Now that I completed the 15-week online NYFA program, it makes me want to work on my projects that I have been saying I want to do. I was a theater major and I didn’t think I would fall in love with film until I held my first camera. It made me realize my love for directing and screenwriting. I learned the difference of what you can create on film, that live shows can’t show. I also learned to respect the time that’s put in when it comes to production for film. If I didn’t attend this program, I don’t think I would have had the push and courage to create anything. I now feel confident that I am just getting started and will do well.

I am proud to be an alumnus of the New York Film Academy Advanced Filmmaking Workshop. Since I’ve come back to Sao Paulo, Brazil, I’ve worked at HBO for two years and I now work at Columbia TriStar International Television (a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company) as a production supervisor in the Channels department of the group. I coordinate all the productions here in Brazil for Sony Entertainment Television, one of the most important pay-TV channels in Brazil.
I also work on productions abroad in Venezuela, Argentina, Cannes, Geneva, Miami, and other cities. It’s really great! I do everything from pre-production to post-production, and I learned it all at NYFA in the best way (meetings, briefings and editing)!
All the instructors I met at NYFA were important for me, and they have real experience to tell us about. They really know the business! Two of them were especially memorable: Tom Schiller and Richard Shore. I am glad to be part of NYFA’s history, and now I advertise my great experience at NYFA wherever I go.

I would like to thank you all for dedicating your time, passion and knowledge to us. My experience in NYFA Miami was great, and I’m sure we’ll continue working together to promote and elevate the film industry in this wonderful city.

I owe so much to this school. There are still essentials I’ve used for 10 years to prepare for roles and still use today.

I had been studying and practicing still photography for over 10 years, and had been a grip on three features by the time I started at the NYFA. I wanted to let you know what I have been up to for the past 10 years in case you ever wondered if anything you taught us actually stuck.
Just this past Friday, I wrapped principal photography (as DP) for my 10th feature film, which was my third feature film for Sony Pictures (as DP). When I left the Academy I purchased an Aaton Super 16mm Camera which had, back then in my opinion, the best Zoom lens available for Super 16mm. With that package, I began to shoot and build a reel. Basically, it was that simple. I shot and spent everything I had, turning what I had just shot into something I could get more work with.
I cannot tell you how many times I heard your voice in my head saying “but it’s money well spent” whenever I would blow everything I had on a new reel. But it worked! I eventually got to shoot a little $25K feature and after a couple of those I shot a $100K feature, then with the reel I cut from that, I landed two $250K features both on Anamorphic 35mm because they could afford it and there was no studio to convince. That way, I would be eligible for Anamorphic jobs down the road.
With the reel I built from all those features, a local production company that produces for Sony in Atlanta was able to convince Sony to let them use me, and I just wrapped my third feature for Sony, all while residing in Atlanta GA! Thank you for everything.