The Fusion Film Festival, NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ premiere student film festival showcasing and celebrating the work of female filmmakers, presents the fall alumni event: a Master Class with the Tisch alumni team that created MONKEY BUSINESS: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators, an award-winning feature documentary.

A cartoon monkey

The Fusion Film Festival, NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ premiere student film festival showcasing and celebrating the work of female filmmakers, presents the fall alumni event: a Master Class with the Tisch alumni team that created MONKEY BUSINESS: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators, an award-winning feature documentary, on Friday, December 1 at 7PM at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, Theatre 006.

Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators premiered at the LA Film Festival, won the Audience Award at the Nantucket Film Festival, and screened at the Rooftop Film Festival. The film is being distributed by The Orchard (Cartel Land, Life Animated) and is currently available on demand and online in over 60 countries.

From director to producer and animator, this full team of all Tisch Undergrad Film talent raised $186,000 on Kickstarter toward the final budget of $600,000, which was completed by The Orchard. This Master Class with the full creative team of Director/Producer/Editor Ema Ryan Yamazaki (Tisch Film 2012), Animator Jacob Kafka (Tisch Film 2012), Producer/Archivist Emily Harrold (Tisch 2012), Background/Storyboard Artist Janice Rim (Tisch Film 2012), Cinematographer/Co-Producer Marc Katz (Tisch Film 2012, Visual Effects/Titles Matt Porosrske (Tisch Film 2009), and Kickstarter Campaign Manager Annie Bush will walk through their total process from origin to post. A filmmaker reception sponsored by Bareburger follows the event. This event is free and open to the entire NYU Community.
    
Curious George is the most popular monkey in the world. However, the story of his creators, Hans and Margret Rey, is still largely unknown. The Reys were a husband and wife team, who both came from Jewish families in Hamburg, Germany, and later became global refugees and immigrants to America. On makeshift bicycles carrying the original Curious George manuscript, they rode across Nazi occupied Europe in search of freedom. Using animation, archival materials, and interviews, MONKEY BUSINESS: The Adventures Of Curious George's Creators explores the extraordinary lives of the Reys, who were as curious and adventurous as George himself.

Director/producer/editor Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s other work includes a documentary about Martin Scorsese’s film Silence for NHK (the Japanese national broadcaster), co- producer and editor on the HBO Documentary Class Divide, which won the grand jury prize at DOC NYC in 2015. Her work has also screened on Al Jazeera English, PBS, and CNN, as well as at Sundance Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, and Tribeca Film Festival.

For more information, visit fusionfilmfestival.com.

ABOUT FUSION FILM FESTIVAL:
The Fusion Film Festival is New York University’s premiere festival dedicated to celebrating women in film, television, and new media from student to icon. Founded in 2003 at Tisch School of the Arts by two students, Emma Heald and Gina Abatemarco, Fusion has been passionately guided by Kanbar Film Professor Susan Sandler.
 
Fusion offers programming throughout the school year, culminating in a three day spring festival of screenings, industry panels, master classes, retrospectives, networking events, and competitions in fourteen categories all focused on women’s voices and work behind the camera. Fusion is proud to be an Allied Partner of the Sundance Institute’s Women’s Initiative. In the fifteen years since its launch, Fusion has attracted scores of accomplished artists and visionaries from across the industry to mentor and inspire the next generation of great storytellers.

The Sixteenth Annual FUSION FILM FESTIVAL will be held April 5-8, 2018 offering free screenings, industry panels, pitch competitions, master-classes, retrospectives, networking events, competitions in fourteen distinct categories, and student showcases.

FUSION 2018 has announced opening of SUBMISSIONS for the 2018 Festival with guidelines and application available on Fusion’s website: www.fusionfilmfestival.com Submission Deadline: February 19, 2018

Logo: Monkey Business The Adventures of Curious George's Creators

Press Contacts

Cheryl Feliciano
Cheryl Feliciano
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Sarah Binney
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