The Underground Film Series, sponsored by the Department of Communication and Culture, will be hosting cinematographer/writer/director, and IU Alumnus, Jack Messitt on Friday, September 5, at 7 p.m. in Radio-TV room 251. With producer Kacy Andrews, Messitt will be presenting his new film, his feature directorial debut, _Midnight Movie_. The two will be on hand to introduce the film and to take questions after the screening. This is a great opportunity to engage with a rising professional in the film industry and to see new work by an emerging talent. Please find below a synopsis of the film and biographical information on Messitt and Andrews. Also, you can check out www.midnightmovie.com for information and a trailer, and www.jackmessitt.com for more information on the filmmaker.
We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to meet a filmmaking professional and to experience his new work!
Here is a film synopsis for Midnight Movie:
At a run down theater in a sleepy suburban town, a group of friends attend the midnight screening of a 1970s cult horror film. What they do not know is that the Director/Star of the film has something more in store for them than just a movie.
While he is thought to have died five years earlier in a psych ward massacre, the detective and doctor that witnessed the aftermath of the bloodbath suspect that the Director was not the victim, but the perpetrator of the killings and is still on the loose. What none of them understands is that he has enshrined his soul into the film itself.
As the film begins, the kids heckle the old black-and-white scenes. But they are jolted when the gruesome killer butchers one of their friends on screen! They soon realize that the killing was not the prank they hoped it was as they soon become the unwilling stars of the very horror movie they are watching?
Caught between the world of reality and the screen?s flickering shadows, they fight to stay alive in the locked theater.
JACK MESSITT
Director/Writer
Jack Messitt makes his directorial debut with Midnight Movie and is the screenwriter behind the upcoming feature film, Trust, being produced by TF1. As a cameraman, he has worked on everything from feature films and television to music videos and reality shows. Recently, he was the Director of Photography for the feature films Irreversi and The Curiosity of Chance. His television credits include Bones and American Idol for Fox, Oxygen Network?s comedy series Campus Ladies and DirecTV?s CD-USA. He is the 1st Vice President of the Society of Camera Operators and is a graduate of Indiana University and The American Film Institute.
KACY ANDREWS
Producer
Kacy Andrews has been actively involved in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years. Her diverse resume includes feature films, television series, theater, and animation. She has worked throughout the world, and was recently profiled in PEOPLE ASIA Magazine?s 2006 People of the Year issue.
Kacy spent nine years in production and project development at Los Angeles-based Hyperion Studio where she was one of the Producers on Miramax's Playing By Heart (Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie). Kacy's portfolio at Hyperion also included the feature film Tom's Midnight Garden (Joan Plowright); BoneChillers, a children's television series for ABC (Linda Cardellini); and numerous animated projects such as FOX's Life With Louie (Louie Anderson); HBO's Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (Denzel Washington and Whoopi Goldberg); and Paramount Pictures' The Oz Kids.
In 2003, her consulting work at Bigfoot Productions led to the creation of Bigfoot Entertainment and the International Academy of Film and Television. As the CEO and founder, she has overseen the set up and development of the company, production facilities and campus headquartered in Asia. The company has since grown to more than 250 employees both foreign and local.
Over the past few years, Bigfoot Entertainment has invested in several feature films, including Shanghai Kiss (Hayden Panettiere), Falling for Grace (Margaret Cho) and 3 Needles (Lucy Liu, Olympia Dukakis and Sandra Oh).
During her tenure at Bigfoot, she has served as a Producer of such feature films as; The Curiosity of Chance, Irreversi, Hui Lui, Within, and Midnight Movie, as well as the documentary, USS Cooper and reality TV series Hollywood Boot Camp. These projects have been shot in such international locations as Belgium, Hong Kong, Thailand, Los Angeles and The Philippines.
Kacy is a recipient of the David Letterman Internship and a 1991 Cum Laude graduate of Ball State University with continuing studies at the American Film Institute. In 2000, she was awarded Ball State University's Graduate of the Last Decade and more recently was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award.
