GIRLS USE TV PRODUCTION TO INSPIRE OTHERS NATIONWIDE WITH STORIES OF EMPOWERMENT

GIRLS USE TV PRODUCTION TO INSPIRE OTHERS NATIONWIDE WITH STORIES OF EMPOWERMENT
National nonprofit sponsors Los Angeles “Production Camp”
for 25 Girls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2000

LOS ANGELES, CA —Oct. 17, 2000— For a long time, Deidra Brown feared making new friends because of her physical appearance. For her, a beautiful woman was a size 4 or 6, with long, flowing hair and flawless skin.

Bombarded with media images of slender and “beautiful” women, Deidra knew she didn't fit that mold so she grew increasingly self-conscious, ashamed, and uneasy.

“I always felt like I was fat and ugly and that no one would like me because of this,” said the 17-year-old Alabama student.

Now, Deidra is using the media to fight the stereotypes that afflicted her in order to inspire other girls across the country to accept and love their bodies. She is taking her story of empowerment to TV during a five-day “Production Camp” - Oct. 17 through 21 —in Los Angeles sponsored by Girls Incorporated®, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold(SM).

Deidra will be one of 25 girls from across the country to participate in the camp, which is designed to teach them about TV and commercial production. During filming, girls will share their personal stories of empowerment and how they found support in each other to rise above their problems.

Girls will learn production basics like the roles of the crew, how production equipment works and the behind-the-scenes action on a set. They will also benefit from working with entertainment industry professionals like Susanne Preissler, executive producer of Independent, the Los Angeles-based production company producing the 30-second public service announcements.

“Production work in the worlds of advertising and entertainment can be very intimidating. This experience will make the production process seem user-friendly while giving girls exposure to work that could someday turn into a vocation,” says Preissler. “I like what Girls Incorporated stands for and believe that this experience is something the girls will remember for a lifetime.”

The spots, created by the San Francisco ad agency Kirshenbaum bond & Partners West , will feature true, unscripted stories of girls supporting each other through difficult moments. They will be distributed nationally to promote the Girls Incorporated Girls' Rights Campaign, a two-year public education initiative designed to promote girls' rights to express themselves with originality and enthusiasm, take risks, accept and appreciate their bodies, strive freely, be safe in the world, and prepare for interesting work and economic independence.

“Girls are our driving force. This project is about having girls speak to and inspire each other to assert their rights through storytelling,” said Girls Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer, Joyce M. Roch'. “Girls have also told us that these types of opportunities and experiences profoundly affect their lives — they raise self-esteem and open their minds to future possibilities.”

One of the three television spots, will focus on Deidra's struggle with body image and how she overcame her fears and gained confidence. Deidra says it wasn't until she befriended other girls from Girls Incorporated of Central Alabama that she realized “that the true beauty of a woman comes in many shapes and sizes and colors.”

Photographs by Kristin Loudis