Veteran Industry Outreach
CAREER SERVICES AND INDUSTRY OUTREACH
The Career Services and Industry Outreach Center is a resource for students as they take the next step in their careers. The Center helps students polish their resumes, cover letters and other business correspondence; helps students perfect verbal pitches for projects; provides students information on internship, volunteer, and job opportunities; and helps students create their own “brand” as they market themselves as professionals upon graduation.
The Center also brings professionals from the entertainment industry in to speak with students, as well as arranges field trips to studios, production companies, and guild and union headquarters. The DVS has also worked with major studios including Disney, We the Mighty, Hired Heroes, Lionsgate, Voltage Pictures, Mar Vista Entertainment and many others to provide internship opportunities to our veteran students.
For more information, please contact Barbara Weintraub at barbara.weintraub@nyfa.edu.
Here are some additional resources available to veterans to assist in finding employment, including Veterans Employment Toolkit and Military OneSource.
Financial Aid - Financial Aid for Veterans
VETERANS IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT (BOTH NY AND LA)
The New York Film Academy’s Division of Veterans Services supports Veterans in Media and Entertainment efforts by hosting VME events and inviting representatives from VME to speak to enrolled veterans. Several NYFA veteran students are members of the VME organization who have been highlighted for their work.
Veterans in Media and Entertainment is a nonprofit networking organization that unites current and former members of the military working in the film and television industry. Created and operated by veterans, VME makes it simple and easy for the film and television industry to connect with the veteran community working within it. It is a resource for the film/TV industry to find and hire veterans. It is also an organization for veterans who work, or aspire to work, in film/TV to interact with, support, and learn from each other.
For more information, visit: www.vftla.org.
HIRE HEROES USA
The New York Film Academy College of Visual and Performing Arts (NYFA) Division of Veterans Services has collaborated with Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) to host day-long exclusive employment workshop for NYFA’s veteran students at its campuses in Los Angeles and New York. Hire Heroes USA is a nonprofit that provides free, expert career coaching and job sourcing to hundreds of transitioning U.S. military members, assisting veterans and spouses with finding employment.
For more information, visit: https://www.hireheroesusa.org/.
THE SOLDIERS PROJECT
The New York Film Academy Office of Veterans Services has partnered with the The Soldiers Project to ensure veteran students have the resources to manage any mental health needs they may be dealing with. A clinician from The Soldiers Project visits the campus in Los Angeles weekly to provide free, confidential counseling to veteran students on campus. Additionally, The Soldiers Project provides training to faculty members about the reintegration issues that many veterans face when transitioning out of the military and into higher education.
The Soldiers Project is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, unlimited, and confidential mental health counseling services to post-9/11 Veterans and their loved ones. Returning home from being in combat presents difficult challenges for the individual and his or her support system. Servicemembers, wives, husbands, children, parents, and other loved ones are all affected by the separation that is part of serving in the military, but the transition of “coming home” brings additional challenges.
For more information, visit: www.thesoldiersproject.org.
AMERICAN CORPORATE PARTNERS (BOTH NY AND LA)
American Corporate Partners (ACP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting veterans in their transition from the armed services to the civilian workforce. With the help of business professionals nationwide, ACP offers veterans tools for long-term career development through mentoring, career counseling, and networking opportunities. With the belief that one-on-one relationships enhance an atmosphere of mutual understanding, respect, and support, ACP aims to strengthen the connection between corporate America and veteran communities.
For more information, visit: www.acp-usa.org.
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
The New York Film Academy Office of Veterans Services has worked with the California Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure the veteran students enrolled understand the benefits available to them. In partnership with CalVets, NYFA produced and directed a film for returning service members, please view the film here.
For more information, visit: www.cdva.ca.gov.
OPERATION GRATITUDE
The New York Film Academy Office of Veterans Services has worked with Operation Gratitude to provide care packages to NYFA veteran students and service members deployed overseas. Operation Gratitude annually sends 100,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment, and handmade items, plus personal letters of appreciation, to veterans, first responders, wounded servicemembers, care givers, and individually named U.S. Servicemembers deployed overseas. Operation Gratitude’s mission is to lift the spirits and meet the evolving needs of our active duty and veteran communities, and provide volunteer opportunities for all Americans to express their appreciation to members of our military. Each package contains donated products valued at $75-100 and costs the organization $15 to assemble and ship. Since its inception in 2003, Operation Gratitude volunteers have shipped more than one million care packages.
For more information, visit: www.operationgratitude.org.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS
The New York Film Academy Office of Veterans Services has partnered with the Los Angeles County Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (LA MVA) to connect current veteran students with the resources they may require. Services include access to Veterans Service Officers (VSOs) for assistance in filing claims as well as other resources for pension/compensation, employment, healthcare, education, military records, and housing.
LA MVA is located at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in downtown Los Angeles. This historical building houses many veteran resources as well as opportunities for outside entities to reserve spaces for veteran functions/events.
For more information, visit: http://mva.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/mva/home.
WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION (WFG) VETERANS WRITING RETREAT
The New York Film Academy (NYFA) was privileged to host the 2017 Writers Guild Foundation (WGF) Veterans Writing Retreat at the College’s campus in Burbank, CA. NYFA’s media content team and an all-veteran student crew filmed the event, which provided the vet students studying Filmmaking, Documentary, and Producing at NYFA with the valuable hands-on experience of working a large-scale production event.
WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT
The New York Film Academy has partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) to offer free workshops to WWP warriors and their families at the Los Angeles and New York campuses. The mission of Wounded Warrior Project® is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
For more information, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.
CASTING SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Division of Veterans Services welcomed the Casting Society of America (CSA) to the College’s campus in Burbank, CA for a panel discussion specifically tailored for military veterans. The stellar group of industry professionals shared all-important information about the business side of the acting vocation. The Casting Society of America (CSA) was created in February of 1982 with the intent of establishing a recognized standard of professionalism in the casting field and providing its members with a support organization to further their goals and protect their common interests.
CSA currently boasts more than 700 members. CSA Casting Directors and Associates work around the world, with members based in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Africa. Today CSA acts as a global resource for producers, directors and creative teams seeking casting professionals, promotes the image of casting directors and associates worldwide, engages in a number of charitable activities, and supports its members by sharing important and helpful professional information of common interest.
For more information, visit http://www.castingsociety.com/.
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, also known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Inc. is an American veterans' organization established on September 29, 1899, who as soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen served the U.S. in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign soil or hostile waters. The VFW has graciously hosted several of NYFAs veterans events, including the NYFA Student Veterans Organization monthly meetings.
For more information, visit: www.vfw.org.
LA MAYOR GARCETTI'S OFFICE
NYFA Veteran students worked with LA Mayor Garcetti on his 10,000 strong hiring initiative by filming the monumental event. This event was held in celebration of Mayor Garcetti’s one-year anniversary of the launch of the 10,000 Strong Hiring Initiative. The initiative was created to connect veterans with employers seeking to hire former service members. The New York Film Academy received a Certificate of Appreciation from Mayor Garcetti on behalf of the city of Los Angeles and its residents for delivering our media services.
For more information, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBr1K-8jPFI.
WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION
Founded in 1966, the Writers Guild Foundation is the premier resource for emerging writers and movie and TV lovers in Hollywood. Boasting a busy calendar of high-value events and a vast, seemingly bottomless toolbox for writers, the Foundation is unmatched in its mission to promote and preserve the craft, history, and voices of screen storytelling.
A nonprofit entity, we’re proud of all that we do for the community, including our Veterans Writing Project, our High School Screenwriting Workshops, our Archive, and the Shavelson-Webb Library – the world’s only library devoted entirely to writing for the screen. The New York Film Academy was proud to host the 2017 WGF Veterans Writing Project at its campus in Burbank, CA.
For more information, visit: https://www.wgfoundation.org/.