Twelve teen writers from Orange County, California, Laredo, Texas, Miami, Florida, Orlando, Florida and Queens, New York will travel to Manhattan on December 4th to debut their short films at The Screening Room at 54 Varick Street.
The teens are the winners of three different juried contests hosted by the New York-based non-profit group, Scenarios USA. Scenarios engages kids in writing scripts about how they make choices on matters pertaining to their health. The scripts are developed into short films and subsequently used by educators in schools and community groups to spark dialogue on the issues they address, which include HIV/AIDS, violence, unintended pregnancy, sexual identity and more. Showtime has committed to running some of this year’s Scenarios shorts on its digital networks such as Showtime Next, Showtime Too, and Showcase in the first quarter of 2003.
The young writers of this year’s five best scripts were paired with renowned filmmakers who journeyed to the writers’ hometowns and worked with them to create short films that captured the essence of their stories. This year’s filmmakers—all of whom will be in attendance for the kids’ debut screening—are: Michael Apted (“Coal Miner’s Daughter,” The World is Not Enough), Griffin Dunne (“Practical Magic,” “Addicted to Love”), David Frankel (“Band of Brothers,” “Sex and the City”), Tamara Jenkins (“Slums of Beverly Hills,” “Family Remains”), Jim McKay (Our Song) and Hannah Weyer (“La Boda”).
Films to be screened on December 4th are:
“Lipstick” (written by Simone Lance, Dan Barnard, Roxy Garcia, Sophia Tavernakis and Emily Alvarez) – It’s hard to “come-out,” but it’s even more difficult when you’re sixteen and you think your friends won’t understand. This film is a thoughtful look at how a local soccer star decides that she’s ready to tell her friends who she really is.
“Just Like You Imagined?” (written by Verena Faden) – This story interweaves the lives of six teenagers as they each make decisions that may alter their lives forever. Shot in Miami, this story shows the stark realization of one bad decision.
“Choices: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (written by Carolyn Perry, Jermaine Wall, Darius Moore and Eve Liberus) – This is an inside look into how three boys deal with the hard turn of becoming men.
“An Objective Point of View” (written by Janet Aponte) – After a pregnancy scare, two best friends make a pact not to have sex without consulting the other. That pact is about to be broken.
“Today I Found Out” (written by Samantha Hernandez) – Griffin Dunne used local Laredo teenagers to play themselves in this film. Shot on both sides of the border, this is one girl’s story of how she deals with the chaos around her when she discovers that her best friend is pregnant.
For more event information, call Scenarios USA at 646-230-7677 or give them an email.
