Night School. Directed by Andrew Cohn

Transcription

1 Night School Directed by Andrew Cohn Contact Medora Films, LLC c/o Gigantic Pictures 164 West 25 th Street, Suite 4M New York, NY (212) Sales UTA Independent Film Group 888 Seventh Ave New York, NY (212)

2 NIGHT SCHOOL Seven34 Films & Impact Partners present a Gigantic Pictures & Lucky Hat Entertainment production in association with CoPilot Pictures & Wheelhouse Creative CAST Greg Henson Himself Melissa Lewis Herself Shynika Jakes Herself Directed by Andrew Cohn Produced by Steve Bannaytne Jason Orans Pamela Ryan Produced by Andrew Cohn Zachary Shields Executive Producers Dan Cogan Jenny Raskin Wendy vanden Heuvel Executive Producers Louis Venezia Rob Lyons Jeremy Workman Co-Executive Producers Dawn Davis Jeff Devino 2

3 Director of Photography Zachary Shields Original Music by Adam Rubenstein Associate Producers Lauren Franklin Kelly Marshall Emily McAllister Edited by Thomas Niles TECH Running time: 85 minutes Rating: Unrated Language: English Year of Production: 2016 Location of Production: USA (Indianapolis, IN) 3

4 NIGHT SCHOOL Indianapolis has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country. For adulted students Greg, Melissa and Shynika, finally earning their high school diplomas could be a life-changing achievement. Emmy award-winning director Andrew Cohn's absorbing documentary observes their individual pursuits, fraught with the challenges of daily life and the broader systemic roadblocks faced by many low income Americans. SYNOPSIS NIGHT SCHOOL is a feature vérité documentary investigating adult education and the dropout epidemic plaguing inner-city America. The film offers an inside look at a cutting-edge high school located in one of the most violent neighborhoods in America, and the brave students who attend it. NIGHT SCHOOL closely follows three students over the course of the school year, as they attempt to improve their lives and confront their fears about education. Following students with significant personal challenges, NIGHT SCHOOL is not just a film about adult education, but an intimate look at the roadblocks facing many underprivileged individuals as they attempt to move upward in society. In a place where simply surviving often trumps education, these students boldly challenge the notion that folks at the bottom are takers, not makers. In 2005, a study found that the Indianapolis public schools had the lowest graduation rate of any large American city, with only 30 percent of freshmen graduating on time. In 2013, the average high school graduation rate in the nation s 50 largest cities was just 53 percent. In inner-city 4

5 Cleveland, for example, only 38 percent of high school freshmen graduated within four years, compared with 80 percent in the Cleveland suburbs. Nationwide, 76% of African American students will attend a failing school at some point. NIGHT SCHOOL is an intimate look at the face of the working poor and those working to empower themselves to move upward in society. Each year in America, it is becoming harder and harder for those at the bottom of society to move to the top, as upward mobility has virtually come to a stand still. More than three million students in the United States drop out of high school every year 8,000 students per day one student every 26 seconds. After dropping out, these students are ineligible for almost 90% of jobs in the United States and account for more than 75% of crimes committed. It's estimated that high school dropouts cost America about 6.6 billion dollars in potential GDP growth annually. Is the American Dream still alive for those willing to work and sacrifice for it? This is the essential question NIGHT SCHOOL asks. DIRECTOR Andrew Cohn is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and screenwriter living in Brooklyn, New York. His first feature-length film MEDORA, produced by Steve Buscemi and Stanley Tucci, premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival and was featured on PBS' critically acclaimed Independent Lens series. Most recently, Cohn directed the documentary KID DANNY for ESPN Films' 30 for 30 series. With the support of a MacArthur Grant, he is currently working on his next documentary NIGHT SCHOOL, as well as directing a film about famed Detroit rapper Danny Brown. He also teaches film and screenwriting part-time at Purdue University. PRODUCERS Twice nominated for Independent Spirit Awards as well as for a Primetime Emmy and the NAACP Image Award, Orans has served as producer on numerous feature documentary and narrative films, including Ramin Bahrani s GOODBYE SOLO (winner of the FIPRESCI Critics Prize at Venice), NIGHT CATCHES US (starring Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington - Sundance Dramatic Competition), and DARE (starring Emmy Rossum and Rooney Mara - Sundance Dramatic Competition). His most recent documentary, THE GREAT INVISIBLE, directed by Margaret Brown (THE ORDER OF MYTHS) won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW and was distributed by Radius-TWC and broadcast on PBS in April

6 Stephen Bannatyne is a producer and founder of Lucky Hat Entertainment. Past projects include IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT, 2012 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature; THE ORDER OF MYTH, winner of a 2009 Peabody Award; GOODBYE SOLO, named one of the top 10 films of the year by Roger Ebert, and INFORMANT, winner of the 2012 Grand Jury Prize at Doc NYC. 6