IN PICTURES: Stars shine on the red carpet in support of Julia Verdin's anti-trafficking film 'Maya'
Los Angeles, California (Release): Celebrities stood up against human trafficking in support of filmmaker/activist Julia Verdin’s new film 'Maya'. The movie premiered at the Laemmle Royal and five other cities across the US on January 26, as well as debuting on VoD in the USA and Canada.
British filmmaker Julia Verdin is an award-winning multi-hyphenate writer, director, and producer. She has produced dozens of films, including 'The Mrechant of Venice', with Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons, and '2 Jacks', with Sienna Miller, Danny Huston, Jack Huston, and Jacqueline Bisset. 'Maya' is a production of Artists for Change, a non-profit organization with a mission to create impact film, television, and multimedia projects that inspire individuals and communities to bring about positive social change.
Standing against human trafficking at the premiere included celebrities Jacqueline Bisset, Steve Guttenberg, Catherine Hardwicke, Thomas Jane, Bai Ling, Kristanna Loken, Adrian Pasdar, Noor Razooky, and Vincent Spano, among others.
Thomas Jane said, “Julia Verdin is doing a good cause and it’s a good thing." Steve Guttenberg added, “It’s a really important subject that everyone needs to know about and a movie like this gets the word out. What we need to do is to educate through film. That’s the real social responsibility of filmmaking and cinema."
Star Patricia Velasquez concluded, "I am proud of this film. It means a lot to me especially because I have a teenage daughter, by coincidence also named Maya. I hope that people will go and see it, especially teenagers as they need to understand how the traffickers operate.“
