Anti-Bullying Family Film Used for School Event and Town Discussion 

West Point, Nebraska, is taking steps to deal with the issue of bullying.  The town has scheduled some special screenings of the family film, "How to Beat a Bully."

The film will be shown Monday, May 10th in the afternoon at a school assembly for grades 3 through 7, with a study guide of questions for students and teachers to discuss afterwards. In the evening the West Point Community Theatre has a screening at 7 pm. This event is particularly exciting for the town of West Point, because native son, Eric Lauritzen is one of the film's stars. 

"How to Beat a Bully" is a family comedy with an anti-bullying theme.  It's about a 12-year-old boy who moves to a new town and gets picked on by school bullies.  In order to protect himself, he uses his brain instead of his fists - and comes up with an idea that not only stops the bullies, but gets them to be this new best friends.  Along the way there are hilarious adventures and mishaps, in which he accidentally gets his dad involved with some bad guys who want to do more than "bully" him.  Mr. Lauritzen plays the dad, Joe, in this humorous but meaningful film.

The movie has lots of laughs and the tone of "Home Alone," yet touches on a subject that is a serious one for many children, tweens and teens today.  

The evening screening is designed to provide children and adults a chance to see the film if they weren't in attendance at the afternoon school screening. Students can attend free, and tickets for adults are only $5.00. The discussion afterward will be based on a discussion guide with questions that explore what happens in the film and what happens in real life. It gives audiences a chance to share a positive experience and hopefully open a dialog regarding what everyone can do when confronted with a bullying situation.

Proceeds of the event will go to the Juvenile Awareness Group, an organization that works with school districts, behavioral health centers and youth services to provide prevention education for school aged youth. 

The idea of using a comedic entertainment to start a conversation was exactly what the film's writers, Marilyn Anderson and Richard Rossner, had in mind when the movie was made.  "The idea of using humor to defuse a difficult topic makes discussing the issue much easier. We're thrilled that West Point is leading the way as an example to other communities around the country," said Rossner. "We hope to see more of these kinds of events taking place," added Ms. Anderson.

"How to Beat a Bully" is distributed by Indie Rights.  The film is available as Video On Demand at Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes, and the DVD is now available at Walmart stores. To set up an arrangement for a screening and issue-oriented discussion afterwards, contact the producers at HowtoBeataBully at gmail dot com.

Photos and interviews with the Actors, Writers and Producers available.