Picture This: Foster Care Press Release

Writers...Need a Story Idea?
Get accurate information for entertaining content from
our First Draft technical resource service.
First Draft with Pen

Picture This: Foster Care

Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. Hosts Forum in the Nation's Capital to Address Foster Care Issues

Photo: (left to right) Dan Fesman, Marcellus Alexander, Cari DeSantis, Andrew Wilder, First Lady of Virginia Anne Holton, Mark Goffman, Lyla Oliver, Amanda Green, Brian Dyak

EIC convened national leaders and stakeholders in the foster care field and entertainment representatives to define top priorities and to explore communication strategies that reach the public through accurate entertainment depictions and news reporting.

WASHINGTON D.C., - The Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) collaborated with Casey Family Programs with support from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to present Picture This: Foster Care, a media project to address and raise greater awareness of foster care-related issues. The event was held Thursday, June 25th at the NAB headquarters in Washington D.C. The meeting was a structured discussion with a media panel of entertainment representatives, foster care alumni, and foster care professionals. Through collaboration, all attendees worked to highlight the most prevalent and timely issues in the world of foster care.

Entertainment industry panelists included Writer and Supervising Producer Dan Fesman (NCIS), Writer and Supervising Producer Mark Goffman (The Beast), Writer and Co-Executive Producer Amanda Green (Law and Order: SVU), Writer and Producer Lyla Oliver (Judging Amy), and Writer and Supervising Producer Andrew Wilder (Criminal Minds).

Together, industry panelists, foster care professionals, and foster care alumni identified the best ways to strengthen public awareness of foster care issues as portrayed throughout the national media space. Attendees were extremely successful in considering the complex nature of a multitude of foster care concerns and the numerous communication channels available to American audiences.

"Thank you to the Entertainment Industries Council and the National Association of Broadcasters for co-hosting this important event with us," said Cari DeSantis, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications at Casey Family Programs. "It's easy to perpetuate stereotypes of who foster children are, or what they look like or sound like. But it's difficult to blow up those myths and tell stories that reflect the shade-of-gray truths about foster care. The true stories of foster care are gripping and dramatic. They are about facing challenges and displaying courage. And many of these stories end in triump Marcellus

h."

"The NAB welcomes the opportunity to continue its work with the Entertainment Industries Council. We understand the importance of getting health and social issues information into communities across the country through varied programs and on multiple platforms," said Marcellus Alexander, President of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation.

"The integration of entertainment professionals, foster care alumni , and foster care and child welfare reform experts at Picture This surely enhances the evolution of further positioning foster care as a top priority issue in the national media space," said Brian Dyak, EIC President and CEO.

Immediately following the industry remarks, panelists worked with leaders of foster care organizations to develop depiction suggestions for television and feature film productions to deliver accurate messages about foster care through storylines and onscreen portrayals. A publication with with these excellent suggestions will be distributed throughout the entertainment industry's creative community and to broadcast media news directors and print journalists as a resource for message development and delivery.

Additional outreach activities to the entertainment community, stations and other media platforms will launch this summer.

# # #

CLICK HERE

to view PHOTOS from the event!

About EIC:
EIC, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1983 by leaders of the entertainment industry to bring the power of the industry to bear on health and social issues. The organization is considered to be the founding father and chief pioneer of entertainment advocacy outreach and one of the premiere success stories in the field of entertainment education and information resources for entertainment creators, through innovative and time-proven services and methods of "encouraging the art of making a difference" from within the entertainment industry. For more information, please visit www.eiconline.org.

About Casey Family Programs:
Casey Family Programs established by United Parcel Service founder Jim Casey in Seattle, Washington is a Seattle-based national operating foundation that has served children, youth, and families in the child welfare system since 1966. It provides direct services and promotes advances in child-welfare practice and policy. Casey Family Programs' mission is to provide and improve-and ultimately to prevent the need for-foster care. Casey Family Programs also collaborates with foster, kinship, and adoptive parents to provide safe, loving homes for youth in their direct care. For more information, please visit http://www.casey.org/

About NAB: The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association that advocates on behalf of more than 8,300 free, local radio and television stations and also broadcast networks before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Courts. Information about NAB can be found at www.nab.org.

"It was enlightening, as well as inspirational to be in a room with so many dedicated
and caring people - I learned so much,"
said media panelist Lyla Oliver.

____________________

Check out our Picture This: Foster Care PUBLICATION

COMING SOON!

View EIC's publications to obtain topic information and depiction suggestions by

CLICKING HERE!

STAY POSTED FOR EIC'S UPCOMING EVENTS:

2009 Annual Prism Award Capitol Hill Showcase on

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 at the Capitol Hill Visitor's Center Congressional Auditorium

Click image above to view this year's winners!