Portland, ME (January 14, 2011) – The PSA created for the Planet Dog Foundation by local filmmakers that has been running on Maine-based TV stations since winning the Maine 7DAYPSA competition last fall, has now won the National 7DAYPSA contest. In addition to being screened in the Socially Responsible Content category at the 2011 New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles and being presented with an award at the 2011 Rhode Island International Film Festival, the Planet Dog Foundation PSA is now being considered for an Emmy Award.
Portland, Maine was the second stop of the National 7DAYPSA competition which began in Rhode Island and is taking place in cities across the nation. The competition is the brainchild of Duncan Putney and Andre Stark, of OCD Associates in Providence, RI. It was created to draw attention to nonprofit organizations and filmmakers by bringing them together to provide deserving organizations a broadcast quality PSA along with a commitment from local media outlets to air it.
Filmmakers are given seven days to write, cast, direct and edit a public service announcement for a local non-profit. The Hurf Durf team that won top prize for the Planet Dog Foundation PSA in both the local and national competitions, was led by director Tim Lazimov. Team Hurf Durf also received awards for best editing, best animation and best director. Click on the link below to watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Hri5yT28Y
“The best part about winning is the opportunity for the people who appear in our PSA to let the world know how important their dogs are in their lives, and for them to share their stories of service with their canine companions,” says Kristen Smith, the Executive Director of the Planet Dog Foundation and Planet Dog’s Brand Ambassador. “We are proud to support them, and thrilled that their bond will be shared with so many,” adds Smith.
“We have wanted to share these stories of canine service through a PSA for years, but have never been able to afford it,” adds Stephanie Volo, Planet Dog’s President. “We were honored to be selected to participate in this competition and feel very blessed to have won locally and now nationally,” adds Volo.
Since incorporating in 1997, Planet Dog has been known as the industry’s leading socially responsible, values-based design house, bringing people and dogs together for fun and mutual support. The flagship initiative of the company and the heart and soul of all of Planet Dog’s business is the charitable arm of the company, the Planet Dog Foundation (PDF), established in 2006.
PDF is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 grant-making organization that provides cash grants to programs that train, place and support service dogs helping people in need. PDF supports service dog programs, therapy dog programs that work in a range of residential and therapeutic programs, police, fire and military dogs, animal assisted therapy in academic, prison and medical facilities, K-9 search and rescue programs, medical alert dogs and other innovative programs that harness a dog’s extraordinary scent capability and loyalty to help children and adults in need. To date, PDF has awarded almost $1,000,000 in cash grants and in-kind donations to a variety of excellent programs.
PDF is funded primarily by the sales of Planet Dog products, and through sales at the Planet Dog Company Store located in Portland, Maine. Planet Dog is the corporate partner of the Planet Dog Foundation, contributing 2% of every sale to PDF, while also covering overhead and administrative costs. Planet Dog also sells the Orbee-Tuff„¥ Glow for Good Ball. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the buoyant and bouncy dog toys made from Planet Dog’s award-winning Orbee-Tuff go directly to the grantmaking budget.
Through PDF, Planet Dog also donates a substantial amount of first quality products to numerous non-profits all over the country which serve as items for silent auctions, and raffle prizes for fundraisers. In addition to gift baskets and auction items, Planet Dog donates overstock or discontinued products to canine programs throughout the country, providing much needed collars, leashes and toys to non-profits on tight budgets. For more information and a full list of programs and grantees, please visit http://www.planetdogfoundation.org.