September 21 – September 28, 2020

SVA Theatre YouTube

September 10, 2020–New York, NY–This year, School of Visual Arts’ (SVA) annual film and animation festival After School Special will take place virtually, celebrating the work of some of the College’s most accomplished alumni in film, television, animation and visual effects. Beginning September 21 on SVA Theatre’s YouTube page (youtube.com/svatheatre), viewers can watch Q&As and special events with more than 25 alumni whose recent film and television projects include, amongst many others, The Call of The Wild, Get Out, Greyhound, The Midnight Gospel, The Pharmacist, The Plot Against America, Schitt's Creek, Stranger Things, Taste the Nation, Unorthodox, We Bare Bears and Welcome to Chechnya. Videos will premiere throughout the week and remain online for future viewing. For all festival updates, visit: svatheatre.com.

Now in its 7th year, After School Special invites audiences to take a deeper dive into filmmaking with behind-the-scenes insights from industry-leading alumni during Q&A sessions and panels accompanying select screenings. Though the 2020 edition will not feature screenings of the work, it will offer the same curated roster of speakers, showcasing the high caliber of talent produced by SVA’s academic programs. This year’s lineup, more than half of whom identify as BIPOC, represents seven undergraduate and graduate departments in the College. The majority of the works discussed in the Q&As can be viewed on major online platforms and networks, including Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Prime Video, AppleTV+, and video on demand services. All alumni participants will offer insight and a glance into the ways they’re working from home during the pandemic, and will offer advice to students and others who are seeking work in the film and animation industries.

Highlights include:

• Two 2020 Emmy Award nominees will discuss their work: BFA 2000 Film & Video alumnus Martin Ahlgren (cinematographer, The Plot Against America), and MFA 2011 Social Documentary alumnus Alexa Karolinski (co-creator/producer/writer, Unorthodox).
• Victor Ilyukhin (MFA 2014 Social Documentary) and Ann Collins (MFA 2018 Art Writing) will discuss their work as documentary editors on HBO's Welcome to Chechnya and Netflix's The Pharmacist, respectively.
• Q&A with Quenell Jones (BFA 2003 Film and Video) and Scott Ruderman (MFA 2016 Social Documentary) camera operators who've worked on Hulu's Taste the Nation, Netflix's (Un)Well and Jessica Jones, and the Academy Award-winning film Get Out.
• A special Augmented Reality (AR) experience made especially for the festival by alumnus Ninaad Kulkarni (MFA 2017 Computer Art) will be free to download.

In lieu of the annual SVA Premieres: Best of screening, the festival will include a check-in with alumni from three departments (BFA Animation; BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects; and MFA Computer Arts) in "Where Are They Now?" Q&As. Audiences will hear from several alumni whose careers were launched as a result of having their films featured in the SVA Premieres: Best of screenings, including those who have worked on films and shows including The Call of the Wild, Artemis Fowl, We Bare Bears, The Midnight Gospel, Succession, Stranger Things and others.

PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE

Monday 9/21/20

SVA Premieres…Where Are They Now?: BFA Animation | 8:00pm

Hear from recent SVA BFA Animation alumni whose work was featured in our SVA Premieres: Best Of program over the past four years. Alumni Yvonne Hsuan Ho (2016), Fiona Lu (2017), Joe Sulsenti (2017), and Sonja von Marensdorff (2018) will discuss their work, including The Fungies, Losers, The Midnight Gospel, and We Bare Bears.

Tuesday 9/22/20

Swimming in Schitt’s Creek | 8:00PM 

Paul Fox (1990 Film and Video), the award-winning director of 18 episodes of the hit series Schitt’s Creek, discusses his on-set experience with Johnny, Moira, David, and Alexis, while calling from Newfoundland on the set of his next show.

Wednesday 9/23/20

The Art of Documentary Editing | 8:00PM 

Wonder what scenes didn’t make the final cut? We chat with editors Ann Collins (MFA 2018 Art Writing) and Victor Ilyukhin (MFA 2014 Social Documentary) from two of this year’s amazing documentaries, Netflix’s The Pharmacist and HBO’s Welcome to Chechnya.

Thursday 9/24/20

The View from Behind the Camera | 6:30PM 

Quenell Jones (BFA 2003 Film and Video) and Scott Ruderman (MFA 2016 Social Documentary) share their perspective as cinematographers/camera operators on some of our favorite recent films and shows, including Get Out, Marriage Rescue, Taste the Nation, and (Un)Well.

The Making of The Plot Against America | 8:00PM 

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the acclaimed HBO mini-series The Plot Against America from two different angles — with its Emmy-nominated cinematographer, Martin Ahlgren (BFA 2000 Film and Video), and one of its visual effects supervisors, Vicky Penzes (BFA 2013 Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects).

Friday 9/25/20

Food & Art: At Home with Chef Cal Peternell | 6:30PM 

Take a break from bingeing that six-season series and join us in the kitchen with James Beard-nominated cookbook author and longtime Chez Panisse chef Cal Peternell (BFA 1987 Fine Arts), who will teach us a fresh and simple recipe that will please anyone’s palate.

SVA Premieres...Where Are They Now?: MFA Computer Arts | 8:00PM

Hear from recent SVA MFA Computer Arts alumni whose work was featured in our SVA Premieres: Best Of program over the past four years. Alumni Chingtien Chu (2017), Ninaad Kulkarni (2017), Melody Ai-Hsuan Shih (2016), and Mengxi Zhou (2017) will discuss their work, including I Know This Much Is True, When They See Us, CNN Digital content, and a wide variety of commercials and virtual reality projects.

Saturday 9/26/20

Good Shabbos! An Unorthodox Interview | 6:30PM 

We’re in New York and Emmy-nominated creator/writer/producer Alexa Karolinski (MFA 2011 Social Documentary) joins us from Berlin, making up the two cities in which her acclaimed Netflix mini-series Unorthodox is set. Hear about her trans-Atlantic journey to success.

Saturday Night with Va$htie! | 8:00PM 

Vashtie Kola (BFA 2004 Film and Video) has been on the cutting edge of the NYC scene since her SVA days. She’ll tell what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, director, designer, DJ, model, and influencer, and how she became the first woman to design a Jordan sneaker.

Sunday 9/27/20

You Sunk My Battleship: The VFX of Greyhound | 6:30PM 

Joel Sevilla (BFA 1999 Computer Art) talks about getting on board with Tom Hanks, as one of the visual effects captains of the AppleTV+ World War II epic, Greyhound.

SVA Premieres…Where Are They Now?: BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects | 8:00PM 

Hear from recent SVA BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects alumni whose work was featured in our SVA Premieres: Best Of program over the past four years. Alumni Alejandra Alvarez (2017), Elaina Brillantes (2016), Julien Desroches (2016), Sarika Persaud (2019), Christin Scarborough (2017), and Andy Tai (2018) will discuss their work, including The Call of The Wild, gen:LOCK, Motherless Brooklyn, Stranger Things, Nick Jr. content, a variety of commercials, and more.

SVA alumni have been featured in film festivals across the globe, steering their own projects and making integral contributions to blockbuster releases. They have won Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes and awards at festivals such as Sundance, SXSW and the Venice Film Festival. 

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 38,000 alumni in 75 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College’s 31 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, visit sva.edu.