Family Values a Winner in Contest for Best Short Video Promoting Marriage Equality

Family Values a Winner in Contest for Best Short Video Promoting Marriage
Equality

Select Entries to Be Screened at L.A.'s Outfest Film Festival

LOS ANGELES, June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York City
announced Wednesday that the Grand Prize winner of the marriage equality video
contest, Project Pushback, is Family Values created by L.A.-based filmmaker
Andrew Putschoegl To view the winning video and others, visit:
www.equalityvideo.org.

Outfest Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer announced today that a selection
of Project Pushback entries will be screened at Outfest 2009: the 27th Los
Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which runs from July 9 - 19.

Family Values features Putschoegl's housemates -- a married gay couple with
two children -- and the children's grandparents. He said he wanted to create a
video that reflected LGBT-parented families and resonated with voters over age
65, who are among the least likely to support marriage equality.

"I see how it makes a difference in [my housemates'] lives, and the lives of
their young children," Putschoegl wrote in an e-mail. "While I'm not ready to
get married myself, I think it's important for people to have that option--and
all of the rights and responsibilities that come with it."

The People's Choice award of $1,000 goes to Blaire Wedding Project, a spoof of
the indie film sensation Blair Witch Project. Blaire Wedding was written and
directed by Samantha Lavin, who works as an assistant director for the hit
show Scrubs, and produced by Lori Brener, a freelance commercial producer and
production consultant.

The contest received 68 entries from across the nation, from which 11 were
selected as finalists by popular vote. From among the finalists, the $2,500
Grand Prize was selected by a panel of judges, who include: Academy
Award-winning producer Bruce Cohen; Emmy Award-winning television director and
producer Paris Barclay; MTV producer Sherri Brown Francois; award-winning
blogger Andy Towle; political commentator Hilary Rosen; and Current TV
producer Tracey Chang.

SOURCE L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

L.A. Contact: Thomas Soule, +1-323-993-7622; or N.Y.C. Contact: Allison
Palmer, +1-212-620-7310