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Baby Jay's Hip-Hop Stand on Bullying to Premiere at NY Screening
Operation Respect & Starlight Runner's "Don't Laugh at Me" Video to be Seen by Over 600 Students at Opening of "The Devil's Miner"
New York, NY - March 9, 2006 - A hip-hop music video version of the hit song "Don't Laugh at Me," an anthem of a nation-wide movement to deal with the problem of bullying and violence among children, will premiere at the Cinema Village theater on Friday, March 17, at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The press is invited to attend and meet teen hip-hop star Baby Jay. The video, produced by Starlight Runner Entertainment, directed by Kenn Bell and starring Baby Jay, will be screened and discussed before the New York City theatrical premiere of The Devil's Miner, a documentary about young people who work in Bolivian mines and must also contend with the ridicule of their peers.
The Don't Laugh at Me video was produced for the national education and advocacy organization Operation Respect, which offers an in-school program named for the song "Don't Laugh at Me." The song has become an integral part of Operation Respect's classroom curriculum, presently being introduced to all public elementary and middle schools in New York City.
The video features a new take on the song in a performance by rising Houston-based 15-year-old hip-hop star Baby Jay. Steve Seskin and Alan Shamblin wrote the song's original lyrics, and Baby Jay and Hector Chavera III created additional rap lyrics for the new version. The song was a #2 hit for country singer Mark Wills. It has been a signature piece in Peter, Paul & Mary performances for the past seven years. The Nashville Songwriters Association named "Don't Laugh at Me" Song of the Year in 1999.
More than 100,000 children stay home from school each day in the United States because of bullying-related fears and anxieties, according to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center. Bullying and other forms of disrespect are a prime cause of low student self-esteem and motivation, poor grades, and also constitute a serious health risk for children as well.
Starlight Runner Entertainment president and CEO Jeff Gomez joined with Operation Respect to address this serious challenge. With his partner Mark Pensavalle and Operation Respect's Elizabeth Kolodny, Gomez conceived and produced a version of "Don't Laugh at Me" that would appeal to inner city kids. The video was co-conceived and directed by independent filmmaker Kenn Bell, and will be offered with a lesson plan free of charge to public schools throughout the country and around the world through Operation Respect's Web site.
The multiple award-winning documentary The Devil's Miner, follows the plight of children who are forced to work in the silver mines of Bolivia to afford their education, and who then must suffer the derision of their peers for this at school. The film has been endorsed by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. A generous donation from the Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation has allowed for tickets to the film's initial screenings on March 17 (10:30 a.m. & 1 p.m.) and March 20 (10:30 a.m. & 1 p.m.) to be distributed to approximately 600 New York City students. The trailer can be viewed at: http://www.thedevilsminer.com.
Among those scheduled to appear at either or both of the events are Baby Jay, Operation Respect founder Peter Yarrow, Operation Respect education director Mark Weiss, mediation expert Lynne Hurdle-Price, Jeff Gomez, Elizabeth Kolodny and Kenn Bell.
Gomez's own "Never Surrender" seminars teach tweens and teens how to cultivate personal leadership skills so that they can more easily deal with physical and emotional assaults in the classroom, the playground and the Internet, where bullying is rampant.
Every Starlight Runner creative project-clients include The Walt Disney Company, Hasbro, Mattel and many others-infuses and communicates these themes to young people around the world. Since 1991, Gomez has traveled the country presenting "Never Surrender" to more than 100,000 students, teachers and professionals.
The Don't Laugh at Me DVD and lesson plan is free to anyone by emailing info@starlightrunner.com, or by calling +1-212-337-0900.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Jeff Gomez, please contact Christi Cassidy at 505-986-1142 or christi@mantrapublicrelations.com.
About Starlight Runner Entertainment
Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc. is a leading creator of highly successful fictional worlds, maximizing the value of intellectual properties by preparing them for extension across multiple media platforms. Starlight Runner also produces animated and live-action feature films, shorts and advance media content. The company also packages books, comics and graphic novels, and develops video games with world-renowned partners and clients.
Contact:
Mark Pensavalle
VP Production & Operations
Starlight Runner Entertainment
5 Union Square West, 4th floor
New York, NY 10003
ph (212) 337-0900
fx (212) 675-6121
Never Surrender!
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