SANTA MONICA, Calif. — MTV,
mtvU, LOGO and
MTV Tr3s, with subtitles in Spanish, will present the world
television premiere of Pedro, a movie based on the
remarkable life of The Real World’s
Pedro Zamora, on Wednesday,
April 1 at 8:00 PM ET/PT. BMP
Films, in association with MTV, produced this
biopic written by Academy Award-winner
Dustin Lance Black (”Milk”). For more information and to view the movie trailer, please visit
www.pedro.mtv.com.
In 1994, Zamora captured the hearts of millions as the first-ever openly
gay,
HIV-positive main character on TV — on MTV’s The Real World:
San Francisco. Zamora’s time in the house on
Lombard Street brought a
face to the
AIDS crisis.
President Bill Clinton has long credited Zamora with personalizing and humanizing the
epidemic, and he will introduce Pedro when it makes its world
television premiere
April 1st.
“To this day,
Pedro Zamora remains an extraordinary example of what a huge impact one
young person can make in our world,”
President Clinton said. “I’m glad to have known him, and I’m grateful his life has been able to inspire and enrich so many others.”
Told through the eyes of his
friends and family, the film Pedro celebrates the extraordinary life a
young man who found out he was
HIV positive at 17, then made the
courageous decision to dedicate his life to speaking out about the disease. Zamora testified before the
United States Congress to argue for more explicit
HIV/
AIDS educational programs aimed at youth of color before auditioning for The Real World in 1993.
Zamora’s
appearance on The Real World brought his story and message to a national
audience; and when his
health began to deteriorate in late 1994 (after he left the show), his condition quickly became
front page news nationwide. His death at age 22, following the final episode of “The Real World,” provoked a worldwide outpouring of grief.
“Our historic, simultaneous premiere of the film across multiple networks demonstrates the power of Pedro’s journey to reach a vast array of audiences, just as it did 15 years ago,” said Brian Graden,
President of
Entertainment, MTV Networks
Music Channels and
President of Logo. “His story originally ignited a national
dialogue, permanently impacted our consciousness around the
challenges of
HIV, and gave untold millions the
courage to open up about their
sexual orientation. For those of us who remember him as a treasured
television friend, and for a new generation coming to his story for the first time, we remain grateful for the gift of his story.”
“Pedro made us
promise to tell his story to his very last breath; this film delivers on that
promise by telling his entire life story in a scripted film - including his early life in Cuba, his teen years in Miami and the final months of his life as he fought to stay alive,” said BMP
Films President, Jon Murray. “For the first time viewers will see all the forces that made Pedro the man he was and gave him the
courage to take his message of
AIDS education to a
nationwide audience.”
Nearly 15 years since Pedro heightened national awareness of
HIV/
AIDS, the
epidemic in the U.S. remains a serious concern, especially among younger Americans (under 30) who account for a larger share of new infections than any other
age group. Other
sexually transmitted diseases (
STDs) - such as
chlamydia and gonorrhea - are even more common, with one in two sexually active Americans being infected by age 25 - and most not knowing it. Since 1997, MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation have partnered to inform millions of young
adults about
HIV, other
STDs and related sexual
health issues. Beginning in
April (STD Awareness Month), MTV and Kaiser will
partner with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its nearly 880 affiliate
health centers to make an aggressive push to inform America’s young
people about
STDs, as well as help normalize and drive increased testing. Full details on the rest of the campaign will be unveiled soon.
Pedro was Produced by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, Chris Panizzon and Anne Clements (”Quinceanera”). Jon Murray, Gil Goldschein and Scott Freeman of Bunim-Murray Productions served as Executive
Producers along with Paris Barclay. Pedro was directed by
Nick Oceano and written by
Dustin Lance Black (”Milk”) with story by Paris Barclay and
Dustin Lance Black. Pedro stars
Alex Loynaz as Pedro, Justina Machado (”Six Feet Under”) as Pedro’s sister Mily, and Hale Appleman (”Teeth”) as Pedro’s roommate from The Real World, Judd. Maggie Malina is executive producer for MTV.
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SAN FRANCISCO – Equality California honors and remembers the life of Lawrence King, a gay junior high school student from Oxnard, CA, who was shot in the head one-year-ago by his classmate at E.O. Green Junior High School. The 15-year-old died of his injuries last February 13.
Brandon McInerney, King’s shooter, is being tried on first-degree murder and a hate crimes charge. According to reports from friends of Lawrence King, who self-identified as gay, King sometimes wore make-up and feminine jewelry and was the target of ridicule by some of his classmates.
Last year, EQCA sponsored AB 3015 (Brownley), the Foster Youth School Education Act, which was introduced to better protect LGBT foster youth like Larry from violence at school and was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger.
“As we remember the tragic, senseless killing of Lawrence King, we must continue to take the appropriate steps to ensure that no one else becomes a victim to homophobia in our schools,” said Geoff Kors, executive director for Equality California. “On the anniversary of this tragedy, we stand committed to defending safe schools laws that EQCA lobbied to enact to prevent any young person from being bullied, harassed or worse because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.”
Equality California-sponsored legislation, the Student’s Civil Rights Act, SB 777 (Kuehl), which was implemented in 2008 and reinforces existing prohibitions of discrimination in publicly funded schools and activities, including discrimination based on religion, race, disability, gender and sexual orientation, has been challenged by a failed referendum and an ongoing federal lawsuit.
EQCA works to achieve equality and secure legal protections for LGBT people. To improve the lives of LGBT Californians, EQCA sponsors legislation and coordinates efforts to ensure its passage, lobbies legislators and other policy makers, builds coalitions, develops community strength and empowers individuals and other organizations to engage in the political process. www.eqca.org
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