County Down

2012-2013, Nine-Episode Video, Installation

Screened at The Museum of Modern Art, NYC, IFFR, Rotterdam and at The Kitchen, NYC. Shown as an installation at LAX, LA and Fitzroy, NYC. County Down is a web-based episodic digital film that explores an epidemic of psychosis among the adults in a gated community which coincides with a teenage girl’s invention of a designer drug.

One day Angel wakes to find that her exclusive housing development has turned into a haven for madness, excess and decay in this darkly comedic horror series where parents suddenly prey on their children.

The film uses the structure of youth-culture media products, such as horror and science fiction movies, video games and coming-of-age films as a barometer of cultural depression. In this live-action animation, reality and illusion intermingle, creating a highly stylized world of visual excess.

The multigenerational cast of downtown performers and artists including: Chloe Bass, Becca Blackwell, Ellen Cantor, Patty Chang, Marti Domination, Nicole Eisenman, Jim Fletcher, Gibson Frazier, Daniel Graff, Andy Haynes, Stephane Mangloire, William Powhida, Emily Roysdon, Kate Valk, Stephanie Vella and Sacha Yanow. The soundtrack and musical arrangements are by Johanna Fateman, formerly of Le Tigre, and also include music by JD Samson, Wynne Greenwood, Long Hind Legs and Lesbians On Ecstasy. Costumes and styling are by GGrippo.

ACTORS (in order of appearance)
Angel… Stephanie Vella
Tanya… Chloe Bass
Coz… Becca Blackwell
Kip… Stephane Magloire
Chassie… Sacha Yanow
Angel’s Father… Jim Fletcher
Assistant… Mellisa McNeilley
Royce… Gibson Frazier
Dancer 1…Anneson Conway
Dancer 2…Daniel Harrington
Dancer 3…Elise Oleksiak
Dancer 4…Irene Pann
Dancer 5…Lisa Reynolds
Dancer 6…Kikuko Tanaka
Kip’s Mom… Marti Domination
Jimbo…Daniel Graff
Chris… Valerie Feingold
Kip’s Dad… Andy Haynes
Girl 1… Lisa Reynolds
Tanya’s Mom…Patty Chang
Shopper 1…Genevieve Belleveau
Shopper 2…Emily Roysdon
Deli Clerk…James Fotopoulos
Grocery Clerk…Shaun Cottle
Zombie 1… Ellen Cantor
Zombie 2… Nicole Eisenman
Zombie 3… Andy Haynes
Zombie 4…Laura Parnes
Zombie 5…William Powhida
Angel’s Mom…Kate Valk
Rescue Worker 1… Inbred Hybrid Collective Rescue Worker 1…Michael Zimmer

CREW
Director of Photography…Jeffrey Akers
Make Up… Inbred Hybrid Collective
Gaffer and Grip…Alan Bianchi, Max Chan, Adam Khali, Erik Moskowitz, Omar Villegas, Michael Zimmer
Production Assistants…Genevieve Belleveau, John Brattin, Krissy Nordella, Elise Oleksiak
, Anthony Simon
Art Department…Diana Puntar
Camera B-Roll…Sally Richardson
Post Production Effects…Laura Parnes Compositors…Colin Brant, Drew Magner, Krissy Nordella

Music Supervisor…Johanna Fateman
Soundtrack and Original Music by Johanna Fateman

Party Music by Johanna Fateman with JD Samson
Our Going On by Wynne Greenwood
Revolt (Le Tigre Remix) by Lesbians On Ecstasy, courtesy of alien8recordings
Far From Over (Instrumental) by Kisses
A New Kind of Bird by Long Hind Legs, courtesy of Kill Rock Stars
Malibu 80 by James Fotopoulos Whitehouse Shakedown by Wynne Greenwood

Soundmix by Quentin Chiappetta, MediaNoise

Brooklyn Costumes and Styling by GGrippo
CGI Composites by Momoyo Torimitsu

Shot at Light Industry, Brooklyn, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, Outpost Artist Resources, Ridgewood and PARTICIPANT Inc., NYC

Supported by the Experimental Television Center and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the Outpost’s Cuts and Burns Residency Program, Ridgewood, NY.

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Holly Anderson and Jonathan Kane
Thomas Beard
Caitlin Bright
Tom Cole
Julia and Steve Dawson
Paul DeSandre and Michael Ross
Lia Gangitano
Andrea Gibbons
Ed Halter
Ruth Kahn
Betsy and Thomas Neuville
Kel O’Neill
Alice O’Malley
Christian Perez
Enat Sidi
Elisabeth Subrin

Written, Directed, Produced and
Edited by Laura Parnes