The USC School of Cinematic Arts, USC African American Cinema Society (AACS),
and USC Visions & Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative,
Invite you and a guest to attend
 

A Special Screening of SCA Alumnus John Singleton's

POETIC JUSTICE

Written & Directed by SCA Alumnus John Singleton
Produced by John Singleton and Steve Nicolaides

Followed by a Q&A with Producer Steve Nicolaides
and Actress Tyra Ferrell (via Zoom)

Moderated by AACS Co-President Catelin Shane

7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, September 21st, 2022

The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108
George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex
900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007

FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. RSVPs REQUIRED.
 

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Presented as part of John Singleton: A Celebration
A Year-Long Tribute to SCA Alum and Icon John Singleton
From September 9th, 2022 - April 19th, 2023

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE
VISIONS & VOICES THEME GUIDE
FOR JOHN SINGLETON: A CELEBRATION
 

About Poetic Justice

Superstar Janet Jackson makes her stunning film debut in director John Singleton's street-smart love story, Poetic Justice. A mismatched pair pushed together on a road trip from South Central L.A. to Oakland, Justice (Jackson) and Lucky (Tupac Shakur) have only one thing in common: they can't stand each other. But as their friends Lesha and Chicago (Regina King and Joe Torry) fight and make up in the back of the van, Justice and Lucky find themselves reluctantly drawn together. After a surprising detour toward romance, the two travelers are confronted once again by the shocking violence they thought they'd left behind. Featuring the music of Naughty by Nature and Tony! Toni! Tone! and the poetry of Maya Angelou, Poetic Justice is every bit as intense, original and unforgettable as Boyz N the Hood.

Provided courtesy of Columbia Pictures. Rated R. Running time: 109 minutes.

About the Guest

STEVE NICOLAIDES (Producer)

Steve Nicolaides was born in Los Angeles in December 1948. His father worked in the newly emerging industry called TELEVISION, and from an early age he was smitten by stories told on screen. In fact, his first job in “the business” came at age eleven when he answered fan mail for Mister Ed. He nearly graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, but when he became a father in 1973 he threw his hat into the entertainment ring and has been there ever since.

In 1984 he met director Rob Reiner and began a working relationship that included the films “The Sure Thing”, “Stand By Me”, “The Princess Bride”, “When Harry Met Sally”, “Misery”, and “A Few Good Men”.

In 1991 he produced John Singleton’s Academy Award-nominated “Boyz N The Hood”, and went on to work with John on “Poetic Justice” and “Shaft”.

Throughout the nineties and the 2000s he produced a number of box-office successes including “The Forgotten”, “The School of Rock”, “Nacho Libre”, and “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.” He is married to Caroline Thompson, the screenwriter of “Edward Scissorhands”, “Nightmare Before Christmas”, “The Secret Garden”, and “The Addams Family”.

About the Moderator

CATELIN SHANE, Co-President of the USC African American Cinema Society

Catelin Shane has been inspiring radical imagination through art since her tenure as a costume design student at the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts (HSPVA Theatre co’15) and eventually, Howard University, where she served on five executive boards and committed over 170 hours of volunteer service to the DC and global communities. As a sophomore in undergrad, she began reporting in the 2016 presidential election in Washington DC for Howard News Service. Later that year, she served as a community development site coordinator for Alternative Spring Break following Hurricane Harvey, which was awarded President Barack Obama’s highest medal in community service, the Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. As an MFA candidate of the Film & Television Production division here at SCA, she dedicates her time to directing and storyboarding films that explore contemporary revolution. Catelin’s editorial debut, Us vs. Us filmed and centered around the 2020 election, will be screening at the Catalina Island Film Festival. Currently, Catelin serves as CoPresident of the African American Cinema Society. Under her leadership, AACS has launched fundraising efforts toward one of the first student-organized 6 figure scholarship endowments for the University of Southern California’s SCA students. In her role and as a participant in USC’s groundbreaking Uprising Documentary Lab, she’s interviewed over a dozen award-winning actors and filmmakers including Colman Domingo, Phillip Youmans, Oscar winners TJ Martin & Dan Lindsay, & Corrine Foxx across various events.

About John Singleton: A Celebration

Throughout the 2022/2023 academic year, Visions and Voices, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and the USC African American Cinema Society, will host a series of screenings honoring the life and career of trailblazing filmmaker, iconic Angeleno, and USC alumnus, John Singleton. Screenings will take place at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the David Geffen Theater at the Academy Museum, with conversations to follow featuring cast and crew, including screenings of:

Boyz n the Hood (1991): 7:00p on Friday, September 9th, 2022 - Norris Cinema Theatre
Poetic Justice (1993): 7:00p on Wednesday, September 21st, 2022 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
Higher Learning (1995): 7:00p on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
Rosewood (1997): 7:00p on Wednesday, November 9th, 2022 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
Shaft (2000): 7:00p on Wednesday, November 30th, 2022 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
Baby Boy (2001): 7:00p on Wednesday, January 25th, 2023 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): 7:30p on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023 - David Geffen Theater, Academy Museum
Four Brothers (2005): 7:00p on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023 - Ray Stark Family Theatre

All screenings will require individual RSVPs. Each film will have a unique event page, which will go live on an ongoing basis throughout the academic year.

About SCA Alumnus John Singleton

John Singleton was a film director, screenwriter, producer and USC alumnus. Singleton, who died on April 29, 2019, at age 51, was a Los Angeles native, and a graduate of the Filmic Writing program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts (now the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television) in 1990. While at USC, he won the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Award, given to a promising film school student, two years in a row: first in 1988 for Twilight Time, then the following year for Boyz n the Hood, which he wrote as his senior thesis on a campus library computer.

Boyz n the Hood, which Singleton also directed, had a breakout debut at the Cannes Film Festival and made Singleton the youngest person and first African American nominated for a directing Oscar. Made for $6 million, it grossed $57.5 million during its studio run and introduced Hollywood to a slate of then-unknown talent—Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, Angela Bassett, Nia Long—all of whom would become household names, not to mention Laurence Fishburne. It gave the world a new version of Los Angeles, one that Singleton described as “sunshine and bullets.”

As a native of South Los Angeles, many of his early films, such as 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 also executive produced the crime drama series Rebel, created by Amani Walker for BET, and co-created Snowfall for FX.

He started “attending” USC even before he was officially a student, while still a teenager in high school in South Los Angeles. Faculty and staff remember him as a precocious film historian, roaming the halls, asking questions about their work, and engaging them in conversations about favorite films, his being Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

Singleton was a dedicated alumnus, making appearances at many University events, and returning to teach a class in 2016 titled “Emergence of Multicultural Cinema.” He was the 2006 recipient of SCA’s Mary Pickford Award, given to a distinguished alumnus at graduation each year; and in 2016 he received a Legacy Award from the University’s Black Alumni Association. He was an active member of the SCA Alumni Development Council and was also an SCA parent, having inspired his son Maasai to enroll at the School.

Singleton’s success created a model for other aspiring Black filmmakers. In the two decades since Singleton graduated, filmmakers like Rick Famuyiwa, Sheldon Candis, Ryan Coogler, Steven Caple Jr., and Tina Mabry, to name just a few, have found encouragement at the School. Rick Famuyiwa, who also grew up in a South Los Angeles neighborhood around the same time and makes films about the city, including The Wood (1999) and Dope (2015), describes Boyz’s success as “life changing,” and Singleton as the example of what living the dream could look like.

The School of Cinematic Arts and the USC Black Alumni Association have also established the John Singleton Scholarship for the Arts at USC to support students of color who are pursuing degrees in the arts at the university.

About the John Singleton Scholarship for the Arts at USC

As a devoted alumnus of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, John Singleton exemplified what it means to be a Trojan. He loved the university, and selflessly and enthusiastically gave his time and talent to helping our students succeed. John was frequently on campus, whether to teach a class on multicultural cinema, speak on a panel, or just because he wanted to hang out and talk about films with the next generation. He would have a hard time leaving because students always wanted to talk to him!

In addition to his dedicated involvement with SCA, John was also closely involved with the USC Black Alumni Association. A recipient of a BAA scholarship as a student, John never forgot the support and encouragement he received from the BAA, serving as an active mentor to BAA Scholars in the arts, contributing to the BAA’s scholarship fund, and engaging with students and alumni at BAA events such as Homecoming, various mixers and the annual Scholarship Benefit.

John was an example for the many students USC works to recruit from underrepresented communities, who have the talent to also be groundbreaking scholars, artists and creators like John, but don’t know how to get there. This is an important part of his legacy, and we hope you will continue that legacy by making a gift toward the John Singleton Scholarship for the Arts at USC.

Designed to honor John’s love for and legacy within both SCA and the BAA, this scholarship fund will support students of color from the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area and to students from underrepresented minorities within the University community who are pursuing an education in the arts at USC.

Learn more at http://cinema.usc.edu/Singleton

About the USC African American Cinema Society (AACS)

Founded by the late John Singleton, while still a working student, and David L. Watts , the African American Cinema Society is an evolving incubator of artists and creatives of all sorts interested in the entertainment business and industry. We host events/screenings on and off-campus with special guests and Q&As. Our organization receives invitations to world premieres from studios, such as Disney, Marvel, and Sony because of the life and legacy of our predecessors. AACS continues to be most proud of establishing networking and collaboration opportunities as well as industry internships to our SCA community from acceptance through graduation.

Vision: The purpose of this organization is to provide networking opportunities for people of color, encourage a support system across all disciplines of interest as it relates to entertainment, but especially inside the cinema school.

Mission: The mission of the African American Cinema Society is to highlight and promote art and artists who are invested in showcasing complex and sophisticated representations of blackness and the black diaspora. 

We collaborate with Black University of Southern California students to create an environment in which we can thrive. Whether it’s networking events, screenings, Q&A’s with industry professionals, or advocating for students, we are pride ourselves on embodying the change we wish to see.

The current presidents are Catelin Shane (Graduate Production MFA) and Isaiah Simon (undergraduate Writing BA).

@uscaacs on all social media

Check-In & Reservations

This screening is free of charge and open to the public. A reservation confirmation will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 6:30 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 

On-campus parking at the University of Southern California is limited, and it is best to visit the USC Transportation Website for the most up-to-date information if you plan to drive and park on campus:

https://transnet.usc.edu/index.php/daily-and-hourly-parking/
https://transnet.usc.edu/index.php/about-us/entrance-hours/
 

Contact Information

Name: Alessandro Ago
Email: aago@cinema.usc.edu