PRICE Teaser
PRICE Teaser
PRICE Teaser
About PRICE
About
Mission Statement
As filmmakers, we want to shed light on disenfranchised communities and stories. We envision Price as a narrative that continues the installment of films that comment on the struggle of Black bodies through horror. We hope to bring an understanding and awareness about these issues to audiences.
The Story
After years of struggling to find work as an actor, Price, a mid-twenties Black man finally has a chance at a breakout role in a feature film. He lands a role in a psychological thriller hailed by an once accomplished indie Los Angeles director, Steinbeck. Price is determined to earn the admiration and respect as a professional actor. At first, Price gives it his all in his performance as a violent, deranged man named Dennis who wants to find answers to his sister’s murder. Meanwhile, Steinbeck praises his white co-star Ian’s less than stellar performance.
On the day of the film shoot, Steinbeck threatens to replace Price if he doesn’t deliver the right performance. Emboldened by this threat, Price goes through a series of increasingly disturbing physical and emotional transformations to become just like his character, Dennis. The more Price punishes himself the more he loses his grip on reality. His descent into madness inevitably leads to summoning Dennis. Dennis lures Price to a horrific fate-seducing Price to succumb to his
vile desires in order to achieve fame.
Director's Statement
I can’t make this grand statement about how the horror genre saved my life, but it changed my perspective. Agree to disagree; fear is one of the main emotions we function on, along with happiness, sadness, surprise, etc. We’re driven by fear specifically because we’re afraid of things we don’t understand–mainly each other. But horror is the only piece of media and art that shows you what you are afraid of and why.
That monster that jumped out of the basement is a motif of grief or separation. That army of zombies is a metaphor for how we treat people that don’t look like us or have different beliefs. That’s why it’s such an effective medium. I love this genre because it lets you hold a mirror up to the world, and instead of people getting upset, they say you have a point. There’s a chorus of films that give you some insight into the human condition by scaring them, and my aim is for PRICE to be in that same category.
When Christian Yosef, the writer of PRICE, and I first came together to develop a film, the idea behind it was simple–make something spooky, but it also has to say something. It didn’t take long for us to find what we wanted to say. So little content in film and television speaks to young black males' psychology and mental health and the intersection of their art. Why is that? If it takes you too long to answer, all the more reason to help a film like Price be brought to the big screen.
PRICE is ultimately about how terrifying it is to be a creator of color. Your authentic experiences are not considered authentic in some creative spaces. And the transition to morph that experience into something considered palatable can do irreparable damage to one’s psychology and overall health. The sad truth is that Price loses himself and many others like him.
I aim for all artists and filmmakers, specifically those disenfranchised, to leave this film and firmly believe they are good enough in any room. And that their experiences and voices are needed.
PRICE Director
Director
Byron Mason II is a third-year graduate student earning his MFA in film and television
production from the University of Southern California. Originally from Chicago, Byron worked as a lighting technician intern at Cinespace Studios for season 9 of NBC’s Chicago Fire and crewed full time on various pilots and independent films shortly after.
Prior to his career in film, Byron worked in editorial and digital media and marketing as an undergrad at DePauw University, gaining experience from companies such as Weber Shandwick and Marvel Entertainment. After graduating from DePauw, Byron became a reporting fellow at News21, a national reporting initiative housed at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. There, he developed and produced a virtual documentary about juvenile justice
and incarceration.
Recently, Byron developed a film called Cycle for the Frieze Fellowship, a program developed by the Ghetto Film School, Frieze Los Angeles, and Deutsche Bank. Cycle premiered at the 2023 Frieze Arts Festival in February and currently, Byron is developing an advanced capstone film project through USC for production in late fall 2023.
Byron Mason II
Director
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Meet the PRICE Team
Creatives
Chirsten Vanderbilt
Producer
Chirsten Vanderbilt Ellis’ passion for storytelling began on an ordinary day in a 4th-grade classroom on Chicago’s Southside. A typical spelling assignment turned into her first thirty-eight-page adventure short story. That experience transformed how she wanted to see herself and others represented in film and television. Thus, her curiosity for potent
cinematic storytelling led her to the University of Southern California. As an English Literature major, she took as many film classes as possible through the USC School of
Cinematic Arts.
After graduation, Chirsten worked in Special Education at a local
bilingual elementary
school in Texas. Teaching virtually inspired her to create a short documentary highlighting the challenges of teaching Special Education during a global pandemic. Her commitment to championing untold stories continued as a first- year graduate student. During her first semester, Chirsten mentored African American high school senior boys in film production and writing through the Angel City Links Achievers Mentoring Program. In her second year, Chirsten volunteered through the award-winning nonprofit Ghetto Film School. Both rewarding volunteer experiences deepened her efforts to elevate stories from underrepresented communities.
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Bita Arefnia
Producer
Bita Arefnia is a Persian actress and filmmaker from Austria. She earned a BFA in Acting for Film at the New York Film Academy. She’s currently enrolled in the MFA program for Film and TV productions at USC. She has starred, written and produced several short films as well as performed and worked backstage at live theater shows produced by the
Group Rep Theatre.
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Bita is a multifaceted artist who loves creating art of all forms. Her goal is to tell more stories that represent people from the Middle East in a positive light in front and behind the camera.
She is very excited to be part of the PRICE family and bring this
story to life!
Kimisha Renee Davis
Associate Producer
Kimisha Renee Davis is committed to telling diverse stories that leave others moved, touched, and inspired. She is focusing on directing with an emphasis in screenwriting in the division of Film and Television Production at the University of Southern California. She was awarded the USC Grant, FAO Scholarship, and the NAACP N-SPIRE Scholarship to attend the School of Cinematic Arts.
Davis is an alum of the: SUNDANCE Institute Collab Directing: Visual Storytelling Workshop (Scholarship), AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE Cinematography Intensive for Women, sponsored by: Panavision and RED Digital Cinema, and RESPECTABILITY Entertainment Lab, sponsored by: The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, A&E, Final Draft, The Harnisch Foundation, the Murray/Reese Foundation, and the Pop Culture Collaborative.
Kimisha is inspired by gaming technology, world building, and imagining the impossible. She is devoted to telling impactful stories that evolve the world. Kimisha is looking forward to making a positive contribution to PRICE.
Martha Rodriguez
Associate Producer
Martha Rodriguez is a first-generation Latina filmmaker, born and raised in San Diego by parents from Guanajuato, Mexico. Rodriguez is inspired by her life experiences and culture to empower her Latine community through her films. Martha’s roots and values are a crucial part of her bilingual narrative, which depicts identity and social injustice within low-income, marginalized communities. Martha is proud her family embraces their Mexican language and culture; she hopes to give underrepresented communities the opportunity to see themselves on screen. She is determined to bring representation, inclusivity, and diversity to her filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera. She wants to tear down barriers and challenge stereotypical labels affixed to the Latine community.
As the only Latina of 60 students in her Spring 2022 MFA Production Cohort, Martha consistently advocates for more representation within higher education and in film programs for underrepresented communities. At USC, Martha is going into her 4th semester in the MFA Program and continues to mentor first-generation Latine film students, to further her desire to impact a new generation of courageous and kind filmmakers who are not afraid to tell their stories.
Devin O’Guinn
Associate Producer
Devin O’Guinn is a film director, writer, and producer based in LA. Born in San Francisco, Devin moved to LA in 2016 for his undergraduate studies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in TV, Film, and Media studies and a minor in Entertainment Marketing from California State University, Los Angeles. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Film & Television Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. His first short film at USC, Ry, won him the prestigious James Bridges and Jack Larson directing scholarship.
His second short film, The Soldier, is currently shown on Magic Johnson’s TV network, AspireTV, in the 5th season of the Urban Indie Film Block. Devin recently produced a USC thesis film, Ebezina. Devin continues to grow and thrive as a storyteller and filmmaker. He is committed to creating films that uplift and inspire his audiences. His work explores race relations, societal inequalities, coming of age, and ethical conflicts.
Christian Yosef
Writer
Christian Yosef is an aspiring filmmaker who hails from the DMV. Christian first dreamed of being a filmmaker when he was in middle school, after witnessing films made by Spike Lee, Guillermo del Toro, and Steven Spielberg. Christian's love of movies grew even more as time went on, as he focused on film studies in undergrad before enrolling at USC School of Cinematic Arts for grad school.
Christian is captivated by stories that focus on race and class structures, in addition to character-driven pieces. Character-driven films such as Birdman, Taxi Driver, and There Will Be Blood are some of the movies that influenced the making of Price.
Franco Vidal
First Assistant Director
Franco Vidal is an award-winning, proud Peruvian writer and director based in Los Angeles. He earned his BA in film production at California State University, Northridge where he wrote and directed his musical thesis, "Hot Latin Nights at the Granada!" The film was awarded the Franz Wieser Grant by ARRI and premiered at The Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater and screened at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.
Franco has served as an intern at Michael Showalter’s developing company, Semi-Formal Productions, as well as being a Hollywood Foreign Press Association fellow. He is currently pursuing his MFA degree in Film Production at USC's School of Cinematic Arts as the recipient of the George Lucas Family Foundation scholarship. Along with working on his own projects, he works as an assistant director and takes pride in his work as an AD. With a deep love for pulpy genre films and his Latino identity, his work often reflects one of those loves if not combines them both.
Caileigh Gold
Cinematographer
Caileigh Gold is a filmmaker from Virginia Beach Virginia, who is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television Production at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Prior to USC, Caileigh attended Old Dominion University, where she was the Secretary of the ODU Film Club. The ODU Film club gave Caileigh the opportunity to attend the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and 2019 with short films created in conjunction with the club.
While at USC, Caileigh received the Annenberg Fellowship for her final year of school. She also currently serves as the President of the Trojan Society of Cinematographers, USC’s first cinematography club. Caileigh is extremely passionate about cinematography, and is looking forward to being the cinematographer on several advanced projects at USC this year, including Price.
Stephanie Bell
Production Designer
Stephanie Bell is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer based in
Los Angeles, CA. As a director, Stephanie uses her eye for cinematography and production design to tell colorful, authentic and immersive stories with the intent to inspire and empower communities of color. She is an alumna of Loyola Marymount University where she received her B.A. in Journalism.
Her contributions to various films have been recognized by Los Angeles Docs, Rome Indie Film Festival, Independent Shorts Awards and the St. Louis Filmmaker showcase among other festivals. Stephanie is currently pursuing her MFA in Film and TV Production at USC with emphasis on Directing and Cinematography.
MJ Adamaon
Costume Designer
MJ ADAMSON (They/He/Her) is a current student at the University of Southern California and is expected to graduate in May 2024. Working towards a BFA in Stage Management, they have devoted the last five years of their life to performance arts. In these five years, MJ has also costume-designed, worked as a producer for ONYX LLC, production-managed, and has been credited as a screenwriter.
As MJ’s work continues forward, their personal mission statement is to work on productions that amplify the voices of marginalized communities. MJ has strived to do this by working for nonprofits such as The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, The Braid, and Hero Theatre.
Emma Reisenauer
Editor
Emma is in her last semester of the graduate program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She grew up in Seattle, Washington, where she got an Associates Degree in
Marine Biology while still in high school. She got her Bachelors degree in Communication studies and Anthrozoology (the study of human-animal interactions) at Carroll College in Helena, MT., and spent several years living in Colorado.
Her two favorite animals are dogs and whales (specifically the orca), and she was inspired to apply to film school after filming and editing a documentary on a good friend training a mustang. She is a huge nerd who loves all things science fiction/fantasy, and would spend all her time playing DnD if she could (Hello Bees!). Instead, however, she hangs out with her friends on a weekly podcast talking about all things pop culture, which is a close second. Her favorite author is Neil Gaiman, and she aspires to be an editor/director.
Sierra Z
Editor
Sierra Z has a passion for breaking traditional genre boundaries and hopes to work as an editor, writer, and DEI college professor one day. With a background in English and specialization in Afrofuturism, Afrofantasy, and speculative fiction, Sierra draws from a strong understanding of story, innovation, and structure while editing.
In Spring 2023, Sierra worked as a pilot co-editor for the short television show Sketch as part of the SCA capstone class CTPR 486: Straight to Series: Production of Episodic TV Drama. That semester, Sierra also wrote an Afrofantasy television pilot and taught a section of first-years as a TA for CTCS 150: Visions of Diversity in the Cinematic Arts. Sierra loves stories that challenge an audience’s understanding of reality, time, and existence, and is thrilled to be able to support Price as an editor.
Andrew Asemokai
Composer
Andrew Asemokai is an award-winning composer for film, television, and video games who began his musical journey as a child playing the piano. During high school, he expanded his musical skills to include the saxophone. While pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Biology at Texas State University, Andrew continued to create music of all genres and was invited to workshops with leading industry composers, such as Christophe Beck.
Andrew graduated from the Screen Scoring Master's program at the University of Southern California, where he was elected the first Class Representative ever. Andrew has scored a multitude of projects, ranging from short films to feature films, trailers, promotional videos, podcasts, and web series for companies such as Beats by Dre, Jordan-Nike, and the NBA's Utah Jazz. Andrew has also won multiple international awards and composed music for the Emmy-winning and NAACP-nominated film, "Sunday Dinner". With his passion for film and expertise in composition, Andrew is dedicated to providing his clients with outstanding scores that effectively convey their vision.
Ishaan Tyagi
Composer
Ishaan is a composer from New Delhi, India currently based in Los Angeles, California. Before moving to Los Angeles, he performed as a keyboardist/ pianist at some of the biggest music venues in India such as Nh7 Weekender, Kappa TV, Sofar Sounds etc. and composed music for various feature films and TV shows in Mumbai, as well as contributed to production music tracks.
He’s a graduate of the prestigious Screen Scoring program at USC having studied under the esteemed faculty which includes Pete Anthony, Garry Schyman, Lolita Ritmanis, Christopher Young, Peter Golub and more. Ishaan also holds a certification in Audio Engineering and Music Production from SACAC, New Delhi and a Jazz Performance certification from Global Music Institute, New Delhi where he studied with grammy winning jazz artists such as Magos Herrera, Felipe Brisola, Fabio Gouvea and Alexandre Kautz.
The indescribable love for cinema and music has led Ishaan to pursue his dreams in film music. He particularly enjoys working on films that allow him to go over the top with the music in expression and storytelling such as in fantasy and action genres. Ishaan aspires to one day work on action features and animation films. Nothing quite like seeing a blank canvas of an edit in front of you and explore the endless musical possibilities!
Tola Omilana
Sound Designer
Hailing from Palm Desert, California, Tola Omilana is the son of Nigerian immigrants, the eldest of three children, a Black man, a rambler, a poet turned filmmaker.
At Harvard College, Tola studied biomedical engineering with a minor in non-fiction videography. Though he originally planned to attend medical school, his exposure to diverse cultures and artistic communities sparked a fascination with the power of cinema. Driven by a desire to explore the spiritual relationship between humans and their histories, Tola chose to pursue screenwriting shortly after graduating. After years of penning short films, he completed his first feature screenplay in 2021 with UCLA TFT and now attends USC SCA for his MFA.
As seen in his previous films ALISTAIR, ÀDÍTÚ, and ROSEMAN, Tola’s unique style blends dramatic writing and documentary techniques to construct evocative slices of ordinary life. With PRICE, Tola desires to collaborate with talented filmmakers and continue to stretch his artistry. Beyond filmmaking, Tola finds inspiration in autobiographical literature, cathartic music, and communities of practice.
Jehan Patterson
Sound Designer
Jehan Patterson was born in Chicago to a Chicago Public School English teacher and a bank advisor. His interest in cinema and the arts sparked early with his exposure to the perennial classic Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing. His cinematic journey began with a 7-year-old (at the time) Smart Phone and friends from
school as the actors.
Patterson attended Clark Atlanta University, a historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. At the university, Jehan Patterson explored his love of the arts; working both in the theater and film worlds. Patterson would go on to meet mentor figures at the university including best-selling MacMillian author Daniel Black, and a long-time film teacher at the school, known for being the first film teacher of director Spike Lee, Dr. Herb Eichelberger.
He graduated from Clark Atlanta University Magna Cum Laude with a 3.78 cumulative grade point average. Patterson also was awarded the Dean's List each of the eight semesters he’d been in school. Jehan Patterson began attending his Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California directly after obtaining his graduate degree and moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 2022. He exceeded in his studies, earning a cumulative 4.0 Grade Point Average in the first year of his MFA program.
April Liu
VFX Artist
April Liu is a picture editor and VFX artist. She attended undergrad at Emerson College acquiring a Bachelor’s degree in Film and Media Production. She is currently working on her graduate degree in Film and TV Production at USC. She is experienced in storytelling and developing stunning visuals for a variety of projects, from television and film to video games and virtual reality.
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Zwelethu Machepha
Artist
Zwelethu is a Johannesburg based independent visual artist. Born in 1990, in the township of Soweto, in South Africa’s Gauteng province. Post high school he joined art classes at the Johannesburg Central Library and the Education Centre at the
Joburg Art Gallery.
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In 2010, he joined a specialized printmaking institution and completed a four-year printmaking course, where he honed his craft and was a Screen Print Technician and a Facilitator printing works of artists such as Nelson Makamo, William Kentridge, Bevan de Wet, Stephan Erusmus, Bambo Sibiya, Faith 47 and Anti Est. Zwelethu has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in South Africa, Nigeria, the United States
and Europe.
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Zwelethu has featured in various other projects such as the ABSA L’Atelier viral video Hypnosis. In 2016, he was selected for the 5th edition of the Art Residency Project, an exchange of Artists between Italy and South Africa. Zwelethu’s work is in various private and corporate collections including the Art Bank of South Africa, the Arts and Culture Trust Fund and the African Arts Fund and he currently practices art full time in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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