LIV Documentary: Private Film Screening
This session was recorded live on Wednesday, February 17 as part of our Mental Health Event.
About the Film
Content warning: The below film description references depression and suicide.
LIV features sisters Tess and Liv, who from a young age are inseparable. Liv is a young girl, growing up with relentless pressures of social media, teen depression and, often, suicidal thoughts. LIV takes us into a rare and riveting journey of raw emotions and fears of a young life on the edge — and ultimately a big sister’s desperate struggle to save her. Through fearless storytelling, LIV reveals the realities of stigma, the struggles of mental health, and the aftermath for the survivors left behind in a suicide.
Film duration: 40 Minutes | Panel duration: 30 Minutes
To ensure LIV was created in a safe and effective manner, the filmmakers worked with a team of therapists to craft the story. In addition, the film was vetted by the leading team at the Children's Hospital Colorado Pediatric Mental Health Institute to ensure the content was accurate and safe, and in no way glorified this issue. The film has been approved for youth ages 14 and up by the team at the Children's Hospital Colorado Pediatric Mental Health Institute.
Meet The Panel
Tess Kunik
Chief Impact Officer, The LIV Project
Tess is Liv’s sister and the Chief Impact Officer for The LIV Project. She was born and raised in Colorado and is a Philadelphia-based theatre artist, designer, and teaching artist. She attended the University of the Arts, where she graduated in 2013 with a BFA in theatre arts. Tess is honored to be a collaborator with Ninth Planet, a performance collective that “creates opportunities for people of color, women, queer and trans people in Philadelphia to participate in the making, performing, and producing of community-powered performance.” Her most recent collaboration with Ninth Planet combined her love for theatre and early childhood development in a production called Homeworld, a performance installation for babies 3-18 months and their caregivers. She collaborated on Homeworld as a co-creator, a performer, and a designer of the baby-safe installation and props. From 2015 to 2020, she served as a teaching artist, a designer, and a stage manager for a nonprofit theatre education organization and later brought theatre programming to schools in the Greater Philadelphia Area as their education and outreach manager. Tess is passionate about collaboration and storytelling and its power to educate, inspire and start conversations. She is dedicated to cultivating confidence and fearlessness in those who wish to tell their own stories. Here's to Sweet Liv, Tess’s most beloved collaborator and inspiration.
Honey Beuf
Executive Director, The LIV Project
Honey Beuf is the mother of Liv, Tess and Max and currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Chuck. She received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, later moving to Boulder, Colorado, where she became CFO and co-owner of a staffing firm for over 25 years before retiring in July 2018. When her youngest child, Liv, died by suicide in January 2019, Honey and her family decided that they wanted to create something unique that would prevent other families from feeling the brutally painful grief of suicide loss. Suicide is now the leading cause of death of youth in Colorado. They wanted to be different and creative, just like Liv was in life, to reach young people both nationally and globally to encourage fearless communication around mental wellness. They started with the film LIV and then expanded to the creation of The Liv Project: a group of artists, filmmakers, and creative humans from all over the world whose lives have been touched by youth suicide. Their mission is to imagine and build new tools, experiences, games and resources designed to eliminate the stigma of mental health issues and reverse the soaring rate of youth suicide.
Susan Caso
Licensed Professional Counselor
Susan Caso is a licensed professional counselor working with teens and college students over the past seventeen years. She counsels individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and suicidal ideation as well as helps families in their supportive roles. She earned two undergraduate degrees in psychology and human development from the University of Kansas, along with a master’s degree in counseling psychology and counselor education from the University of Colorado. She has worked in clinical settings ranging from agency work, residential treatment, public schools, and private practice. She was a board member for Second Wind Fund of Boulder County for five years and is dedicated to finding ways to create awareness on the topic of mental health and educating others of how to create a safe environment for those struggling to feel supported.
The LIV Project is in the business of taking conversations around suicide out of the shadows. They are a group of artists, filmmakers, and creative humans whose lives have been touched by youth suicide. The LIV Project is collaborating to create experiences, games and products aimed at sparking the kind of fearless communication that can save lives. We’re constantly imagining and building new tools and resources designed to eliminate the stigma of mental health issues and reverse the soaring rate of youth suicide, and they need your help.
For more information about The LIV Project, please visit thelivproject.com.
Don’t forget to keep up with the LIV Project on Instagram!