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VIP Jury Selects 9 Winners From Global Entries to FYI -- Film Your Issue

Posted on: Monday, 4 June 2007, 00:00 CDT

FYI -- FILM YOUR ISSUE asked 16 to 25 year olds around the world to share what's on their minds circa 2007. According to the nine winning entries for FYI -- Film Your Issue 2007 (www.filmyourissue.com), identity theft, racial profiling, sex trafficking, gasoline conservation and violence in Rio de Janeiro are at the top of the list of hot-button issues explored by young filmmakers in this year's competition.

The 2007 competition is sponsored by some of the leading global media companies and cause organizations -- Yahoo!, USA TODAY, Jumpcut, a Yahoo! company, Starz, Universal Pictures, The United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI), The Humane Society of the United States, The Natural Resources Defense Council and ASCAP.

FYI -- Film Your Issue is an unprecedented Internet-based global competition dedicated to engaging young adults worldwide in pressing dialogue on social and political issues via the creation of compact, one-minute "issue films." The competition highlights current technology of User-Generated-Content to empower every individual to make their voice heard and offers a revealing snapshot of major concerns of young people today.

The winning entries were selected by prestigious members of the media and entertainment industry, including legendary Walter Cronkite, Wolf Blitzer, Brian Williams, Peter Jackson, John Cusack, Harvey Weinstein, Mandy Moore, Nicholas Kristof, Terry Semel, Craig Moon, David Linde and others. The VIP Jury recognized three American films: "The Terrorist," about racial profiling by Chad Simpson, 20, Columbus, Ohio; "Live a Revolution," about holding onto idealism and activism beyond youth, by Jamie Walker, 22, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and "One Word," about defining your own values, by Chelsea Moore, 17, Pikesville, Tennessee. The Jury's international selections were "A Prostitute is Born," about sex trafficking by Dolly Ovadia Nahon, 23, Haifa, Israel; and the animated "Putek," about a suicidal man with second thoughts, by Ramon del Prado, 25, Manila, The Philippines.

The Yahoo! audience award favorite in the U.S., voted on and selected by the public on Jumpcut, was "Hidden Agenda," about identity theft, by Kylee Darcy, 18, Fairfax, California. The international Yahoo! audience award favorite is "Looks Can Be Deceiving," an indictment of contemporary violence in Rio de Janeiro, created by a team of nine undergraduate students studying International Relations at different universities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Natural Resources Defense Council chose "Give a Hoot," about gas conservation, by Ethan Van Druzer, 23, Boulder, Colorado, for a joint FYI-NRDC Award for a film with an environmental theme and message. Next week, the United Nations Department of Public Information will announce via the FYI website the winner of the special award for a film exploring the DPI's 2007 campaign themes of Peace, Tolerance and Migration. In addition, George Mehaffy, co-founder of The American Democracy Project and Vice President of Academic Leadership and Change of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, was picked as the recipient of The 2nd Walter Cronkite Civic Engagement Leadership Award.

The U.S. winners will attend the Awards Ceremony in New York City at United Nations headquarters on June 26th, 2007, co-presented by USA TODAY. Winning films will be broadcast on Starz, Starz Cinema and Starz Edge. One lucky winner will be rewarded with a Summer 2007 internship in the production department of Universal Pictures.

FYI -- Film Your issue was started in 2003 by HeathCliff Rothman, a national journalist and social entrepreneur. "Even more than four years ago, when we started FYI, User-Generated-Content has exploded on the net, and we are proud to be leading the way mixing UGC with social consciousness," says Rothman. "The entries are heart-stirring for us because they are a window both into the hearts and minds of young people around the world and to the importance of communicating issues that affect all of us on the planet."

Source: Business Wire

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