The FOCUS course, NY Arts – Then and Now, gives Upper School students an opportunity to appreciate New York City’s storied artistic past and present, as well as consider its future. Students in the course heard from one arbiter of the city’s current creative energy, Juliette Eisner ’07, a filmmaker who visited with the girls on Tuesday, April 16.
Ms. Eisner is co-director and co-producer of the film, Lil Bub and Friendz, a documentary that examines the phenomenon of certain cats’ celebrity on the Internet. The film premieres this week at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Ms. Eisner shared with the girls her journey from Chapin to VICE media, where she works in the Communications department, and under whose auspices she made the film. “I pitched my idea for the film to one of VICE’s senior producers, and he said, ‘Go for it,’” Ms. Eisner told the students. With the company’s blessing, Ms. Eisner moved rapidly from knowing very little about filmmaking to researching and organizing all of the interviews for the movie, as well as operating the camera when necessary. “I was learning the entire time,” she added.
That opportunity to learn a new craft, and to use it to explore popular culture, was one of the things that drew Ms. Eisner to VICE. “I loved the idea of journalism,” Ms. Eisner said. She next plans to put her storytelling skills to work on a documentary about teaching, but first, there’s the Tribeca Film Festival to attend.