August is National Traffic Awareness Month, and GSTV is partnering with non-profit organization Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE) to bring excerpts of award-winning student films themed around road safety to a national audience through its platform.
SAFE aims to improve the quality of life for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike by reducing traffic fatalities to zero. The Streets, Art, SAFE Film Competition is a program for high school students that advocates for street safety through the arts. The program aims to educate and empower students to do something about street safety through creative, fun, artistic and impactful visual storytelling, while also developing film and visual arts expertise.
Kristina Lutz, EVP, marketing, GSTV, said, “We look forward to showcasing and amplifying the work of these talented young filmmakers through our platform in partnership with Streets Are For Everyone. Their work is compelling and impactful, and introducing this content to drivers when they are just about to get back on the road is the perfect time to remind them about safety precautions.”
GSTV will feature winning submissions from the Streets, Art, SAFE Film Competition from August 19 through September 15 at GSTV sites throughout the U.S. The winning films were submitted by high school students from Southern California, Arizona and Florida, and include:
- Speed Kills, Castaic High School, in Castaic, California (Best PSA Gold 2023)
- Alcohol Kills Others, Ramona High School, in Riverside, California (Best Research and Accuracy of Traffic Safety Facts Awards 2024)
- Little Buddy, Bishop Mora Salesian High School, in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California (Best PSA Bronze 2023)
- On the Curb, Claremont High School, in Claremont, California (Best PSA Gold 2019)
“When it comes to critical issues like road safety, young people can often be the best at reminding us of what is at stake. Partnering with SAFE, we saw an opportunity to underscore important messages about road safety in ways that were fresh, creative, and new. We know the power of GSTV’s platform to support artists and creators, so when SAFE approached us with the idea of partnering together, we saw an immediate connection between supporting young artists and leveraging our network to reach a naturally attentive audience of drivers to share an important message,” Lutz told NACS.
“For us, road safety is an incredibly important cause to support as our audience is made up entirely of drivers, and we capture them at a powerful moment of one-to-one attention. Introducing this powerful content to consumers tied to National Traffic Awareness Month is the perfect time to remind our viewers about the important role they play in keeping our streets safe—right after they fuel up and are about to hit the road,” Lutz explained.
Damian Kevitt, the Founder of Streets Are For Everyone, said, “Through our film competition, students have gained invaluable lessons about road safety and have taken it upon themselves to educate others about what they’ve learned. As one of last year’s winning students aptly put it: ‘It takes a lot of responsibility to drive, and it’s not a joke; it’s not a game.’ We sincerely appreciate GSTV for broadcasting the important messages from these talented high school students about road safety.”
“We are always looking for ways we can work hand-in-hand with our convenience and retail partners to give back to the community—from our work with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) since 2019 to display missing children posters on GSTV screens, to honoring first responders, medical personnel, and American Red Cross volunteers on GSTV screens as the official media partner for NACS 24/7 Day, a day that honors these local heroes,” said Lutz.
For more information about the Street, Arts, SAFE Film Competition, visit: www.StreetsArtSAFE.org