Recent graduates screened their films, met industry experts and alumni and practiced the fine art of networking.
Recent graduates of nine SVA film-related departments at SVA Premieres, together with SVA chairs and staff.
SVA touched down in Los Angeles last week for SVA Premieres, the annual alumni film festival, for the first time in three years—back when Toy Story 4 and The Secret Life of Pets 2 were still fresh in movie theaters. Twenty graduates from the class of 2022 representing nine different undergraduate and graduate programs came to the west coast for a week of activities preparing them for their new careers. Organized by Adam Natale, director of the SVA Theatre and Angie Wojak (BFA 1990 Media Arts), executive director of External Relations, the programming included a special screening of graduates' short films, a visit to the newly opened Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and a day of panels with industry creatives. It was a stellar return to form after the pandemic forced the festival to pause in 2020 and 2021, and the energy among the alumni, staff and invited guests was palpable.
Industry alumni in attendance at the SVA Premieres screening on Thursday, June 2, included animators, producers, directors, storyboard artists, screenwriters, cinematographers, editors, executives and educators from Disney, Dreamworks, Titmouse, Netflix, Cartoon Network, Sony Pictures, Amazon Studios and more. As 17 films premiered at Hollywood’s spectacular Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, the audience was treated to rich storytelling and dazzling visuals across live-action, documentary, animation and computer art.
Highlights included an excerpt from Lydia Erickson’s (MFA 2022 Social Documentary Film) stirring documentary Fire Season, which takes on the effects of climate change ravaging her hometown in northern California; Midas, a fresh and hilarious take on the infamous king and his insatiable need for gold from BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects graduates Lisa Qingyi Liu, Ben Meyer and Mav Vitale; Anna Sørrig’s (MPS 2022 Directing) bittersweet Dying to Survive, based on a true story of mental health struggles within a family; Emma Sawyer’s (BFA 2022 Animation) Parallels at Hand, a vibrant love letter to New York City’s multitudes told through the countless ways we use our hands; and many more from programs including BFA Design, BFA Film, BFA Photography and Video, MFA Computer Arts and MFA Photography, Video and Related Media.
On Friday, June 3, SVA hosted four panels of alumni and other professionals working in the film and animation industries, giving the emerging graduates access to insider expertise as they embark on their post-SVA careers. In one session, producer and director Zachary Drucker (BFA 2005 Photography and Video) and producer Peter Phok (BFA 2003 Film and Video) joined veteran and Academy Award-winning sound mixer Mark Ulano, sound designer Patrushkha Mierzwa, and producer and director Michael Davis to discuss how to create a safe and equitable environment, and how to be a force for change in the industry. In particular, Drucker (The Lady and The Dale, Transparent) spoke about demanding respect and maintaining integrity in an evolving Hollywood, with a focus on transparency and good alchemy on set. Phok (X, The Innkeepers) shared his experiences working with micro budgets and emphasized the importance of lasting relationships—he met his longtime creative partner Ti West (BFA 2003 Film and Video) when both were students at SVA.
SVA BFA Animation department Chair Hsiang-Chin Moe (second from left) with alumni and staff at SVA Premieres in Los Angeles.
An afternoon session brought together Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse director Peter Ramsey, co-founder of LA Animation Fest and 1990s MTV animation stalwart (Daria, Beavis and Butthead) John Andrews, Head of Animation Talent Development for Bento Box Brooke Keesling and USC professor and celebrated animator Tom Sito (BFA 1977 Animation). In a moderated discussion, the group shared the trials and tribulations of their own unconventional paths as production assistants, night shift workers and temps, the lessons learned along the way and the current work that inspires them.
The common thread of the day—and really, of the week—was a sweet one: Stay friends with your classmates. Maintaining relationships with fellow SVA alumni helps build community in a particularly tough industry and ultimately creates a network of chosen families to return to again and again.
