Dove, Lena Waithe, ATTN: and BBH Entertainment Premiere First-of-its-Kind Scripted Series, Girls Room, to Address Self-Esteem and Body Image with Teen Girls

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Feb. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Watch the Trailer Here

Young people are deeply impacted by on-screen images; what they see shapes their relationship with their bodies and beauty standards. In fact, young people today report feeling anxious about their appearance more often than about career prospects or money.¹ The resulting low body confidence and beauty anxieties keep them from being their best selves, affecting their health, friendships, and even performance at school.

That's why the Dove Self-Esteem Project and ATTN: have joined forces to present Girls Room, a new five-episode scripted series from Emmy-award winning writer, producer and actor Lena Waithe. Girls Room tackles the pain and power of female adolescence through the eyes of a group of 5 girls as they face the challenges of growing up in today's social media world. The shorts are designed to reach girls in the ways that they're connecting today – peer-to-peer and digitally-fueled through the content they're consuming on their phones.

The series is based around those moments spent in bathrooms – the 'Girls Room' – an everyday space, a space where we experiment with our appearance and shape our sense of self but also a place of vulnerability, where we come face to face with the mirror, the weigh scales and our insecurities. The series follows each character from the school bathroom back home to their individual bathrooms where they confront barriers to self-esteem that teen girls are facing every day, from the pressures of social media, teasing and bullying to dealing with body dissatisfaction. The content is based on the Dove Self-Esteem Project's academically validated research into body image and was co-created with academic experts from the Centre of Appearance Research at the University of the West of England, to ensure educational impact – and brought to life by the voice of Lena Waithe. Girls Room is produced by Dove, Unilever Entertainment, and ATTN: in partnership with Hillman Grad, Lena Waithe's production company, and is directed by Tiffany Johnson. BBH, a leading creative agency, co-created the idea for the series and serve as Executive Producers.

"Growing up can be such a discordant experience – you can spend one moment feeling like you can conquer the world and the next full of self-doubt throughout this journey to define who you are every day," said Lena Waithe. "Girls are facing very real issues that influence how they see themselves in the world, but what I hope comes through in Girls Room is that we have the power to lift each other up and encourage one another to feel freedom in being ourselves."

"Girls Room is the kind of unique storytelling that speaks to a generation in a way that's culturally relevant and authentic while also being substantively important," said Taryn Crouthers, ATTN:'s COO. "We're so proud to have teamed with Lena and Dove to create something that will inspire and empower girls to be confident in themselves."

"The origin of this idea for Dove is something we are incredibly proud of and have enjoyed executive producing alongside ATTN:. BBH Entertainment strives to create meaningful concepts for our clients around the world with programming that resonates culturally and delights audiences," said William Swann, Head of BBH Entertainment.

The Dove Self-Esteem Project has been providing women and girls with the tools to develop a positive relationship with their bodies and the way they look for over 15 years – with a global mission to help ¼ of a billion young people build self-esteem from 2004 to 2030.

With Girls Room, the Dove Self-Esteem Project uses a public mental health intervention framework to expand its education programming by leveraging mainstream entertainment to tackle low body confidence on a broader scale. Girls Room was directed and produced specifically with the mobile-first, vertical viewing habits of today's young audiences in mind. Under the creative guidance of director Tiffany Johnson and with the expertise of ATTN:, the industry leader in mobile-first, mid-form content, the series is one of the first-ever full scale scripted productions to be shot in this vertical-only aspect ratio, and the entire series has been optimized for viewing on mobile devices.

"Appearance ideals, pressures and stereotypes are widespread on social media. Studies show that the more time adolescent girls spend on social media the more likely they are to be dissatisfied with their bodies, especially when it comes to posting selfies, seeking validation through comments and likes, and comparing themselves to other people's highlight reels. We need to disrupt the social media landscape with content that encourages girls to accept and respect their bodies and showcases a diverse and inclusive range of appearances," states Professor Phillippa Diedrichs, body image expert at the world-leading Centre for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England. "Girls Room addresses key influences on girls' body confidence that have been identified in scientific research in an engaging and relevant way."

"As the world's largest provider of self-esteem education, for over 15 years the Dove Self-Esteem Project has helped 60 million young people build the confidence they need to reach their full potential with academically proven tools – but we know there's more to be done," said Sophie Galvani, Global Dove Vice President. "As well as educating girls through our existing schools programmes we are now driving even greater impact by producing 5 short films that both entertain and help girls in a relatable way - not only in the format and delivery, but also in the setting and scenarios. By setting the series in the bathroom, otherwise known as the 'Girls Room', we showcase a key space in female development where young girls chat, interact with their friends, see themselves in the mirror and weigh themselves. It is where our body confidence can be made or broken."

Tune-in to ATTN:'s IGTV to watch Girls Room and visit Dove.com/selfesteem to download free educational tools to start a discussion with a girl in your life.

About the Dove Self-Esteem Project:
At Dove, we believe no young person should be held back from reaching their full potential. However, low body confidence and anxieties over appearance keep young people from being their best selves, affecting their health, friendships, and even performance at school.

The Dove Self-Esteem Project was created from a vision where we believe a positive experience of beauty should be accessible to every woman and girl. We partner with leading experts in the fields of psychology, health, and body image to create a program of evidence-based resources, including parenting advice, to help young people form healthy friendships, overcome body image issues, and be their best selves.

Since 2004 the Dove Self-Esteem Project has educated over 60 million young people in 142 countries in body confidence and has become the biggest provider of self-esteem education of its kind. But we won't stop there. Our global mission is to help ¼ of a billion young people build self-esteem from 2004 to 2030.

About ATTN:
ATTN: is a media company that bridges entertainment with topical issues to explain the world around us. We are leaders when it comes to reaching people who want context on the issues and conversations that matter to them.

About Hillman Grad:
Hillman Grad is a development and production company committed to creating art that goes against the status quo and gives a platform to marginalized peoples by providing a platform for diverse voices across all mediums. Founded by Emmy-Award winning writer Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani, the company currently has projects at Netflix, Disney, BET, Showtime, HBO and Amazon.  Their comprehensive slate includes the Queen & Slim, which Waithe wrote and was directed by Melina Mantzoukas; Universal Pictures released the film on November 27^th. Other upcoming projects include BET's Boomerang, which recently wrapped production on Season 2, and Twenties, which is loosely based on Waithe's own life of when she first moved to Los Angeles and follows the adventures of a queer black girl and her two straight best friends who spend most of their days talking shit and chasing their dreams. Other projects currently in various stages of production: How to Make Love to a Black Woman which is for Showtime; Them: Covenant for Amazon; Untitled Kid Fury Project for HBO; and the Sundance Film Festival 2020 selection The 40-Year-Old Version, Radha Blank's groundbreaking film, which blends real life and fiction to follow its protagonist, a down-on-her luck New York playwright, who decides to reinvent herself and salvage her artistic voice by becoming a rapper at age 40. 

About BBH:
BBH Entertainment is the development arm of the global creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH,) specializing in the intersection of advertising and entertainment. Outside of development and unbranded TV, film and digital projects, BBH Entertainment teaches its brand clients how to own, co-create, and monetize IP with Hollywood talent, and brings a marketing deficit financing model to its IP, easing the hardship of production costs for networks. BBH Entertainment partners with Fremantle to develop and co-own both innovative, brand-friendly TV and digital formats, and stand alone (without brands) unscripted TV formats currently being pitched to networks. Recent projects include executive producing the Depeche Mode Documentary "Spirits in the Forest", one of 2019's best performing event cinema releases, and a superfan/pop-culture game show currently being pitched to buyers with Kids At Play. BBH won a BAFTA for their short film HOME in 2017.

About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Dove, Hellmann's, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Love Beauty and Planet, Magnum, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Pure Leaf, Q-tips, Seventh Generation, Simple, Sir Kensington's, St. Ives, Suave, Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto, TAZO, TIGI, TRESemmé and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) underpins the company's strategy and commits to:

• Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020.
• Halving the environmental impact of our products by 2030.
• Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020.

The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and reducing risks. The company's Sustainable Living Brands grew 69% faster than the rest of the business and delivered 75% of the company's growth in 2018.

Since 2010 we have been taking action through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to help more than a billion people improve their health and well-being, halve our environmental footprint and enhance the livelihoods of millions of people as we grow our business. We have already made significant progress and continue to expand our ambition – most recently committing to ensure 100% of our plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. While there is still more to do, we are proud to have been recognized in 2018 as sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and as the top ranked company in the GlobeScan/SustainAbility Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders survey, for the eighth-consecutive year. 

For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com 
For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca  
For more information on the USLP: www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/ 

¹ Kaspersky Labs #AndOwningIt: Turning Generation Z's Insecurities into Securities Research

CONTACT: Dana Paolucci, 212-277-3741, [email protected]; Elizabeth Consul, (212) 704-8274,  [email protected]

SOURCE Dove