With a passion for helping foster creativity and compassion in young people he is constantly creating new and unique ways to make the world a better and more childlike place.
In this podcast, Brad sits down with Branden Harvey, a storyteller, social media pioneer and doer of good deeds!
These are two of my favorite people, so it's great to have them together in the same podcast! Both Branden and Brad are really inspiring and it's such a treat to listen to them both talk about their creative process.
As a bonus, Brad shares the Kid President origin story (Hi, Kid Prez!) and a reminder to not to "Hide Your Magic." So sit back, relax and dream better dreams!
Non-profit organization I AM THAT GIRL joins forces with 20-year old EP Entertainment/Def Jam Recordings global sensation Alessia Cara to create the “I AM YOU” empowerment campaign. The powerful message of Alessia’s new single “Scars To Your Beautiful” is the lynchpin behind her alliance with I AM THAT GIRL, the national movement that has been inspiring girls for the past six years to love, express, and be who they are through a global peer-to-peer community committed to creating a new norm for girl culture by raising the standard of how girls treat themselves.
“I AM YOU” launches with a short video directed by Kim Jacobs, which delivers the meaningful message of empowerment, strength and inclusivity using a striking visual. The piece, which is narrated by Alessia and features a musical soundbed from her powerful self-anthem, reinforces the message that while we have our own unique stories, we are all connected by the universal truths that make us human.
In the film, a rapid montage of girls of varied ages, sizes, and races flashes by, seamlessly composited together as if they are all speaking as one person, creating an extraordinary focal point for the singular voice that connects them all.
Jacobs shot around 50 young women over the course of one day, including a series of stills set to the playback track of the scripted voiceover. Most of the talent already were members of IATG chapters or volunteers, along with others who ended up taking the IATG pledge after wrapping the shoot.
“The stills were transcoded to feel like motion. Then the process of cutting between the faces required sensitivity, precision and a crazy amount of patience,” explains Jacobs. “Matching three girls blinking their eyes within a second of film is work for only warriors. We worked with the team at EXILE to fine-tune the edit until we finally struck the perfect balance of technique and humanity.”
“In any given second there are multiple faces cut to appear to be one person. I thought this would be a really strong and beautiful way to communicate the core ethos of I AM THAT GIRL,” says Kim Jacobs, who co-wrote the script with IATG Co-founder Emily Greener.
“It takes so many people to make something, especially in film, and all the people involved in every single part of the process were essential to the outcome. The I AM YOU film was generated from pure love.” - Kim Jacobs
“Scars To Your Beautiful” was not only used for the film, but also inspired IATG and Alessia to create an action-focused curriculum for young women everywhere, to shift girl culture and help them transform self-doubt to self-love. The conversation kit, which is downloadable at iamthatgirl.com/alessia, centers around five primary interactive meeting topics, each cued by a lyric from “Scars.”
Our Immersive Youth team got some exciting news! Inc. Magazine has named us one of the Top Youth Marketing Blogs to watch in 2016! Needless to say, we are pretty excited to be in such great company with other digital youth firms like Ypulse and YouthBeat!
The Inc article cites our Gen Z and Millennial Youthvine platform as a key differentiator from other digital youth agencies:
"What sets the company apart is Youthvine, its proprietary online community. Youthvine is a forum driven by young administrators.
It is coordinated to allow owners to communicate with next generation buyers. IYM's agency establishes the relationships, but Youthvine creates a unique experience to engage the new age."
How do you create a movie trailer about a fictional artificially enhanced human? You turn to the real thing - artificial intelligence.
Scientists at IBM Research have collaborated with 20th Century Fox to create the first-ever cognitive movie trailer for the movie Morgan.
Utilizing experimental Watson APIs and machine learning techniques, the IBM Research system analyzed hundreds of horror/thriller movie trailers.
After learning what keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, the AI system suggested the top 10 best candidate moments for a trailer from the movie Morgan, which an IBM filmmaker then edited and arranged together.
Check out the AI-Created trailer below to get ready for MORGAN in theaters this Friday, September 2!
I stumbled across this really terrific article on the life cycle of virtual reality in the kids education and entertainment market--well worth reading for anyone involved in the kid/tween/teen media and education worlds.
"Once the VR space takes hold, kids will ultimately become "world-smiths," as they create immersive social experiences utilizing powerful, easy-to-use tools found on 3D user-generated content platforms.
These platforms will empower children to create and distribute VR content for consumption by their peers."
There’s some very cool stuff happening out there with virtual reality in education! I've covered some of these classroom VR experiences in other posts, but Welcome to Mars---a new VR program for schools, created by Lockheed Martin, is among the coolest!
“The first people who will visit Mars are sitting in a school today. In fact, the first astronauts will arrive before today’s kindergartners graduate college. To help inspire these students, Lockheed Martin created a one-of-a-kind virtual reality experience.
The Mars Experience Bus is the first immersive VR vehicle ever built and it replicates the Martian landscape. Riders experience a virtual drive along the surface of the Red Planet.”
One of the patents I worked on while at The Walt Disney Company (TWDC), Dynamic Trust Score for Evaluating Ongoing Online Relationships, was just approved by the U.S. Patent Office! It was a team effort and centers around kids, privacy and social media. I've included a copy of the full patent below!
ABSTRACT
A method is provided for a dynamic trust score for evaluating ongoing online relationships. By considering a plurality of user data variables and using validation data from internal and external database sources, a trust score with a high degree of confidence may be provided for establishing and verifying online relationships.
Since the trust score may be dynamically recalculated periodically or on demand, the trust score may also validate over continuing periods of time, as opposed to conventional verification systems that only validate at a single point in time.
Thus, a higher degree of safety, reliability, and control is provided for online services directed towards children or other user classes that may require greater protection.
The leading cause of death for men under 45 in the UK is suicide. In the US, males take their own lives at nearly four times the rate of females and represent 77.9% of all suicides.
Men who contemplated suicide reported that they felt they couldn't talk about their feelings. Let's show men all across the world that #ITSOKAYTOTALK!
Take a selfie with the 👌🏽 sign, tag 5 friends and let's get the message out that it's okay to talk. Hopefully, working together we can bring these numbers down!
If you're in the U.S. and you need to talk, Crisis Text Line is a free service that is available 24/7 365 days a year. To connect with a crisis counselor at Crisis Text Line: Text START TO 741-741
This report focuses on the way male models are portrayed in advertising and the media – particularly, whether boys are aware of digitally enhanced imagery and whether this impacts their behavior.
The subsequent report, Picture of Health?, revealed that 53% of boys felt advertising was a major source of pressure to look good; only social media (57%) and friends (68%) exerted more influence, while celebrities (49%) were slightly less persuasive.
"This new research shows boys are increasingly worried about their appearance," said Karen Fraser, Credos director.
"We have to recognise that advertising and the wider media play some part in shaping how young people feel about themselves – both positively and negatively."
Key Insights
And while most (80%) were aware of image-manipulation in the media, most appeared to associate this with the female form, as the study reported that they were surprised at the extent to which male images are altered
Two thirds (67%) said it was not acceptable for brands to use digital techniques to change the body image of a model in their advertising
But some secondary school-age boys (aged 11 to 18) suggested the way media portray men in their images could be healthy (33%) or even aspirational (22%)
More generally, the study found that boys hold advertising in high regard, with 73% of secondary school boys agreeing that ads are important in letting them know about products
69% of 16-18 year olds said they had tried new products after seeing an advertisement
Move over Vine and Instagram! Musica.ly is the newest hot app among teens and tweens. How big? Nearly 60 million t/weens are using musica.ly to make their own music videos.
And like Vine and Instagram, teens are using musica.ly to become Internet stars and amass huge followings.
Watch as "Muser" star Baby Ariel joined GMA to explain to the appeal of the app and teach the hosts how to make a musical.ly video.
