The Hollywood Fringe Festival has chosen PURE SHOCK VALUE, a film made by the ensemble members of Los Angeles' Furious Theatre Company, as the Centerpiece Feature Film of its Fringe [film] programming, a new branch of the festival this year that has sponsored a venue dedicated solely to the presentation of "fringe" film. As the designated centerpiece of the film presentations, PURE SHOCK VALUE will receive four screenings at Artworks Theatre and Studios, 6569 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. The screenings are on Friday, June 24 at 6:15 pm; and Saturday June 25 at 10:15pm. The Furious-made movie stars ensemble members Nick Cernoch, James C. Leary, Vonessa Martin and Brad Price.
Hollywood Fringe [film] programming director, Ezra Buzzington said he chose PURE SHOCK VALUE as the Centerpiece Film for the first Annual Hollywood Fringe Festival [film] event for several reasons. "Its aesthetic is raw and in your face, its budget is non-existent and the creative team behind the film is made up of L.A. Fringe theatre artists. (Furious Theatre) I wouldn't have chosen it, however, if it weren't also brilliantly written, expertly executed and cleverly subversive."
While the Furious Theatre Ensemble will always be focused on telling captivating stories on the stage, exploring other mediums for storytelling has long appealed to the company. "After working together for years in the theatre, we were eager to see how the creative language that our company learned as actors, directors, producers and designers translated to working in front of and behind the camera." Furious Theatre Company's incoming Producing Artistic Director and long-time ensemble member Nick Cernoch said. "It seemed the next logical step for us was to explore the challenge of making a film together."
The theatre company is continuing in this vein with its ongoing partnership with New York's Naked Angels, which focuses on the development of pilots and screenplays as well as plays, and the upcoming world premiere production of Matt Pelfrey's No Good Deed, which will use multiple mediums to tell its graphic-novel inspired story. Furious has secured a venue outside of Pasadena for the production of No Good Deed and will be announcing more details later this summer.
THE STORY
On a fateful night in the bowels of Hollywood, three Industry bottom-feeders receive the most improbable break when they discover America's hippest, edgiest living director floating unconsciously in their apartment complex swimming pool. Faced with the opportunity of their lives, they save his life and then decide to force him to watch their movie. What follows is a violent, drug induced, surreal comic journey that takes them into the darkest corner of Hollywood, full of toxic desperation, soul-corroding vanity and as
far as possible from Beverly Hills, three-picture deals, and anything else they could have wanted.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
SARA HENNESSY, SHAWN LEE, VONESSA MARTIN, ERIC PARGAC, BRAD PRICE and DÁMASO RODRIGUEZ (executive producers) are the founding artistic directors of Furious Theatre Company.
DAVID HALL (writer) is a screenwriter and playwright. Pure Shock Value is his first produced screenplay. He grew up in Morro Bay California and received his BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. After graduating, he moved to LA to pursue his writing career and did some hard time as a Page at Paramount Studios. David lives in Pasadena with his wife and two children.
DÁMASO RODRIGUEZ (director) is a theatre and film director living in Los Angeles. He is a co-founding Artistic Director of the Furious Theatre Company. From 2007-2010 he served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse. He has directed over 25 productions at theatres such as the Tony Award-winning Intiman Theatre, the Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within, The Theatre@Boston Court and Furious Theatre. He has been awarded the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, Back Stage Garland Award, NAACP Theatre Award and the Pasadena Arts Council's Gold Crown Award. His film credits include Pure Shock Value and episodes of the web series A G.A.N.G by Furious ensemble member Matt Pelfrey (SKINS). He is attached to direct the feature film Canned Peaches in Syrup, a post-apocalypse comedy produced by the UK-based Losky Films.
MEGAN GOODCHILD (producer) is a Furious ensemble member, actor and producer. Her career in theatre as an actor has included stops at Actor's Theatre of Louisville, South Coast Repertory, A Noise Within, The Theatre @ Boston Court and Furious Theatre Company. As a theatre producer she has worked in the New York Fringe Festival, with 13P in New York and Furious Theatre in Los Angeles. Her first experience producing for on-camera projects came with the web-series, Lost Angeles written by Chris Blake and Dan Steele (Gossip Girl.) She is currently producing a new web-series created by fellow ensemble member Matt Pelfrey (SKINS) and starring a number of Furious veterans.
THE CAST
The cast of PURE SHOCK VALUE stars Furious Ensemble members Nick Cernoch (Orson's Shadow, Pasadena Playhouse; Canned Peaches in Syrup, US Drag, boom, Furious Theatre) James C. Leary (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Noise, Scenes from the Big Picture, Furious Theatre) Vonessa Martin (The Pain and the Itch, The Theatre @ Boston Court; Hunter Gatherers, The Shape of Things, Back of the Throat, Furious Theatre) and Brad Price (The Pain and the Itch, The Theatre @ Boston Court; Grace, The Shape of Things, Furious Theatre). The film also features Furious Ensemble member Doug Newell (Hunter Gatherers, Back of the Throat, Furious Theatre) and Furious veteran Laura Raynor (Canned Peaches in Syrup).
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
The production team included, Brian Pargac (Director of Photography), Eric Pargac (Editor), Doug Newell (Production and Post-Production Audio), Christie Wright (Gaffer and 2nd Camera Op), Dan Steele (Script Supervisor), Christy Hauptman (Costume Designer), Megan Goodchild (1st AD), Katie Davies (Hair and Make-up, 2nd AD), Brian Danner (Fight Choreographer) and Hottrax Inc. (Music Supervisors).
SCHEDULE AND PRICING
PURE SHOCK VALUE will screen on Friday, June 24 at 6:15 pm; and Saturday June 25 at 10:15pm.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.hollywoodfringe.com. Single ticket prices are $10.