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Friday, August 14th, 2009
"For Film Students, Reel Deal" by Theresa Juva
The Journal News (A Gannett Paper)
PORT CHESTER - For anyone who has ever dreamed of seeing their name on a movie marquee, Monroe Mann is already a fan.
Mann, a self-described "master of many trades," doesn't hesitate to give aspiring filmmakers reach-for-the-stars pep talks.
"If you want to be successful at something and it's your dream and passion, you can't come up with an excuse for failure," says the 31-year-old former military man, who runs Unstoppable Artists' Actors Film School out of a back room at his father's law firm on Westchester Avenue.
"You gotta fight, fight, fight. I learned that from the Army: don't give up, keep going," he says.
His current students will show their 12 short films to the public for the first time tomorrow at the Helen Mills Theater in Manhattan.
Mann, an actor, author, career consultant and Iraq war veteran, launched his own film school last year after realizing that most film schools don't give students all the skills they need to become a Hollywood bigwig. Some focus on acting and others focus on producing, but few offers lessons on turning talent into a real career," he says.
"Talent is assumed," he says. "That's great you're good, but so is everybody else and most everybody else doesn't succeed. What makes the difference is whether your attitude is better than the competition and if you have a better business sense."
During the 10-week course, students write scripts, shoot, and edit, and learn how to market a movie.
The village is the backdrop for the films, which include four- to seven-minute comedies, dramas, and a horror flick. Students shoot in downtown Port Chester and take advantage of the ethnic restaurants and waterfront.
"Any type of genre restaurant you need you can get without going more than two miles," Mann says. "Port Chester is central to anything. If we need big ships, we can go to Mamaroneck. If we need Ferraris, they are in Greenwich."
Mann wants to expand his school to feature-length film classes and plans to open his own entertainment law firm after he graduates from law school next year.
He acknowledges his high ambitions, but hopes his relentless attitude will inspire other artists.
"Be stubborn. Be delusional," he says. "You can't succeed in an entrepreneurial venture, or especially in show business, unless you are deluded into thinking you are somehow different--that you are going to be one of those elusive few who succeed."
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If you are interested in joining the next class, please contact check out all the details at www.ActorsFilmSchool.com
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