Rabinowitz : Getting into The Swing of Things

NYU sophomore Tyler Rabinowitz is getting into the Swing of Things....literally. 

Well into his second year at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, he's already found his passion and is running...or should I say, dancing with it. On top of all of the features and facets that come with being a college-kid, Rabinowitz is an aspiring film director, and already has numerous successes under his belt; including being named as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. While balancing a heavy course load, volunteering with kids, keeping up with friends, exercising, and tearing up the concrete jungle of New York, Rabinowitz is also working towards a career in children's programming.

Following an internship at Warner Bros. last summer, Rabinowitz gained inspiration for his latest cinematic success: The Swing of Things, a charming short film based on the 1940s-inspired by Grandpa Al.  

So swing your way into Rabinowitz's world of the 1940s and watch the film through the link below, and join in our conversation about this film, his goals, and his newest film in production!

The Swing of Things

LS: Tell us a bit about yourself. School/interests/hobbies/etc.

TR: I go to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, majoring in Film and Television and looking to do a double minor in the Business of Entertainment, Media, & Technology and Children and Adolescent Mental Health Sciences. I’m really interested in producing, directing, and writing feature films but have recently found that I also care a lot about children’s programming and am working on writing a potential pilot for an animated series. I am starting to tutor elementary school children, who need help with writing, but when I’m not in class or working on upcoming projects, I really value the time I spend with my friends. In my biased opinion, the people I’ve met in New York City are some of the most brilliant young artists and with some of the biggest hearts in the world. I feel flattered to call some of them my friends.

Additionally, I have found myself getting really involved with an exercise routine. I absolutely love going to the gym – it releases endorphins and I honestly feel like it puts me in the right mindset to work towards the ridiculous goals I set for myself. I’m also really into meditation. I give myself about ten minutes each day when I’m in the shower getting ready to just clear my mind through meditation. It helps so much. I also love to doodle, which I’d argue in many ways is a form of meditation. I find it to be one of the most relaxing things in the world.

 

LS: Where did you get the idea or origin of the Swing of Things. How did you get started?

 TR: In the summer of 2012, I received an unbelievable opportunity to get to work at Warner Bros. in Burbank, CA as an intern in their Worldwide Television Marketing department. I absolutely loved working there, but living in Los Angeles completely independently was actually one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I was using the money I was making through my job to pay for my living expenses, and therefore couldn't afford a car. I felt so isolated because all my life I had been surrounded by commotion. I grew up in south Florida in a family of six with three dogs, and then I left for Manhattan - where I now attend NYU Tisch. So I've always been around people. I never realized how much I needed to be in the company of others. I was completely alone. But while I was alone, I found myself flipping through channels on the TV and came across a black and white scene of people in the 1940's at a swing dance party. It looked like so much fun - and keeping in mind what was happening historically at that time I found it amazing that in a world filled with tension and fear these people were able to escape to these swing dance halls. It felt magical. I became infatuated with swing dance. Every night when I felt really anxious living on my own, I'd watch clips of swing dance/lindy hop on YouTube repeatedly. This one was one of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf55gHK48VQ

So, when I came home for about a week before returning to school for my sophomore year, I told my parents that one day I'd love to recreate a swing dance hall for one of my movies. My dad and I had a conversation about how my grandpa Al loved to swing dance, and how he loved the music - especially "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller. Unfortunately, the memories I have of my grandpa Al aren't the brightest since as I was growing up he suffered from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). He ultimately lost control of all of his muscles. 
He couldn't even talk or really smile, yet alone dance.

Imagining my grandpa Al swing dancing was a thought that really stuck with me. I imagined him that he would be the life of the party - that if he were to step onto that dance floor all the joy bottled up inside of him when he was sick would come bursting out like a flash of light, and spread like wildfire to everyone else in the room. Some time after my dad and I had this conversation, I came across a photo of grandpa Al swing dancing. It was one of those moments where you are just overwhelmed with chills. I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I knew that I was going to find a way to capture the feeling I felt when I found that photo and share the joy of swing dance with the world. 

In memory of Rabinowitz's Grandpa Al

The class I was about to take at Tisch in the fall was called Sight and Sound: Filmmaking - a class all sophomores take where we shoot five black and white films in one semester. Somehow, some way, my final film for this class was going to bring the world of a 1940's swing dance party to life. I was so passionate about the idea that I needed to make it happen right away. I couldn’t let it rattle around in my head any longer.

Rabinowitz on the set

LS: The filming/production process. How did it go? Things you learned on set about filming/producing/yourself?

TR: The production process was an incredibly difficult yet rewarding journey. We didn’t know if we had official approval to actually make the film from NYU Production Supervision until three days before the shoot because of how many logistics were involved. But I was determined to work through every problem that came up. I didn’t have a budget for the film when I first decided I needed to make it, so along the way I worked two jobs to totally fund the project because I didn’t feel I was at a level yet where I had the right to ask others to donate money so that I could make a movie. It made me more connected to the project. Also, my grandpa Al was known for being hilariously stubborn, so in a way I felt like I was carrying on that part of him as I insisted on working to raise this money on my own. I didn’t want even my parents to pay a penny. This is just one example, but honestly in all facets of my life I was totally one hundred percent immersed in this project. It was a little bit scary because I legitimately felt like I was living in the world of the film for four months, but it was a really special experience for me. There were so many times that I could’ve given up—whether it was when Hurricane Sandy hit in the middle of our crucial rehearsal period and I didn’t even know if my cast was safe or if our shooting location had been flooded out, or when I was lugging a 100 lb. bag of 1940’s costumes five blocks down 3rd Ave. in the middle of a Nor’easter because the cab driver didn’t feel safe to continue driving. But I just laughed when things like that happened. No matter what, I was not going to let anything get in the way of me making this film. If a problem came up, I wouldn’t dwell on it. I’d immediately search for solutions. The image of my grandpa Al swing dancing was constantly in my mind, and I really do think that in a very spiritual way he helped me find the answers to the problems I faced.

“The Swing of Things” was definitely a crash course in filmmaking for me. I’m not at the level yet where I have access to a full crew, so I not only wrote, directed and produced the film but I also was the director of photography, art director, production designer, and even measured the cast for their costumes. I found that I really love so many parts of the process—I could be happy producing for the rest of my life, or possibly even art directing. But I think that what I loved most about the entire process was that I had the chance to work with some of the most incredibly kind, wonderfully gifted people. Before I knew it, we had so many people supporting the project and volunteering their time to act, to dance, to choreograph, to play music, to do hair and makeup. It was unbelievable. I felt a little like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. I had no idea so many people were out there who believed in me to the extent that they would sacrifice so much time and give so much effort to help make this film happen.

Opening title of Rabinowitz's "The Swing of Things"

LS: After it was all said and done, how do you feel about this project, and how did you share it? What kind of reactions have you received?

TR: For me, the success of the film was simply in making it. Going through such a grueling journey to actually reach our production date made the moment we wrapped our shoot feel like we had just won a marathon. I went home a couple days later for Thanksgiving and I don’t think I had ever stopped smiling since the shoot. But at the same time, I wanted to make sure that I was able to edit together a film that would reflect the journey we went through and the joy I felt on the shoot day. I screened it for my class at the end of the semester, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt more humbled in my entire life. I hoped they would like the film, but when one of my classmates told me it was “magical” that really stuck with me. That’s a reaction I’ve continued to hear. I screened it at Tisch School of the Arts on February 1st for the cast and crew (there were 35 people involved), their friends, and anyone else who wanted to attend, and again I kept hearing that it felt “magical.” That’s why I love making movies. They make people believe in magic again. 

LS:  What are your plans for the future? What do you hope to eventually achieve?

TR: While I’m continuing with my studies at Tisch, I would love to get started in creating children’s programming. I think that that’s an outlet through which we as filmmakers can make an immediate impact on our world, because I feel this is a tremendous opportunity for us to facilitate the social and emotional development of children by teaching them about problems that they might face and how they might deal with them. I hope to create a show that can aid child development, while still being a show that is extremely entertaining and features characters that children will love as much as I loved characters like Doug and Tommy Pickles when I was younger. Beyond that, through my coursework I’m working on screenwriting, producing, and directing and I hope to be creating work for film and television for a very long time. But more than anything, I think that at the root of all of my work really what I want to do is show people the importance of imagination and the way that art can captivate us, inspire us, and educate us. Again, if you’ve seen It’s a Wonderful Life, when George Bailey hits rock bottom Clarence the Angel comes down and shows him how important he is and shows him the good that exists in his world. I hope that no matter what it is I end up doing with my life, I can be the Clarence to the George Bailey’s of the world.

LS: Do you have any films in planning or production right now? Can you give us a sneak preview?

TR: Right now I’m collaborating with Blake Krapels, a dancer at The Juilliard School, on a dance film featuring his entire sophomore class of 26 dancers. Blake and I were roommates in Washington, D.C. when we were named 2011 U.S. Presidential Scholars. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan honored us with National Medallions, and Blake had the chance to dance on the Kennedy Center stage, while my work was screened at the Kennedy Center and placed in an exhibition at the Smithsonian for a month. It was an unforgettable experience and we’ve remained great friends ever since. So this has been a wonderful opportunity to work together and I hope that the film will raise awareness of some of the world’s brightest emerging dancers while also inspiring other dancers and filmmakers to explore this fascinating genre of dance film. Look out for the finished product this fall!

LS: Quote to live by?

TR: There are a lot of quotes that I really love, but this video of Mister Rogers giving his acceptance speech for his Lifetime Achievement Award at the Emmys in 1997 is really something to live by. The world needs more people like Mister Rogers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upm9LnuCBUM

{Photos courtesy of Tyler Rabinowitz}