July News
Susan Ruskin Named Dean of AFI Conservatory
On June 18, AFI President & CEO Bob Gazzale announced the appointment of Susan Ruskin as the Dean of the AFI Conservatory. A bold and innovative educator with a passion for the future of the cinematic arts, Ruskin joins AFI after six years as Dean of the School of Filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). Among Ruskin’s accomplishments at UNCSA, she founded a Media and Emerging Technology Lab and hosted UNCSA’s first Future of Reality Summit, which featured national leaders in immersive media. In additional to serving as the Dean of the Conservatory, Ruskin will also carry the title of Executive Vice President of AFI.
We caught up with Dean Ruskin to ask a few questions about what you can expect from her upcoming tenure, beginning this August.
When asked how she would quantify success in her new position, Ruskin offered, “I believe the measure of success for any film school is a reflection of their ... SHOW MORE
Beyoncé Presents Melina Matsoukas With the 2019 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal
Beyoncé surprised the AFI Life Achievement Award audience by presenting her friend and frequent collaborator, Melina Matsoukas (AFI Class of 2005) with the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal Award.
As Matsoukas accepted her award, she said that her time at AFI, “was an incredible learning experience where I was able to hone my skills as a visual storyteller, move to LA and prepare myself for what was to come. In an industry where people like me are so often the only one, where we have to fight daily to have a voice, the only other ones are the people I owe my career to. They taught me how to stop fighting, how to create your own space, how to lead and how the culture will support you.”
She also paid tribute to Beyoncé, saying that the singer, “truly influenced my career. She taught me how to work, how to dream and how to achieve. And, most importantly, as an artist how to take control of your own narrative.”
Denzel Washington Sits With Ed Zwick for Inspiring Q&A on Campus
The 47th AFI Life Achievement Award recipient, Denzel Washington, visited the Conservatory for the Harold Lloyd Master Seminar and shared great wisdom with the audience.
“Don’t confuse movement for progress, because you can run in place and not get anything done.”
Check out a clip from this inspirational gathering!
AFI Names Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy as Board of Trustees Chair
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has been elected chair of the American Film Institute Board of Trustees. Kennedy will lead the AFI Trustees to set the Institute’s priorities and guide its national education programs. Kennedy succeeds Sir Howard Stringer, who has served as chair of the AFI Board of Trustees since 1999.
Celebrating the AFI 2019 Commencement
The AFI Conservatory’s cap-and-gown-clad graduating Class of 2019 were joined by filmmaker Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969) and director Lesli Linka Glatter (AFI Directing Workshop for Women Class of 1982), who were bestowed with honorary doctorate degrees at the AFI Commencement celebrating this year’s graduating Fellows. These masters of art and filmmaking offered sage advice for the graduates as they enter the next phase of their careers.
AFI Takes Key Leadership Roles In Film Guilds
AFI Alumni are serving as a beacon of leadership at some of the top guilds in the film industry.
Kees van Oostrum (AFI Class of 1977) was elected ASC President for a fourth term. Van Oostrum initiated and chairs the ASC Master Class program and founded the ASC Vision Committee, which continues to organize symposiums that encourage diversity and inclusion on camera crews. The American Society of Cinematographers has also announced its slate of officers for 2019-2020, among them is Vice President and AFI Cinematography Discipline Chair, Stephen Lighthill!
Alumnus Jon Avnet (AFI Class of 1972) led the negotiating committee, which just reelected Thomas Schlamme ... SHOW MORE
DWW Alumna Valerie Weiss Talks Being Ready to Helm a Studio Franchise and Her Unconventional Path to Hollywood
Valerie Weiss (Directing Workshop for Women, Class of 2005), the winner of the Fox Bridge program, sat down with AFI to discuss her experience developing TRUE MAZE and her unconventional path to Hollywood.
Rachel Morrison Making Feature Directing Debut On Universal’s Barry Jenkins-Scripted FLINT STRONG
Rachel Morrison (AFI Class of 2006) is in negotiations to direct FLINT STRONG, a female ROCKY-esque drama. Morrison, who made history as the first Oscar®-nominated female cinematographer on MUDBOUND, makes her film directorial debut. Oscar® winner Barry Jenkins penned the script.
Congratulations to AFI Alumnus David Lynch on His Honorary Oscar
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that David Lynch (AFI Class of 1970) will receive an Honorary Oscar® at the Academy’s 11th Annual Governors Awards in Los Angeles. Lynch has been nominated for Best Director three times and Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980), BLUE VELVET (1986), and MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001).
AFI and Russo Brothers’ AGBO Films Partner for Inaugural Development Grant
Angela Chen (AFI Class of 2018) has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the AGBO/AFI Conservatory Development Grant. Chen, who studied Directing at AFI, will receive a $25,000 grant and mentorship, to develop TRIAD OF US, a multi-perspective portrait of a broken Chinese immigrant family and their first-generation children in America.
Find out more about this incredible opportunity established by AFI and AGBO — led by award-winning directors Anthony and Joe Russo (AVENGERS: ENDGAME) — to discover and support the next generation of cutting-edge visual storytellers.
AFI Cinematography Fellows Debut Impressive Visual Essays
Graduating AFI Cinematography Fellows showcased their creative technique, composition and style during the Visual Essays Showcase on campus this month. Teams of dedicated Fellows screened 26 short films, shot on 35mm, for their industry peers. The AFI Conservatory has graduated many of the finest cinematographers in filmmaking today. Since the AFI Conservatory began in 1969, AFI alumni have received 34 Best Cinematography Oscar® nominations and seven wins.
Watch the behind-the-scenes trailer from Kodak to celebrate these Fellows’ mastery of light and motion!
In other AFI Conservatory news…
With 72 films from 17 countries, AFI DOCS 2019 concluded its five-day run in Washington, DC and the AFI Silver Theatre on June 23 with the closing night film RAISE HELL: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS. Alumni with films at the festival were Dan Adlerstein (AFI Class of 2009), Director of Photography, THE AMAZING JOHNATHAN DOCUMENTARY; Edd Lukas (AFI Class of 2008), Director of Photography, DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME; Sara Bernstein (AFI Class of 1988),Executive Producer, MOONLIGHT SONATA: DEAFNESS IN THREE MOVEMENTS; Mike Aguilar (AFI Class of 2014), Screenwriter/Editor, RUTH – JUSTICE GINSBURG IN HER OWN WORDS; and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (AFI Class of 1975) Director, TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM.
The acclaimed HBO series BIG LITTLE LIES returned on June 9 with Andrea Arnold (AFI Class of 1991) directing the entire second season. Arnold’s prior work includes critically acclaimed indie films FISH TANK and AMERICAN HONEY.
HEREDITARY writer/director Ari Aster (AFI Class of 2010) has teamed with producer Lars Knudsen to form Square Peg, a production partnership. Aster’s new film, MIDSOMMAR, releases July 3.
TREE #3, an AFI thesis film from Omer Ben Shachar, Sydney Meadow, Iris Yang, Zilong Liu, Katia Nájera Viale, and Yvonne Xia (AFI Class of 2019), won the Audience Award for Student Short at the Palm Springs International ShortFest.
Hanelle Culpepper (Directing Workshop for Women, Class of 2002) was named to Sundance & WIF’s Reframe Rise first class of directors who will be matched with sponsors that include production company presidents, top filmmakers and award-winning producers such as Paul Feig, Lynette Howell Taylor and Michael De Luca — with the clout to help advance their careers.
Alison-Eve Hammersley (AFI Class of 2018) was personally selected by Emmy-winning writer-producer Lena Waithe as a participant for AT&T Hello Lab’s Filmmaker Mentorship Program, which seeks to discover and empower emerging filmmakers from underrepresented communities to evolve their work, expand their audience and provide national distribution for them to launch their signature short films.
Nicole Mejia (AFI Class of 2019) was announced as the second recipient of the Audi USA Fellowship for Women at the AFI Conservatory. The inaugural Audi Fellow, Natalie Camou (Class of 2019), celebrated her graduation from AFI on June 10, 2019. The Audi Fellowship for Women selects a promising female director for a two-year AFI Conservatory enrollment, investing in the future of female filmmakers in film and television.
ECHOES, a feature script written by J. Casey Modderno (AFI Class of 2016) and Myles Clifford Hawthorne (AFI Class of 2017) to be produced by Thomas R. Burke (AFI Class of 2016) and Leal Naim (AFI Class of 2016), is a North American selection for the Frontières International Co-Production Market at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Quebec.
J. Casey Modderno (AFI Class of 2016) is head writer on THE BIRCH for Crypt TV, premiering on Facebook Watch this October. Amy Wang (AFI Class of 2017) is a director on the series.
WBUR organized a live performance from John Cameron Mitchell of the 2016 essay, PLATONIC, UNTIL DEATH DO US PART, by Ephi Stempler (AFI Class of 2019) as part of the Modern Love podcast.
Cory Warner (AFI Class of 2014) was an official selection for the LA Shorts International Film Festival with his short film, THE USUAL ROUTE, in which he served as director and cinematographer.
Valerie Weiss (Directing Workshop for Women, Class of 2005), the winner of the Fox Bridge program, sat down with AFI to discuss her experience developing TRUE MAZE and her unconventional path to Hollywood.