Founder of controversial video showing L. Merion teens partying wants to discuss it, but school officials decline

The founder of I'm Shmacked, the enterprise that posted a controversial video online of Lower Merion teens partying, says he wants to "hash it out" on live TV with school district officials who objected to the post.

Arya Toufanian, 19, of Potomac, Md., defended his business Thursday, saying he "was not at all upset about Lower Merion complaining."

School spokesman Doug Young declined to be drawn into any debate with Toufanian.

"Our focus is on the safety and well-being of our students," Young said, "and that's the bottom line."

The video showed Lower Merion students appearing to drink and take drugs at an off-campus party. It was part of I'm Shmacked's web-based merchandising and film-rights venture aimed at the college-age market.

The producers later contended the alcohol and marijuana in the film were fake - that "props" such as Legal Bud and green herbs were used. Nonetheless, they pulled the video, even as school officials prepared a letter to parents Tuesday lambasting its content and commercial purpose.

In an interview Thursday, Toufanian said that underage drinking has been going on "for centuries" with the tacit support of adults.

Only when a video of that behavior surfaces, he said, do school administrators act.

Toufanian called that hypocritical. "If I'm bringing it to their attention for the first time, that's embarrassing," he said. "It's been going on for years, but it's swept under the rug." He added, "We're not advocating for these things, but documenting them as they are."

Toufanian said he created I'm Shmacked with partner Jeffrie Ray, a 2011 graduate of Lower Merion High School, as a business focusing on the lifestyles of young people, especially on college campuses.

"Shmacked" means getting so drunk or stoned that a person can no longer function, according to the Urban Dictionary.

"We are doing college tours, creating a documentary and book/platform that is interested in tackling all things young adult," he wrote in an e-mail to The Inquirer.

When the producers visit colleges, they ask their student-hosts to show them what campus life is really like, while they stay behind the camera. This week, Toufanian said, he will head to Pennsylvania State University for the school's famed faux holiday, State Patties Day.

Toufanian, an international affairs major at George Washington University, said the business evolved from a school project begun on winter break. The firm has more than 15,000 likes on Facebook and thousands of views on YouTube.

He said he met cofounder Ray at a train station in New York when Toufanian, 17 at the time, was in the city to negotiate a book deal.

Asked about his business plan, Toufanian responded by e-mail:

"It becomes profitable due to the sponsorships, the people we are involved with, the advertising/marketing power we have, alongside the major companies that are paying for our expenses or paying us directly. Be it major TV networks, producers, investors, energy drinks, etc.

"I have an agent," he said. "We have been making capital. And yes, we are currently in talks with major networks about the rights. Also, major publishers."

In the Lower Merion video, students appeared to be drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, holding open liquor containers near cars, smashing a window, and in one scene, staggering down a flight of stairs.

In response, administrators sent a letter to parents saying there would be consequences for the students in the film. The families were to be notified by late Thursday.

The district's action spurred comments online about whether schools have the right to legislate students' off-campus behavior.

Doug Muth, webmaster of the local site Save Ardmore Coalition, said no.

"Somebody please explain to me WHAT business Lower Merion School District has getting involved?" he posted. "Going after students for something they didn't do in school? I really don't like the sound of that. It sounds downright creepy and Orwellian."

A poster with the handle Kokomo Joe took issue with Muth's stance.

"High school athletes all sign a 'citizenship' paper, or they don't participate," he posted on the Save Ardmore Coalition website. "Anything they do, on or off campus, can affect their status on the team.

"I think LMSD did the right thing by notifying parents. Everyone likes to pretend their kid 'doesn't do those things.' The video is proof that someone's kids do. If they are yours, address it."