universal positive » Update

The 2011 (Women’s) Effect: International Women’s Day

Roger Darnell — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:00:17 +0000

I am joining with legions of others around the world today to honor women for all they are and all they do as the greatest and most powerful force on Planet Earth. Mine will not be a lengthy tribute, but I do want to point up some of the amazing resources I’ve found that are providing different perspectives on the achievements of women, and some of the biggest challenges faced by many of them.

Last year, in honor of the annual global event celebrating women, CARE presented its “Half the Sky” event, a one-night-only event in movie theatres nationwide (www.halftheskylive.com). Inspired by the bestselling book from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, it was an exciting night of musical performances, celebrity commentary and uplifting stories about women and girls overcoming tremendous obstacles, and featured the nationwide premiere of “Woineshet,” a powerful short film by Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. The presenter, CARE, is a humanitarian organization that fights global poverty by empowering marginalized women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities. Please visit www.care.org to learn more.

In “Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” authors Kristof and WuDunn focused on three major problems facing women: sex trafficking, maternal mortality and violence against women. Their book argues that empowering women is the key to alleviating poverty and uplifting communities in developing countries. This article, featuring an excerpt from the book, appeared last August in The New York Times Magazine, and a new New York Times Op-Ed piece from Mr. Kristof, reassessed the priorities at this time last year. Embracing initiatives to foster the education of girls, to support deworming and micronutrient education and aid programs, and to help women start new businesses, Kristof’s article pointed up many organizations that are championing and driving these vital causes.

In the meantime, here in the U.S., the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is successfully propelling female entrepreneurs into economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide. Their website is online at www.nawbo.org.

And finally, I also encourage you to visit the website behind the video showcased above, which lives online at www.girleffect.org, and is based upon the wholehearted belief that powerful social and economic changes are possible when girls have full opportunities to participate.

Scion debuts online reality series “Reinvent The Wheels”

Roger Darnell — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:18:18 +0000

It’s my sincere pleasure to share global creative agency ATTIK’s news release on the new online episodic reality series from Scion entitled “Reinvent The Wheels,” and the agency’s innovative cross-platform campaign behind it. You can find ATTIK’s story and accompanying digital media assets here. The series debuted online this week exclusively at www.ReinventTheWheels.com, where you can now watch the first episode. Scion’s project press release from Rogers & Cowan is available here. I look forward to hearing from you if I can provide any additional information.

Inside Ralph’s “Kick-Ass” promotion for Lionsgate…

Roger Darnell — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:32:54 +0000

The principals of award-winning digital creative agency Ralph (www.ralphandco.com) recently detailed their latest project, the website www.iwillkickass.com, which makes deep and innovative use of Facebook® Connect. Launched last month, the site continues to attract and entertain thousands of visitors daily in anticipation of the April 16 release of “Kick-Ass” from Lionsgate.

Jeremy Hollister – Zink Magazine “The Color Issue”

Roger Darnell — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:02:27 +0000

Talented agency owner/creative director… and photographer, artist, curator, and mover Jeremy Hollister of We Are Plus recently photographed these images for February’s Color Issue for Zink Magazine, and launched www.jeremyhollister.com.

Moving forward: World Water Day 2010

Roger Darnell — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:05:23 +0000

In honor of World Water Day, it’s my pleasure to share this video that takes a hard look at the bottled water industry and proposes some simple and powerful alternative ideas that can greatly impact the Earth, our communities, and our pocketbooks. For more information, please visit http://storyofbottledwater.org.

Hail brave crusaders! Brian Marr from Wexley School for Girls

Roger Darnell — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:50:15 +0000

Last evening, the American Advertising Federation of Greenville, South Carolina hosted Brian Marr, Managing Director for the West Coast marketing agency Wexley School for Girls, at the lovely Westin Poinsett in downtown Greenville.

Well known for their innovative approaches in engaging customers for Microsoft, Nike, Seattle Sounders and Seahawks, Copper Mountain and others, Wexley School for Girls has been recognized in business publications ranging from Seattle Business Magazine and Business Week to Inc. Brian joined Wexley in 2007, after 11 years as a marketing and brand manager for Microsoft and other high-tech firms. He’s been responsible for adding billions in revenue to companies through innovative marketing tools, and for spearheading Microsoft’s push into social and new media marketing. Among the secrets he shared last night were case studies, including the one above for the Seattle Sounders, a video tour of Wexley’s facility in Seattle, and many tales relating the inner-workings of the agency. You might also enjoy these suggestions from his reading list:
. Several books from author Paul Arden
. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
. Emotionomics

Many thanks to Brian for coming out to share his story and his insights with us, and to AAF Greenville for bringing him in and showing him such a great time.

AAF Greenville is a professional organization supporting individuals and organizations involved in the advertising, marketing, public relations and other related industry businesses throughout Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson, South Carolina. For more information, please visit www.AAFGreenville.org, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Designing characters, stories and more with Shilo’s Jose Gomez

Roger Darnell — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:14:53 +0000

If you haven’t seen the book “We Make It Good” from the filmmakers at creative production company Shilo, you are hereby enthusiastially encouraged to check it out. As you’ll see there — or by exploring Shilo’s archives at www.shilo.tv — much of the company’s extraordinary content leverages the character design talents of co-founder, creative director and director Jose Gomez. Among many illustrious achievements to date, Jose and his team helped creative agency ATTIK bring Scion’s world famous deviants to life, building upon Shilo’s many other breakthrough film projects, and some design feats earlier in Jose’s career for highly successful skate, snow and surf brands. Since regular video conferences typically involve Shilo’s entire executive team on both U.S. coasts in every company undertaking, Jose’s skills as a character designer weigh heavily into most Shilo projects. Collaborating most recently with GlobalHue Latino, Shilo’s latest film is an exploration in live-action, claymation, and imagination, using quirky characters and clay as a metaphor for building a dream community and inviting the Latino community to participate in the 2010 Census. For “Community,” Jose was very interested in all the creations within the claymation world having common personalities, reflecting the personality of Brianna Gonzalez, their young actress. Jose’s sketches of the matching animated people, vehicles and buildings are featured within their behind the scenes video below — and you can see more images, including photos from the location and set, right here.

For more information on U.S. Census “Community,” please visit Shilo’s full news release here, or www.shilo.tv.

SHOWTIME Launches “Inside NASCAR” with Promotional Support from We Are Plus

Roger Darnell — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:13:09 +0000

The brand movement specialists at strategic creative ideas studio We Are Plus (www.weareplus.com) are very proud to detail their latest project, the complete graphics package, including main titles and launch spot, for premium television’s first weekly highlights and analysis program dedicated to America’s number one spectator sport, the new SHOWTIME® series, “Inside NASCAR.” Produced in association with NASCAR Media Group, the new series premiered on February 10 on SHOWTIME®, and will run for 38 weeks, corresponding with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

The power of dreams…

Roger Darnell — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:30:00 +0000

At an early age, I decided I was going to be a writer. Somewhere along the way, I also took a strong interest in filmmaking, and being very ambitious, by the time I was 20 years old, I developed a clear vision of myself as novelist and filmmaker. While I have made great strides on achieving those dreams over the years, I must admit that I have a long way to go in seeing them through; nonetheless, those dreams have driven me into situations that I never would have imagined, and while I’ve not yet fully accomplished those missions, I feel very fortunate to have progressed as far as I have.

By pursuing the opportunies that have come my way over the years and applying my talents, my writing achievements and my reputation for success have opened many doors. One of them opened in the early 90s when a young Orlando filmmaker named Bill Waxler decided he wanted to produce and direct a 16mm short film based on something I’d written. Delving into my past experiences, I wrote a script for a dramatic short which I entitled “Bumper Crop,” and in that story, I also explored the power of dreams to affect a person’s life. After recovering a VHS dub of a 15-year-old edit of the film earlier this year, I began anticipating some plans… which are now playing out today. In recent weeks, I have done some writing about the process of bringing the film to life — you can find them here if you’re interested: February 22, 1991: Bumper Crop, Part 1; June 29, 1991: Bumper Crop, Part 2; February 26, 1993: Bumper Crop, Part 3. In honor of Bill Waxler and the many other great friends who helped bring the film to life in 1993, it is my honor today to proudly announce a new website where “Bumper Crop” will soon live online. You can find it at this address: http://www.darnellworks.com/bmovie. I hope you enjoy it, and that you have many chances to dream — and to pursue those dreams you hold most dear.

Lucky Guy: The Musical… and My Life

Roger Darnell — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:13:47 +0000

In honor of all my friends.
When you look at the website for the musical comedy Lucky Guy, this quote leaps right out: “It’s not what you got in life, it’s who you got to share it with that counts.” I find that to be a wonderful observation on life, and it literally connects me to the project, which is written by my charming friend Willard Beckham, whom I met with Beth last year in New York through my larger-than-life pal, Lisa Cleff Kurtz.

In this picture, you can see Willard with other friends we met last June, Nikki and Dana, at Ocean Grill. We had a wonderful time that evening with this crew, which also included Lisa and David Reposar (and Michael Kurtz, in spirit), and as it progressed, Beth and I got to know Willard. Here’s his bio from Goodspeed Musicals’ announcement on their staging of Lucky Guy.

A graduate of The Cleveland Institute of Music, Mr. Beckham made his debut as a composer/lyricist at Carnegie Hall. He was then commissioned to write the first musical comedy ever produced in Korea, Magic in the Mirror, directed by Baayork Lee. As a performer Mr. Beckham toured with the first and second national companies of No, No, Nanette performing with such luminaries as Don Ameche, Evelyn Keyes, June Allyson, and Ann B. Davis. On Broadway, Beckham originated the roles of Geoffrey in Something’s Afoot and Richard Tidewell in The Utter Glory of Morrisey Hall with Celeste Holm.

The video featured above is from Goodspeed’s rehearsals from the show, which ran there last year in May and June. Willard is now shaping up his next plans for Lucky Guy, and his wonderful enthusiasm remains as contagious as it was when we first met last year.

In my own life, where I consider myself to be among the luckiest guys on the planet, having such friends is a great inspiration. Even with a career that I love, and so many other rich blessings, I still have many personal dreams that I fully intend to reach. As Willard’s lead character in Lucky Guy relates so wisely,

“Dreams are a lot like people, they both need someone to believe in ‘em.”

I believe in you, my friends; your examples, and your admiration, spur me on. Thank you!