Documentary Explores How U.S. Attitudes Toward Sex Impact Unplanned Pregnancy and STDs in Teens

New York City – A national outreach and education campaign will launch in April around the cable television premiere of ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX,’ a film that takes a revealing look at how American attitudes towards adolescent sexuality impact teenagers.  Cable network TLC has announced it is airing the documentary on April 9^that 10/9c. A Digital/DVD platform release by New Video will follow on April 12^th.

Every day in America 10,000 teenagers catch an STD, 2,400 young girls become pregnant and 55 young people are infected with HIV. The ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX’ outreach campaign will drive activities that highlight the film as a tool for parents, educators and other community leaders who influence young people’s lives to initiate age-appropriate, healthy conversations about sexual health.  The campaign will promote the film and its message by working together to host screenings in Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles; organize premiere “watch parties” around the county; and promote the film through their social networks.

New York-based photographer James Houston was inspired to make the film after traveling the world, and realizing that, while American teens live in a society that uses sex to sell everything from lipstick to laptops, they are rarely afforded opportunities to discuss sex in an open, honest way. “Youth in the United States are facing a health crisis of high rates of pregnancy and STD’s nationwide. We are failing our children by not having healthy, productive conversations with them about sex. It is my hope that ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX’ will be both the catalyst and the tool we need to start those conversations in family rooms and classrooms across the country,” said Houston.

In ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX,’Houston travels to a high school for pregnant teens in Los Angeles where young girls are contemplating teen parenthood; to Washington, D.C., where HIV infection rates rival several African countries; and to the Netherlands, where the film-maker contrasts European attitudes about sex with those in America. The film concludes in Oregon, where the lessons learned in Western Europe are helping to create practical solutions.

The film, produced in collaboration with Advocates for Youth, the leading non-profit organization focused on issues relating to adolescent reproductive health, uses real parents and youth, compelling statistics, animation and archival material to paint an entertaining yet urgent picture of American youth. Dr. John Santelli, Department Chair, Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University says of the film “The silence around sexuality is deafening and young people are paying the price.  LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX provides a vision for the future – for parents, schools, and society.”

“Young people in America don’t know the risks associated with sex, and because of that, American teen pregnancy and STD rates are among the highest in the industrialized world,” Houston said. “Irrespective of your personal beliefs about sex, we can all agree that we want to see those rates as low as possible. LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX both illuminates this serious challenge and is an important tool that parents, educators and health communities can use to get more of these conversations started.”

More information about the film can be found at www.letstalkaboutsexthefilm.com and about Advocates for Youth at www.advocatesforyouth.org

About Let’s Talk About Sex

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX was directed by James Houston and produced by Neal Weisman. The film was shot by Claudia Raschke-Robinson, and edited by Richard Hankin. Executive Producer Jim Clark.

New York-based Australian James Houston is recognized as one of the world’s leading beauty and body photographers and over the last 10 years has branched out into commercial directing for clients such as Clinique and HUGO BOSS.  Four books of his work have been published.  The last, titled MOVE (PowerHouse Books), was created to benefit various HIV/AIDS charities and has raised close to $500,000. Houston also works regularly with leading celebrities such as Hugh Jackman, Jessica Alba, Kirsten Dunst, and Cate Blanchett and clients such as Loreal Paris, Donna Karan, Hugo Boss and GAP.

Neal Weisman is a BAFTA, EMMY, and Peabody award winning US/UK producer.  Credits include The Politician's Wife (Channel 4/Masterpiece Theatre/WGBH), Seeing Red (ITV/Granada/Masterpiece Theatre/WGBH), and My Kingdom (First Look/Tartan/Sky Movies).  As Vice President, Edward Pressman Film Corporation, he was involved in over sixteen features including Wall Street, Reversal of Fortune, Talk Radio, and True Stories.  Also, Red Hot + Blue, the HIV/Aids music and film benefit tribute to Cole Porter.

About New Video

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011, New Video is a leading entertainment distributor and the largest aggregator of independent digital content worldwide. Headquartered in New York City, with an international presence in 45 territories, the company delivers feature films, TV programs and web originals via digital download, streaming media, video-on-demand, Blu-ray and DVD. New Video streamlines the distribution and marketing process for filmmakers, producers and brand partners to bring a wide variety of fresh content to new audiences. The company’s library includes original TV series and movies from A&E®, HISTORY™, and Lifetime®, unforgettable games and trophy sets from Major League Baseball®, storybook treasures from Scholastic®, award-winning documentaries from Docurama Films®, Arthouse Films, and Plexifilm, next-gen indies and web hits from Flatiron Film Company® and f estival picks from Tribeca Film. New Video is proud to distribute the 2011 Oscar®-nominated films Gasland, Waste Land and, on digital, Restrepo. www.newvideo.com