Sexual Health Psa To Shoot March 10

March 8, 2012 - PRLog -- Embargo: Immediate
Contact: Rupert Russell
Email: contact[at]movingshadowsmedia[dot]com

SEXUAL HEALTH PSA TO SHOOT MARCH 10
Risqué New PSA Aims to Highlight the Importance of Sexual Health in midst of GOP Storm

In the middle of GOP cultural war on sexual health a new PSA begins shooting March 10 aiming to inform young people about sexual health. The PSA, directed by Jamie Ruddy and starring Matthew Van Oss, Elizabeth Canavan and produced by Rupert Russell, son of British director Ken Russell, is an entertaining wake-up call to young people in the face of misinformation on sexual health stirred by Rick Santorum. Amid debates on abortion, contraception and the assault on Planned Parenthood, the PSA crowd sourced money for a grassroots fight back against misinformation and a return to the culture wars that has endangered the health of people badly in need of reliable information.
Jamie Ruddy, an award-winning young director and screenwriter, said: “This is an issue that is personally very important to me but is equally important to young people throughout the country who are seeking reliable information amidst a sea of misinformation.”
Rupert Russell remarked: “It is an honor to play my role in promoting the important subject of sexual health. In today’s media age information has to be both entertaining and accurate to truly make a difference. That’s what makes this project so exciting for me as a producer.”
“Young people are swamped with conflicting messages, information and pressures. This PSA will cut through misinformation to reach young people who desperately need to know the truth in order to make informed decisions.”
The project came out of a Huffington Post article urging people of good faith to step up to inform people on important issues like sexual health. The article found momentum in a subsequent event with major activists in sexual health promotion at the University of Southern California.  
It will be the first production of Russell and Ruddy’s company, Moving Shadows Media .

NOTES TO THE EDITOR:
•   Matthew Van Oss- In just a few months into his professional career,        Matthew Van Oss has wasted no time in establishing himself as one of the industry's young actors to watch.
•   Van Oss was just selected to act opposite two-time Tony and Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner at the Geffen Playhouse in the bioplay, Red Hot Patriot. The play centers around Molly Ivins, the brassy Texan reporter whose liberal journalism skyrocketed her to the national stage. The show runs January 3 - February 12 and is directed by David Esbjornson, award-winning director and producer who has worked throughout the United States in regional theatres and on Broadway.
•   A native of Green Bay, WI, Matthew currently resides in Los Angeles. He is repped by the Michael Abrams Group.
•   Elizabeth Canavan- Canavan is a member of The LAByrinth Theater Company (in residence at The Public Theater) and the Actor's Studio. Her credits include ‘Law and Order: SVU’, ‘Sex and the City’, ‘Law and Order’ and other projects.
•   She is known equally for her collaborations with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and for playing Miranda’s sister in ‘Sex and the City’
•   Jamie Ruddy- As a writer, Jamie won the Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and penned The Countess, a period feature script for hire for Universal Studios.
•   As director, Jamie shot another award-winning short, Weequahic, based on the unpublished memoir of a Jewish gangster in Newark, 1952. The film stars a critically acclaimed cast from The Sopranos, the LAByrinth Theater Company, and the Actor’s Studio.
•   The short also lead to Jamie directing commercials for hire, as well as producing and showrunning a docu-series, Living History with Mike Poutre. Jamie is currently in pre-production on an educational PSA shoot, as part of a multi-platform campaign she is involved with. This will include a live event at USC, an Op Ed in the Huffington Post, and an interactive educational website. She is also co-directing with Rupert Russell a documentary on Mark Takano, a Japanese-American currently campaigning to represent California’s 41st district in the House of Representatives. More information: http://www.jamieruddyfilms.com
•   Rupert Russell- Rupert Russell is a graduate of Cambridge University and is a PhD candidate at Harvard University, a blogger for the Huffington Post.  He grew up on the sets of his father’s films, which included the Oscar-winning ‘Women in Love’, ‘Altered States’ and the rock-opera ‘Tommy’.  He is co-directing with Jamie Ruddy a documentary on Mark Takano, a Japanese-American currently campaigning to represent California’s 41st district in the House of Representatives.  More information: http://www.rupertrussell.com