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

ROSEWOOD on 35mm

Directed by SCA Alumnus John Singleton
Written by USC Alumnus Gregory Poirier
Produced by Jon Peters

Followed by a Panel Discussion with Lead Actor Ving Rhames, Writer Gregory Poirier, Editor Bruce Cannon, Unit Production Manager Dwight Williams (schedule permitting), and Supervising Sound Editors Bobbi Banks & Greg Hedgepath

Moderated by Isaiah Simon, Co-President of AACS

7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, November 9th, 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 Rosewood

In 1982 a reporter visiting Levy County in Florida noticed a lack of black residents. So he asked questions and a long-ago tragedy came to light.

It is January 1, 1923 in Rosewood, but in this largely black town built on family, faith and hard work, hopes for the new year abruptly end. In a few harrowing nights, a white mob razes Rosewood into oblivion. As the rampage gains cataclysmic force, a heroic World War I veteran (Ving Rhames) and a shopkeeper (Jon Voight) join forces. Dozens of terrified women and children have fled into nearby swamps. Somehow they must be led to safety.

Provided courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Rated R. Running time: 140 minutes.

About the Guests

VING RHAMES (Actor, "Mann")

Bio coming soon.

GREGORY POIRIER (Writer, USC Alumnus)

Gregory Poirier’s KNOX GOES AWAY commenced production recently with Michael Keaton starring and directing for Sugar23/Brookstreet Pictures. He is best known for writing such films as NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS, THE SPY NEXT DOOR, GOSSIP, SEE SPOT RUN, TOMCATS and the John Singleton-directed ROSEWOOD for which he won the WGA’s Paul Selvin Award.  Greg most recently sold the action screenplay, FAST COMPANY to Warner Bros. In Television, Greg is currently developing CAYNE, a drama based on Ian K. Smith’s Asher Cayne novel, “The Unspoken” for BET+. Greg previously created and executive produced the ABC’s series MISSING, starring Ashley Judd.

BRUCE CANNON (Editor)

Bruce Cannon began his editorial career apprenticing and assisting film editor Carol Littleton on five films: Roadie, Body Heat, The Big Chill, ET, and Silverado. He then worked as an additional editor on Tony Bill’s Crazy People and Dick Pearce’s Dead Man Out with Editor Mia Goldman. His first solo feature editing credit was The End of Innocence directed by Dyan Cannon.

He then began a long term collaboration (28 years) working with John Singleton editing: Boyz N’ the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Rosewood, Baby Boy, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Four Brothers, Abduction, and the TV series “Rebel”.

Bruce also worked with Academy Award winner Susanne Bier on her first American film Things We Lost in the Fire, Harald Zwart’s One Night at McCools, John Roberts’ Paulie, Bruno Barreto’s Carried Away, Gary Michael Schultz’s Vincent and Roxxy and Love Beats Rhymes for producer Paul Hall. He also worked with Quincy Jones as the sound effects editor for Michael Jackson’s song Thriller and The ET Story Book record.

DWIGHT WILLIAMS (Unit Production Manager)

Bio coming soon.

BOBBI BANKS (Supervising ADR Editor)

With over 30 years working in the film and television industry, an Emmy nomination and over 120 projects and counting, Bobbi Banks’ career continues to evolve. She has worked on films such as Chevalier, The Batman, A League of Their Own, August Osage County, Stonehearst Asylum, Selma, Men In Black International and Straight Outta Compton, to name a few. Ms. Banks is a past president of Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE), a former chair of A2020 Inclusion and Diversity Committee at AMPAS. She currently serves on several committees which also includes Chair of the Academy Museum Inclusion Advisory Committee, Nicholl Screenwriters Committee, Television Academy Sound Editors Peer Group Executive Committee, Avid’s Community Association Executive Board of Directors and Industry Council for Roybal Film & Television Magnet. She also continues to seek ways to encourage and mentor the next generation.

GREG HEDGEPATH (Supervising Sound Editor)

Greg Hedgepath works as a supervising sound editor in Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of Maryland and later received his AA degree in electronics while working at National Public Radio in Washington D.C. as a music mixer. After NPR he worked at George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound for 6 years, then moved to Los Angeles as a Re-recording mixer at an independent post facility. He later joined the union as a Sound Supervisor/Editor at Sony Studios. After Sony Greg became an independent Sound Supervisor and Sound Designer. He designed the tornados for TWISTER, and was a sound designer onthe film SPEED which won the Oscar for sound. Greg has worked on over 90 films and TV shows including FROZEN, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, THE HUNGER GAMES, SELMA, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, SEAL TEAM, COMING 2 AMERICA, and the upcoming WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP.

ISAIAH SIMON (Moderator, AACS Co-President)

Isaiah Simon, Bay Area screenwriter and novelist, began his journey of storytelling at the young age of 13, when he published his first book, Define Me. He would go on to direct his first play, The Great Gatsby, after years of immersing himself into the world of theater. He has starred in front of the camera as well as behind, learning different photography and videography techniques that pushed him to love filmmaking. As a Visual and Performing Arts Major with two minors in screenwriting and cinematic arts, Isaiah loves to write stories that showcase the complexities of the Black identity and culture across the multiple genres of film and television. Isaiah dedicates a lot of his time to mentoring students, from local high school students in Los Angeles to students part of the TRIO programs, which he is a proud alum of. He also serves as the Co-President of the African American Cinema Society, where he actively curates spaces for Black filmmakers and film enthusiasts to network as well as share their own stories.

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