By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

Diane Warren, Lady Gaga And Catherine Hardwicke Team On PSA On Sexual Assault, Spurred by “The Hunting Ground”

Posted Thursday, September 17th, 2015 - Comments Off on Diane Warren, Lady Gaga And Catherine Hardwicke Team On PSA On Sexual Assault, Spurred by “The Hunting Ground”
Be Sociable, Share!

ARTISTS JOIN FORCES TO SPOTLIGHT THE EPIDEMIC OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES AS SEEN IN

RADiUS’ HIGHLY ACCLAIMED DOCUMENTARY

‘THE HUNTING GROUND’

SONGWRITER DIANE WARREN, LADY GAGA AND DIRECTOR CATHERINE HARDWICKE TEAM UP ON PSA FOR RADiUS’ HIGHLY ACCLAIMED ‘THE HUNTING GROUND’ FEATURING ORIGINAL SONG “TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU” WRITTEN BY DIANE WARREN AND LADY GAGA AND PERFORMED BY LADY GAGA TO BE RELEASED

TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT EDT/9 PM PDT

 

(September 17, 2015, New York, NY) – Director Catherine Hardwicke, seven-time Oscar® nominee and Grammy® Award winning songwriter Diane Warren and six-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga have teamed up to release a campus sexual assault public service announcement (PSA) tied to the critically acclaimed documentary THE HUNTING GROUND. Hardwicke (TWILIGHT, 13, MISS YOU ALREADY) directed the PSA, featuring the film’s original song “Til It Happens To You” written by Warren and Lady Gaga and performed by Lady Gaga.  The PSA, which reunites Hardwicke with TWILIGHT star Nikki Reed, AND the song will become availableTONIGHT at MIDNIGHT EDT/9 PM PDT.  The video can be seen on VEVO while the song can be found on all digital and streaming services. A portion of proceeds from the sale of the song will be donated to organizations helping survivors of sexual assault.

 

“After watching THE HUNTING GROUND, I was inspired by the survivors who had the courage to tell their stories,” said Warren. “This song, with its message of hope and empowerment, is my heartfelt tribute to them and will also resonate with anyone who has been bullied, lost a loved one or just feels alone in the world.”

 

Lady Gaga has been a vocal advocate on this issue. Earlier this year, she penned an op-ed with Governor Andrew Cuomo calling for the passage of New York State’s “Enough is Enough” bill, saying “We have a responsibility to the young men and women of this country to stand up against sexual violence everywhere. Everyone – from lawmakers and educators to advocates like Born This Way Foundation and the students themselves – need to join forces on this issue. Together, we must create the scaffolding necessary to foster the mental, emotional, and physical health of all young people.”

 

The legislation included a uniform definition of affirmative consent as well as comprehensive procedures and guidelines for colleges. The bill was signed into law by the Governor in July.

 

Hardwicke was moved to create and direct the PSA after seeing THE HUNTING GROUND and feeling compelled to get involved. “I hope that this PSA, with its raw and truthful portrayals, will send a clear message that we need to support these courageous survivors and end this epidemic plaguing our college campuses.”

 

THE HUNTING GROUND, from Oscar® nominated filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering was distributed by RADiUS, the boutique label of the Weinstein Company.  After premiering at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, the film was released theatrically and has subsequently screened on hundreds of college campuses across the country.  Currently available on iTunes and VOD,THE HUNTING GROUND is co-produced by CNN and will air on the network this fall.

 

 

Be Sociable, Share!

Posted in Movie City News, Press Releases | Comments Off on Diane Warren, Lady Gaga And Catherine Hardwicke Team On PSA On Sexual Assault, Spurred by “The Hunting Ground”

Comments are closed.

Quote Unquotesee all »

It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon