Lauren Augarten, the creator of Scissr: A Lesbian Web Series, is paving the way for creatives in the digital age by bringing a diverse point of view to an otherwise mono-perspective media landscape. That is both intentional and personal for Augarten.
A native of Australia, Augarten arrived in New York City in 2007 ready to carve out an acting career. But she quickly became disillusioned by how the industry was portraying female sexuality on screen.
“I came out a bit later in life, in my early/mid-twenties. I had no idea how to meet women and had no way of knowing where to go,” Augarten told Rise News. “I was kind of walking around trying to find places to go and trying to find things to watch just to understand what I was going through. I couldn’t really find anything.”
And so the Scissr pilot was born. Augarten, alongside the Australian director/producer duo Stephanie Begg and Josh Mawer tell a story of three twenty-something lesbians trying to figure out life in New York City.
The main characters Aviva, Emily and Corey connect through an iPhone app- Same Same and hang out at a bar called Scissr.
Each character is thoughtfully introduced as a millennial-aged person attempting to navigate relationships, friendships and life issues. At the end of the 10 minute pilot episode, they meet up at Scissrs, and the viewer is left wanting to know how each character’s story will develop.
Like the viewer, Augarten wasn’t satisfied with just a pilot. She showed Scissr to people in Hollywood and got some on board. But leaving Scissr up to Hollywood meant she would have to compromise too much in order to have the project made.
“There are all of these different elements of the story that I want to show the world before I sign my rights away and sign my life away,” Augarten said. “I want it to be done with integrity. That’s when I decided I wanted to do a whole season so I would have that out there instead of just 10 minutes of the beginning of the story.”
She created a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to make Scissr: Season 1 possible since she found it challenging to find an individual to fund a new project about a specific sexuality and about a specific gender. The goal is to raise $30,000 by mid November.
The crowdfunding campaign has given Augarten the confidence to move forward.
“By crowdfunding, I feel like now I have to do it, and I have to do it really well.”
In addition to being the creator and the main promoter, Augarten also plays Aviva, one of the main characters.
“She is confident and a bit cocky, but that’s a front. Deep down, she’s soft.”
Like Augarten, Aviva has come out later than the other characters. Aviva also fumbles with the same questions Augarten started asking when she came out, “What is a lesbian? How do I navigate this new identity?”
“It’s thrilling and amazing, but it is totally scary. What is so scary to me in coming out a bit later is you wake up and you’re a virgin,” Augarten said. “It’s a whole other world. You’re discovering parts of yourself, and you’re trying to figure out how to interact with other girls when they already know. They’ve had this experience earlier on. That is definitely something Aviva is going to have to deal with the same as I did.”
WATCH: Pilot Episode of Scissr
The other two main characters, Corey and Emily are dealing with slightly different, but no less frustrating and confusing identity and life issues.
When we meet Corey, played by Paulina Singer (‘South of Hell,’ WeTV; ‘The Affair,’ Showtime) , we discover the she is fresh from a break-up. Singer describes Corey as having a little tiger underneath her quiet exterior. According to Singer, Corey is an artist and a skater, which garners some pretty innovative ideas on how to change how basic the world seems to be.
“I don’t think she’s found her voice yet. I hope her break up forces her energy into activist mode, and her anger turns into motivation to stop the idiots in power,” Singer told Rise News.
Emily, played by Kelly Sebastian (Pull Away and Forever Into Space), is a NYC transplant that’s trying to make it as a musician.
“She is confident and a bit cocky, but that’s a front. Deep down, she’s soft. She wants a girlfriend, but has no clue what she wants in a girlfriend, hence the wide range of conquests,” Sebastian said.
“If I have the opportunity to diversify my team, I’m going to take it.”
The depth and diversity in the female characters are what attracted Sebastian to this project in the first place.
“When Lauren [Augarten] approached me with the project she explained that she wanted to make a show that showed all types – queers and straights – and the depths of those growing up experiences, struggles, successes and the human experience of young people,” Sebastian said.
It’s Augarten’s hope that the depth and diversity can extend to the other side of the camera as well.
“My goal now with the next six episodes is to expand my community with people who are not represented in the industry to work with me. It is important to me to find people who can tell a story that is not my story,” Augarten said. “I have a lot to say, but I find that my voice alone bores me. I want to be a part of a community. That to me is what is really exciting about being a creator, you have the power to make changes. If I have the opportunity to diversify my team, I’m going to take it.”
Augarten has 21 days left in her crowdfunding campaign to start making that happen and she is determined to get it fully funded.
She has already taken some of her own advice that she would give to fellow millennial creators: “Find the people who can do the things you can’t do and whose work you admire and like. Find out what is going to be helpful to them too.” Augarten said.
To Learn more about Scissr, you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook. You can donate to their Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/scissr-season-one#/
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This Drug Lowers Gay Men’s Risk Of Getting HIV By 90%, But Many People Don’t Know About It
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), also known by its commercial name Truvada, is a daily medication used to prevent HIV infections that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2012.
The statistics of how well PrEP works at preventing HIV are astounding.
According to the CDC, when taken daily and in conjunction with other preventative measures such as using a condom during sex, PrEP “can reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV by more than 90 percent.”
Even more astonishing, a two and a half-year study performed by researchers from Kaiser Permanente found no new HIV infections among their patients while they were taking PrEP.
However, within six months of taking of PrEP 30 percent of the patients in the Kaiser Permanente study reported having a sexually transmitted infection (STI), at 12 months, 50 percent of patients reported an STI, yet still no new HIV infections.
You can read the full study here: http://share.kaiserpermanente.org/article/large-study-of-prep-use-in-clinical-practice-shows-no-new-hiv-infections/
After all the HIV/AIDS activists who died fighting for preventative medication, PrEP is almost too good to be true. People should be showering the streets with glitter and confetti and screaming at the top of their lungs with joy.
PrEP is not only changing the game, but can hopefully be a big part of the effort in eradicating HIV infections around the world.
PrEP is not only changing the game, but can hopefully be a big part of the effort in eradicating HIV infections around the world.
However, even though studies have proven the tremendous effectiveness of PrEP, and although PrEP is creeping its way into pop culture dialogue with its inclusion in an episode of How To Get Away With Murder, many health care providers aren’t even aware of the medication’s existence.
Watch: PrEP mentioned on How To Get Away With Murder
In a Nov. 24th media release, Center for Disease Control (CDC) Director Tom Frieden said, “PrEP isn’t reaching many people who could benefit from it, and many providers remain unaware of its promise.”
1 in 3 doctors and nurses are unaware of PrEP.
And 1 in 3 doctors and nurses are unaware of PrEP. You can read the media release and find out more about the CDC’s research on PrEP
Miami Multidisciplinary Artist and Cultural Organizer Guillermo León Gómez, experienced this lack of awareness first hand last year.
“I wanted to discuss if there were any possible precautions with an existing disorder of mine and, if not, I would like to begin medicating,” Gómez said in an interview with RISE NEWS. “He [Gómez’s doctor] was unfamiliar with the medication and referred me to an infectious disease doctor. ”
What’s even more startling is the immense backlash PrEP has received and the contradictory studies being released by major health organizations.
In a 2014 infographic by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the foundation makes clear it position.
“AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has taken the position that the scientific data do not support the large-scale use of Truvada [PrEP] as a community wide public health intervention,” the infographic reads.
A infographic produced by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) opposing the use of PrEP. Photo Credit: AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
The foundation explains the low of effectiveness of PrEP is due to “participants [not taking] Truvada as prescribed by medical professionals.”
Yet, what the foundation failed to include in their infographic is that PrEP typically works when taken daily as prescribed.
Fast forward a year later to August 2015, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has taken out a large scale advertising campaign, which would later appear in gay publications nationwide, condemning the science behind PrEP.
And what’s really fascinating is the paragraph prior to the one where the sentence is located, it’s stated that PrEP will not work as a mass public health prevention even though the CDC recommends it. How’s that for medical science? You can view and download the ad here (link: http://bit.ly/1PW6Y2i).
Research and extensive studies have been done on PrEP. But with a lack of awareness in the medical professional world and erroneous information being propagated by big health organizations, the efficiency of PrEP can seriously slow down if not come to a complete halt.
Do you have an opinion about PrEP and whether its use should be encouraged in the gay community? We are interested in publishing you! Send us an email to [email protected]
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. Anyone can write for you us as long as you are fiercely interested in making the world a better place.
Cover Photo Credit: GGAADD/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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These Ole Miss Frat Guys Don’t Respect Women, Are Fucking Assholes
Here’s something you already knew: some fraternity guys at the University of Mississippi are total assholes who don’t respect women.
Here’s something you probably didn’t know: they are dumb enough to display their anti-woman feeling in public while thousands look on.
During the annual Ole Miss Derby Days event last week, two Sigma Chi members serving as emcees and who combined have the comedic ability of two damp rags, asked various sorority members competing for Derby Day Queen a series of gross questions.
Which Sigma Chi would they “go down on?”
What type of sausage would they prefer: “linked or Sigma Chi?”
One of the question sessions was caught on video tape:
“So you’re telling me your nickname’s not BJ?” one of the emcees asks. “I’ll give you an easier question. What’s your fondest memory of the Sigma Chi basement?”
When the woman answers, “Getting rowdy in neon,” the second emcee butts in.
“We’re gonna go ahead and go with her nickname is BJ.”
HAHAHA.
We think it’s funny to force women to have oral sex with us. HAHAHA.
Not everyone thought it was funny.
Abby Michelle Bruce, an Ole Miss student and current sorority member blasted the event on Facebook in a post that quickly went viral.
“Tonight, my eyes watered up as I watched women be humiliated in the name of “philanthropy,” Bruce wrote in the post. “I attended the event, not out of support for the way Sigma Chi runs their philanthropy event, but to cheer on friends who had put lots of time and effort into the dances (some, not out of choice, but of requirement by their respective sororities) only to be mortified and completely ashamed that I am even remotely associated with such an event.”
Abby Michelle Bruce during an interview with NewsWatch Ole Miss, a campus TV station. Photo Credit: NewsWatch Ole Miss.
“I think the question all Panhellenic women at Ole Miss (and women everywhere, greek or not) should be asking here is “why?,” Bruce wrote in the post. “Why do we pay money to participate in these events to be humiliated? Why have we allowed ourselves to be objectified? Women’s fraternities were started as an empowerment movement – what happened?”
The president of the Ole Miss Sigma Chi chapter Clay Wooley called leaders from each of the sororities involved with Derby Days in order to apologize for what took place.
But in an interview with campus TV station NewsWatch Ole Miss, Wooley didn’t seem to fully grasp the implications of what happened.
When asked whether he thought the incident was emblematic of campus rape culture, Wooley spit up all over himself.
“You know, putting it into the category of rape culture though, that is extreme,” Wooley said. “It’s supposed to be done out of innuendo and fun and it got carried away too far this year and shouldn’t have taken place.”
Hold up a minute frat chief.
So you mean to tell us that the event is “supposed” to be done out of innuendo?
First off, innuendo is tough to pull off. You probably should have your smarter guys do it. If you have any.
And secondly, wasn’t this whole thing meant to raise money for charity or some shit like that? I forgot because of all the sexism and untalented people.
Nah bro, you better keep thinking about all of this.
Ole Miss has launched a Title IX investigation into the matter.
Perhaps most disturbingly, some Ole Miss sororities have cracked down on their members in an effort to limit public damage and save face with the fraternities.
According to NewsWatch Ole Miss, one sorority member was forced out in recent days for posting about the subject on social media. She has refused to speak publicly due to perceived retaliation against her.
Another current sorority member agreed to talk to NewsWatch Ole Miss, but only if her face was blurred and her voice modified.
And the campus TV station also obtained text messages showing that at least five sororities have issued a gag order on their members from talking to media.
“It has been so encouraging to hear and see since the event ended that I am not the only one,” Wooley said in her Facebook post. “So, I am putting this all out here so that other women might see that they are not alone either. We deserve better than to be dehumanized. We have rights, and we have the power and authority to demand they be met. Let’s give ’em hell, rebs.”
If you have a tip about this story, email [email protected]
WATCH: NewsWatch Ole Miss report on Derby Days clusterfuck
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: NewsWatch Ole Miss/ Youtube (Screengrab)
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Why Leonardo DiCaprio’s Golden Globes Speech Will Go Down In History
The 73rd Annual Golden Globes Awards Ceremony was a big night in Hollywood.
“A” list celebrities were out in force anxious to see who the winners and losers would be in what is often thought as the Oscar’s most reliable prognosticator.
Millions tuned in to see the likes of Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Schumer and Matt Damon glammed up, decked out and walking the red carpet smiling for the cameras.
But what made the night bigger than awards, terrible jokes and fashion faux pas’ was that in his acceptance speech for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, for his role in The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio did something not done since 1973.
When DiCaprio accepted his award, he paid tribute and respect to the Indigenous people around the world and brought attention to their issues:
“I want to share this award with all the First Nations people represented in this film and all the Indigenous communities around the world,” DiCaprio said. “It is time that we recognized your history and that we protect your indigenous lands from corporate interests and people that are out there to exploit them. It is time that we heard your voice and protected this planet for future generations.”
WATCH: Leonardo DiCaprio Golden Globes speech
For those unaware, First Nations is a term used to reference the people in Canada once termed Indians. In the United States, the term is Native American.
What made DiCaprio’s speech special was that this was the first time since 1973 an important Hollywood actor during a major award ceremony acknowledged the serious issues that Native Americans and First Nation people are facing.
The first one to do it was Marlon Brando- sort of.
In 1973, Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in The Godfather. Instead of accepting the award, Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather, a Native American actress and activist, in his stead to stage a protest and refuse the award because of the treatment of American Indians by the film and television industries during the protests at Wounded Knee, SD.
Watch: Sacheen Littlefeather refuses to accept Marlon Brando’s 1973 Oscar for Best Actor.
In refusing the award, Brando brought much needed attention to the struggles of Native Americans who were suffering in an era of corrupt government, severe racism, extreme poverty and crime rates resulting in the lowest life expectancy rates in the nation.
Fast-forward forty-three years, DiCaprio picked up where Brando left off.
In sharing his award with First Nations and Indigenous communities, DiCaprio addressed two very important issues: 1) Recognizing the importance of Indigenous history (a topic I have written on before) and 2) Protecting indigenous lands from attack by corporations.
There are few things more important to First Nations and Native Americans alike than their history and land.
Paramount to mankind’s physical survival is his connection to the Earth.
Paramount to mankind’s physical survival is his connection to the Earth. Tribes on both sides of the border teach that the Earth is our sacred mother and that mankind, as her children have a duty to protect her.
With respect to cultural survival, Tribal nations teach their traditions and customs orally from grandparent to grandchild through songs and stories. Cultural survival is only possible when accurate history is taught and protected.
DiCaprio’s speech – like Brando’s protest – comes at an appropriate time where Indigenous culture and land are under attack.
Native cultural survival has been threatened due to years of cultural extermination tactics designed to solve the “Indian Problem” such as the Indian Boarding School systems in both the United States, and Canada. The effects of these efforts to assimilate the “savage” and are still felt across Native communities today.
Since 1492, Native North American lands have always been under threat from government and corporate invaders.
Legislation such as the Dawes Allotment Act, an appalling piece of U.S. legislation, removed land from Native American tribes and unjustly gave ownership to non-natives.
More recently Indigenous lands are threatened by the Keystone pipeline project, fracking in the Dakotas, crude oil extraction of the Alberta oil sands and the suspiciously-passed Oak Flat copper mining legislation in Arizona to name a few.
And while it was cool to hear DiCaprio – the man who has played Howard Hughes, J. Edgar Hoover, Jack from Titanic and even the Wolf of Wall Street give a shout out to a portion of the population that is both misrepresented and underrepresented in film and pop culture – DiCaprio’s words were more than just a “Hi Mom!” moment on television.
DiCaprio’s speech signifies that some very important people in the world are aware of the struggles of Indigenous people. DiCaprio inspired many to keep fighting a fight that if won will yield benefits for Natives and non-Natives alike.
It’s not easy to do what DiCaprio did. Taking a political stand has the potential to ruin Hollywood careers. Littlefeather was an aspiring actress whose career never really got off the ground due in part to her speech at the 1973 Oscars.
But unlike Littlefeather and Brando, the reception to DiCaprio’s words seemed more positive, and even though the orchestra tried to play DiCaprio off the stage he kept speaking until we heard what he had to say.
In a world that has literally tried to exterminate Native Americans and First Nations alike, DiCaprio’s words injected a shot of hope, energy and pride to a people trying to stay true to their values.
All the best to you this award season Mr. DiCaprio, thank you for what you have said and may you finally win the Oscar you deserve.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. Anyone can write for you us as long as you are fiercely interested in making the world a better place.
Cover Photo Credit: Fights Fights and Fights/Youtube (Screengrab)
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