Hollywood filmmaker, actor and casting director Brent Scarpo is on a mission to help others understand the tragedies and consequences of recent hate crimes.
“He’s here to enlist others in this work, to understand and eliminate hate crimes,” said Deborah White, assistant vice president of student life and leadership.
Scarpo will be giving his free presentation, “Journey to a Hate Free Millen-nium,” on Thurs-day, at 7 p.m. in the Culp Center ballroom.
Scarpo has served as casting director for many films, including “Air Force One,” “That Thing You Do,” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” He has been a leading figure in the entertainment field for 15 years.
Scarpo and fellow Los Angeles filmmaker, Martin Bedogne, created a documentary that features interviews from the families and friends of victims of hate crimes, including the Matthew Shepherd murder, the James Byrd murder and the Columbine tragedy.
The 35-minute film highlights various forms of hate through a documentation of actual events.
It also includes interviews from Judy Shepard about the life and death of her son Matthew, students and parents from Columbine, including Darrell Scot and his son Craig, whose sister Rachel was killed in the shooting, and entertainers such as Elton John, John Dye and Olivia Newton John.
Politicians, hate crime victims and friends and family of people who have been affected by hate were interviewed for the film.
Holocaust survivors will offer a historical perspective in hate and the solutions they believe would help us enter the new millennium with compassion and hope.
In addition, groups of young people from kindergarten to college offer their perspectives on hate and the role it plays in today’s culture.
Scarpo’s program will also feature a lecture with audience interaction and questions.
“It’s not a gay thing, it’s not a black thing, it’s not an Asian thing,” Scarpo said in a press release. “It’s a hate thing, and hate is nondiscriminatory.”
The presentation questions the purpose of hate in our country. Scarpo speaks about why hate occurs, what happens to those who choose to hate and what might be possible if hate could be eliminated from our society.
White had the opportunity to preview the program this summer. She said that the program is one of the most powerful programs she has been to.
“You will not walk out of there and not feel the pain,” she said. “You’ll feel the pain of what happened in each of those situations.”White said that after the program students will have a better knowledge of what happened in each of those tragedies.
“You cannot help but come out of there changed in some way, changed to want to do something even if its within your own family,” she said. “Change happens a little bit at a time in small ways.”
The sponsors for the program include the ETSU offices of Student Life and Leadership, Multicultural Affairs, Women’s Resource Center, and several student organizations including, University Productions, Lambda Society, the Student Government Association through special 606 funds, The Criminal Justice Society, Alpha Xi Delta Sorority, as well as support from the Alpha Xi Delta National Foundation.

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