The Legacy of Milos Forman
In 1978, esteemed director Milos Forman and his Screenwriting mentor Frank Daniel were appointed co-chairs of the Film Program. Under their leadership, the program flourished and became the world-renowned institution of film education that it is today. In many ways, Forman was the "creative founder" of Columbia Film, having shaped and refined its commitment to narrative filmmaking anchored in strong screenplays. He gave it a character as distinct as his own—original, passionate, intelligent, and international.
News
Porno, a feature film directed by Keola Racela '15, co-written and co-produced by Matt Black '15 and Laurence Vannicelli '15, and co-produced by adjunct assistant professor Sarah Seulki Oh '15, is set to open theatrically on April 10, 2020.
New York, NY March 13, 2020—Celebrating its seventh year of connecting talented alumni with the film industry, the Columbia Blue List represents the finest unproduced screenplays and television pilots written by recent graduates of the Columbia University School of the Arts graduate Film Program.
The Truffle Hunters, co-directed and produced by alumnus Gregory Kershaw '11, received a warm reception at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Following its success, the documentary was then acquired by Sony Pictures Classic to receive a theatrical release with the exact release date still to be set. According to Deadline, “the documentary went for $1.5 million in a worldwide rights deal, with several distributors bidding.”
Hogar, a feature directed by David Pastor '04 and his brother Alex Pastor, has begun production, and will premiere on Netflix in 2020.
Film and Media Studia BA alumnus Henry-Alex Rubin ’95 won Best-of-Show at Screen Short Film Fest last week for his short Back-to-School Essentials.
Warner Bros. Animation brings back the classic 1984 movie Gremlins in a new animated show co-executive produced and written by undergraduate alumnus Tze Chun ’02.
Uncle Peckerhead, a feature horror-comedy produced by alumni Nicholas Payne Santos '19 and Kristy Richman '19 and assistant directed by alumna Andrea Goocher '19, celebrated its world premiere at Panic Fest in Kansas City earlier this year where it was named among the Best of Fest.
Alumnus Toby Fell-Holden '13 was selected as one of Film London's 2020 Lodestars.
Anna Rebek takes on the task of creating an original Horror work with her Director’s Thesis GASP!
Columbia University undergraduate film alumna Mason Speta ‘17 works on acquisitions at the film distribution company Neon and was thus part of the team that brought Parasite to the United States.
Just across the Columbia University gates, the 10th edition of the Athena Film Festival took place on Barnard College’s campus from February 27 - March 1 with five Columbia filmmakers showing their work.
The SXSW Film Festival returns to Austin from March 13 - March 22 with many Columbia filmmakers participating in the 23rd edition of the festival. Ten of Columbia’s writers, directors, actors and producers are heading to Texas to present their work on six different films at this year’s festival.
