Filming for Youth for Human Rights
Music Video Wraps Up
Youth for Human Rights International has just completed filming the primary footage for a music video to promote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The music video features a 150-strong multi-ethnic cast who donated their time and talents in the cause of human rights.
"It's something to benefit the nation," said 12-year-old Melissa Lee, a volunteer actress chosen to represent her Korean culture. "I wanted to do it because the video has a clear message that everyone should know their human rights."
The music video features a new theme song for YHRI written by award-winning composer Geoff Levin and lyricist, singer and songwriter Harriet Schock. It is directed by a mother and son team of educator and YHRI director Mary Shuttleworth and 19-year-old Taron Lexton, a recent graduate of the Los Angeles Film School. Both are Los Angeles residents.
The producer, Leslie Brown, came out from Florida to dedicate her time to this project. "This video is about the key issues we are dealing with," she commented. "Abuses like child slavery often go unaddressed, and art is a great way to deal with them and at the same time educate people."
Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a Los Angeles-based organization that teaches human rights to young people. Since its foundation in 2001, one month after 9/11, YHRI has grown rapidly. It now operates in 25 countries across the globe, teaching tens of thousands of youth about human rights. Working closely with YHRI and helping to supply volunteer support are the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International and the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, of which YHRI is an outreach project.
Actor, 15-year-old Brady Frome stated, "Human rights is about freedom, it's about being able to live. It's enjoying everything life has to offer. I read the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and I saw that it is about freedom and that it protects everyone."
The music video is due to be released with fanfare on August 24 at the United Nations in New York as part of a Youth for Human Rights International Youth Summit and awards ceremony.
The video builds on YHRI's 35-day World Educational Tour in February and March that brought increased understanding of human rights to 13 countries from Japan to India to Ghana.
Said film director Lexton, "This video will generate interest and help make people realize human rights are cool."
Human Rights Day Fundraiser
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