NYU Student's 🔑 to Success: High School

Yoni Azulay has put together a team of his high-school buddies to make award winning short films. Here's how he does it.

November 20, 2022

Yoni Azulay is a force of nature.

When Stuudeo started working with students in 2020, Yoni was one of the first filmmakers we worked with to help distribute his films.

There's a confidence in Yoni's films that's clearly comes from his personality. When we asked him for his strategy to become the next great director in Hollywood, he said this:

It’s pretty simple. I’m gonna direct as many great movies as I can, then tell everyone I’m a director. Eventually, the story becomes the truth.

3 years later, Yoni was directing union crew members and actors to produce his action short film, Idle Speed.

Here are 2 films Yoni made with small crews and little money, and his strategies for success.

Hit The Ground Running

During his freshman year at NYU, Yoni put together a crew of 16 for a 1-night shoot. The product was his thriller, Latrodectus

Run time: 3:01

🟨 Latrodectus is being screened in high school film classrooms across the United States, but there are light horror elements.

Latrodectus follows Adrian, an anxious and disturbed man attempting to make his way through a night in New York City.

Yoni shot Latrodectus in 1 night with a crew of 13 NYU students.

Producing In The Pandemic

Run time: 3:00

✅ Jesse's Check-Up is being screened in high school film classrooms across the United States.

Jesse’s Checkup is a thriller about a mother and daughter growing to accept or reject their fears.

When You Watch, Notice:

  • 🔉 The use of sound and music to create tension

  • 👟 The pacing. In three minutes, how many plot threads do we establish?

Yoni produced Jesse’s Checkup in the midst of the pandemic at the beginning of his sophomore year at NYU.

Yoni's competitive advantage doesn't have anything to do with New York City, though. It's his group of high school friends from the suburbs of Philly.

At NYU, everyone wants to be a director or a writer. Sometimes it’s hard finding people who just want to roll up their sleeves and gaff or do sound mixing. That’s why I love working with my crew from back home.

I’m moving out to LA soon, and the whole crew is going with. If we make it, we make it together.

📮 Filmmaking Fan Mail 📮

Reply to this email with your most common questions related to starting your career in filmmaking, college admissions, and producing student films. We'll send a few to Yoni and post his responses at the end of a future issue of the newsletter!