What do Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, Zac Efron, Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson), Arsenio Hall, and David Cook of American Idol all have in common? Speech! Productions, LLC is about to answer that question with their new planned film and multi-media project entitled, "Speech!" Executive Producer Ted Trent is now casting the film -- aimed at educating both youth and adults about all the amazing opportunities that can be created by participating on a junior high, high school, and college speech team. To get the excitement started, Speech! Productions, LLC is hosting nationwide auditions via the Internet. The only catch, you have to have participated on a speech team, are currently participating on a speech team, or are planning to participate on a speech team in the upcoming school year.

People interested in auditioning are invited to visit www.SpeechTheMovie.com to discover the various casting opportunities, and to find instructions on how they too can submit video auditions for the film via YouTube.com. The deadline is September 1st, 2012. Public speaking experience and speech team participation will weigh heavily when considering each candidate, but we don't want any kids left out if they want a to participate in this project. Put a great online audition together and you will also be considered for the future "Speech!" series.

Trent's concept for the project is designed to involve interactive websites, social media, films, an internet and/or television series, and even a board game -- all working synergistically to engage young people in developing, improving and showcasing their "Speech" skills. "I didn't realize," said Trent, " how much it would change my life when I joined my high school speech team.

The process gave me an appreciation for poetry, prose, and all different types of literary work including famous speeches, plays, television shows, movies, and amazing original bodies of literary work."

Not only Winfrey, Pitt, Efron, Cartwright and other celebrities share the alumni status of having participated on their speech teams, but many politicians, public officials, and executives got their voices and speech abilities on speech teams. The list includes Senators Russ Feingold, Richard Lugar and William Frist, media visionary Ted Turner, Academy Award winners Patricia Neal and Don Ameche, Emmy award winners Kelsey Grammer and Shelley Long, news anchors Jane Pauley and the late David Bloom, C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to name just a few.

"Speech!" tells the story of Rubie Shines, an African American high school speech team president, who cannot seem to find her own voice under the thumb of her dominating mother, Carol Shines.

Carol, a famous retired television talk show host, can't seem to find the time to help Rubie with her speech team participation. In the end, with help from a new high school speech team teacher and friends Ian Kwon and Teddy Rodriguez, Rubie takes some extraordinary steps to stand out and shine.

Trent has begun to pull together a writing and production team who closely relate to the topic of the project too. Cynthia Webster, "Speech!'s" cinematographer, participated on her speech team back in 1974-1978. "I was excited when Ted came to me with his script. Boy did it bring back memories," Ms. Webster commented. "I've shot more than 42 movies and look forward to shooting this project," she concluded. Speech! Productions approached Ms. Webster and thiaMedia, as both a cinematographer and a full service production company.

Jennifer Howd and Ross Mihalko, a Los Angeles based writing team and authors of the film, quickly fell in line with Trent's concept. "We see the production making a difference for kids all over the country.

Schools are losing funding for their performing and liberal arts programs right and left. We believe that schools can keep the performing arts alive with speech teams. All you need is an appreciation for public speaking or acting," said Howd. "We really do hope the film and related projects give public speaking and the great bodies of literature it focuses on the attention it deserves." Added Mihalko, "We have a lot of great ideas for the series too once we get the initial film in the can."

"Speech! Productions, LLC" is a newly formed production company designed to help children of all ages find a pathway to being comfortable as they formulate what they have to say when presented with the opportunity to say something to a crowd of people whether on Facebook.com or in front of a group of people.

"What Will You Say?" is the tagline for our projects," stated Trent. "We've got it on tee-shirts, wrist bands, notebooks and our movie poster, posing the question, "What Will You Say?" We want to remind people that thinking before you respond or react to situations often gives you a better result if you are someone who is attempting to make a difference in our world." To learn more about how you can participate with Speech! Productions, LLC and their projects, visit http://www.SpeechTheMovie.com .