Ithaca College to Host New York State Film Summit

By Dan Verderosa, September 15, 2016

Ithaca College to Host New York State Film Summit

On September 17, Ithaca College will host the fourth annual New York Film and Television Student Alliance (NYFTSA) Statewide Summit, featuring panels and workshops from industry professionals working around the state.

Students from all six NYFTSA campuses will participate in person and/or via Skype sessions; additional New York campuses are also invited to participate and start the process of setting up their own NYFTSA chapters. In the coming months, the Ithaca College Chapter will hold weekly educational seminars and workshops, with both Ithaca College alumnae and local media professionals reflecting on their experience in the field.

“This is a big year of growth for the organization,” said Michayla Savitt, NYFTSA statewide president and a senior in media production at Ithaca College. “We have programming planned for our weekly meetings, with the hope that any student interested in the TV and film industry will benefit from hearing how media professionals got to where they are today.”

Additionally, the Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development will team up with industry organization, the New York Production Alliance, to provide bimonthly panel programming that will stream from the Bronx Community College and also be available on an online channel accessible to film schools all over the state.

“A big goal of the students this year is to expand NYFTSA programming so they can include more members in these unique learning opportunities outside the classroom,” said Chrissy Guest, NYFTSA faculty advisor and assistant professor of media arts, sciences and studies. “Thanks to the Governor's Office of Motion Picture and Television Development, we are going to be able to connect the students to a wide circle of industry professionals from every market in New York State in addition to Ithaca College faculty and alumni — the goal of the group at its core.”

“New York State is home to the brightest, most talented film and television students in the country,” said Gigi Semone, executive director of the Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development. “The idea behind NYFTSA was to create a community for these students to help them build contacts and relationships with one another and with top industry professionals. The growth of NYTFSA in the last three years shows that there’s an energy and enthusiasm from the next generation of home grown talent that will keep New York State’s motion picture and television industry vibrant for many years to come.”

The 2016 NYFTSA Statewide Summit will kick off with a showing of New York University alumnus Parker Hill’s Tribeca-screened film “One Good Pitch” at 6:30 PM on Friday, Sept. 16 at The Studio Downtown in Ithaca. Industry panelists will speak throughout the following day from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in the Park School Auditorium, followed by a celebrity keynote speaker and a special VIP networking event with panelists.

A student-run organization that brings together students from campuses across New York State which offer production majors or minors in film or television production and post-production, NYFTSA aims to foster relationships between film students and leaders of New York’s film/television production and post-production communities. NYFTSA was born out of a roundtable held by the New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture and Television Development with students of Guest in 2014.