NEWS

BYkids hosted a celebrity-studded cocktail party to introduce its first film project happening this August in Mozambique. Film mentors Neal Baer, Executive Director of Law & Order: SVU, and Chris Zalla, whose film Padre Nuestro won this year’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize, presented the upcoming Mozambique project. Fifty guests, including Gloria Reuben and Tonya Lewis Lee, gathered at The Thom Bar at 60 Thompson Street in New York to celebrate and support the initiative.

Alan Murray is assistant managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, author of the paper’s weekly Business column, and regular contributor to CNBC. He brings his passion for public policy and journalism to his post. “As a journalist, I’ve always believed well-told stories have the power to not only enlighten, but change the world. BYkids is an effort to harness that power.”

Dr. Neal Baer, Executive Director of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, joins the BYkids Board and agrees to serve as a Film Mentor in Mozambique this August.

The Canada-based Virginia Parker Foundation generously becomes the first foundation funder in support of international filmmaking.

With the guidance of Cole Wilbur, former President of the Packard Foundation, the Packard Foundation will help find compelling stories around the world.

As an institutional partner, UNICEF offers their worldwide network to find children’s stories and will provide in-country logistical support for each of the film projects. “The BYkids vision of sending an American film master for one month to help a child make a documentary film about his/her world will go a long way in promoting global understanding,” says Stephen Cassidy, Division of Communication, UNICEF.