This summer I was on the selection committee for a youth screenwriting contest sponsored by an organization called Scenarios USA.

Scenarios USA teamed up with the RAP-IT-UP Campaign, a partnership of BET and The Kaiser Family Foundation, to launch the national "What's the REAL DEAL on Growing Up in the Age of AIDS?" Story and Scriptwriting Contest for youth, ages 13-18. They asked youth to write a story or script about how HIV/AIDS has affected them, their friends, school and community.

Scenarios USA will work collaboratively with the winners and professional Hollywood directors in developing the stories into scripts. Scenarios will also work with the winners’ schools and communities to pick locations in which to shoot the films and to recruit local youth to intern on the film sets. Once the films are completed, the writers and directors will be the featured guests at the films’ premiere in the spring of 2007. The films will then be distributed to high schools and community groups nationwide, streamed online, and premiered on Showtime Networks. The 2006 winners will also have the opportunity to continue working with Scenarios USA as spokespeople and advocates on the issues that their stories address.

Scenarios USA's short films from past contest winners have been selected to be the first featured videos in YouAre.TV's new initiative Content for a Cause. YouAreTV is similar to YouTube but seems to put a premium on independent filmmaking that is of higher quality than the random chaos found on YouTube. Unlike DoGooder.TV, which is a similar concept that I wrote about last week, this is not a nonprofit-only site, but they will be highlighting the work of a different nonprofit each month. This approach encourages nonprofits to create and submit the highest quality video, rather than whatever they happen to have in video format.

Ten short films from past Scenarios USA contest winners are posted on the YouAre.TV site. These mini-movies that are conceived and co-directed by youth are of high professional quality and seem like they would make a strong impact on their peers. The movie embedded above -- Choices: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly -- is a good example, with engaging characters, realistic situations and a plotline that shows the consequences of unprotected sex (teen parenthood, contracting herpes) without preaching.

On a side note, as I was looking at the YouAreTV site, I came across this video, which offers a humorous look at the effects of depression in young adulthood. Depression here is depicted as a surly slacker who is almost driven away by drill sergeant Motivation and corporate pep-talker Confidence. But in my opinion the mumbling pajama-clad Sloth steals the show. Some profanity, so perhaps not entirely safe for work, but it's an interesting take on talking about an issue that is often ignored. There's even a "The More You Know"-style piece at the end where the actors talk briefly about the issue. It's not necessarily effective social marketing, but it's not meant as such, and is an interesting example of how you could open the conversation.

UPDATE (9/26/06): The embedded video is working now, thanks to quick action by David at YouAreTV.

Technorati Tags: YouAreTV, YouTube, dogooder, nonprofit, aids, hiv, video, youth, scenarios