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Emmy Nominated Prayers for Bobby Saving Lives of LGBT Youth

In 1983 Bobby Griffith died instantly when he threw himself off a freeway overpass in Portland, Oregon. He could not reconcile his self-loathing and his religious mother's fiercely determined quest to heal his homosexuality through the Bible. It took Bobby's tragedy for his mother, Mary Griffith, to understand that it was not Bobby that needed to be fixed, but blind adherence to flawed biblical interpretations. His death led his mother, Mary Griffith, to renounce her homophobia and fundamentalism and become a steadfast advocate for LGBT rights and education.

Over 25 years later, Leroy Aaron's penned book, Prayers for Bobby, has become a Lifetime Movie honored with two of the highest Emmy Award Nominations: Best Made for TV Film and a Best Actress nomination for Sigourney Weaver. Weaver portrays Mary Griffith with a depth of love and compassion that calls us to understand the pain of a mother who realizes her ignorance and fear too late to save her son from tragedy.

Cast and crew including Producers, Daniel Sladek, Chris Taaffe, David Permuet, Actor: Scott Baily, Screenwriter, Katie Ford, and Executive Director, PFLAG (Parents Families, and Friends of Gays and Lesbians: Jody Huckaby were all present to discuss the film. Mary Griffith could not be present with us on Sunday's screening. However, I am delighted, honored, and privileged to be among the first to publish the heartfelt words of gratitude and support that she sent to be read at the screening.

This is an excerpt from her letter (to read the full letter click here to go to the column at my website: www.jmannino.com

My name is Mary Griffith. My life story, and that of my son Bobby (and our entire family), is depicted in the Emmy Award-nominated movie Prayers For Bobby. To say I am honored is an understatement. I am delighted to see this wonderfully executed film generate critical acclaim and meaningful consideration for the highest honor in the television industry. I am thrilled to acknowledge Sigourney Weaver's Emmy Award nominated Best Actress performance playing me (which I still find unbelievable!). I am reminded of the present day; of our public school teachers and administrators who are not allowed to validate "out" gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, and to provide proper education; of the military establishment excluding our gay children who take bullets alongside their non-gay peers in order to keep us from harm's way; of some religions openly and actively seeking to 'cure' our gay children, further promoting fear and ignorance; of setbacks in AIDS healthcare and education; of the lack of a Federal nondiscrimination policy protecting all Americans from discrimination; of the lack of a Federal marriage rights act guaranteeing equal protection under the law for all couples wanting to enjoy the sanctuary of marriage. I am also reminded of days past; the Stonewall riots; the assassination of Harvey Milk; the brutality of the Holocaust and the ultimate humiliation of the pink triangle; the horrific murder of Matthew Shepard and other hate crime attacks against far too many gay and lesbian teenagers.

THANK GOD I..

This is my interview on David Brown's "Inside Out" about my Thank God I contribution:

My interview is the second one, about 20minutes in..

Lisa Kudrow, Josh Brolin, Chaz Bono, Christina Ricci Come out to Support LGBT Film at Outfest 2009

Rich and I with Lisa Kudrow at Outfest opening

If the walls at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles could speak they would tell you that last night was the kick off of the 27th Los Angeles Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Outfest, 2009. Outfest is one of the oldest, continuously running film festivals in Los Angeles and will feature 181 films from 25 countries over a ten-day event that will put focus on LGBT Rights in response to Prop 8.

Cultural change is often led by artists. Outfest has been on the cutting edge of supporting diverse, bold LGBT artists in creating change and remains a pioneer in this festival. Jon Korn, one of the programmers for the festival says that he thinks "one of the biggest trends we're seeing in LGBT documentaries recently is an increased diversity in the types of stories being told and an increased range in their subject matter. Whereas fifteen, or even ten years ago, a lot of films focused [solely] on the sexuality of their subjects as an exclusive topic."

Click to Read the full artcle at Huffington Post.com

TIPPI HEDREN TALKS ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON AND THE TIGERS SHE ADOPTED

Let us dream of tomorrow where we can truly love from the soul, and know love as the ultimate truth at the heart of all creation - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson made the painful decision to give his animals up for adoption following the court battle he went through in 2005. Shortly after the decision, rumors started popping up all over the place regarding Jackson's mistreatment of the animals by organizations like PETA and others.

In honor of Michael Jackson's untimely passing I was blessed with the opportunity to help dispel this myth and show the depth of loving that lived in this man by speaking with Tippi Hedren.

Full version of this article is published at Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-mannino/michael-jackson-loved-his_b_224324.html

I attended the GMCLA concert yesterday (and heard my friend's sing their hearts out). I met some great people, some in the photo below, Bruce Vilanch, Gloria Allred (made famous by representing very high profile legal cases like Nicole Simpson's family and the first lesbian couple to sue the State of California to legalize gay marriage). The music was a joyful respite from all the chaos and tragedy over the past week. You can access the full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-mannino

Career Lessons from My Recruiting Desk Part I: Getting the Meeting

This is the first in a series of articles that will draw deeply on my ten years of Talent Acquisition (recruiting) work for Fortune 500 companies throughout the entertainment and staffing industries. It is my intention for these articles to support you with real, hands-on information. I intend to draw on my experience in the trenches as a recruiter or my personal success as a job hunter. This first article outlines a couple of assertive techniques that will ask you to generate courage and confidence to take action that will help you successfully distinguish yourself from the hundreds of other applicants currently in the talent pool. However, I caution you to only execute these techniques if you are indeed very qualified for the job! Although my experience is at very large companies I assert that these techniques will work well when approaching smaller companies.

1. Stop sending your resume/profile and start having conversations
In the current employment climate I encourage you to take a more active role in your search and stop sending your resume to every Tom, Dick, Harry, and job posting you see on the internet. You may not realize it, but as soon as you submit your resume to a company you also put your career in their hands. Therefore, when you see a posting at a company that interests you, ask yourself if you have a way in other than your resume. Perhaps there is someone in your network that works for the company who you can ask to e-mail or hand your resume to the hiring manage. If you don't know anyone then do the research to find out who to talk to (with sites like linkedin.com this isn't as hard as you might think). Send them a brief (perhaps two paragraph) intro telling them why you are the solution they need and let them know that you will be calling to follow up in a couple of days. Recruiters don't want to hear this, but (if and only if you are indeed well qualified for the opportunity) one of your best ways in is through direct contact with a hiring manager. On many occasions I have met with hiring managers to discuss new openings and have been given direct leads to candidates who had made contact with them.

2. Use the telephone
I know this seems archaic in our age of technology. However, rather than leave your career up to cyberspace I encourage you to do some groundwork, figure out who to contact, and muster up the courage to make the phone call (if and only if you are indeed well qualified for the position). When you do get the hiring manager on the phone you should be prepared with a solid twenty second pitch as to why you are the solution to their problem. Then make an agreement to submit your resume directly to them along with submitting it online. Let them know that you will call to follow up in a couple of days and how much you appreciate their time. Alternatively, if you have submitted your resume online and you know you are a great candidate for the position call within one week to follow up on the status of the position. Tell them why you are someone they would want to meet and that you would like to interview for the position. Many job postings say not to call. However, if you take a strategic approach to this, understand the line between making a phone call and being a stalker, and you are indeed a solid candidate for the job than you are doing the recruiter or hiring manager a favor. In my busy recruiting days it was a service to me when a qualified candidate whose resume I had not yet seen would call to follow up. If time allowed I would open their resume immediately. If they were a great candidate, I would get very excited and start asking questions right away or schedule a better time for an interview.

3. Do your research early
If you are contacted by a company you should be prepared by having conducted some initial research. It should answer the following questions: a) What does the company do/offer? b) What is their market position and who are their competitors c) company structure d)company financials e) your understanding of the job based on the description. Most, if not all of this information is readily available on the internet. You may not be asked questions that illustrate this knowledge if they are simply calling to schedule a meeting. Nonetheless, you will be prepared.

4. Be the solution
It is not a secret that many organizations are currently struggling. Hence, more than anything, even more than your actual skill set, companies are looking to hire you as a solution to their problems. What's the problem? Figuring out how to save or generate more money. One way to clearly differentiate yourself from other candidates is to illustrate that you are the solution to this problem. You want to have clear examples of how you helped address a company's bottom line on your resume and be ready to talk about them as soon as your first conversation. This may seem challenging if you are not directly in sales, finance or accounting. Here are some examples:

Marketing: How can you quantify leads that got generated through marketing campaigns you executed? How can you quantify money you saved or helped generate based on your marketing analysis.

Product Development What kind of revenue was generated by new product launches?

Project Management How can you quantify in a dollar amount time you saved on a project?

Administrative Perhaps you supported a boss who was a key player in the sales department and can illustrate how you provided the expertise to help a system run more efficiently, which saved your boss more time to go out and close additional sales.

These techniques can be daunting for some. However, the courage you need to take assertive action in alignment with your desire to get back work is right within you! It is your vision coupled with action that will help bring your career back into reality!

Do you have a strategy you want to share or a question about "getting the meeting?" Please comment below. You never know, the story you share may just be what the person reading it needs to hear. "tweet" this article or post it to Facebook so others can benefit from this information!

The next segment in Lessons from My Recruiting Desk will show you how to stop interviewing and provide in depth details for crafting your "winning job presentation!".