Outside the Box [Office] and A&E Network invite you and a guest to a special preview screening of
 

L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later

About L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later

About the Guests

JOHN SINGLETON (Executive Producer)

John Singleton is a film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for directing Boyz n the Hood (1991). For the film, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming the first African American and youngest person to have ever been nominated for the award. Singleton is a native of South Los Angeles and many of his early films, Higher Learning (1995), and Baby Boy (2001), consider the implications of inner-city violence. Some of his other films include Rosewood (1997), Shaft (2000), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), and Four Brothers (2005). Singleton recently created the crime drama series Rebel for BET and co-created Snowfall for FX. Singleton was filming Poetic Justice (1993) with Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur on April 29, 1992 when he heard the verdict in the Rodney King case was about to be announced. News cameras captured his outrage at the verdict outside the Simi Valley courthouse, and he was an outspoken media presence during the riots and their aftermath. He graduated from USC's School of Cinematic Arts filmic writing program in 1990.

One9 (Director and Co-Executive Producer)

One9 is an award-winning multimedia artist, director, producer and editor. His clients have included Google, A&E, PBS, Viacom, Sony Music, Smithsonian Institution and the Barclays Arena. One9 made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed feature film Nas: Time is Illmatic, which was selected to premiere as the opening night film in the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and has since toured the film internationally in London, Paris, Spain, The Netherlands, Australia, Korea and Japan. The film peaked at #1 on iTunes and is currently shown on Showtime Network, iTunes and Netflix. One9 recently produced a documentary on Race in America with PBS called The Talk.

ERIK PARKER (Director and Co-Executive Producer)

Erik Parker is a journalist and filmmaker who has worked across platforms to tell compelling stories. He is the writer and producer of Nas: Time is Illmatic, a feature-length documentary about the making of Nas’ 1994 debut album and the social conditions that influenced its creation. Parker is the co-director of the A&E documentary L.A. Burning, which revisits the '92  L.A. Riots 25 years later and gives voice to the lives affected and the lessons learned. In other directorial work, Parker shines a light on the struggles and triumphs of black women in comedy with the VH1 documentary, All Jokes Aside. He directed and produced the docu-short, The Gospel According to Kirk Franklin for MTV, wherein he takes a close-up look at the music and spiritual journey of gospel singer Kirk Franklin. As producer, he helped elevate the deeply emotional and personal stories seen on The Talk: Race In America, a PBS documentary that examines the rash of police shootings and how the violence affects Black and Hispanic communities. Prior to becoming a documentary filmmaker, Parker served as senior editor for The Source magazine and music editor for the ASME Award-winning VIBE magazine. He has written for Rolling Stone, The New York Times and The Village Voice. Parker is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and is always looking for a good story to tell.

TERRY ELLIS (Interviewee)

Terry Ellis was born and raised in South Central. Ellis is a lifetime Angeleno, father, grandfather, handyman, and church usher at First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles. Along with his brother Tim Goldman, he videotaped rare, on-the-ground footage of the Florence and Normandie intersection during the 1992 riots. He is the father of two USC graduates.

MELVIN "SKINNY" FALLEY (Interviewee)

Melvin "Skinny" Falley was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, one block from the flashpoint of the 1992 riots. He's best friends with Damian "Football" Williams, one of the "LA Four" defendants who were charged in the beating of truck driver Reginald Denny at the Florence/Normandie intersection. Having witnessed the riots first-hand as a 13-year-old, Falley is highly active in efforts to rebuild the South Central community. For the past five years, Falley has provided and serviced community members with clothes, shelter and food during the holidays. Falley also hosts numerous skateboard events for area youth. He has five children of his own.

TIMOTHY GOLDMAN (Interviewee)

Timothy Goldman was born and raised in South Central. He received a B.S. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and served as a United States Air Force captain and C-130 Flight Instructor, C-130 Lead Navigator. After moving away from LA shortly after the L.A. riots, he recently moved back home. He is an event planner, father, grandfather and videographer.

SUNG HWANG (Interviewee)

Sung Hwang immigrated to Los Angeles from South Korea with her parents Kay and George Hwang. During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, her parents' hair salon at Vermont Avenue and 8th Street in Koreatown was burned to the ground. In L.A Burning, Ms. Hwang returns to the location of her parents' former business for the first time in almost 25 years. She graduated from USC with a degree in sociology and with a degree in business administration from Cal State LA.

ZOEY TUR (Interviewee)

Zoey Tur is an American broadcast reporter and commercial helicopter pilot. Tur co-created the Los Angeles News Service with videographer Marika Gerrard. Their news service was the first to use an AStar helicopter in a major city for the coverage of live breaking news, and the first to televise a high-speed police chase. Other noteworthy reporting included the attack on Reginald Denny during the 1992 riots. Tur was also the first to locate and televise O. J. Simpson's slow-speed chase in 1994. As a team, Tur and Gerrard received three Television News Emmy Awards; two Edward R. Murrow Awards for broadcast excellence; an Associated Press National Breaking News award; and The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Humanitarian Award.

HENRY "KeeKee" WATSON (Interviewee)

Henry "KeeKee" Watson was born and raised a few blocks from the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Los Angeles. Following high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines. After serving time for his role in the attack on truck driver Reginald Denny during the '92 riots, he raised three daughters. He now owns and operates his own limousine service and he still lives a few blocks from the Florence/Normandie flashpoint..

About the Moderator

DR. JODY ARMOUR

Dr. Jody Armour is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at USC. He has been a member of the faculty since 1995. Prof. Armour’s expertise ranges from personal injury claims to claims about the relationship between racial justice, criminal justice, and the rule of law. Professor Armour studies the intersection of race and legal decision making.

A widely published scholar and popular lecturer, Armour's book Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism: The Hidden Costs of Being Black in America addresses three core concerns of the Black Lives Matter movement—namely, racial profiling, police brutality, and mass incarceration. He has recently completed a second book that examines law, language, and moral luck in the criminal justice system.

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.

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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 $12.00 at USC Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & McClintock Ave. We recommend 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