Not far from where the tween group was working, a teenage girl was directing two actors.
To kill a zombie, a male attacker needed to raise his golf club at a certain point, and should not turn his back to the audience. The female zombie would need to run to a particular spot to engage the attacker, the 17-year-old director said.
Nina Estrella of New Zealand said she was searching on the Internet and found this opportunity.
“I really love film,” Nina said. “I'm trying to up my skills.”
Estrella said she wanted to make a unique film.
“Most of the films that my friends are doing are the usual stalker movie, love story, and I wanted to do something that was more fun and entertaining,” she said, her crew huddled around her.
Pavel Trishin, 15, from Moscow, Russia, is the actor tasked with attacking the zombie. He carried money, dynamite and a golf club. Pavel said his mother told him about the program.
“She said, ‘Do you want to go to L.A.?' I said, ‘Why not?'”
Back in the alley, another group was rehearsing.
A young female director was instructing an actress to get into the frame.
“Camera ready, actors ready, sound ready, rolling,” she said. “Slate.”
Scene one, take one, a boy said, snapping the slate.
“Action,” she yelled.
Liz Stewart, an L.A.-area resident, said she looked at a NYFA pamphlet and thought the program was “awesome.”
“I said, ‘This is perfect for me,’ and begged my mom for two weeks,” Stewart said. “Eventually she agreed because I annoyed her too much. I really love this camp. I think it’s one of the best camps I’ve been to.”
The 12-year-old added: “I have a heart for directing, editing, producing and writing. And that’s what I really, really love to do."
