Hopefully by now you've seen this piece. If you haven't, you should.

 

Arren Williams and Tommy Smythe teamed up to bring a message of hope to gay teens in Canada.

Motivated by Dan Savage’s inspirational project “It Gets Better,” and wanting to provide positive role models in support of Canadian gay youth, Arren Williams, a Toronto based design journalist, stylist and regular guest expert on Cityline along with Tommy Smythe, Sarah Richardson’s design sidekick on the HGTV show Sarah’s House, have teamed up to put together a Canadian campaign featuring high profile LGBT Canadians. 

 

American writer Dan Savage started the “It Gets Better” video project as a response to a series of suicides by gay teens in the US. He set up a YouTube channel in which people from different walks of life can post videos telling their stories and encouraging teens to understand that they can survive the bullying and move on to lead happy and fulfilling lives.

 

Inspired by this movement, Tommy and Arren are spearheading the initiative in Canada and hope this project will inspire teens and give them a positive outlook to show that there is strength in numbers. Tommy and Arren are working with Canadian talent from the worlds of design, fashion, the arts, business, sports and politics who are all ready to step up and help. 

 

Participants so far include TV Host and Political Satirist Rick Mercer, Ballet Dancer Rex Harrington, Fashion Designer Joeffer Caoc, The cast of MTV’s 1 Girl 5 Gays, Author Anne Marie McDonald, Gold Medalist Mark Tewskbury, Director and Playwright Alisa Palmer, Makeup Experts Derek Selby & Kirk Brierley, Director Laurie Lynd, Politician George Smitherman, Writer/Performer Diane Flacks, Media Personality Enza Supermodel, TV Host Deb Pearce and Playwright Brad Fraser.

 

“This project would not be possible if not for the significant contributions of several individuals and companies,” said Williams. Tom Symes, Managing Partner and Head Of Sales at Imported Artists helped bring Jean-Marc Piche and Simon Mestel on board. 

 

Jean-Marc, a Montreal native who has long been a fixture on the commercial directing scene and a force in the feature and documentary film communities, directed and shot the video, while Simon Mestel donated his time as director of photography.