A Documentary Film by Robyn Symon
“Sompop!” is a feature length documentary about two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sompop Jantraka, a former street kid who has dedicated his life to preventing girls as young as five years old who live in the hill tribes along the Thai-Burma border from being tricked or forced into prostitution.
In many cases, it’s a race against time - who will get to the girls first, Sompop or the pimps who also comb the villages looking for young girls. Despite death threats, SOMPOP has saved nearly 3000 girls from the grip of predators, giving them hope for a future at his school in Mai Sai called Daughters of Education Program (DEPDC).
 The film follows the trail of supply and demand- from the travel agencies to the network of brothel owners, agents and pimps who comb the hill tribe villages tricked into selling their most valuable property: their children. Through hidden cameras, we take viewers to the epicenter of the sex trade in Bangkok and the border town of Mai Sai where girls are often smuggled from Myanmar (Burma) to feed the billion-dollar travel sex industry.
We take a fresh and revealing look at how globalization has increased the demand for younger and younger girls while villagers fall deeper and deeper into poverty.
In a pioneering mission of prevention, we watch how Sompop and a small group of volunteers identify children at risk and then persuade, plead and even beg poverty stricken grandparents of orphaned children to allow the children to attend his school for free. Once there, the girls are taught job skills, then given help finding self-respecting work or scholarships for higher education. Our cameras track the journey of three girls from the hill tribes, destined to be sold into the sex trade but instead by a twist of luck are offered hope for the future at Sompop’s school.
We also follow two recent graduates, Si Fon and Lekk who are faced with a common struggle of whether to continue their education or return to their village to help support their families.
 
“Sompop is willing to go to any length,” says Christopher Osborn, a child activist. “He will sacrifice his money, position, even his friends to help children.”
DISTRIBUTION
“SOMPOP!” will be presented at various international film festivals and offered for distribution for TV and DVD/VOD rights through mainstream and educational channels. Shot on High Definition, we began Production in February 2007 and are slated to complete Production the Spring/Summer of 2008.
BUDGET
The total budget is $300,000 (est). To complete Production, we need $50,000 in matching funds to return to Thailand to follow up on Sompop and the girls he rescued during our first shoot last year. During the shoot we will also interview a pimp, sex trade workers and a representative from Thai Child Rights to give us an overview of the problem. The return shoot schedule will depend on funding.
Once Production is complete, we will need $70,000 to complete Post Production, which includes scripting, editing, original music score, graphics and website sales/marketing.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Investors have an opportunity to bring SOMPOP’s work before an international audience. They will be first position to recoup their investment, receive a full screen credit as Executive Producer and share in the profits from domestic and foreign TV and DVD/VOD sales. They will also be included in all marketing/publicity notices and internet postings.
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Robyn Symon, a former television news reporter, is a two-time Emmy award winning Writer/Producer, who has produced programming for PBS, BRAVO, The Travel Channel and NBC. She has traveled the world producing the PBS series “Voices of Vision” profiling the work of non-profit organizations.
She recently produced and edited “Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard” about the controversial cultural icon and founder of est which was recently picked up for international distribution by Screen Media Films after a sold out premiere in New York CIty.
For more information, email Robyn Symon at robyn@symonproductions.com and visit www.symonproductions.com.
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