Bruce Royer of Royer Studios has formed the Classroom Awareness Through Animation Program, which plans to bring animators into middle and high school art, life-skills, and health classrooms to help kids create 30-second animated Public-Service Announcements (PSAs).
The program would have teams of 7 to 10 students working on a PSA that addresses issues of real concern to themselves, their peers, and the community at large. Up to 12 spots would be produced at each school. Then the students will present their media campaigns at school-wide assemblies, to local media and to their families and friends. Through Royer's media connections, their films may also be aired on television as PSAs. Topics could include bullying, tolerance and diversity, obesity (physical activity and nutrition) and tobacco-use prevention.
Royer Studios' goal for 2004-2005 is to reach at least one middle school and one high school in each of California's 58 counties. The facilitation teams will travel in motor homes equipped as broadcast-quality multimedia studios. Royer Studios' Mobile Production Units feature editing bays for the student-produced PSAs and "sound-bite video clips." They are also used to produce and print site-specific promotional posters based on students' film concepts and artwork. Participating schools will receive Classroom Animation Studio Activity Kits, portable animation studios that facilitate students' on-going production of PSAs.
Royer said, "Our goal is to ensure that students in the most remote areas of California have the same opportunity to be heard as students in the large urban centers. We are going the extra mile to trim the budget and raise outside funds so that students from less populated counties can also benefit from this powerful experience."
Royer Studios is seeking corporate sponsors, nonprofit organizations and foundations to match funds with available Safe and Drug-free Schools and Communities Federal Funding and Tobacco Use Prevention Education (Prop 99 excise tax on tobacco products) State Funding.
Royer Studios is a violence-free live-action and animation educational production company. For more information, visit www.royerstudios.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
