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

FOUR BROTHERS

Screening from a 35mm print!!!

Directed by SCA Alumnus John Singleton
Written by David Elliot and Paul Lovett
Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura

Followed by a Panel Discussion with Editor Billy Fox,
Supervising Sound Editor Greg Hedgepath,
and Storyboard Artist Warren Drummond

Moderated by SCA MFA Candidate Tyler Holmes

7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023

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 Four Brothers

Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund co-star in this gripping tale of brotherly love, betrayal, and revenge from acclaimed filmmaker John Singleton. After their adoptive mother is gunned down during a grocery store holdup, the estranged brothers reunite to seek revenge and take matters into their own hands. Defying police orders, the four begin turning their old Detroit neighborhood upside down searching for the mastermind behind the brutal killing. Along the way, they discover they are bound by ties thicker than blood in this emotionally powerful, action-packed drama.

Provided courtesy of Paramount Pictures. Rated R. Running time: 108 minutes.

About the Guests

BILLY FOX, A.C.E. (Editor)

Award-winning editor Billy Fox has lent his editing talents to more than 30 feature films, television dramas, and mini-series. His most recent project, Devotion (Black Label Media/Columbia/Sony), tells the story of the first black U.S. Navy aviator in the Korean War. It is the second film Fox has cut for Black Label Media, previously editing Only the Brave for director Joseph Kosinski.

Fox’s feature films include Straight Outta Compton for Universal Studios, which was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award, and five collaborations with director Craig Brewer, including the Academy Award-winning Hustle & Flow, Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name, and Paramount’s Black Snake Moan, Footloose, and Coming 2 America. Other feature credits include The Crazies, Traitor, Dark Places, Lowriders, and Four Brothers for director John Singleton.

Fox was editor and co-producer on the celebrated HBO mini-series Band of Brothers for Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, a project for which he won an Emmy and Golden Globe honors. His experience includes nine years as the editor and supervising producer of Law & Order, for which he received two Emmys and four nominations. His other television editing credits include F.B.I., Chicago Fire, Hostages, and Wings, as well as the cult favorite Pee-wee’s Playhouse. He is the recipient of 15 other major awards, including the Peabody Award, the BDA Award, an International Monitor Award, the Humanitas Award, and the P.G.A. Golden Laurel award.

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.

WARREN DRUMMOND (Assistant Art Director)

Warren Drummond was born and raised in Jamaica Queens, New York. He attended the High School Of Art & Design and The School Of Visual Arts. Warren’s storyboard career began in the early 90’s with films like ABOVE THE RIM, 2nd Unit work on DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE and THE DEVIL’S OWN.

After working on A BEAUTIFUL MIND, Warren embraced Los Angeles, and worked on films such as 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, FENCES and many other features. Warren also storyboards television shows such as NCIS: NEW ORLEANS, MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD and GREY’S ANATOMY. In 2018, Warren made his directorial debut with the short UNKNOWN CALLER, which was written by and stars his son, Josh Drummond. There will be more projects written, directed, and produced by Warren in the future.

TYLER HOLMES (SCA MFA Candidate, Moderator)

Tyler Holmes was born and raised in Southern Virginia and moved to New York City for college, where he received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Columbia University. While there, he played Division I football for the Columbia Lions, served on the board of the Black Student Organization, and became of member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. After graduating, he worked for a few years in various roles on Wall Street, as well as within politics, activism and education, as a teacher to both elementary and high school students. During that time, he built his business as a professional photographer and videographer, which helped him make a smooth transition into independent film making. Now, being new to Los Angeles, Tyler attends USC’s School of Cinematic Arts majoring in Film & Television Production. He is also involved in various school extracurricular activities, including serving on the board of the African American Cinema Society as the Co-Graduate Representative as well as helping curate USC’s John Singleton Exhibit. After graduation, Tyler plans to work in the industry as a writer & director.

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
Hustle & Flow (2005): 2:00p on Sunday, March 5th, 2023 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
Black Snake Moan (2007): 6:00p on Sunday, March 5th, 2023 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
Four Brothers (2005): 7:00p on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023 - Ray Stark Family Theatre
FX's Snowfall (2017 - 2023): 7:00pm on Thursday, April 20th, 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