DAY ONE, STEALTH…
August 24, 2015
Five AFI Conservatory Grads Win Awards For Their Thesis Work From AFI’s Community of Supporters
Today — opening day at the AFI Conservatory for second year Fellows — AFI awarded grants to five AFI Conservatory graduates from the class of 2014 for excellence in their thesis work. The recognition and awards further propel these artists into their careers as some of the nation’s promising storytellers. Director/producer Rick Rosenthal (AFI Class of…
July 31, 2015
AFI Conservatory Films Nominated For 2015 Student Academy Awards
The AFI Conservatory swept the 2015 Student Academy Awards with the most nominations of any film school in all of this year’s categories, dominating the Narrative category with the four of the seven nominees: DAY ONE directed by Henry Hughes (AFI Class of 2014) The short film’s credits include AFI Class of 2014 alumni: director/writer Henry…
July 27, 2015
AFI Conservatory Films Win at 68th Cannes Film Festival
At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, we’re proud to report that the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) alumna Pippa Bianco (AFI DWW, Class of 2014) was awarded First Prize by the Cinéfondation Jury for her AFI short film SHARE at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. SHARE, a film produced by the AFI Conservatory Directing…
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