A one night creative event where artists take over the campus at the American Film Institute. Created for the Gilga Internship Application.
Campus life at AFI is intense, with many of us frequently pulling 12 hour days, 7 days a week. Everything we've got is poured into making films. But a lot of us are artists in other ways, too - painters, musicians, poets, photographers, dancers, and more. For me, some of the most creative moments I've ever had have come from the intersection of different mediums of art. And AFI is bursting with creatives ready to express themselves - so it's time to let off some steam by getting creative in a different way.
For one night, we take over the Warner Brothers building on the AFI Campus and turn it into something it's never been: a space for every kind of art our community wants to make. Installation art, performance art, other mediums of visual art - whatever the artists want to do. But no classes, no workshops, no film screenings. We turn the entire building into a transformed space for expressing ourselves in any way we want.
The AFI community is strongest when it's inclusive, and I'm not just talking about fellows. I want staff and faculty and administration to all contribute, because this is their campus, too. As a masters program with a broad range of age and experience, there really isn't much separating fellows from staff. And we should celebrate that, and connect artistically in new ways. I'd love to see what the camera techs at CCD put together, or what the grip equipment folks build out of their old HMI lights. Let's get creative, together!
Directing, producing, editing, cinematography, screenwriting, production design - every discipline gets to make something that isn't a film. Teams are encouraged but not required.
The people who teach us filmmaking are artists too. This is their chance to show us a side we've never seen. I want them creating alongside us, not supervising.
Friends, family, alumni who want to come experience the campus in a completely new way. Art is made to be engaged with, and the Warner Brothers building deserves to be seen like this.
Teams of artists take over different spaces in the Warner Brothers Building and create installations. They can take any form - a sound piece, a painting wall, a light sculpture, a DJ set, a spoken word corner, an interactive projection. The only rule is: make something you don't normally get to make here.
We'll form a planning committee with representation from each of the disciplines, as well as the faculty. We'll decide on a theme or creative prompt early as a jumping off point, and to make the event feel cohesive. We'll open signups, help connect artists in groups, assign spaces for installations, and distribute key information like available equipment, technical specs for each room, and any AFI specific constraints.
Talk to heads of student council groups and make sure every discipline is involved. Go around school, talk to people one-on-one, get them excited. Assign promotion responsibilities to one or more members of the planning committee. Work with artist teams to cross-promote and create material together — posters, flyers, a simple webpage, teaser stills or a short video. Ask every participating artist to engage with promotion and activate their own audiences. Nothing too fancy, but everyone should be pulling people in. I like the idea of a secret puzzle that starts getting promoted on campus - something mysterious that gets the buzz going as people discuss what it might be. As we get closer to the event, more clues will be revealed!
Teams take over their spaces and build. The energy of setup day is half the event - people wandering through, seeing what everyone else is making, getting more excited. We'll have event staff on deck to help solve problems and supervise safety precautions.
Check every installation, make sure power and tech is working, confirm the space is safe and ready. Last chance to troubleshoot before doors open. Hold a launch meeting with all lead artists on their teams.
The campus transforms. Audiences move freely between installations - watch a DJ set in one room, paint in another, sit with spoken word poetry in a third. Maybe we'll have some larger meta-theme installations that encourage people to move from room to room. But ultimately, there's no schedule, no assigned times. It's about exploring and engaging.
I think it would be awesome to end the night with a shared moment to bring everyone together - maybe a final collaborative piece, or just a space where everyone can reflect on the night. Then we clean up and go home creatively recharged.
We spend so long in these halls every day and see them only as one thing. But I'm so excited for someone to walk into WB 102 and not recognize it at all - it's been completely transformed. Maybe a team of wily DPs have turned the whole thing into a light show. Maybe the production designers have converted it into an indoor beach. Maybe Dean Ruskin's performing slam poetry to the beat from the real Slim Shady. Whatever it is, it's a memory and a moment that will stick with you forever - and maybe light up your day the next time you're falling asleep in class.
The creative moment is the feeling of walking through a space you thought you knew and realizing it can be something else entirely. That's what I want people to carry with them after the night is over: the sense that this campus, and the people in it, have more to offer than what fits inside a film.
The biggest logistical challenge is getting institutional buy-in for using the campus this way. The Warner Brothers Building isn't typically available for non-curricular events at night, and there are real considerations around security, access, and liability.
Work with AFI administration early to reserve the building and specific rooms. Present a clear plan with setup/teardown times, capacity limits per space, and a commitment to leaving everything as we found it.
Coordinate with campus security for extended hours, building access, and any fire safety requirements for installations using lighting or electronics. Get the right protocols in place so the school feels confident saying yes.
Inventory what teams need, like power supplies, rigging tools, and lighting equipment. Work with the existing gear rental facilities on campus and see what can be borrowed or rented. We've got generators - can teams use them?
Each discipline has a student council rep. Loop them in early so they can champion the event within their cohort and make sure every discipline has a presence and feels comfortable engaging.
Keep it simple - work with the Cafe and other food vendors on campus to cater light snacks and drinks. Definitely no alcohol on campus, so coffee urns, some snacks, and plenty of water to keep everyone going.
Every team is responsible for restoring their space to how they found it. Build teardown time into the schedule, or arrange for a time the next day that folks can tidy up. The building needs to be ready for classes the next Monday morning.
The real metric is simple: do people want to do it again? Does it live on until next year? Here are some ways we could concretely measure success:
I don't want AFI After Dark to be a one-off. I want it to become the thing people look forward to every semester - the night the campus becomes something different, and we all remember why we came here in the first place.
Drag the lights around and make something cool!
Thanks for reading! Looking forward to hearing from you.