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Derek Cianfrance began making movies at age 13 and directed, wrote, shot, and edited his first feature, Brother Tied, at the age of 23. His second narrative feature, Blue Valentine received wide critical acclaim and his most recent film The Place Beyond the Pines opens on March 29th. Around his features he has filmed documentaries on a wide array of subjects including musicians from Cassandra Wilson to Mos Def. He will share his secrets for hacking the film world to achieve success in one of the world’s most competitive industries and how he combines everything, from working with actors to design and music, to craft his iconic works.

Hacking is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days. Yes, it’s often used to describe activities of pizza and caffeine-fueled programmers working 24 hour days to make groundbreaking code. For the rest of us, however, hacking can mean using one’s own skills to effect or alter an environment in order to gain greater access.

In all creative fields, the hacker employs an element of magic–an unconventional approach that is rarely revealed to (or fully understood by) the outside world. Using strategies and tactics that are often tangential to the core work itself, he or she is able to separate themselves from the pack and achieve revolutionary work.

This series brings three voices, in fields ranging from the visual to the culinary, to lift the veil on their own success, sharing how they have hacked traditional systems and thought-processes within their respective industries to make it big.

The series, curated by AIGA/NY board members Matt Spangler and Eric Adolfsen, will focus each month on a different creative profession, bringing emerging and more established visionaries together in conjunction with MAD’s After The Museum Exhibition.

THIS EVENT IS PRODUCED IN COLLABORATION WITH: