ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER/ACTIVIST KARL SCHMID LAUNCHES +LIFE TO FIGHT FOR AN END TO HIV STIGMA AND BRING THE CONVRSATION ABOUT HIV BACK INTO THE MAINSTREAM

LOS ANGELES, CA, August 1, 2019– AOMedia, along with our flagship launch partner Gilead Sciences,  is proud to announce the launch of the multi-platform brand +LIFE inspired by ABC talent KARL SCHMID’s own story of living with shame and fear of having HIV due to the amount of ignorance and stigma surrounding the virus.

“I kept my diagnosis secret for 10 long years because people I trusted told me that revealing my status would ruin my career.  Then one day, sitting at, and inspired by, the AIDS memorial I typed a simple facebook post telling the world that I was HIV+. I was amazed at the overwhelming support I immediately received both online and in the real world.”

Karl’s experience made him realize that too many people lived in fear and shame; and for some people the stigma is so powerful they don’t even get tested, so they don’t get treatment. Karl became an accidental activist – travelling the world to spread the word about fighting HIV stigma.

+LIFE will appear across multiple social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Weekly offerings will include the flagship +TALK round-table talk show as well as offerings revolving around love and relationships, entertaining, medicine, nutrition and spirituality.

“We want to entertain while we educate,” says Executive Producers Brent Zacky and Michael Spierer, “This platform is for everyone; those with HIV, those who love them, and those at risk of getting the infection, which is everyone.”

+LIFE will feature a coterie of amazing stories told by an incredible and diverse group of people sharing their first hand experiences living with HIV, fighting for access to medications, facing down community stigma, and fighting their own internal stigmas. 

Based primarily out of K-ABC7 in Los Angeles, Karl Schmid is a talent who has worked worldwide covering entertainment, hosting shows, and covering live events for TLC, LOGO, ABC, ABC Digital Networks, KABC.

AOMedia is a full service production company dedicated to telling stories they are passionate about.