PAST EVENTS
The Back Room
JULY 2024
In July, 2024, we were delighted to host a screening of 3 of the MFA films of Back Room alumni with the filmmakers and composers. We were absolutely thrilled to have producers Judy Cairo and Michael Simpson of Cairo/Simpson Entertainment and Informant Media as panelists. In addition to giving their observations about the films, Judy and Michael generously shared their own career journeys
The films we screened were Little Drummer Boy, by Sheldyn (Sam) Moore, scored by Tom Zylbersztein, Stay by Eli Salibi, scored by Zohar Elnatan, and Poppy by Elise Nation, scored by Neil Pessach. We also viewed clips from South Carolina Educational Television Series The Cool and the Strong, by director Sam Moore, written by Stephanie Perry Moore–who was a very special guest at the program– produced by Perry Moore Entertainment, and scored by Tom Zylbersztein! This collaboration came about through their meeting via the Back Room, and the series has already been nominated for Southeast Emmys and has won Telly awards!
We look forward to many more successful collaborations, and to hosting additional screenings in the coming months. In the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy watching–and listening to–these films and their scores.
AUGUST 2022
Since we launched the Back Room Project in 2020, we've been thrilled with the wonderful films and music resulting from this collaboration between the students at the University of Georgia's Grady College and the Jerusalem Academy of Music & Dance. Now we're delighted to share a taste of 3 films whose makers and composers participated in the 2021-22 Back Room.
Click on the links below to a preview of the results of three of these collaborations: Little Drummer Boy by filmmaker Sheldyn (Sam) Moore with music by Tom Zylberstein; Stay by filmmaker Elias Saliba, music by Zohar Elnatan; and Breach by filmmaker Nalani Dowling and music by Hadassa Daniels.
JULY 2022
Cross-Cultural Creative Collaboration: A Conversation with Student Filmmakers and Composers in the US and Israel (+ Special Guest George Clinton)
Now you can watch our July 27 Conversation on Creative Cross-Cultural Collaboration with 3 sets of student filmmakers and composers in the US and Israel! Paired through our Back Room Project, these emerging filmmakers from the University of Georgia's Grady College and composition students from the Jerusalem Academy of Music & Dance, have been collaborating for several months on original scores for their films. They discussed their work together and we watched short clips from their films: Sheldyn Moore 's "Little Drummer Boy", with music by Tom Zylberstein; Eli Saliba's "Stay", with music by Zohar Elnatan, and Jackson Mulkey's "Let Go", scored by Neil Pessach. And we were super-fortunate to have a special guest, Composer George S. Clinton, who has scored over 100 films and has won multiple awards to share his expertise with the students, and give us all detailed insight into how music and film intertwine to make great storytelling!
NOVEMBER 2022
On November 11, we switched that perspective with our special guest Jeff Beal, 5-time Emmy Award winning composer (whose credits include House of Cards, Blackfish, HBO's Monk and many more), gave a class in music in film and other visual media from the point of view of the composer.
Jeff Beal
NOVEMBER 2022
On November 18, director and producer Emilio Schenker, gave an online lecture to the group on the importance of music in film, from the point of view of both a director and a producer.