Post Professor Screens Film at Tribeca

Pete Barell Staff Writer

LIU Post’s very own film professor, Lisa Robinson, screened her short film “HOLLOW” at the festival this year. Robinson already has one feature film under her belt with 2011’s “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts” and has an alternating career teaching and making films. With “HOLLOW”, Robinson embarked on a project of sci-fi and futuristic intrigue. In the near future, information on the web is no longer secure, but NeuroLockTM has found a way to encrypt and guard data using the hu- man brain. Iris, young and unemployed, must choose between her bleak prospects and well- paid work as a “Neuro-Messenger,” a career with some serious side effects.

The film was one of seven films com- missioned by ITVS (funded by PBS) as part of their FUTURESTATES series and stars the talented Angelic Zambrana (“Precious”) and Louisa Krause (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”). You can find out more info on the series here: http://futurestates.tv/about/

The Pioneer spoke with Robinson about “HOLLOW, her involvement in the Tribeca Film Festival and her experiences both in and out of the classroom.

The Pioneer: How can you describe the film?

Robinson: The short film is called “HOLLOW.” It’s 20 minutes long. I would categorize it a futuristic drama with some elements of science fiction in it.

TP: At what point did you know the film would be in the festival? What was that process like?

LR: ITVS – the executive producer of the film organized this screening with the Tribeca Film Festival and chose four of the seven Futurestates films. I found out the film was chosen about a month ago.

The film will also launch in May on the online site as part of a roll out of seven films. You can access the series and the trailer for “HOLLOW” through http://futurestates.tv/episodes/hollow.

TP: You already have one feature film under your belt (Small, Beautifully Moving Parts). In what ways were you perhaps more informed and prepped for this new project? Was it smoother?

LR: For “HOLLOW,” I enjoyed focusing on a shorter format. Because it was futuristic there were greater demands put on things like production design, costume, visual FX and locations but I also had more resources allotted to those elements and benefitted from shooting the whole film in Brooklyn rather than all over the country as was the case with “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts.”

TP: You must be a very busy person, budgeting a career making films and a career teaching the art of filmmaking. What is that like? Do you have any advice for college stu- dents looking to become more organized?

LR: I think organization is a very per- sonal thing. Everyone manages it differently. I’m someone who actually enjoys being busy most of the time and I like how my filmmak- ing intersects with and constantly renews my teaching of film. It also works that teaching allows me to focus on film in a different way and can trigger creative ideas. They are pretty symbiotic that way.