Announcing The Boy Game Transmedia Project: The Culture of Hyper-masculinity Engendering Bullying

JERSEY CITY, NJ, July 21, 2012 (Press-News.org) THE BOY GAME is a transmedia project (video and interactive website) that explores bullying not from the vantage point of the roles boys play, but the cultural landscape in which these roles flourish. Much focus is on getting schools to protect targets, which is critical, but the truth is boys can't be policed 24/7, and all boys, even bullies (who have most often been targeted themselves) suffer under hyper-masculine norms of toughness. Both the video and website are based on off-the-record interviews with boys nationwide and follow the stories of three boys: a bully, a target and a bystander whose lives are intertwined.

Writer/Director Deirdre Fishel began the project four years ago when she was invited to a conference at the Ms. Foundation. Ms. had decided if they were going to help create a safe world for girls they had to look at the lives of boys. As a mother of two daughters, Fishel felt compelled to tell the story of how the culture pushes boys into a hyper-masculine toughness. After interviewing dozens of boys and then working closely with a largely male cast, she became fervent in her belief that boys desperately need a way to talk about the pressure they are subject to to be tough and unemotional, to develop the resilience needed to stand up, be themselves, and redefine masculinity in terms of emotional, tolerant strength.

The Boy Game video will begin distribution nationally in September with New Day Films, the largest social issue video distributor in the United States. But the interactive website, currently in development, will do much the linear video just can't including being a compelling game-like environment that provides direct engagement in the story in a "pick your own character" format and being an absolutely free resource for educational institutions and youth groups nationwide grappling with peer violence. Users will be able to move through the narrative from the point of view of each of the characters. Each scene will end at a critical decision point where interactive comics will take the user into the mind of the character as he struggles with his fears and fantasies about what each choice might bring. Amazing interviews that users can go to while going through the story or flag for later viewing will shed light on the scenes and kids will be able to upload their own videos that reflect their personal take on their lives and situations around them. A downloadable study guide will give educators context, help them navigate the site, and provide talking points and creative exercises including helping kids create their own videos that can become part of the resource.

The website is being developed by Fishel's Mind's Eye Productions with Michael Gibson of Zap Dramatic, who produced Webby nominated "Inside The Haiti Earthquake".

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., President of The National School Climate Center and author of Making Your School Safe says, "Bully-victim-bystander behavior is a pervasive and toxic public health crisis. This interactive website will be a powerful resource and invaluable aid to raise awareness and help students develop the skills and dispositions that support Upstander, socially responsible behavior.". A new term entering the general lexicon, an Upstander is an
individual, group, or institution that chooses to take a positive stand and act on behalf of themselves and others.

Michael Kimmel, Pulitzer Prize nominated author of Manhood in America and The Gendered Society says, "While bullying has certainly exploded on the national agenda, most of the conversation has revolved around empathy for those who have been targeted by bullies. While this is laudable - and necessary -- it doesn't capture the dilemmas, the agonies of those who witness it, who get swept up in its dynamics. The Boy Game is that rare document that takes you inside the heads of several boys at once. This prismatic approach enables viewers to enter the scene, rather than simply observe it with greater understanding and empathy. If the conversation about bullying is going to advance, this is the project that will help us advance it."

Deirdre Fishel has been making dramatic and documentary films for 20 years. Her dramatic feature Risk premiered in competition at Sundance, on the Sundance channel and was broadcast in 35 countries. Her feature doc Still Doing It premiered at SXSW and was broadcast in 15 countries. Her cutting edge video on teen dating violence won a Cine Golden Eagle and her web documentary, Suicide on Campus was produced in conjunction with the New York Times Magazine and lives permanently on their site.

Kenny Sosnowski, who plays the bystander, is a lead on Nickelodeon's upcoming series, Alien Dawn.

For more information on The Boy Game, visit theboygame.org or contact Dierdre Fishel at 917-922-7845 or Deirdref@mindspring.com. To help get the website off the ground, visit http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/158301.