CONTRACTED
November 17, 2013, 5:00 P.M.
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Outside the Box [Office] and IFC Midnight invite you and a guest to a special preview screening of
Contracted
Produced by Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz,
and Eric England
Followed by a Q&A with Eric England
and Actress Najarra Townsend
Moderated by Dr. David Lerner, Ph.D.
5:00 P.M. on Sunday, November 17th, 2013
900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
2013 CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
2013 NEW YORK CITY HORROR FILM FESTIVAL
2013 SITGES FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA FANTASTIC DE CATALUNYA
Opens in L.A. on Friday, November 22
About Contracted
Contracted tells the cautionary tale of Samantha, a twenty-something party girl with little discipline and even less direction. After experiencing a lapse in her relationship with her lover, she’s forced to move back in with her overbearing mother. Samantha’s only means to escape seems to come in the form of a flower competition that she’s determined to win. Things take a turn for the worse when Samantha spends the night with mysterious man, leaving her hung-over and guilt-ridden. However, something else is wrong with Samantha. Something is infecting her. Unsure of the disease or the man who gave it to her, she must attempt to hide it from her loved ones. Now, Samantha realizes she is not just the victim of an STD, but rather the host of something much more catastrophic. Prepare to witness a zombie film like you’ve never even imagined.
Provided courtesy of IFC Midnight. Not rated. Running time: 78 minutes.
About the Guests
ERIC ENGLAND (Writer/Director/Producer)
In 2010, 22 year-old Arkansas native Eric England wrote and directed his first fully financed feature, Madison County, after graduating top of his class from the Los Angeles Film School only two years prior. The film went on to sell out the 2011 Screamfest Film Festival (the only project that year to do so, beating out Chillerama, The Innkeepers, etc.), eventually securing distribution via Image Entertainment. Due to the success of Madison County, Eric was given the opportunity to direct Roadside, a Hitchcockian thriller in the vein of Phone Booth and Buried, which is on track to premiere in 2013.
Contracted shows a new side to the young director, showcasing a unique ability to present intimate art-house flare with gut-wrenching horror and a "mainstream" aesthetic that's as wide in scope as it is in suspense. He is currently working on a project for Chiller TV. England is represented by Mosaic Media Group.
NAJARRA TOWNSEND (Actress, "Samantha")
Najarra made her on screen debut at the age of 11, and has since gone on to appear in over 55 titles. Najarra's performance in the Sundance and Cannes?winning Me and You and Everyone We Know (which went on to gross over 3 million in the domestic Box Office, and over 8 million worldwide) in 2005 drew international notice. The LA Weekly named her role as one of the Top 10 Great Small Performances for "frankness, innocence, snarky humor, vulnerability and girl?power defiance". She has played the titular character in various films, including: Tru Loved, Marin Blue, Betty I Am, and has appeared in various other Indie favorites.
Contracted introduces a new side to the young actress; one that we hope will have her fans’ jaws dropping.
About the Moderator
DAVID LERNER received his MA and PhD from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. His dissertation, “A Taste for Trash: The Persistence of Exploitation in American Cinema, 1960-1975,” explores key aesthetic, economic, and legal developments in the post-war American film industry filtered through the lens of exploitation film practices. His areas of scholarly interest include independent cinema, criticism and the construction of taste, representations of sexuality, and media industry studies. He has published work on nostalgia for the grindhouse in the collection Cinema Inferno, and an urban analysis of HBO’s The Wire in Quarterly Review of Film and Video. He currently teaches film and television courses at University of Southern California, Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, and CSU – Fullerton.
About Outside the Box [Office]
Outside the Box [Office] is a weekly showcase for upcoming releases highlighting world cinema, documentary and independent film titles. Recognizing a need for greater diversity on campus, the series will draw from around the globe to present movies that may challenge, inspire or simply entertain.
To view the calendar of screenings, click here.
Check-In & Reservations
This screening is free of charge and open to the public. Please bring a valid USC ID or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 4:30 P.M.
All SCA screenings are OVERBOOKED to ensure seating capacity in the theater, therefore seating is not guaranteed based on RSVPs. The RSVP list will be checked in on a first-come, first-served basis until the theater is full. Once the theater has reached capacity, we will no longer be able to admit guests, regardless of RSVP status.
Parking
The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $10.00 at USC Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & McClintock Avenue. We recommend parking in Parking Structure D, at the far end of 34th Street. Metered street parking is also available along Jefferson Blvd.
Contact Information
Name: Alessandro Ago
Email: aago@cinema.usc.edu