USC Cinematic Arts | First Look 2021

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Comedy Films:

Get Kissed Or Die Brian (11:00)

When 12-year-old Brian hears a rumor that his girlfriend is ready to “hook up,” he seeks guidance from his peers and the internet in order to navigate the awkwardness of pre-pubescent sex.

Director
Liat Krongrad

Writer
Joseph Picozzi

Producer
Brian DeAngelis , RB Vigneshwar

Cinematographer
Hoon Yim

Production Designer
Shirley Guo, Liat Krongrad, Robin Maegawa-Goeser, Alexandra Olson

Editor
Paul Henry, Yifan Huang

Sound
Alexander Kamb, Vera Tin

Hardcore Halbert (11:59)

A young man with an ailing ficus, desperate to escape his mother's scrutiny, finds refuge in his connection with his neighbor Abby and their mutual love of Heavy Metal.

Director
Riley Sweeney Lynch

Writer
Craig Lief

Producer
Max Pearce , Maria Sara Santoro

Cinematographer
John Hanle

Production Designer
Jasmine Fini, Dashiell Demeter

Editor
Santos Herrera, Ian Kent

Sound
Esther Kim

Jurassic Punk (13:53)

DARK COMEDY. In 1976, punk rocker Danny Brooklyn was kicked out of his own band… 45 years later, he′s crashing the reunion.

Director
Joshua Akin

Writer
Youssef Gouda

Producer
Patrick Michael, Beidi Wang

Cinematographer
An Shu

Production Designer
Myokyung Shon, Jinyoung Sung

Editor
Irakli Jgenti, Yutong Liu

Sound
Rebecca Grass, Carter Tate

No Small Talk (20:59)

Ross and Paul, two angels sent by God to spread love and happiness, make a bet over two unlikely people falling in love during the pandemic.

Director
Aaron Dworetzky, Madison Lin, Missy Pawneshing, Jillian Ruvalcaba

Writer
Gustavo Barbur De Melo, Victoria Renee, Patrick Duffy, Ruby Flesher, Anna Khan, Paige Malkow, Brian Peacock

Written by
Youssef Gouda, Maya Vyas, Marisa Torelli-Pedevska

Producer
Dylan Field, Daniel Hanna, Aurellia Himawan, Scott Johnson, Ros Ramzan

Produced by
Youssef Gouda, Maya Vyas, Marisa Torelli-Pedevska

Cinematographer
Rohan Francis, Emily Maya Mills

Production Designer
Amanda Ursitti

Editor
Yulia Larionova, Yuke Li, Sammie Moynihan, Lauren Oberreiter

Sound
Sue Cruz, Riley Gibson Graf (Sound Recordists) Yulia Larionova, Sammie Moynihan (Sound Editors)

Spit It Out, Margot! (14:09)

A musical film about Margot, a shy high school girl with a stutter, who falls head over heels for her speech teacher Raz.

Director
Ella Harris

Writer
Miriam Sachs

Producer
Madison Holbrook, Caroline Quien

Cinematographer
Ariana Miyake

Production Designer
Sunday Smith

Editor
Marina Pipher

Sound
Francesca Goncalves, Miriam Sachs

Time Again (19:00)

When he finally succeeds in building a time machine, Griffin must go back in time to fix the moment that′s haunted him his entire life in order to win back the girl of his dreams.

Director
Darren Cohn

Writer
Darren Cohn, Anabel Iñigo

Producer
Alexa Villarreal

Co-Producers
Anabel Iñigo, Jack Walterman

Cinematographer
Yannis Faidherbe

Production Designer
Genevieve Gorman Deane

Editor
Paolo Antypas

Sound
Alex Bologna, Kyle J. Miller

Unmothered (17:55)

A tragicomedy about the lies we tell the ones we love. When Priyanka, an iconoclastic American, goes back to India to immerse her mother's ashes, she discovers her funny family has kept a serious secret.

Director
Urvashi Pathania

Writer
Urvashi Pathania

Producer
Ayesha Nadarajah

Cinematographer
Vanon Li

Production Designer
Anuj Singh

Editor
Pratyush Dubey, Urvashi Pathania

Sound
Saranya Nayak

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