Shirley Pierce

Your donation counts.  Please pledge what you can and help us make this anti-bullying dance video a reality.  Together we can empower victims to celebrate who they are.

 Check out the Free You Be You Song! https://soundcloud.com/david-54-2/one-little-step-unplugged

Free You Be You! is an anti-bullying dance video that directly addresses the victims of bullying by bringing them a message of hope. It's a heartfelt way  for us all to stand with the victims to let them to know how special they are and that their self-esteem is their strongest weapon against bullies. 

"Free You, Be You!" empowers the victims of bullies by spreading the message that they have the power to free themselves and they are not alone.  All they have to do is take the first step. We're using dance to deliver this message because it's the perfect medium to celebrate the spirit of freedom that every bullying victim wants and deserves.  The style of dance we're using is a joyful and liberating hip-hop with a surprising western twist.

The story of the video follows three young people, who are the victims of merciless bullying. A young girl who is being harassed by cyber bullies, a young male dancer who is being attacked because of his love of dance and an indigenous football player who is subjected to racist taunts. As the video progresses, each of them is pushed to hate themselves. Then a “Pied Piper” type character, a young dancer wearing a Stetson hat, appears to each of them. He does his hip-hop moves for them until they each stand and dance with him in a proud and joyous celebration of who they are. They are joined by a large group of people who dance with them in a universal show of love and support.

We have a great team of filmmakers working on this project who have each, in some way, been affected by bullying -- Shirley Pierce, Tom McSweeney, David Mace-Kaff and Lauren-ann Smith.

Shirley Pierce developed and wrote the script for "Free You, Be You!" with her teenaged daughter who is also a victim of bullies. Shirley's skills as a storyteller can be seen on screen in several major releases from the Walt Disney Studios, such as: Dinosaur, Home on the Range and Meet the Robinsons. She also wrote a short film for Disney which was highly acclaimed on the international film festival circuit and nominated for an Academy Award. She has developed projects for MGM, Sony Pictures and other major studios in the US, Australia, Japan and Spain. Shirley's focus as a filmmaker is to create projects that celebrate the strength of the human spirit.

Tom McSweeney, of Tom McSweeney Casting, Los Angeles moved with his family to the Gold Coast, Australia in 1999. With a career spanning forty years, Tom McSweeney is an Emmy Award nominee as well as a four time Artios Award nominee for his work in casting for feature film and television. To date, he has cast over two hundred feature film, mini-series and episodic television productions internationally. 

In 1994, Tom was elected to the Board of Directors of the Casting Society of America, serving for four years in that position before moving to Australia in 1998. He is the only member of the organization in the southern hemisphere. Beginning as an actor at the age of eight, he spent several seasons as a company member at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in the 1970s working with such talent as Tom Hanks, Meredith Baxter, Hal Holbrook and Colm Meaney. He has also worked extensively in musical theatre and opera as both a performer and director. Recipient of an acting scholarship to Bowling Green State University, Tom obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications in 1983. While still at University, he wrote, produced, directed and choreographed a series of late night cabaret revues. 

To date, Tom has directed over sixty stage productions and choreographed another fifteen musicals, revues and operettas. After graduating from university, Tom began teaching acting and performance, initially at the Kenneth C Beck Center for the Arts and then at the famed, Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where he was the Director of Children's Theatre. While at the Institute, his students included Oscar winner, Angelina Jolie as well as "The Brady Bunch Movie" and "Legally Blonde" co-star, Alanna Ubach. In 1989, Tom began teaching acting, script interpretation and audition technique throughout the US as well as in Canada. 

Since coming to Australia, Tom has continued teaching Master Classes in Audition Technique and Script Interpretation in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Mackay, Brisbane, Newcastle and Auckland as well as on-going classes in Audition technique and Script Interpretation at his acting school on the Gold Coast. He established Tom McSweeney Productions in 2009 where continues to cast, produce and teach.

Throughout David’s Career he has worked on a wide variety of productions, from commercials and music videos, to low budget feature films and television series' such as Matthew Hayden's Home Ground and Terra Nova. He has 6 years experience as a freelancer in the film and television industry and now runs a video production business with his partner Lauren. To check out some examples of his work, including previous music videos, go to: www.evolvefilm.net/recent work

Lauren is a Producer and documentary filmmaker. She has spent the last 2 years working on her feature documentary project in addition to running  Evolve Film Productions with David. She is passionate about helping people and hopes that this video will spread awareness and help empower the victims of bullying everywhere.

These three filmmakers are donating their talent and time to this project along with other members of the cast and crew, but this can only carry it so far. The money raised through Pozible will cover the hard costs of production such as: insurance, props, wardrobe, travel, equipment and financing fees. Any funds raised over and above the Pozible target will be donated to children's charities that help even the youngest of victims. An overview of the production budget can be seen below:

As you can see, the needs of this video are different to a regular music video. Our "Pied Piper" character, Ben Smart lives in WA and so he will have to be flown to QLD to rehearse with the dancers and appear in the video which will be shot over a period of two weekends. To make the video truly unique and maximise its impact, an original "Katy Perry" style song has been written and needs to be professionally recorded, so studio production costs also need to be considered. Fortunately, we have found a studio that is willing to work within our budget constraints to create a song that is of a "radio play" standard.

This is not a one shot YouTube video. The 10 thousand dollar target will help us create a video with professional production values. The project must be broadcast quality because it is our intention to donate copies of the video to schools and youth groups around the country. Higher production values will make it more likely to be screened by teachers and administrators to as many at-risk children as possible which is our ultimate goal.

With this campaign, we hope not just to raise money for the video. We also want to raise awareness that sometimes it "takes a village" to help lift the spirits and stir the victims of bullies to believe in themselves. Our ultimate goal is to make a video that goes viral so we can reach bullying victims everywhere. If by doing so we save just one child or help to heal just one broken heart, then it has all been worth it.

We're doing our part and you can, too. If you want to help a victim in need ... If you want to strike back at the bullies in your life or in the life of someone you love ... If you want to help victims shout out to the world and to the bullies that torment them "I am proud to be me!", please donate to this video.

 

"Free You, Be You!" was born as Shirley Pierce tried to help her daughter who was the victim of bullies both in school and in cyber space. Shirley wants to combine her passion to help her daughter with her experience as a filmmaker and help young women and young men everywhere take their own stand against bullies.

For more on Shirley, go to her website at  www.highergroundmedia.com

 

 

Ben Smart

The dance style used in the video was inspired by Ben Smart, a bullying victim who has gone on to beat enormous odds to become a triple world line dance champion. Ben discovered how to tap into the inner strength he needed to defeat his bullies through his deep love of dance and now he wants to share this secret with victims everywhere.

Click below to see a nationally aired television segment about Ben. It features his dance style, his passion for the art form and, most importantly, it tells the story of his journey from victim to victor.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=611cfcf7b02670e3&Bsrc=SkyMail&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&resid=611CFCF7B02670E3!142&id=611CFCF7B02670E3!142

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