In the summer before his senior year of high school, Kevin Gendron was inspired by a former National Hockey League player to prevent child abuse.

As part of a film festival screening committee, Gendron viewed the film “Pursuit of Truth: Adult Survivors of Child Abuse Seeking Justice.” In it, Sheldon Kennedy, the NHL player and an abuse victim, said, “on average, a child has to ask seven adults before their [abuse] case is taken seriously.”

Gendron was immediately compelled to act.

“You felt like you had to do something about it right then and there,” Gendron said. “They can’t defend themselves, so I wanted to defend them.”

As part of his action, Gendron, now a freshman advertising major, created a 60-second public service announcement. The piece was the result of an internship capstone for his producer Peter Connors and all work on the PSA was completed pro bono. His project first aired in his hometown of Portsmouth, N.H., and was eventually picked up by Comedy Central for a commercial spot during Tuesday night’s “The Colbert Report.”

Connors said they were lucky Comedy Central was the channel that picked it up because of the type of audience the Colbert Report attracts.

“I think you would be hard-pressed to find a more socially active and influential audience, especially in the media sphere, than you’d find on ‘The Colbert Report,’” Connors said.

Gendron served as director and editor of the PSA, and co-wrote it with David McHugh, the screenwriter for “Bad Teacher.” McHugh said his main job was to be a “backbone for the overall goal” of the project and that Gendron had all the ideas; all he did was help find the right way to craft it. Because of the high caliber of everyone involved, Gendron said the film exceeded his highest expectations.

The 60-second PSA, aptly titled “Stand Up and Step Forward,” follows a young girl suffering from child abuse. After sitting in a classroom full of students, the young girl gets up, walks across the room and whispers into the teacher’s ear. The teacher then takes the student by the hand, leading her out of the room. Words appear on the screen saying, “She found the courage to report her abuse. So can you.”

Gendron said his idea was brought to life because of the aesthetic style of Jonathon Millman, the director of photography. His visuals, paired with German composer Nils Frahm’s music, tied the entire package together, he said.

As for finding actors to portray such a strong message, Gendron said the search wasn’t so easy. But once they found Elle Shaheen, granddaughter of New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, everything came together.

Not a novice to the small screen, Shaheen, who played the PSA’s victim, has been on national television a few times before, but said she has never experienced an atmosphere quite like this. She said the cast and crew set themselves apart from others she has worked with by being exceedingly professional and caring. It was even more of a surprise for Shaheen, she said, because she didn’t realize how young Gendron, the heart and soul of the project, was at the time of the shoot.

“I honestly didn’t know he was 18 at the time we shot because of how mature and professional he was,” she said.

Gendron certainly noticed Shaheen’s acting abilities and said that she “rocked” her performance.

The other starring role — the teacher — was performed by an actress from Newfields, N.H.: Constance Witman. She said it wasn’t hard to conjure up the emotion the role required.

“You just have to really put yourself in the situation. What if it was me?” she said. “If somebody tells you that they’re being abused, that’s got to hit you somewhere. Otherwise, I think you’d have to be a robot to just ignore something like that, especially when it’s a child.”

The simple film lets the emotion speak louder than words, and because of its content, the PSA’s team has started working with the National Children’s Alliance, a nonprofit organization that oversees more than 700 child advocacy centers across the country. The organization’s work has been adopted across the United States. Each state chapter has its own website created by Fishnet Media that offers resources, hotlines, testimonials and articles that are local to each state.

As for the overall message of the campaign, co-writer David McHugh hopes it helps child victims of abuse gain the confidence necessary to reach out to someone they can trust.

Said McHugh: “There are too many kids that have to suffer through a whole lot of terrible things. It takes courage to reach out for help. If we can help even a couple more kids gain the confidence to do so, it will be worth it.”

Published on November 20, 2013 at 12:39 am

Contact Madysan: mgfoltz@syr.edu | @madysangabriele