PRESS RELEASE
Media Contact: Wendy Schneider, 608-239-5771, Btype35@aol.com
Editor’s Note: Film stills available upon request. Additional background, film clip and press releases available online at http://www.cutthemovie.com
FOX WEBSITE HIGHLIGHTS SELF-INJURY
CUT filmmaker lauds “Pause” campaign; website links to CUT partner Wendy Schneider, director and producer of CUT: Teens and Self Injury, today applauded Fox Broadcasting and Kaiser Family Foundation for building a mind and body wellness program which highlights the oft-secret problem of self injury.
The website, www.fox.com/pause, urges teens to take a moment to learn and think about the causes and consequences of their actions. Among the potential issues listed on the site is cutting, alongside depression and eating disorders.
“It is so important that self injury is taken seriously,” said Schneider, whose film is in the last stages of production. “It’s been so secret for years, even though One in 5 High School/College- age Americans will harm themselves at some point in their lives. People are just begging for an outlet to talk about this real problem and the underlying causes.”
The “Featured Resource” on the Pause site related to cutting links to www.selfinjury.com, the website for S.A.F.E. Alternatives, whose CEO, Karen Conterio, consults with Schneider regularly and appears in the film. S.A.F.E. Alternatives is the first in-patient facility to specialize in self-injury. CUT also features candid interviews with teens at various stages of recovery; an interview with Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, herself a survivor of self-harm; and Tiffany Arbuckle Lee, lead singer of alt-rock band Plumb, who has become a nationally recognized spokesperson on the issue.
About the Filmmaker
New York native Wendy Schneider started as a bike messenger for a multimedia production company at 17 years of age. Eight years later, she was creative director of audio production, creating projects for major corporate clients that included the National Geographic Society and the International Center for Photography.
In 1989, she produced her first audio documentary to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the deaths of civil rights activists Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney for People for the American Way. That experience led her to eschew the corporate life and move to the Midwest to attend the University of Wisconsin in 1990; she has lived in Madison ever since.
Schneider is currently owner and chief engineer at Coney Island Recording Studios, producing for independent record labels and regional artists. She is also founder of Sparkle Dog, a company producing “Storyscapes,” narratives for children set to original music on CD, as well as accompanying educational materials.
CUT is her first film. For more information, visit http:www.cutthemovie.com
