Samer Saifan is an award - winning filmmaker that has received multiple prizes and nominations in International and domestic film festivals. His independent debut feature film "Red Rain" won Best Narrative Feature in the "Remember the Future World Film Festival in Cannes" and Best Student Feature in "Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift" along with 10+ other awards from different festivals around the world. Based in New York and Los Angeles, Samer is finishing his BFA at New York University.
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To Whom It May Concern:
I am pleased to write the following recommendation for Samer Saifan.
Samer was a student in my Summer, 2022, Sight and Sound Studio class, where he excelled in both the classroom screenings and the hand-on studio sections of the class. In the classroom, Samer consistently offered thoughtful critiques of the other student's work. His critiques were given in the true spirit of collaboration, and the entire class welcomed and benefited from his insightful comments.
For his final studio project, Samer chose to cast and direct a climactic scene from the Tarantino film "Reservoir Dogs." The scene required a complicated set and a difficult lighting set-up, intense performances from the actors, the use of prop guns and special effects. Samer flawlessly shot the scene in two hours, which is a testament to his skill as a director and his ability to motivate actors and work with a studio crew. As a further testament to his work, his peers voted to enter his scene into the prestigious NYU Showcase festival. I continue to show Samer's "Reservoir Dogs" scene to all of my incoming students as an example of what can be accomplished in the studio. They remain as impressed by Samer's work as I was, and I can think of no better endorsement of his talents than that.
Please feel free to contact me atrs7994@nyu.eduor call me at 845-548-8255 should you require additional information.
Sincerely,
Rick Siggelkow
Visiting Arts Professor Tisch School of the Arts
To Whom It May Concern:
I understand the investment New York University makes for each of its students to ensure they will be the most knowledgeable of leaders and that they will creatively and skillfully guide the next century of progress and excellence. Thus, it is my honor to write this letter in recommending Samer Saifan. I have had the pleasure of knowing Samer for the last ten years acting as a mentor and, more recently, assisting me on media content development and production for various projects. His background, creativity, and exceptional personality will be an asset.
Samer’s peers often remark how blessed he is with considerable talent. What many of them overlook is how hard Samer works to cultivate this talent, whether it is the development of his screenwriting and filmmaking skills as a freelancer or of his entrepreneurial skills as he created marketing videos using aerial footage for real estate clients, such as Saifco Construction. I know of the effort and passion that he puts into his aspirations for filmmaking because he stops by periodically to share his enthusiasm for a project and his creative vision for it.
Over the years of being in media content production and leading the production efforts of my start-up company, Pray.com, I have known other students and interns with talent equivalent to Samer’s. Many of them lacked his good nature and humility, and a few demonstrated the genuine intellectual curiosity that Samer has exhibited over and over—a curiosity that is often accompanied by his excitement or enthusiasm for an idea, a new project, or the viewing of a relatively unknown independent film.
Samer is a motivated young man of numerous talents and considerable self-discipline. He is fun loving, likable, enthusiastic, and endlessly creative. It is for these reasons that I offer my highest recommendation for Samer without reservation. His drive and abilities will truly be an asset for anyone in need of service. If you have any questions regarding this recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Max Bard
Vice President of Content at Pray.com