Anna Akana Teams With Groundlings To Help Bullied Teens Cope Through Stand-Up Comedy

In June, camera brand Canon announced it was teaming up with YouTube creator Anna Akana on an anti-bullying campaign that would also serve to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the EOS Rebel Camera as part of Canon’s Rebel With A Cause initiative. And now, the fruits of that partnership have arrived.

Akana, who counts roughly 1.6 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, has created a video alongside The Groundlings comedy troupe and child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Jeff Sugar in which bullied teens ranging from 13 to 17 years old are taught how to use comedy as a coping mechanism and to transmute their pain into stand-up material. You can check out the film, which was shot entirely with Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR cameras, below:

The issue of bullying is particularly near to Akana’s heart, she says, given her sister’s suicide as a result of bullying almost 10 years ago. “I was able to find peace and tackle my own anxieties through comedy, so it was amazing to work with teenagers to show them that humor is far more powerful than words of hate,” she said in a statement. “I hope the video of our experience will inspire others to consider the impacts of bullying and help those who are bullied feel that they are not alone — and can overcome.”

Canon launched its Rebel With A Cause campaign in 2015, and other featured participants include daredevil Nik Wallenda, and Grammy-winning producer Swizz Beatz. One lucky Canon consumer, Guinnevere Shuster, was also chosen from an online contest to create a documentary about helping to find sheltered animals loving homes.