Behind the Screen 2018

On January 28th, 2018, Montclair Film and The Film Institute at Montclair State held their 7th Annual Behind the Screen collaboration event at the School of Communication and Media on Montclair State University’s campus.

Behind the Screen is a day-long program filled with free filmmaking workshops and seminars, designed for students and adults of all backgrounds.

Susan Skoog, the Director of Programming for the Film Institute at Montclair State said, “This collaboration with Montclair Film is one of the highlights of our year, and our students and faculty look forward to welcoming our industry guests and the community to the new state of the art facilities in our School of Communication and Media building.”

The event kicked off with a Acting Masterclass with actors Patrick Wilson and his wife Dagmara Domińczyk. The couple’s presentation drew a large and excited crowd as they discussed the art and craft of acting for TV, film and stage. The couple also advocated for higher education as well as the importance of the Arts.

“The Arts unite us in a way and our voices can be powerful. You change people’s feelings and then you change their minds,” Domińczyk said, “I feel the world needs more artists.”

The second seminar of the day was Matching Character and Actor with Casting Director Avy Kaufman. Kaufman shared her insights on the creative and collaborative casting process. The audience included many acting students from the Montclair State University BFA Acting program who were eager to learn from the award-winning casting director who has been involved in the casting of more than 150 film and television productions.

Up next was Directing the True Crime Documentary with Erin Lee Carr. Carr, who was recently named in Forbes “30 under 30” list of most influential people in media, recounted for the audience her start at Vice to her current position as freelance director for HBO Documentary Films. Carr shared with the audience two trailers of her work she directed and produced for HBO Documentary Films: Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop and Mommy Dead and Dearest. Carr also discussed her fascination with and the challenges of bringing notoriously disturbing true crime stories to the screen.

Costume Design: The Power & Impact of Wardrobe with Daniel Lawson was an insightful seminar right after where viewers watched and listened intently to the costume designer for the hit television show The Good Wife, as he explained the hidden power clothing has on characters and actors, and its impact on stories, culture, and fashion.

The second to last panel, Pitching: The Art and Craft of Selling a Show featured Development Executives Greg Rhem (HBO Docs), Brian Bockrath (Bays Thomas Productions), and Amanda Verdon (AMC/Sundance TV) as they discussed the art and craft of pitching ideas, shows, and stories from the perspective of the buyer and seller. A large crowd of Montclair State University students and patrons from Montclair Film came to learn from the masters about pitching a show or movie.

The event concluded with a powerful panel about the #MeToo movement, featuring actress Kathryn Rossetter, filmmaker Nicole Franklin, producer Rosalind Murphy and local attorney Leslie Faber. The panel started with two short videos by producer/actor David Schwimmer and director Sigal Avin, from a #ThatsHarrassment series that they created. After the videos, a panel discussion took place where real-life effects of dealing with harassment were unearthed and strategies for change and empowerment were explored.

This year was a tremendous success with its broad range of subjects meeting the goals of the Behind the Screen program, providing thought provoking, emotional as well as practical advice for those interested in the fields of film and television.