FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUBJECT: WORLD PREMIERE OF "BENJI OFF THE LEASH" TO BENEFIT ANIMALS AND CHILDREN IN MISSISSIPPI

Jackson, MS – The World Premiere of Benji’s new movie Benji Off the Leash has been set for March 25, 2004 in Jackson, MS, a dual benefit for the Mississippi Animal Rescue League (www.msarl.org) a nd the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children (www.foch.org).

According to Benji’s creator, Joe Camp, who is also writer and director of the film, the selection of Jackson was, for many reasons, a gift to the people of Mississippi. "The new Benji was adopted from a shelter in Gulfport, Mississippi," Camp said. "The film is set in Mississippi, and all of the production budget for the film was raised in Mississippi or from Mississippi-related folks."

Camp also graduated from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, and Margaret Loesch, an icon in the family entertainment arena and the film’s other producer, graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi. "Neither of us live in Mississippi now, " said Ms. Loesch, "so it was weird that it all came together this way."

The star of the new film which will be released this summer, was adopted from the Humane Society of Southern Mississippi after a nationwide search through shelters across the country. The search began because The American Humane Association had reported that the original Benji having been rescued from an animal shelter caused more than one million dogs to be a dopted across the United States. Joe Camp wanted this to happen again. "Mission accomplished," says Camp. "Now every time someone looks into the Benji’s big brown eyes they will see the kind of loving, caring companion they too can find at their local animal shelter. And this time around," Camp adds, "we’re going for way more than a million adoptions."

Joe Camp and other members of "team Benji" were visiting an adoption event at a Gulfport PetSmart to take a look at what they considered to be the only local contender for the role, a pup named "Jodi," when suddenly and unbeknownst to the group, Eric Aschaffenburg, interim director of the south Mississippi shelter, "sprung" a new find on Joe. Camp immediately fell in love and the floppy-eared mutt was then fostered by the manager of PetSmart Grooming, Melissa Schroeder, while Camp flew to Los Angeles to meet yet another candidate. The next week, "Gulfport’s" foster mom took her to the vet for a complete checkup and discovered that a persistent cough turned out to be heartworms.

Dr. Lee Spears of the Gulfport Veterinary Hospital began treatment for the disease immediately. "It was a light case," says Spears, "and we were lucky to have caught it early." After the five-week treatment, the soon-to-be canine superstar was pronounced clear of all heartworms and given a clean bill of health by Dr. Spears.

Two other dogs were also adopted, one from a shelter in Chicago and one from a shelter in Los Angeles. All three were put through what Camp’s wife calls Benji Boot Camp and the little lady from Mississippi staked her claim. Now she has completed her first major motion picture, a true rags to riches story. The Chicago adoptee, a mutt named Shaggy, has such a crazy personality, he actually wrote himself into the movie as an unwanted sidekick to the star. The third pooch lives with producer Margaret Loesch in Los Angeles.

"An additional gift to Mississippi," Camp said, "is that the film will open early in Jackson, on March 26." The rest of the nation will have to wait until summer. Mulberry Square Releasing, the company responsible for the original Benji films’ success, will di stribute utilizing a platformed release throughout the summer, rather than a single national release date, so Camp and Benji can travel to each major market immediately prior to the film’s opening.

The Premier benefit in Jackson is not the only effort of Camp and Benji to help homeless animals. The two are in the process of forming the Benji’s Buddies Foundation, which is on a mission to substantially raise the levels of pet adoption nationwide. "During the search for Benji, which was heavily covered by national and local media, adoptions went up wherever we went," says Camp. "After Benji’s adoption in Gulfport, that facility had the biggest month in its history, completely emptying the shelter. But the sad truth is that a month or two later, after the exposure dwindled, it was always back to business as usual. Full shelters and fewer adoptions. The Benji's Buddies program will change all that. With the help of corporate sponsorships, Benji's Buddies Foundation will develop a combination of paid advertising, public service announcements, and live media appearances in waves and flights to continuously brand homeless shelter pets as 'Benji's Buddies.'"

Godwin Group, a major national advertising agency in Jackso n, MS has volunteered to develop the media program pro bono. "This is an exciting challenge, to utilize our experience and knowledge to really make a positive difference," said Godwin CEO and Chairman Danny Mitchell. "Benji's Buddies is an unprecedented opportunity to measurably change things by so convincingly placing the values of shelter pet adoption in the public's mind and heart that the homeless pet, the Benji Buddy, becomes the first choice of new pet owners."

This summer’s new film is appropriate to the effort because, as Camp puts it, "the movie is the might’ve been, could’ve been story of the new Benji, lost and alone, on the streets of a small Mississippi town attempting to save his mom from a back yard puppy mill." Benji Off the Leash will begin national release in Texas and the southeast on June 11, with the entire nation open by July 30. For more information regarding the World Premiere and gala black-tie party afterward, call 601-366-5018. Benji will be in attendance.

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