(April 17, 2015) SILVER SPRING, Md.  — Sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing. Just ask the teen filmmakers who entered Toyota and Discovery Education’s Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge. Now in its fourth year, the contest invites teens across the country to create short videos to inspire their friends to drive more safely and avoid risky behavior behind the wheel.

Today, Toyota and Discovery Education announced the 10 finalists chosen from more than 1,000 videos that were submitted this year.

“Each year we are impressed by the creativity and talent of the young filmmakers who enter the Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge and this year was no exception,” said Michael Rouse, president of the Toyota U.S.A. Foundation. “At Toyota we believe that when good ideas are shared great things can happen. We applaud the teens who entered the challenge to share their vision to improve safe driving among their peers.”

“We commend this year’s finalists and their use of digital storytelling skills to influence the behavior of their peers, and know that their hard work and creativity will help save lives across the country,” said Bill Goodwyn, president and CEO at Discovery Education. “Discovery Education is proud to partner with Toyota and we salute their leadership in addressing this critical need by providing young people with compelling digital resources and experiences that empower smart decision-making behind the wheel.”

Today through April 30, the public can watch the finalist videos at www.TeenDrive365InSchool.com/vote and place their votes for the People’s Choice Winner, who will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a behind-the-scenes trip for two to a taping of a Velocity network show. Additionally, a panel of judges at Toyota and Discovery Education will choose first, second and third place winners to receive the following awards.  

    First Place - $15,000 and the chance to work with a Discovery film crew to reshoot their entry video into a TV-ready PSA to air on a variety of Discovery networks
    Second Place -  $10,000 and a behind-the-scenes trip for two to a Velocity network show taping
    Third Place - $7,500

Last year’s grand prize went to Jenny Kim, Tyler Koski, Kevin Kim and Chase Masterstook of Irvine, Calif. Their video featured a young boy who visits a tarot card reader and learns he has the power to dramatically alter his future by avoiding distracted driving. The re-created PSA ran across Discovery’s family of networks.



The Video Challenge, which was recently named a winner in the annual Communitas Awards, is one component of Toyota and Discovery Education’s TeenDrive365: In School initiative, a comprehensive program offering a range of tools designed specifically for school educators and teens. Resources offered include tools to help teens prepare for the responsibility of driving, such as quizzes, parental discussion points, and a financial calculator; classroom resources for educators, including standards-aligned lesson plans for grades 9-12; and Heads UP!, an interactive game which allows teens to virtually experience the real dangers of distracted driving.
 
The program is part of TeenDrive365, Toyota’s comprehensive initiative to help parents model safer driving behaviors for their children. Building on the programs and resources Toyota has offered for more than a decade, the program offers a collection of online tools, events, expert advice and tips as well as social media elements.

Since Toyota TeenDrive365’s launch in November 2013, millions of people have engaged with its online and in-person resources. Earlier this year, the program introduced a new distracted driving simulator that uses Oculus Rift, the latest virtual reality technology, to bring the dangers of distracted driving to life for parents and teens. To learn more about the resources offered through Toyota TeenDrive365, go to www.TeenDrive365.com.