SPORTS LEGENDS TEAM UP WITH PODIUM PICTURES TO CREATE NEW PROJECTS TO "BREAK THE STIGMA" ON MENTAL HEALTH

DeMar DeRozan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bode Miller Join Forces to Raise $12 Million During Mental Health Awareness Month In A Unique Partnership with Donatestock.com

LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Three sports legends of varied athletic disciplines - Chicago Bulls superstar DeMar DeRozan, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Olympic ski racing champion Bode Miller - are joining award-winning filmmaker Brett Rapkin ("The Weight of Gold") and Podium Pictures to create a series of six documentary projects focused on breaking the stigma of mental health through the power of athletes and storytelling.

Podium Pictures will be distributing these documentaries around the world on a free platform as a mental health resource, rather than limiting access behind a paywall. In order to raise the $12 million necessary to achieve this goal through their non-profit social impact foundation Podium Society, the producers are seeking support from high-net worth philanthropists and the broader fan base looking to support mental health initiatives. Key to this fundraising strategy is their partnership with Donatestock.com where donors have the option to gift appreciated assets for significant tax advantages. In honor of Mental Health Awareness month, Podium and Donatestock are matching $1 million in donations to Podium Society, for all gifts including stock, cash, and crypto. To learn more, visit:  https://Donatestock.com/podium.     

The new projects will continue the conversation started by "The Weight of Gold," which was released by HBO in 2020. That film, directed by Rapkin and produced in partnership with Olympic legend Michael Phelps, ignited a national dialogue about mental health as it related stories told through the eyes of Olympic athletes sharing a crucial message: it's okay to not be okay. The film's incredible presence culminated when mental health issues took center stage through the struggles of several top athletes at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. "The Weight of Gold '' impact also inspired the creation of The Podium Society, a nonprofit 501C3 organization dedicated to securing the resources to produce and distribute many more social impact sports projects.      

As a next chapter in the conversation, three projects are already in early pre-production:

• "Dinners With DeMar" starring DeRozan - a digital series where "nothing is off the table" as the mental health advocate breaks bread and opens up with other athletes and influencers
• Reaching beyond the massive NASCAR audience, Earnhardt Jr. along with some of the greatest drivers in the world will explore the mental health stigma in America's heartland through the stories of their own in this very personal, revealing documentary;
• A documentary film with Miller focuses on the mental health challenges, including the high suicide rates, and hopeful solutions in the Rocky Mountain region, home to many of America's greatest athletes in a wide variety of sports

"One in five Americans suffer from a mental health challenge every year, but more than half don't get any help at all," says Rapkin. "'The Weight of Gold' was just the start of our mission to break the stigma. Now we're back to finish the job. Each film will explore the challenges and, more importantly, the solutions being created in countless areas of the sports world, and our ultimate goal is to create films that are accessible, free of cost,to worldwide audiences. The worldwide mental health crisis knows no barriers – it can affect anyone in any region or any socio-economic station – and we truly believe that the conversation should be available and accessible to all."

ABOUT BRETT RAPKIN

Brett Rapkin is an innovative Emmy Award-winning Writer/Producer/Director. Over the past twenty plus years, Brett has created a deep track record and top-tier relationships by successfully developing, producing, distributing, and promoting premium content with partners ranging from HBO to The Los Angeles Dodgers. The impact of his 2020 HBO documentary "The Weight of Gold" inspired Brett to focus Podium exclusively on being the global leader in socially impactful sports media. Brett is a frequent interview guest on the topic of athlete-driven media and has appeared in Forbes, CNN, NPR, The New York Times and many other venues. He is the father of two young children and lives in his native Los Angeles.

ABOUT PODIUM PICTURES

Podium Pictures is an Emmy Award-winning media company based in Los Angeles, California. For the past twenty years Podium has consistently helped partners like HBO, NFL, MLB, Olympic Channel, MGM, Fox Sports, Amazon and The Los Angeles Dodgers make an Impact. Podium was recently named one of three "2021 Trendsetters" by Sports Business Journal along with the production companies of NBA legends Chris Paul and LeBron James. Podium is the first media company completely dedicated to creating and strategically distributing sports stories of impact that inspire positive change.

ABOUT DONATESTOCK.COM

DonateStock is a social impact fintech startup that is transforming charitable giving by making stock gifting easy and accessible to millions of nonprofits and donors. DonateStock streamlines the stock gifting process to help donors save on taxes while having greater impact. Nonprofits benefit from larger pre-tax donations and the tools and support needed to diversify and grow individual giving via stock donations. By making stock gifting easy and accessible to all, DonateStock is unlocking a market worth $100 billion in annual funding while helping thousands of nonprofits impact millions of lives.

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SOURCE Podium Pictures