San Francisco (PRBuzz) July 27, 2012 — The Great American NO BULL Challenge is pleased to announce the winner of the first, annual NO BULL Teen Video Awards, an event that celebrates the nation’s teens who stand up and a make a difference. Robert “Austin” Barker took first prize for his anti-bullying short film, “The Formula: A High School Thesis”. Barker attends Copperas Cove High School in Copperas Cove, Texas. Accepting his award, Barker said, “It’s a real rush, coming together to talk about the painful issue with all of the other teens from around the country. With NO BULL, we’ve been able to create a unified community to help parents, teachers, our principles and other kids on how to deal with this difficult issue. Thank you so much NO BULL, it’s an amazing program and opportunity that allowed us to honestly portray what bullying has evolved to become.”
Barker is among thousands of teenagers who wrote and directed hundreds of anti-bullying films during the 3-month competition. He wins a $10,000 production deal, a $5,000 college scholarship and his film will now be entered at the Sundance Film Festival. Other top vote getters are taking home, laptops, GoPro video cameras donated by GoPro and other prizes.
View the eight NO BULL Teen Video Award winners here:
http://nobull.votigo.com/contests/browseallentries/all/all/all/vote_count_desc/1/all/0/?topentries=winner
All the finalists were given the star treatment at Saturday’s event in San Francisco—from walking the red carpet to photo sessions with performers: The New Boyz, The League, Jenny and Ashley, and headliner Sean Kingston.
Filmmaker Lee Hirsch, writer and director of “BULLY”, and 15-year-old Alex Libby, one of the bullied kids profiled in the film, received Rising Star Awards for their roles in bringing attention to the deadly problem of bullying. During the Best Directing Award presentation, Hirsh moved the entire audience by saying “All of you in this room are not only filmmakers, you are change makers.”
Sean Kingston called on Libby to demonstrate his rapping skills. The shy teen and the internationally renowned Hip Hop and R&B sensation wowed the crowd. Check it out it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bP61PPuEXY
Shawn Edgington, the founder of the NO BULL Challenge and NO BULL Teen Video Awards, is already looking ahead to next year’s competition, and getting even more teens, parents, sponsors, educators and communities involved. Edgington says, “All NO BULL teens are winners for standing up and making a difference. It was an incredible night full of smiles, tears, and celebration. These kids are the foundation for meaningful change, spreading awareness and promoting courage!”
About the Great American NO BULL Challenge and 2012 NO BULL Teen Video Awards:
Cyber safety expert and mother, Shawn Edgington, whose daughter Nicole was a target of bullying in high school, founded the non-profit organization, The Great American NO BULL Challenge that hosts the annual teen video awards.
The NO BULL Challenge inspires and educates 25 million middle and high school students to stand up and make a difference in their school and community by using the power of film to send powerful messages. Each year, teens from around the country speak out by writing and directing short films that promote social media responsibility. The Teen Video Awards brings the teen nominees from around the country to celebrate their accomplishments and announce the winning films.
About Sean Kingston:
For his third-full length album Back 2 Life, Sean Kingston immensely expanded his songwriting role, nixed the multi-producer approach of his last release, and pushed for a fresh new sound. Like his 2007 self-titled debut (featuring the double-platinum breakout hit “Beautiful Girls”) and 2009’s Tomorrow (featuring the smash singles “Fire Burning” and “Face Drop”), Back 2 Life boldly fuses reggae, hip-hop, R&B, and electro to create melody-soaked pop. But on Back 2 Life, the singer/songwriter blends his newly strengthened vocals with fiercely inventive electronic effects and hard-hitting live instrumentation to offer up his most passionately inspired work to date.
Media Contact:
Suzanne Spurgeon, Women Media Pros
323-656-1536
Suzanne@WomenMediaPros.com
Tags: announcement, awards, educators, filmmaking, middle school, national competition, NO BULL, parents, prizes, red carpet, san francisco, students, teachers, teens, video, win