New York Film Critics Series And NJPAC Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of National Lampoon's Classic Film, Animal House

New York Film Critics Series (NYFCS) in a special partnership with New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) will present a unique movie experience celebrating the 40th Anniversary of National Lampoon's Animal House on Friday February 16th, 2018 at 8pm. The iconic Animal House movie starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson ", Peter Riegert, Karen Allen, Thomas Hulce, Stephen Furst, and Donald Sutherland which is a direct spin-off from National Lampoon about a misfit group of fraternity members who challenge the authority of the dean of Faber College.

The film will be shown in NJPAC's Prudential Hall preceded with an introduction by renowned film critic Peter Travers (ABC, People, Rolling Stone) followed by interviews with Tim Matheson "Otter", Peter Riegert "Boon" and Karen Allen "Katy" who will discuss the impact that Animal House had and continues to have on popular culture.

As one of the most profitable films in history, Animal House, produced by Ivan Reitman and directed by John Landis is considered by many fans and critics as one of the greatest comedy films ever made. In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed the Universal film as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It was No. 1 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". It was No. 36 on AFI's "100 Years... 100 Laughs" list of the 100 best American comedies. In 2008 Empire Magazine selected it as one of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time."

Tickets for this special Animal House 40 Year Celebration will go on-sale Friday, December 8, 2017 at 10AM and can be purchased at NJPAC.org or 888.GO.NJPAC.

Now in its 20th year, the NYFCS features advance screening of prestigious films followed by live interviews with Hollywood's elite conducted by Rolling Stone and ABC Popcorn film critic Peter Travers. Recent NYFCS highlights have included: Rob Reiner, Clive Owen, Julia Stiles, Francis McDormand, Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Aniston and Shirley MacLaine.

"NJPAC is a wonderfully innovative group for lovers of arts and culture to discover innovative new shows in their world-class venue," says Mark Ehrenkranz, NYFCS Producer. "NJPAC and its expert team, provide their longtime experience in developing new projects. They nurture a deeper understanding of audiences to keep the tradition of the group experience very much alive."

NJPAC Executive Vice President and Executive Producer David Rodriguez comments, "The New York Film Critics Series speaks to a very similar audience as we do. We're both successfully reaching audiences who are highly engaged classic and pop culture devotees. This partnership is an organic fit and we look forward to introducing NJPAC audiences to our innovative new work together." The teams are developing ways to offer new series, including seminal films and live interviews with classic, big-name talent.

This relationship was arranged by The Erlick Group www.erlick-group.com, a leading NYC-based entertainment sponsorship agency that has represented leading properties in film, music, theatre, and venues for the past 25 years.

About Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson actor, director and producer perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth talking 'Eric "Otter" Stratton' in the 1978 comedy "Animal House," but has had a variety of other well-known roles both before and since including critical accolades for his playing 'Vice President John Hoynes' on the television series, "The West Wing," earning him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Guest Star in a Drama Series. Most recently, Matheson starred in the literary adaptation of "Killing Reagan" portraying Ronald Reagan based on the Bill O'Reilly best-selling book which premiered on the National Geographic Channel and recently received a Critic's Choice Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Movie Made for Television or Limited Series Next up. Matheson landed a role in the Dwayne Johnson film, "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" slated for Christmas 2017 and will appear in the Netflix drama feature "6 Balloons" with James Franco and Jane Kaczmarek.

Having now entertained audiences over the last 50 years, Matheson is a luminary in the business as he also starred as 'Dr. Brick Breeland' in The CW series, "Hart of Dixie," opposite Rachel Bilson. Not limited to also directing episodes of "Hart of Dixie" during its series run, Matheson has made a career of stepping behind the camera for an array of episodic projects on some of television's most prominent shows including NBC's new series "Taken," TNT's "The Last Ship," USA's "Burn Notice," "Criminal Minds," "Without a Trace," "Cold Case," "Numbers," "Drop Dead Diva," "Suits," "Eureka" and "White Collar," as well as pilots for Fox's "The Good Guys" and the USA Network successful original series "Covert Affairs."

About Karen Allen is best known for playing Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and made her major film debut in 1978, in National Lampoon's Animal House. Her next two film appearances were in The Wanderers, and A Small Circle of Friends, in where she played one of three radical college students during the 1960s. She also appeared in the long-running CBS series Knots Landing. Allen played Bill Murray's long-lost love, Claire, in the Christmas comedy Scrooged. Subsequently, she appeared in Spike Lee's Malcolm X, The Perfect Storm and In the Bedroom. She's made guest appearances on television's Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and in Blue Bloods.

About Peter Riegert is best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in Animal House "Mac" MacIntyre in Local Hero fast-talking gangster Aldo in Oscar tough, no-nonsense Lt. Kellaway in The Mask , newspaper editor Delbert McGinty in We Bought a Zoo and glove manufacturer Lou Levov in American Pastoral His directorial film debut was the Academy nominated short By Courier, which was followed by his first feature, King of the Corner, with Isabella Rossellini, Eli Wallach, Rita Moreno, Beverly D'Angelo, Eric Bogosian and Dominic Chianese.

Riegert has been acting, writing, directing and producing for the past 40 years. Movies include: Crossing Delancey, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Coldblooded, Utz, Oscar, Passed Away, The Mask, Traffic, White Irish Drinkers and the short film The Response, which received the ABA Silver Gavel and was short listed for an Academy nomination for live-action short. On television, he had a recurring role as crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman in seasons three and four of the HBO series The Sopranos, and also appeared as George Moore in the first season of the FX series Damages and portrayed Seth Green's father in the comedy series Dads. He had earlier been nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance in the HBO film Barbarians at the Gate, and was seen in Gypsy, Concealed Enemies, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Damages.

Peter Travers is one of America's most recognizable critics, having written about music, politics and pop culture for over two decades. He is one of the nation's most influential and popular film critics who have written for, in turn, People, and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com. His lively and pull quote-friendly reviews have been a favorite of Hollywood studios since he joined Rolling Stone Magazine in 1989. Travers joined Rolling Stone after a four-year stint with People. According to eFilmCritic.com, Travers is the nation's most blurbed film critic. Some of the contemporary directors he is most receptive to based on ratings and placement in top ten lists include Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Paul Thomas Anderson, Clint Eastwood, Christopher Nolan, Joel and Ethan Coen, and Ang Lee. Travers also hosts The New York Film Critics Series (NYFCS), one of the leading word-of-mouth screening companies, partnered with the nation's leading independent cinemas to present live, national, in-theater screenings with captured live stars, directors and producers

Hollywood studios in promotional campaigns routinely cite his brash reviews, and his opinions are broadcast via ABC's Popcorn with Peter Travers. Travers' influence is seen widely in the industry, where industry executives and publicity chiefs still seek after a movie quote from the critic.

As senior editor at Rolling Stone, he has compiled countless reviews, which are featured, in his book " Rolling Stone's 1000 Best Film DVDs Available." With an irreverent tone and an eclectic scope, 1000 Best Movies was compiled on the premise that there's room for Citizen Kane and Dodgeball in the same list. It details best bonus features and reviews all aspects of the films and the quality of the DVD transfer. Full of fun factoids to know and share, this is a book no movie lover's library will be complete without.

Mark Ehrenkranz - For 22 years, Mark has been producing The New York Film Critics Series (NYFCS), one of the leading US word-of-mouth and marketing screening companies which he created. The events are moderated by Peter Travers, film critic for Rolling Stone Magazine and ABC's Popcorn, along with additional coverage by Alison Bailes of BBC, More Magazine, WOR Radio, and The Charlie Rose Show. The series presents live, interactive, in-theater; pre-release movies and big screen HD simulcast with the stars and filmmakers. www.nyfilmcriticsseries.com

Mark has invested 35 years of life in the movie business. He has done everything besides be an agent or work for a studio. His experience includes producers' rep; film financial and marketing consultant; festival panels; screening host; teacher; and all facets of theatrical and home entertainment distribution. His specialties include feature film sales and monetization at all stages of development. Ehrenkranz also consults on film strategies, including legal and planning during and prior to funding process.

He has recently been a consultant and contractor for Specticast, Inc. There he was involved with strategic planning and execution of Kevin Smith's Yoga Hosers. Mark helped to market and release Stage Russia for the company and manages the project's producer. He brought Wayne's World's 25th Anniversary to Specticast for 800 theaters. He produced the value-added content for WW25 with Peter Travers, Mike Meyers, Lorne Michaels, Rob Lowe, Dana Carvey and Director Penelope Spheeris. His most recent project there included sales, marketing, and booking of Specticast's licensed John Carpenter's Halloween series.

For 23 years, Ehrenkranz had also been award-winning, national, key account marketing and sales executive for Ingram Entertainment, the nation's largest home media distributor. Mark also created and ran VideoLine 1-800 VIDEO-411 as a home alternative to MovieFone.

He is the head writer on a new Rock-Doc Series Inside the Devil's Playhouse, The Last 100 Days of Historic Webster Hall, Untitled Mathew Modine Sea World Project and Dog Gone Happy. His Edison Papers project was invited to the prestigious Sundance writer's lab and he is executive producing the TV doc series Addiction Warriors in association with producer Mark Bakshi and Radical Media. He is also producing Turbulent Souls a full-length feature film based on the memoirs of Stephen J. Dubner (co-author of Freakonomics).

Mark started out making music videos at 14 at the House of Music in West Orange, NJ with Kool and The Gang. More continued with The Romantics, Nikki and The Corvettes, and The Infidels in Michigan. Once in Los Angeles Mark directed music videos with Black Flag, The Suburban Lawns, and Fear. He had his first music video on MTV at 16.

His credits include Michael Nesmith's Prime Time NBC Series; Television Parts. Also, USA's Nightflight, Radio 1990, Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous; Entertainment Tonight; CBS's America; To Hear - A PBS Special Presentation Hosted by Joel Grey. Assistant to Harvey Miller on Private Benjamin, Protocol, Bad Medicine. Music Coordinator for Fire and Ice, A Ralph Bakshi/Frank Frazetta Production and Twentieth Century Fox. Assistant to Jerry Belson on Fun with Dick and Jane, Surrender, Always. Mark has written and produced Really Cool Jobs, Save The Child, Know Your Logic, and Return of The Squeegee Men.

About the New York Film Critics Series (NYFCS)
Now everyone throughout the country can enjoy up close and personal moments from major movie stars, producers, writers and directors in the comfort of their own neighborhood theaters. US audiences experience all the excitement of live Q&A sessions, hosted by Peter Travers. The big screen events deliver 9-13 curated pre-release films per year to discerning audiences monthly. Each piece brings the energy and VIP nature of prestigious, NYC screenings for nationwide audiences to interact with stars and directors via interactive broadcast.

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