''The Newest Pledge'' is a 2012

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by

Jason Michael Brescia Jason Michael Brescia (born June 19, 1986) is an American writer-director from Malverne, New York. Early life Brescia grew up in Valley Stream, New York but his family moved to nearby Malverne, New York when he was a teenager. Brescia attend ...

. The film is about the hard-partying Omega fraternity and their struggles to raise a baby that they find on their doorstep. The film was released in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

Plot

The morning after a night of binge drinking and patriotic partying, the Omega

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

awaken to find a baby on their doorstep. After little deliberation, the fraternity members, led by their president Hodges, decide to raise the baby and name him Kegston. In a short period of time raising a baby runs the fraternities finances dry, leading Hodges to seek advice from former Omega president, and current professor at the university Professor Street (played by

Jason Mewes Jason Edward Mewes (born June 12, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, film producer, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's films. Early life Mewes was ...

). On the verge of losing their baby due to bankruptcy, Pledge, a freshman fraternity member, suggests that the Omega's throw a party to raise funds. Despite Phi Tau Tau, the rival fraternities best attempt to ruin the party, the Omega's raise the funds necessary to keep Kegston only to be hit with the news that no non-students can live in Greek housing. This leads Hodges, along with his fraternity brothers Night Train, 39, and Renato to visit President Dumervile (played by

Mindy Sterling Mindy Lee Sterling (born July 11, 1953) is an American television, film and voice actress. She portrayed Frau Farbissina in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and starred in the web series ''Con Man'', the latter of which earned her a Primetime ...

). Despite schmoozing the President to the best of their abilities, President Dumervile informs the Omega's that it is too late in the year for her to make any changes, and that "rules are rules". Days later, with hope dwindling, Night Train, the schools championship

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

gets drafted into the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

and decides to use his money to start a scholarship for babies. The school and President Dumervile then allow Kegston to be a student at the university, foiling Phi Tau Tau's second attempt to rid the Omega's of their newest member. Later in the semester, at the Omega's Spring Formal, Hodges declares Pledge the candidate to succeed him as President of the Omegas. The Omega's hadn't lost a Greek Board election in almost a century, but Rico (played by Joseph Booton), the leader of the Phi Tau Tau's, creates a campaign slandering the Omega's, stating that they kidnapped the baby. Rico and Pledge's presidential contest culminates at the Greek Board debate where Pledge presents a paternity test to President Dumervile stating who the real father of the baby is.

Release

''The Newest Pledge'' premiered on October 30, 2010 at the

New Beverly Cinema The New Beverly Cinema is a historic movie theater located in Los Angeles, California. Housed in a building that dates back to the 1920s, it is one of the oldest revival houses in the region. Since 2007, it has been owned by filmmaker Quentin Tara ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Before its wide release on August 28, 2012, the film screened at the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Comedy Film Festival, the Wet Your Pants Comedy Film Festival in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, and Indie Fest United States in

Garden Grove, California Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, located just southwest of Disneyland (located in Anaheim, CA). The population was 171,949 at the 2020 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, ...

. The film had several private or limited engagement theatrical screenings including a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

premiere at Cinema Village, a screening at the

Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Dodge College of Film and Media Arts is one of ten schools constituting Chapman University, located in Orange, California, south of Los Angeles. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, with programs in film production, screenwriting ...

where several key crew members graduated, and a screening at the

art house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

theater in Jason Michael Brescia's home town of

Malverne, New York Malverne is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 8,514 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area ...

. The film was released in 16x9 widescreen 1.78:1 and

Dolby Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and HDR imaging. Dolby licenses its technologies to ...

5.1 digital audio by

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

. The DVD also includes commentary with writer director Jason Michael Brescia, and actors Kevin Myers, Rob Steinhauser, and Beth Lepley.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newest Pledge 2012 films American comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films