For Immediate Release:
CONTACT: Prof. Kristie Velasco (917) 719-0293 mediamanagement@metropolitan.edu or kvelasco@metropolitan.edu
Nancy Gerstman
New York, NY – March 3, 2015 – The Metropolitan College of New York School (MCNY) for Business Media Management MBA program is proud to announce that Director/Writer/Producer Rashaad Ernesto Green and Zeitgeist Film Co-President Nancy Gerstman will be panelists at the MCNY 6th Annual Short Film Festival on April 9, 2015 at the MCNY Conference Center, 431 Canal Street, New York, NY.
Nancy Gerstman is Co-President and Co-Founder of the New York-based distribution company Zeitgeist Films. Formed with Emily Russo in 1988, Zeitgeist acquires and distributes independent films internationally, including first films by notable directors Todd Haynes, Christopher Nolan, Francois Ozon, the Quay Brothers and Gianni di Gregorio.
Rashaad Ernesto Green
A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Graduate Film Program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York native Rashaad Ernesto Green was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize for his first feature film Gun Hill Road, starring Esai Morales and Judy Reyes, which premiered in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Competition and garnered a Best Supporting Actress win for the performance by Harmony Santana at the Independent Spirit Awards.
With the theme of “Converging Futures,” the festival is a two-day celebration of both the business and creative aspects of the film industry that continue to grow and expand into divergent media fields as content and technology converge. The festival, which grew out a classroom project, has developed into a platform for burgeoning filmmakers, and provides real time project management experience for the school’s media management MBA students.
The Annual Short Film Festival Poster Competition is accepting submissions through March 15th the official Festival poster. All students from any institution are eligible to submit.
“This is the sixth year that students have been producing and marketing the Annual Short Film Festival as part of our Media Management MBA program,” says Prof. Kristie Velasco, Director of the Media Management MBA Program for MCNY. “I am incredibly proud of the students and alumni who over the years have successfully cultivated the festival. Now, established internationally, the film festival has received over 1000 submissions this year from around the globe.”
“The festival has become an annual opportunity for students to get practical, hands‑on experience in the business and management of planning and producing a multi-day film festival with a global reach,” says Dr. Tilokie Depoo, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the School for Business. “We are truly excited to welcome these industry leaders to speak about their experiences in film and provide insight into challenges facing filmmakers and business managers in the rapidly changing media industry.”
The event is free and open to the public. Additional information, including winning films from prior years, is available on our website at www.mcny.edu/filmfestival.
About Nancy Gerstman
Born in Queens, NY, Nancy Gerstman has worked in all aspects of film distribution and exhibition including a stint at Landmark Theatre Corp., the largest independent theatre chain in the US, and is Permanent Artist-in-Residence in the Master’s Program in Media and Communication Arts at City College of New York. The films of her distribution company, Zeitgeist, have received international acclaim, including five Academy Award nominations and one win, for Nowhere In Africa as Best Foreign Language Film.
About Rashaad Ernesto Green
Rashaad Ernesto Green was the recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation Award and Spike Lee Fellowship at NYU and was included in Filmmaker Magazine’s elite 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2010 and indieWIRE’s 2009 Ten New Voices in Cinema. In 2011, he won the 2011 Horizon Award at the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, and has been supported by HBO, Time Warner, Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, the HUMANITAS Foundation, NALIP and IFP.
About MCNY MBA in Media Management
Founded in 1964 by educational pioneer Audrey Cohen, Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY) has been dedicated to helping students achieve their academic dreams for over 50 years. The only one of its kind in the country, the one-year Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) accredited Master of Business Administration in Media Management at MCNY is a unique Purpose Centered Education program geared towards achievement-oriented media professionals. The curriculum balances traditional MBA competencies with those particular to the media industry. To accommodate working professionals, classes meet on evenings and weekends. For more information about the school or the Media Management program visit us at www.mcny.edu or call 1‑800‑33‑THINK.
