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Starlight Runner Entertainment Joins Forces With Operation Respect

Production Company Teams with International Education & Advocacy Organization to Promote Student Leadership and Discourage Bullying with Rap Song & Video by Recording Artist Baby Jay

NEW YORK - June 16, 2005 - Cross-media development and production studio Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc., announced today that it has reached an agreement with non-profit education and advocacy organization Operation Respect to create materials designed to meet the needs of inner city students, as well as attract the support of corporate sponsors and social entrepreneurs.

The first of these materials will be a hip-hop version of the Operation Respect signature song, "Don't Laugh at Me" performed with additional lyrics by 14 year-old Houston rap star Baby Jay. The song will debut at the Operation Respect Symposium on creating safe, caring and respectful learning environments, to take place in Washington, D.C., June 30 - July 1, 2005. A music video of the song will also be produced by Starlight Runner to be used as a part of Operation Respect's classroom curriculum.

Operation Respect promotes the Don't Laugh at Me (DLAM) programs, one for grades 2-5, another for grades 6-8 and a third for summer camps and after-school programs in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Europe. All of the programs utilize inspiring music and video along with curriculum guides to promote leadership values, raise self-esteem and discourage bullying amongst school-age children and teens. The organization was recently commissioned to set up workshops for thousands of elementary and middle school teachers by the New York City public school system.

"As we move our programs into the inner city, we find that we need new materials that will connect with students," said Operation Respect CEO Chic Dambach. "With Baby Jay and Never Surrender, Starlight Runner will infuse a dynamic urban sensibility into our presentations, both for potential sources of funding, and for the grade- and middle school students who need us most."

Never Surrender consists of a popular series of multimedia seminars created by Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment to promote "values, vigilance and vision" in young people. Over the past decade, he has performed Never Surrender before tens of thousands of inner city children and teens across the U.S., as well as for corporations and organizations such as JP Morgan Chase, the Latin Entertainment & Media Institute, and the National Coalition for La Raza.

Up and coming rap artist Baby Jay combines Latin roots music with hip-hop and rap to transfer his personal trials into positive messages. He came to the attention of manager Rolando Cuellar, founder of Roland Entertainment in 2003, and will soon be pitching his projects to labels for a joint venture/distribution deal. Mr. Gomez selected Baby Jay for "Don't Laugh at Me" based on the teen's powerful debut single, "I Need Love."

Independent filmmaker Kenn Bell will conceive and direct the video, with Tom Schnaidt (main cameraman for HBO's The Wire) as director of photography. The video will boast animated sequences produced by Starlight Runner Entertainment.

"Don't Laugh at Me," lyrics by Steve Seskin and Alan Shamblin, has been recorded a number of times, reaching the country music charts in a version by Mark Wills. The song was also recorded by the classic folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary, and is noted to be one of Peter Yarrow's primary inspirations toward his founding Operation Respect in September 2000. Baby Jay's passionate and ethereal interpretation draws musical inspiration from the Wills and Peter, Paul & Mary versions.

For more information on Baby Jay, contact Rolando Cuellar at Roland Entertainment, mo. 832.264.9609, ph. 713-673-3416 or visit his web site at http://www.RolandEntertainment.com.

About Starlight Runner Entertainment

Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc. is a producer of feature films and highly successful franchises, specializing in developing new and established intellectual properties across multiple media platforms. Starlight Runner produces feature films, animation and shorts, packages books and comics, and develops video games for clients such as Scholastic Books, Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment, Marvel Comics, Wizards of the Coast, the Walt Disney Company and Acclaim Entertainment. The company is also actively developing a slate of original animated and live-action feature films and television programs with New York, Los Angeles and Boston-based production partners. Starlight Runner is represented by Creative Artists Agency, the Robbins Office, and Peter Nichols of Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Goodman, Inc.

About Operation Respect

Operation Respect is a non-profit organization working to transform schools, camps and organizations focused on children and youth, into more compassionate, safe and respectful environments. Founded by Peter Yarrow of the folk group Peter, Paul & Mary, the organization disseminates educational resources that are designed to establish a climate that reduces the emotional and physical cruelty some children inflict upon each other by behaviors such as ridicule, bullying and-in extreme cases-violence. It is a unique organization that provides a gateway to broad scale adoption of school-based character education as well as social and emotional learning (SEL) programs.

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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