 Today's Jobs on Friday post opens up the wide wide world of NBC Universal, a media powerhouse with offices and production facilities around the globe.
Known for producing quality content across all media delivery platforms, NBC Universal has a long and rich creative history. Some snippets are below. This conglomerate has successfully married content creation and distribution with ownership of and partnership with COMCAST, one of the first cable network providers in the world. Still an industry leader, COMCAST also have a long list of open positions. Check out the history of these firms, and after the long lead in, some open positions that caught my eye this morning for your diversion. http://www.nbcuniversal.com/our-history#decade_0 1912 Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Company merged with five other film companies to create the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, headed by Laemmle. For the first time, a single entity encompassed all facets of the movie industry: production, distribution, and exhibition. 1930 Before television, radio was the dominant medium for entertainment, and the most popular source was NBC, which delivered programming to the nation over two networks, the Red and the Blue (named for the color of the pencils used by NBC's engineers as they marked the affiliates of the respective networks on a map of the United States). 1960 NBC initiates presidential TV debates (Kennedy and Nixon) The debate, moderated by Howard K. Smith, reached more than 69 million people via TV and another 17 million on radio. 1990 In 1990, broadcast networks captured the lion's share of viewership, drawing an average audience nearly four times as large as the cable audience. But just a dozen years later, cable viewership would zoom past broadcast, and cable has never looked back. NBC helped drive this growth by launching, growing, and acquiring what would become one of the industry’s largest suite of cable networks, covering news, sports, and entertainment. The Age of Comcast 2010Comcast completed its acquisition of NBCUniversal in January 2011. The years since have seen an unprecedented level of investment in the company’s core businesses, a clear sign that Comcast is committed to making NBCUniversal a global leader among media and entertainment companies. Let's look for jobs! http://www.nbcunicareers.com/search-results?search_type=advanced&location=&keywords=&level%5B%5D=Experienced&business=&sub-business=&function=Motion+Pictures&job-number= OPEN POSITIONS for STUDENTS Film Production & DevelopmentOur Film interns have the exciting opportunity to be involved in the production and development of Hollywood’s next big hit films at our Film Production and Development Department at NBCUniversal. SHARE Ideal CandidateProduction and Development internships are highly-coveted and competitive positions. Our interns assist in the administrative function of films in production. A film production intern is not intimated by the fast-paced nature of the business, and is a passionate, bright go-getter with strong intellectual curiosity. Previous exposure to production and/or development is a big plus. OPEN POSITIONS for Mid CAREERS and EXPERIENCED FILM FOLKS 10.29.15Director of Development Role Summary: This role is part of the new Kids & Family production team within the Brand Development Group in Universal Pictures. In addition to... FILM FILM PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 10.29.15Vice President, Development & Production Role Summary: This role is part of the new Kids & Family production team within the Brand Development Group in Universal Pictures. In addition to... FILM FILM PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 10.29.15Country Director, Mexico Role Summary: Universal Consumer Products International oversees NBCUniversal's consumer product and digital licensing for Universal Pictures, NBC... FILM FILM PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING MOTION PICTURES MEXICO CITY, - - MEXICO Exp 10.27.15Production Coordinator Role Summary: The Production Coordinator supports the Creative Director heading the Theatrical Creative organization for Universal Pictures. ... FILM FILM CREATIVE OPERATIONS MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 10.26.15Director, Retail/Trade Marketing Latin America Role Summary: The Director, Retail/Trade Marketing will be responsible for development, strategic direction and execution of retail programs for... FILM FILM PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING MOTION PICTURES MEXICO CITY, - - MEXICO Exp 10.23.15Supply Chain Buyer/Planner Job Duties Execute against SAP purchase requisitions and issue manufacturing orders to third party vendors in order to deliver product to customers... FILM FILM USHE MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 10.07.15Sr. Manager - Category Management Role Summary: The Sr. Manager is responsible for managing the Toys & Hardlines categories, providing input in the overall category strategies and... FILM FILM PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 10.07.15Sr. Manager - Category Management Role Summary: The Sr. Manager is responsible for managing the Home categories, providing input in the overall category strategy and managing key... FILM FILM PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 10.07.15Director - Category Management - Fashion & Home Role Summary: The Director is responsible for managing the fast moving Fashion & Home (F&H) categories, providing input in the overall category... FILM FILM PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 10.01.15Producer Role Summary: The Creative Operations department (UPCO) is a service group that produces and finishes a/v materials on advertising campaigns for all ... FILM FILM CREATIVE OPERATIONS MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp PAGE 2TOP 09.28.15Director, Physical Production The Director of Physical Production will be responsible for coordinating, maintaining, and administering standards and procedures with feature... FILM FILM USHE MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 09.10.15Creative Executive Role Summary: This position is responsible for assisting with the day- to- day development and production of the studio�s annual state of films and... FILM FILM DEVELOPMENT MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 09.10.15Creative Executive Role Summary: This position is responsible for assisting with the day- to- day development and production of the studio's annual state of films and... FILM FILM DEVELOPMENT MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 09.02.15Vice President Animation Work with Sr. V.P. Animation Production to shepherd the development, production and delivery of animated series and longform product from conception... FILM FILM USHE MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES Exp 04.01.15Administrative Assistant This Administrative Assistant position reports to the Senior Counsel, assists a paralegal and outside legal consultants, and may cover for the Senior... FILM FILM USHE MOTION PICTURES UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES   You've read the book, you've seen the movie, for today's Movie Tech Talk Thursday, let's look at the real science that drove a lot of the creative filmmaking scenes in The Martian.
SciFi film have always been my number one favorite genre. Part fantasy, part morality tales, this genre, if the director can avoid the slash and gore temptations of today, never fails to delight. Even the lowest budget films are stashed away in my memory banks, as frolics in old fashioned special effects. After college I joined a boutique investment firm, Robertson, Colman & Stephens and worked for research analysts tracking the semiconductor industry. After some time we opened an office in London where I met and started working for physicists contributing to graphical rendering for NASA. Eventually that led me to Pixar, but before that, I spent about a year learning about the high atmosphere and ways to observe and capture light behavior in the upper altitudes. Pretty heavy stuff for a French Literature major, but it was an exciting time. We installed cameras on jets at NASA, and flew image capture runs when the Comet Halley passed through the atmosphere in the mid 80's. That period of time, working at NASA/AMES and JPL, formed the basis of a lifelong interest in space exploration - which was probably sparked when Dad got us all out of bed to watch the moon landing on black and white TV. Check out these NASA technologies that REALLY exist and contemplate if you had the chance to go, would you? Article sources are NASA.gov. "Some of the far-out technology already exists or is being developed by NASA for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s. Check out these nine current NASA technologies spotlighted inThe Martian – from habitats like these depicted in the film and real life, to water recapturing systems, explorer vehicles, and space gardens." Article sources are NASA.gov. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nine-real-nasa-technologies-in-the-martian Nine Real NASA Technologies in 'The Martian'Mars has held a central place in human imagination and culture for millennia. Ancients marveled at its red color and the brightness that waxed and waned in cycles over the years. Early observations through telescopes led some to speculate that the planet was covered with canals that its inhabitants used for transportation and commerce. In “The War of the Worlds”, the writer H.G. Wells posited a Martian culture that would attempt to conquer Earth. In 1938, Orson Welles panicked listeners who thought they were listening to a news broadcast rather than his radio adaptation of Wells’s novel. The real story of humans and Mars is a little more prosaic but no less fascinating. Telescopes turned the bright red dot in the sky into a fuzzy, mottled disk that gave rise to those daydreams of canals. Just 50 years ago, the first photograph of Mars from a passing spacecraft appeared to show a hazy atmosphere. Now decades of exploration on the planet itself has shown it to be a world that once had open water, an essential ingredient for life. The fascination hasn’t waned, even in the Internet Age. A former computer programmer named Andy Weir, who enjoyed writing for its own sake and posted fiction to his blog, started a serial about a NASA astronaut stranded on Mars. The popularity ultimately led him to turn it into a successful novel, “The Martian”, which has been made into a movie that will be released in October 2015. “The Martian” merges the fictional and factual narratives about Mars, building upon the work NASA and others have done exploring Mars and moving it forward into the 2030s, when NASA astronauts are regularly traveling to Mars and living on the surface to explore. Although the action takes place 20 years in the future, NASA is already developing many of the technologies that appear in the film. HabitatOn the surface of Mars, Watney spends a significant amount of time in the habitation module -- the Hab -- his home away from home. Future astronauts who land on Mars will need such a home to avoid spending their Martian sols lying on the dust in a spacesuit. At NASA Johnson Space Center, crews train for long-duration deep space missions in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA). An artificial living habitat (Hab) is necessary to facilitate human exploration of the planet Mars in "The Martian." Right: The Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) at NASA's Johnson Space Center. NASAHERA is a self-contained environment that simulates a deep-space habit. The two-story habitat is complete with living quarters, workspaces, a hygiene module and a simulated airlock. Within the module, test subjects conduct operational tasks, complete payload objectives and live together for 14 days (soon planned to increase to up to 60 days), simulating future missions in the isolated environment. Astronauts have recently used the facility to simulate ISS missions. These research analogs provide valuable data in human factors, behavioral health and countermeasures to help further NASA’s understanding on how to conduct deep space operations. Plant FarmToday, astronauts on the International Space Station have an abundance of food delivered to them by cargo resupply vehicles, including some from commercial industries. On Mars, humans would not be able to rely on resupply missions from Earth – even with express delivery they would take at least nine months. For humans to survive on Mars, they will need a continuous source of food. They will need to grow crops. Left: In a scene from "The Martian," astronaut Mark Watney employs some ingenious methods to plant crops on Mars. Right: Real-life NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren harvests lettuce grown from the Veggie experiment while on board the International Space Station. Credits: Peter Mountain/NASAWatney turns the Hab into a self-sustaining farm in “The Martian,” making potatoes the first Martian staple. Today, in low-Earth orbit, lettuce is the most abundant crop in space. Aboard the International Space Station, Veggie is a deployable fresh-food production system. Using red, blue, and green lights, Veggie helps plants grow in pillows, small bags with a wicking surface containing media and fertilizer, to be harvested by astronauts. In 2014, astronauts used the system to grow “Outredgeous” red romaine lettuce and just recently sampled this space-grown crop for the first time. This is a huge step in space farming, and NASA is looking to expand the amount and type of crops to help meet the nutritional needs of future astronauts on Mars. Water RecoveryThere are no lakes, river or oceans on the surface of Mars, and sending water from Earth would take more than nine months. Astronauts on Mars must be able to create their own water supply. The Ares 3 crew does not waste a drop on Mars with their water reclaimer, and Watney needs to use his ingenuity to come up with some peculiar ways to stay hydrated and ensure his survival on the Red Planet. On the International Space Station, no drop of sweat, tears, or even urine goes to waste. The Environmental Control and Life Support System recovers and recycles water from everywhere: urine, hand washing, oral hygiene, and other sources. Through the Water Recovery System (WRS), water is reclaimed and filtered, ready for consumption. One astronaut simply put it, “Yesterday’s coffee turns into tomorrow’s coffee.” Liquid presents some tricky problems in space. The WRS and related systems have to account for the fact that liquids behave very differently in a microgravity environment. The part of the WRS that processes urine must use a centrifuge for distillation, since gases and liquids do not separate like they do on Earth. NASA is continuing to develop new technologies for water recovery. Research is being conducted to advance the disposable multifiltration beds (the filters that remove inorganic and non-volatile organic contaminants) to be a more permanent component to the system. Brine water recovery would reclaim every drop of the water from the “bottoms product” leftover from urine distillation. For future human-exploration missions, crews would be less dependent on any resupply of spare parts or extra water from Earth. The technology behind this system has been brought down to Earth to provide clean drinking water to remote locations and places devastated with natural disasters. Oxygen GenerationFood, water, shelter: three essentials for survival on Earth. But there's a fourth we don't think about much, because it's freely available: oxygen. On Mars, Watney can’t just step outside for a breath of fresh air To survive, he has to carry his own supply of oxygen everywhere he goes. But first he has to make it. In his Hab he uses the “oxygenator,” a system that generates oxygen using the carbon dioxide from the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) fuel generator. On the International Space Station, the astronauts and cosmonauts have the Oxygen Generation System, which reprocesses the atmosphere of the spacecraft to continuously provide breathable air efficiently and sustainably. The system produces oxygen through a process called electrolysis, which splits water molecules into their component oxygen and hydrogen atoms. The oxygen is released into the atmosphere, while the hydrogen is either discarded into space or fed into the Sabatier System, which creates water from the remaining byproducts in the station's atmosphere. Oxygen is produced at more substantial rate through a partially closed-loop system that improves the efficiency of how the water and oxygen are used. NASA is working to recover even more oxygen from byproducts in the atmosphere to prepare for the journey to Mars. Mars SpacesuitThe Martian surface is not very welcoming for humans. The atmosphere is cold and there is barely any breathable air. An astronaut exploring the surface must wear a spacesuit to survive outside of a habitat while collecting samples and maintaining systems. Left: Actor Matt Damon plays NASA astronaut Marc Watney in "The Martian." Right: NASA invited the public to vote on three cover layer designs for the Z-2 prototype suit, the next step in NASA's advanced suit development program. Credits: Giles Keyte/NASAMark Watney spends large portions of his Martian sols (a sol is a Martian day) working in a spacesuit. He ends up having to perform some long treks on the surface, so his suit has to be flexible, comfortable, and reliable. NASA is currently developing the technologies to build a spacesuit that would be used on Mars. Engineers consider everything from traversing the Martian landscape to picking up rock samples. The Z-2 and Prototype eXploration Suit, NASA’s new prototype spacesuits, help solve unique problems to advance new technologies that will one day be used in a suit worn by the first humans to set foot on Mars. Each suit is meant to identify different technology gaps – features a spacesuit may be missing – to complete a mission. Spacesuit engineers explore the tradeoff between hard composite materials and fabrics to find a nice balance between durability and flexibility. One of the challenges of walking on Mars will be dealing with dust. The red soil on Mars could affect the astronauts and systems inside a spacecraft if tracked in after a spacewalk. To counter this, new spacesuit designs feature a suitport on the back, so astronauts can quickly hop in from inside a spacecraft while the suit stays outside, keeping it clean indoors. RoverOnce humans land on the surface of Mars, they must stay there for more than a year, while the planets move into a position that will minimize the length of their trip home. This allows the astronauts plenty of time to conduct experiments and explore the surrounding area, but they won’t want to be limited to how far they can go on foot. Astronauts will have to use robust, reliable and versatile rovers to travel farther. Left: A Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) is a key mode of transportation on the Red Planet in "The Martian." Right: NASA is currently working to on a vehicle that will be able to navigate tough terrain with the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV). Credits: Giles Keyte/NASA In "The Martian," Watney takes his rover for quite a few spins, and he even has to outfit the vehicle with some unorthodox modifications to help him survive. On Earth today, NASA is working to prepare for every encounter with the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV). The MMSEV has been used in NASA’s analog mission projects to help solve problems that the agency is aware of and to reveal some that may be hidden. The technologies are developed to be versatile enough to support missions to an asteroid, Mars, its moons and other missions in the future. NASA’s MMSEV has helped address issues like range, rapid entry/exit and radiation protection. Some versions of the vehicle have six pivoting wheels for maneuverability. In the instance of a flat tire, the vehicle simply lifts up the bad wheel and keeps on rolling. Ion PropulsionSlow and steady wins the race, and ion propulsion proves it. While the Dawn spacecraft is visiting the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, NASA Glenn has been developing the next generation of ion thrusters for future missions. NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) Project has developed a 7-kilowatt ion thruster that can provide the capabilities needed in the future. Credits: NASAIn “The Martian,” the Ares 3 crew lives aboard the Hermes spacecraft for months as they travel to and from the Red Planet, using ion propulsion as an efficient method of traversing through space for over 280 million miles. Ion propulsion works by electrically charging a gas such as argon or xenon and pushing out the ions at high speeds, about 200,000 mph. The spacecraft experiences a force similar to that of a gentle breeze, but by continuously accelerating for several years, celestial vessels can reach phenomenal speeds. Ion propulsion also allows the spacecraft to change its orbit multiple times, then break away and head for another distant world. This technology allows modern day spacecraft like NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft to minimize fuel consumption and perform some crazy maneuvers. Dawn has completed more than five years of continuous acceleration for a total velocity change around 25,000 mph, more than any spacecraft has accomplished on its own propulsion system. Along the way, it has paid humanity's first visits to the dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid Vesta. Solar PanelsThere are no gas stations on Mars. No power plants. Virtually no wind. When it comes to human missions to the Red Planet, solar energy can get the astronauts far. The Hermes spacecraft in the book uses solar arrays for power, and Mark Watney has to use solar panels in some unconventional ways to survive on Mars. Solar panels on the International Space Station. Credits: NASAOn the International Space Station, four sets of solar arrays generate 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to power more than 40 homes. The station doesn’t need all that power, but the redundancy helps mitigate risk in case of a failure. The solar power system aboard the space station is very reliable, and has been providing power safely to the station since its first crew in 2000. Orion, NASA’s spacecraft that will take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before, will use solar arrays for power in future missions. The arrays can gather power while in sunlight to charge onboard lithium-ion batteries. In case no sunlight is available – for instance, if Orion were to go behind the Moon – there would still be plenty of power to allow it to operate. RTG For more than four decades, NASA has safely used Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) to provide electrical power for two dozen space missions, including Apollo missions to the Moon. Spacecraft such as the Mars rover Curiosity and the upcoming Mars 2020 rover use an updated, next-generation model for electrical power. RTGs are “space batteries” that convert heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238 into reliable electrical power. The RTG on Curiosity generates about 110 Watts of power or less – slightly more than an average light bulb uses. In "The Martian," the crew buries the plutonium-based RTG power source for the Mars Ascent Vehicle far away from the Hab in case of radioactive leakage. To prevent any leak, as suggested in the movie, Plutonium-238 has several layers of strong, advanced materials that protect against release even in severe accidents. The RTG mostly emits alpha radiation, which can only travel a few inches in the air and does not penetrate clothing or human skin. It could only affect human health if it were broken into very fine particles or vaporized, and inhaled or ingested. The isotope is manufactured in a ceramic form, so accidentally inhaling or ingesting it is unlikely, particularly as it does not dissolve in liquids. In reality, the natural radiation environment on Mars is more extreme than the radiation produced from an RTG. Ionizing radiation raining down on Mars from space is far more hazardous to human health. Current Mars missions are analyzing the Martian radiation environment so that mission planners can design protection systems for future astronauts. Future explorers will need assured, reliable and durable power sources for survival in place before they arrive. Power system options might include a mix of more efficient radioisotope power systems, solar power, fuel cells, and nuclear fission. The Journey to Mars Human spaceflight is a dangerous business. NASA is working to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, but there are many milestones to accomplish to ensure that astronauts come back to Earth safely. Astronaut Scott Kelly, currently aboard the International Space Station for one year, put it perfectly: space is hard. The margin for error is virtually zero for every aspect of spaceflight. However, we learn so much along the journey to Mars that furthers our understanding of the universe, and everything we do and learn is brought right back to Earth to benefit humanity. Last Updated: Sept. 11, 2015 Editor: Steve Fox  Every Wednesday we post about the value of story telling. For San Francisco based story tellers, those in the know and those growing into their comfort zone, I thought I would share resources to refine your art.
Event Brite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/d/ca--san-francisco/storytelling-workshop/ lists great workshops in and around the Bay Area. For example a story telling workshop with the esteemed Paula Junn is coming up in November at CIIS. If you have a life, you have a story! We want to hear it! This workshop will help you turn your experience into a 3-5 minute story! We will use sensory detail, journalistic questions, pauses and more to enhance the experience of telling and listening to stories. Having prompts always help, so we will work with three (Where I am From • First Time • Learned the Hard Way)*. We will end with sharing the stories we crafted during this workshop. Stories must be: - Your story, based on your experience - True - It must fit into a 3-5 minute time frame. NO performance experience needed! * Not limited to these prompts. These are designed to help you think of experiences to turn into stories. Paula Junn is an interdisciplinary artist who works with stories, photography, and jewelry. She firmly believes in the power of storytelling as a tool to build communities. She aims to build an intentional, healthy community everywhere around her. Read more WHEN Friday, November 13, 2015 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM (PST) - Add to Calendar WHERE California Institute of Integral Studies - 1453 Mission Street. Area 5. San Francisco, CA 94103 - View Map About Paula Junn: Paula was born in North of New Jersey in the year of the boar. After she spent her childhood in New Jersey and Maryland, her family moved to Seoul, Korea when Paula was six. Her education was primarily done in standard Korean schools (from elementary to high school). Growing up she had dreams to be a comedian, a writer/poet, a linguist, but never an Artist. At the age of eighteen, she returned to the U.S. to pursue college and further studies. It was in college that she discovered that she had an artistic side and started to foster that side via imaginative drawing, photography, poetry, dance, and singing. Through working with different modalities is when she discovered the healing power of the Arts. She truly believes in that power to this day. Paula lived in Boston for eight years from 2006-2014, but she has since relocated to Oakland, California to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree at California Institute of Integral Studies for the Creative Inquiry & Interdisciplinary Arts program. Paula was involved in a nonprofit storytelling organization based in Boston called massmouth, inc., and she is ever so grateful to have been part of such a powerful movement of storytelling. Her goal in life is to be helpful to someone, somewhere, any time in this life, but she is working on the present the most.  I strongly believe in providing quality entertainment to children, and that includes taking a stand against the aspect of the industry that addicts young men to violent video games. Much can be said about the degradation of values and compassion that arises from hours spent killing, maiming and torturing avatars.
Common Sense Media is a valuable resource for parents looking for alternatives and education. This list is provided to alert parents to the most violent of games, so that if and when their kids come home after a session at a friend's house, they have some context for judging the quality of the play. Re=posted from my respected colleague at Common Sense Media. The 10 Most Violent Video Games of 2015 (and What to Play Instead) When you need to say no -- and these games prove that sometimes you have to -- it helps to have solid alternatives. Jeff Haynes Senior Editor, Video Games & Websites | Dad of one 10/26/2015 Categories: Violence in the Media Senior Editor, Video Games & Websites | Dad of one If you want to be engaged in your kid's hobbies, you try to understand as much as possible about them. But when the video games your kid wants feature ultra violent content, it's tough to keep an open mind. Game companies don't exactly make it easy for parents to say yes. In 2015, we saw some of the most violent video games ever released. Plus, older violent games such as Gears of War: Ultimate Edition andResident Evil: The Definitive Edition were re-released with visual upgrades that intensify the more violent moments, including blood and gore splattering. And let's not forget the classic ultra violent game franchises Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, and Halo, which remain incredibly popular with young players. But there is good news: Plenty of family-friendly games came out in 2015, and they're engaging, expansive, and imaginative. We've listed 10 of the most violent games released in 2015. For the most part, these are well-designed and technically flawless, but they should be reserved for mature audiences. Fortunately, we've also provided less violent alternatives you can feel good about saying yes to. If you don't want any violence in your video games, check out our Nonviolent Video Games list, and always check out our reviews on the newest games. Battlefield: Hardline The latest chapter in the Battlefield franchise steps away from armed conflict in a war zone into armed conflict between cops and drug dealers. Players take on the role of a police officer attempting to dismantle drug networks. Players can use pistols, shotguns, and rifles to blast criminals, and firefights are frequently intense, with lots of blood spilled and characters screaming in pain. Cut scenes show execution-style gunshots to the head, as well as a character fed to crocodiles. There's a wealth of profanity, and characters are shown consuming large amounts of alcohol and snorting drugs. On the bright side, Battlefield: Hardline lets players choose to take a nonviolent route, tasing and arresting criminals instead of killing them. Alternate first-person shooters: Portal 2, age 10+; Metroid Prime: Hunters, age 13+ Bloodborne This extremely challenging third-person action-RPG was designed to test a player's skills -- and patience. You're tasked with hunting down and destroying creatures that were once human, using pistols, axes, scythes, and other devastating weaponry. There's loads of combat, and buckets of blood will pour from every strike against you and your targets, and it frequently stains the ground; in fact, blood acts as both currency as well as the basis for health potions, which is important because players will frequently get killed by beasts that defy description. Alternate action-RPGs: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, age 11+; Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, age 13+ Dying Light This first-person survival horror game is notable for its action sequences and creative gameplay. The player is cast as a soldier who's airdropped into the large fictional city of Harran, Turkey, to investigate the cause of a zombie outbreak. Players can use parkour-inspired moves to evade and attack the undead, along with weapons that can electrocute or incinerate them. You'll be covered in blood and gore as you decapitate and dismember; in a sly twist, you can even become a zombie and hunt down other players in multiplayer matches. Alternate open-world games: Lego City Undercover, age 9+; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, age 10+ Hatred This is one of the most controversial releases in recent history, thanks to its content and plot. Notable as the first Adults Only-rated game to be released through Steam, the game was clearly designed to provoke a response. The premise makes Grand Theft Auto seem tame: Players play as a sociopath who attempts to kill innocent bystanders and police officers with guns, flamethrowers, and bombs to satisfy his hatred of humanity. Blood and gore is rampant, as are characters begging for mercy before they're executed, frequently during profanity-laced rants. Alternate top-down action games: Halo: Spartan Assault, age 13+; Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, age 13+ Mad Max Based on the postapocalyptic films, this game takes an open-world approach to Max's journey through the wasteland -- and he delivers loads of violence from start to finish. Players can drive over enemies in cars, snap necks, and impale other characters with harpoons thrown from moving vehicles. Cut scenes offer characters having their throats slit, along with piles of bodies, lots of profanity, and drugs being inhaled. Alternative action/adventure games: Axiom Verge, age 11+; Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, age 14+ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain The last chapter in the long-running stealth action franchise focuses on the hazards and effects of war. Though players have the option to use nonviolent methods to subdue opponents, they can use firearms, explosives, and knives. There's torture, scantily clad women, references to rape, and derogatory language toward women. Alternate stealth-action games: The Swindle, age 10+; Republique, age 15+ Mortal Kombat X The 10th installment of the popular and controversial fighting-game series offers more intricate gameplay mechanics and features than ever before. Though the title focuses on split-second timing, counters, and projectile attacks, it also has some of the most brutal violence, including executions, in series history. Spines are snapped, heads are crushed, players are diced into cubes -- and these are some of the tamer fatalities. Mortal Kombat X is a sophisticated and technically complex fighting game that requires a lot of skill, but it's definitely not for kids. Alternate fighting games: Super Smash Bros. Wii U, age 11+; Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, age 13+ Onechanbara Z2: Chaos The latest installment in the long-running action hack-and-slash franchise pits players against hordes of zombies and other monsters. Players use swords, chain saws, and firearms to dismember and destroy creatures; limbs and corpses litter the ground. Blood frequently sprays into the air after successful hits, triggering special "Blood Frenzy" attacks. And, in addition to the gallons of blood and copious profanity, the game dresses its heroines in revealing bikinis. Alternate hack-and-slash adventure games: Gauntlet: Slayer Edition, age 13+; Castle Crashers Remastered, age 14+ The Order: 1886 This visually striking third-person shooter is set in an alternate London. Cast as knights of the Round Table, players fight to keep society safe from werewolves and rebellious humans. Knights use pistols, knives, and futuristic weapons to make blood erupt from enemy wounds. The game opens with a torture scene and features topless women in a brothel, a scene with sexual intercourse, and full-frontal male nudity. Alternate third-person shooters: Splatoon, age 10+; The Red Solstice, age 13+ Until Dawn This is one of the most striking (and, needless to say, violent) adventure games to be released in years. Set in an isolated mountain lodge, it lets players control a set of teens who are being hunted and picked off one by one. Characters frequently die in brutal fashion; teens are shown beheaded, dismembered, sliced in half, and more. There's also loads of profanity and lots of sexual innuendo. Alternate story-driven adventure games: Anna's Quest, age 10+; King's Quest, age 10+  On Tuesdays we look for news in the kids' media space. Here's some fun from Playbill.com for the early morning Tuesday readers in the kids' space. More fun to come in the morning!
From http://www.playbill.com/news/article/bernadette-peters-narrates-new-collection-of-eloise-stories-arriving-today-368933 Three-time Tony winner Bernadette Peters narrates a new collection of Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight's classic "Eloise" stories — "Eloise," "Eloise in Paris" and "Eloise in Moscow" — for Simon & Schuster Audio. The collection, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the very first "Eloise" publication, is available in special book and CD combinations as well as an audiobook-only collection beginning Oct. 27. "I am so thrilled to be part of this beautiful project," Peters said in a recent statement. "'Eloise' was my favorite book as a little girl. What a joy to bring Kay Thompson's words to life through these wonderful characters, and of course, to inhabit my enormously talented and dear friend Hilary Knight's drawings. Especially little Eloise!" "We have been proud to publish Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight's iconic character for sixty years, and we are delighted that Bernadette Peters has agreed to join us in giving Eloise a new voice for a whole new generation of children," added Jon Anderson, executive vice president and publisher, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing. "Bernadette Peters perfectly captures the wonderful, timeless voice that is Eloise," stated Chris Lynch, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Audio. "These audio editions are truly delightful family listening experiences." With more than six million "Eloise" titles sold since the publication of the original in 1955, generations have been charmed by the little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. This character has been the subject of two television movies, an animated television series and, most recently in March, an HBO documentary, "It's Me, Hilary," produced by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner. For more information visit Audio.simonandschuster.com. - See more at: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/bernadette-peters-narrates-new-collection-of-eloise-stories-arriving-today-368933#sthash.ggG7nZqQ.dpuf Gender Equity Monday - WiFT - Streep Writer's Lab Held in September. Writers to watch in 201610/25/2015
On Mondays we look for news in the media, animation and film world that rings the bell for gender parity for women. News from earlier this spring about Meryl Streep's Writers' Lab was a double whammy of opportunity for women and for women over 40. Last month, in September, the lab was held for 3 days. We are waiting excitedly for the result of the lab, so in honor of this groundbreaking endeavor, here's some news from that project, and the list of women selected so you can check out their work over the coming year(s)! Go forth, be equitable and make movies! From IndieWire! http://www.indiewire.com/article/meryl-streeps-writers-lab-selects-12-female-screenwriters-20150810 New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and IRIS, a collective of women filmmakers, have announced the selected screenwriters to participate in the inaugural year of The Writers Lab. The program is the only kind in the world devoted to providing script development for women writers over the age of 40 and is fully funded by Oscar winner Meryl Streep. The Writers Lab is presented in collaboration with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE). Receiving over 3,500 submissions and overwhelming praise from women writers across the globe, the program has decided to expand the number of total participants from eight to twelve. Members of the WGAE were active participants in the judging process. Other support for The Lab came from Final Draft. The 12 chosen participants for the The Writers Lab 2015 are: Sarah Bird, "Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen" Vanessa Carmichael, "The American" Tracy Charlton, "Raised Up" Kellen Hertz. "Ashburn" Anna Hozian, "Anchor Baby" Lyralen Kaye, "St. John the Divine in Iowa" Jan Kimbrough, "The Glastonbury Cow Party" Billie Mason, "The Cargo" Peres Owino, "Basketweaver" Gretchen Somerfeld, "Face Value" Janet Stilson, "Jaguar Trail"Kim Turner, "It Goes Like This" The eight mentors attached to The Lab include: Jessica Bendinger ("Bring It On," "Aquamarine"), Caroline Kaplan ("Time Out of Mind"), Meg LeFauve ("Inside Out"), Darnell Martin ("Cadillac Records"), Lydia Dean Pilcher ("Darjeeling Limited"), Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Beyond the Lights"), Mary Jane Skalski ("Win Win") and Kirsten Smith ("Legally Blonde"). The 2015 Writers Lab will take place September 18-20.  So much is happening literally 24/7 in the digital media space - today's job lens is all about Netflix, in cool Netflix red type color of course!
This company is setting the digital standards in most all the ways we can define in this space. The jobs list is huge, an indicator of the growth of the firm and opportunity. Whether you watch Netflix or not, if you're looking to work in media, digital distribution, marketing, social impact, or culture making for the digital age, check out Netflix, with opportunities all over the globe. From www.netflix.com What we do We tackle problems others have not been able to solve. We license great content, build systems at scale and use data to push the business forward. We connect people with movies and television globally. Who we are At Netflix we value high performance, freedom and responsibility. We don't focus on rules, processes or procedures. We are candid and transparent and seek excellence in everything that we do. Jobs If you are looking to have a large impact at a growing company and work with a high performance team - start here. Work with talented colleagues on hard problems that affect millions of customers. Business Development Senior Program Manager - Netflix Gift Cards Los Gatos, California Cloud and Platform Engineering Senior Security Software Engineer Los Gatos, California Senior Information Security Engineer Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer/Architect - Billing Platform Los Gatos, California Performance Engineering Manager Los Gatos, California Senior Service Reliability Engineer Los Gatos, California Cloud Tools Engineering Manager Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer/Architect - Payments Platform Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer in Test - Payments Platform Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Customer Service Platform Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Account Platform Los Gatos, California Senior Front-End Engineer - AB Testing Experimentation Platform Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Platform Data Technologies Los Gatos, California Response Engineering Manager Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Change Engineering Los Gatos, California Engineering Leader - Incident Response Los Gatos, California Senior Full Stack Engineer - Member Contact Platform Los Gatos, California Consumer Insights Sr. Product Researcher - Kids Los Gatos, California Director, Product Consumer Insights Los Gatos, California Senior Product Researcher - Quantitative Los Gatos, California Content Operations DVD Content Strategy Analyst - Fremont Fremont, California Originals Distribution Coordinator Beverly Hills, California Content Partner Specialist - Global Film & TV Beverly Hills, California Content Partner Specialist - Global Indie Film Beverly Hills, California Content Operations Manager - Localization QC Beverly Hills, California Content Partner Specialist - Global Indie TV Beverly Hills, California Localization QC Specialist, Originals QC (Asia) Beverly Hills, California Originals Distribution Specialist - Original Series Beverly Hills, California Content Partner Specialist - Japan Tokyo, Japan Localization QC Specialist, Originals QC Beverly Hills, California Manager, DVD Content Operations Strategy Fremont Corporate, California Content Acquisition Post Production Manager, Physical Production - Docs & Comedy Beverly Hills, California Manager, Content Acquisition - Japan Tokyo, Japan Director - Content Acquisition, Animation Tokyo, Japan Executive Assistant Tokyo, Japan Director - Content Acquisition, Global TV Beverly Hills, California Director - Original Production Beverly Hills, California Content Delivery Senior Software Engineer - OpenConnect Cloud Management Platform Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Open Connect Control Plane Los Gatos, California ISP Interconnection Manager - APAC APAC, Singapore Senior Operations Engineer - Content Delivery Network (CDN) Los Gatos, California Senior Platform Engineer - OpenConnect Cloud Management Platform Los Gatos, California Content Platform Engineering Senior Software Engineer in Test - Media Cloud Engineering Los Gatos, California Video Engineer Los Gatos, California Senior Full Stack Engineer - Licensed Content Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer/Architect - Enhanced Content Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer in Test- Localization Platform Engineering Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Support Tools Los Gatos, California Senior Java Engineer - Netflix Original Programming Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer/Architect - Localization Platform Engineering Los Gatos, California Creative Services Creative Services Specialist - Japan Tokyo, Japan Originals Creative Services Specialist Beverly Hills, California Customer Service HR Manager, Customer Service - Japan Yokohama (Japan), Japan Customer Service Agent - Japan Yokohama (Japan), Japan Customer Service Supervisor - Japan Yokohama (Japan), Japan Customer Service Administration Global CS Insights Specialist Los Gatos, California Data Engineering & Analytics Senior Data Engineer - Digital Supply Chain Analytics Beverly Hills, California Manager - Streaming Client Analytics Los Gatos, California Analytics and Engineering Manager, Marketing Los Gatos, California Senior Business Intelligence Engineer, Digital Supply Chain Beverly Hills, California Senior Data Engineer, Personalization Analytics Los Gatos, California Engineering Manager - Content Analytic Tools Beverly Hills, California Senior Data Analyst - Streaming Partner Analytics Los Gatos, California Senior Data Engineer, Content Delivery Analytics Los Gatos, California Data Engineering & Analytics Manager - Product Los Gatos, California Senior Data Architect, Customer Service Analytics Los Gatos, California Senior Data Engineer - Subscriber Analytics Los Gatos, California Senior Data Engineer - Discovery Analytics Los Gatos, California Senior Data Engineer - Streaming & Devices Los Gatos, California Finance Senior Financial Analyst, Participations Beverly Hills, California Senior Financial Analyst, Music Royalties Beverly Hills, California Director of Payments, LATAM Sao Paulo, Brazil Director of Payments, Asia APAC, Singapore Contract Administrator Beverly Hills, California EMEA Payroll Specialist Amsterdam, Netherlands Head of Production Risk and Insurance Beverly Hills, California Director of Global Payroll & Stock Los Gatos, California Senior Technical Analyst - Production Accounting Systems Beverly Hills, California Senior International Tax Analyst Los Gatos, California Senior Internal Auditor Los Gatos, California Financial Planning and Analysis Senior Analyst, Marketing Planning & Analysis - Americas Beverly Hills, California Senior Business Analyst - Subscriber Analytics Los Gatos, California Manager, Marketing Planning & Analysis - EMEA Los Gatos, California Sr. Analyst, Content Strategy & Analysis Beverly Hills, California Coordinator - Production Finance Beverly Hills, California Senior Financial Analyst - Marketing FP&A Beverly Hills, California Hub Operations Part-Time Machine Operator 1 Denver, Colorado Part-Time Machine Operator Las Vegas, Nevada Human Resources Legal Recruiter Beverly Hills, California Technical Recruiter Los Gatos, California Executive Assistant - Talent Los Gatos, California Director - International Employee Services Los Gatos, California Recruiting Researcher Beverly Hills, California Technical Recruiting Researcher Los Gatos, California IT Operations Senior Systems Engineer - Identity and Access Management Los Gatos, California Legal Counsel - Employment Law Los Gatos, California Legal Counsel, Music Beverly Hills, California Production Counsel - Original Documentaries & Comedies Beverly Hills, California Legal Director, Technology & Transactions Los Gatos, California Senior Counsel - Original Series Beverly Hills, California Senior Counsel - Content Acquisition, International TV Beverly Hills, California Corporate Counsel Beverly Hills, California Counsel, Content Acquisition - International Film Beverly Hills, California Localization Localization QC Vendor Manager Los Gatos, California Senior Localization Project Manager Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer in Test - Localization Los Gatos, California Marketing Ad Ops Manager - EMEA Amsterdam, Netherlands Manager, Programmatic Marketing Los Gatos, California Global Creative Director Beverly Hills, California Executive Assistant - EMEA Amsterdam, Netherlands Integrated Producer - UK/IE Amsterdam, Netherlands Ad Ops Coordinator - Programmatic Marketing Los Gatos, California Manager, Programmatic Marketplace Development - Americas Los Gatos, California Content Marketing Director - Latin America Beverly Hills, California Director, Marketing - North America, AU & NZ Beverly Hills, California Senior Manager - EMEA Marketing Insights Amsterdam, Netherlands Digital Coordinator - EMEA Los Gatos, California Coordinator - Brand Partner Marketing Beverly Hills, California Director, Partner Marketing - North America, AU & NZ Beverly Hills, California Director, Consumer Insights - Latin America Beverly Hills, California Head of Marketing, Italy Amsterdam, Netherlands Integrated Producer - Spain, Italy, Portugal Amsterdam, Netherlands Marketing Manager - Mexico Beverly Hills, California Partner Marketing Manager - Japan Tokyo, Japan Head of Marketing - Spain & Portugal Amsterdam, Netherlands Senior Partner Marketing Manager - DACH Amsterdam, Netherlands Integrated Producer - Germany Amsterdam, Netherlands Director, Partner Marketing - Latin America Beverly Hills, California Marketing Manager - Brand Partner Marketing Beverly Hills, California Marketing Manager, North America, AU & NZ Beverly Hills, California Marketing Operations Design Production Coordinator - Marketing Operations Beverly Hills, California AV Production Coordinator - Marketing Operations Beverly Hills, California Media Engineering and Partnerships Media Engineering & Partnerships Engineer, Asia Beverly Hills, California PR Manager - Corporate and Technology Communications Los Gatos, California Publicity Manager, France - Originals Publicity Amsterdam, Netherlands Specialist - Originals Publicity Beverly Hills, California Social Media Coordinator Amsterdam, Netherlands Manager, Social Media - Asia Pacific APAC, Singapore Manager, Social Media - Middle East Amsterdam, Netherlands Originals Publicity Manager - Latin America Beverly Hills, California Director, Corporate Communications - APAC APAC, Singapore Social Media Coordinator Beverly Hills, California Manager - Originals Publicity Beverly Hills, California European Publicity Manager, Originals Publicity Amsterdam, Netherlands Manager - North America Media Relations Los Gatos, California Photo Publicist and Electronic Assets Specialist - Originals Publicity Beverly Hills, California Manager, Consumer PR - APAC APAC, Singapore Manager of Original Documentary Publicity Beverly Hills, California Manager, Social Media - Netflix Originals Beverly Hills, California Photo Publicist and Electronic Assets Manager Beverly Hills, California Manager, Social Media – Korea APAC, Singapore Partner Devices Product Manager, Partner Device Lifecycle Los Gatos, California Senior Quality Assurance Engineer - MVPD Los Gatos, California Senior Full Stack Engineer - Node.JS Los Gatos, California Senior User Experience Designer - Partner Ecosystem Los Gatos, California Senior Partner Engineer - Device Reliability Los Gatos, California Engineering Manager - Partner Ecosystem Tools Los Gatos, California Software Development Engineer in Test - Certification Los Gatos, California Partner Manager - Asian Market Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Node.js Los Gatos, California Partner Engagement Manager, Asia Los Gatos, California Product Engineering Algorithms Scientific Director Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - API Platform Los Gatos, California Senior Research Engineer - Search & Recommendations Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Growth Product Engineering Los Gatos, California Senior Full Stack Engineer - Digital Advertising Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Personalization Infrastructure Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Digital Advertising Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Signup Personalization Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Recommendations Systems Los Gatos, California Engineering Leader - Playback Access Team Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Personalization Systems Los Gatos, California Science and Algorithms Senior Data Scientist - Acquisition and Messaging Los Gatos, California Director, Content Science & Algorithms Beverly Hills, California Senior Data Scientist - Content Models & Algorithms Beverly Hills, California Research Manager - Content Promotion Los Gatos, California Senior Data Scientist - Streaming Science & Algorithms Los Gatos, California Senior Data Scientist - Algorithm Experimentation Los Gatos, California Senior Data Scientist - Streaming Experimentation and Modeling Los Gatos, California Streaming Client Senior Software Engineer in Test - iOS Client Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Tools, Test and Reliability Engineering Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer in Test - Devices Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer in Test - Open Connect Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer - Android Los Gatos, California UI Engineering Senior User Interface Engineer - TV Platforms Los Gatos, California Senior User Interface Engineer - Website Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer in Test - Originals UI Los Gatos, California Senior User Interface Engineer - Acquisition Los Gatos, California Senior Software Engineer in Test - TV Platforms Los Gatos, California Senior Automation Engineer - Website & iOS Los Gatos, California Senior User Interface Engineer - Originals UI Los Gatos, California Senior User Interface Engineer - iOS Los Gatos, California User Experience VP of Product Design Los Gatos, California Product Designer - TV Experiences Los Gatos, California   Yesterday's Tech Talk Thursday post was delayed due to my I5 drive from LA to SFO. The 6 hour imposed mediation session inspired me to post about a fabulous company, in a shameless plug, for TouchPress apps, a wonderful app, technology and educational creator located in London, home of the new Christmas hamper at Fortnum & Mason's of course! Yes, they spell favorite with a "u" too! The team at TouchPress has created some lovely apps that inspire and educate. The first and obvious one to chat about, that aligns with this blog, is TouchPress's DISNEY inspired animation app that educates young and old alike on how Disney creates its beautiful animation and tells its story. See link below. http://disneyanimated.touchpress.com/?tpnav=1 Your favourite Disney characters & filmsAccess an astonishing amount of material from all eras, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), and continuing through an exclusive first look of concept art, animation tests and visual effects from upcoming films. From the company's website: http://www.touchpress.com/news/2015/6/disney-animated-wins-audience-award-at-sheffield-docfest We’re thrilled to announce that our app Disney Animated was voted the top interactive project at Sheffield Doc/Fest in the 2015 Audience Awards. Sheffield Doc/Fest is the UK's premier documentary and digital media festival. It is the place to see world and UK premieres of the best creative documentaries from the cinema, television and online arenas. Audiences who attended the hugely successful 2015 edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest had the chance to vote for their favourite projects. Out of all the interactive projects on display at the popular Interactive Exhibition in the Millennium Gallery, the audience voted Disney Animated as the best, despite fierce competition from Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise, 1979 Revolution, The Boat and others. Find out more about the other nominees here. Download Disney Animated here. Other gorgeous offerings from TouchPress include beautiful apps highlighting music, poetry, theatre, science, all shot in HD and packed full with educational information and rich experiential materials. TouchPress jobs openings coming on Jobs Friday post next - if you live in the UK. Go forth and click away!  We all spin yarns and tales from time to time. Whether entertaining young people, reciting family histories, crafting the "How I got here" response to any inquiry, or building a company, department or growth opportunity. Stories are the fabric of our lives - they entertain, educate, distract and comfort. Today I'm re-posting some story telling tidbits from various places around the web, and would love to hear from you - your favorite story, if you want to share in the comments, or email me on the contact page! Stay tuned for The Little Vicar, an online illustrated story that will grace our pages in 2016. How to tell a Good Story From FORBES for Business readers: Kristi Hedges, CONTRIBUTOR http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2013/12/11/how-to-tell-a-good-story/ Stories grab us. They take us in, transport us, and allow us to live vicariously and visually through another’s experience. As I’ve said often in my work around presence, shared stories accelerate interpersonal connection. Learning to tell stories to capture, direct and sustain the attention of others is a key leadership skill. Storytelling also greatly helps anyone speaking or presenting in front of an audience. Yet, as much as we love to hear the stories of others, in my research I’ve found that most people don’t consider themselves good storytellers. I will often hear reasons such as:
The same can be said for anecdotes, which are basically short stories. A Stanford research study showed that statistics alone have a retention rate of 5-10%, but when coupled with anecdotes, the retention rate rises to 65-70%. The reality is that many of us don’t bother with stories – not because we don’t think they are important – but because we’re not sure how to tell them well. Here are some of my best tips for how to embrace the amazing storyteller that lies within all of us. 1. Keep a log of story content. It’s much easier to find the right stories if you have a list to go to. Get in the habit of jotting down notes about content that would make for a good story – client wins, challenges, times of perseverance, etc. To get yourself started, spend an hour just thinking about experiences you’ve had where you’ve overcome hardship and made yourself (or others) proud. Once you make a habit of it, you’ll find that you can get new fodder frequently – which you can tap into when you need it. 2. When you have important points, match them with a story. One of the most powerful applications of stories in a work setting is for conveying messages that you want to have resonance, from widespread culture changes to personal mentoring. To use stories, you only need to pause, and remember to do so. And check that list you just made. The next time you find yourself contemplating what words you want to say (an indicator of an important message), also consider what story would help support your points. You’ll find that it will help you communicate your message, and for the listener to hear it. 3. Practice them. There’s a misperception that great storytellers can whip these yarns out of their hats and deliver with aplomb. The best stories are well-told stories – because they get better with each telling. Whenever someone in my workshops volunteers to tell a good story, it’s one that they’ve told many times before. If you want to get better at telling any story, start putting it out there for various groups of people. I guarantee you that you’ll learn from each experience. And instead of getting stale, you’ll get better. One caution: you do want to vary the audiences you tell your stories too. Practicing is important, but you don’t want to be known for telling the same stories to the same people. From The Heart of Innovation: http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2016/04/how_to_tell_a_g_1.shtml Let's start with the basics: You already know how to tell a good story. You do. You've been telling stories your entire life. Today, you probably told at least a few. And later, tonight, you will probably tell some more -- whether they are merely accounts of your day, a memorable encounter you had at work, or a reminiscence from days gone by. Story is the ocean we are swimming in. And because it is, we don't necessarily feel wet when we're in it, but we are. Fish aren't taught to swim. And you aren't taught to tell stories. As a child, you didn't need to be taught. All you needed was to hear them and them tell them to others -- which you did -- everything from The Three Little Pigs toJack and the Beanstalk to the excuses you laid on your teachers for not handing in your homework on time. Of course, if you had to teach someone how to tell a story in the next ten minutes, you would probably resist because you don't necessarily know how you do it. But just because you don't, doesn't mean you lack the knowledge or the skill. You don't. It's in there. It is. Storytelling is what psychologists refer to as an "unconscious competence" -- a skill, like walking, eating, or complaining that has become second nature to us. It's in our bones and has been since we were very young. And while you may not be as skillful a storyteller as Garrison Keillor, you don't need to be a Garrison Keillor in order to be a good storyteller. In fact, you don't want to be Garrison Keillor. You want to be yourself. Because being yourself is one of the secrets to being a good storyteller. Is this just a story I'm telling you -- a way to pump you up and get you past your resistances? No, it's not. Having been a professional communicator for the past 27 years and having worked with thousands of people from just about every industry on planet Earth, I've seen, first hand, the extraordinary, untapped and unexpressed ability people have to go beyond their assumptions of who they are, what they do, and how they do it. Where to begin? With one simple commitment: To stop telling yourself the story that you don’t know how to tell a good story. Willing? If so, the rest of this essay is for you. Unwilling? No problem. Either skip the next few paragraphs or take a nap. Ultimately, there is only one thing you need to know if you want to tell a good story: Storytelling is part art and part science. And of the two, it's more about the art than it is about the science. Communicating your humanity is the art. The more human you are willing to be (i.e. not perfect, not an expert, not a superhero), the more likely it is that people will connect with your story. The key to communicating your humanity? Your passion for telling your story, your respect for your audience, your authenticity, your understanding that people will get what they need without you teaching or preaching, and your ability to engage the attention of the people you are telling your story to. All of the preceding requires the right application of eight subtle factors: voice tonality, body language, facial gestures, hand movement, pacing, adapting to the non-verbal cues from your audience, how evocative you are, and the choice of what details to include, embellish, or ignore. Can these factors be learned? Of course they can -- much in the same way that aspiring actors go to acting class. But the real key to successful storytelling is less about study than it is about practice. The more stories you tell, the better you'll get. It's as simple as that. Real-time, you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t work and then make the necessary adjustments in order to improve. The science of telling a good story is much less complicated that you think. Fundamentally, it's about structure and the inter-relationships of the elements that comprise the structure. Just like a house needs a foundation, framing, walls, and a roof if it wants to fulfill its purpose, a story needs structure, too. Once you understand the elements of story structure, you're on your way. What are those elements? There are five, just like the fingers on the hand you use to make a point. 1. Setting (where your story takes place) 2. Character (the hero/heroine/protagonist who has adventures) 3. Plot (the events that unfold, the arc of what happens) 4. Conflict (the obstacles the characters encounter) 5. Theme (the resolution of the conflict, what's been learned along the way) "Everybody likes to tell a story. Little children do it effortlessly. Great artists do it with talent and years of practice. Somewhere in between stand you and I." - Sylvia Ziskind GO FORTH, MAKE UP STUFF!  On Tuesdays we talk about new or groundbreaking initiatives in media, story telling, animation or film, involving kids, education firms and culture. Today's focus is on StoryCorps and their initiative for military service members, a unique partnership with POV Stories - PBS whose mission is to provide a voice to the many military service members whose stories should be heard, acknowledged and shared. From Healing Combat Trauma: http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/storytelling/ "It's not always easy to love a combat veteran with PTSD. Heck, it's not even easy to BE a combat veteran with PTSD and manage to love yourself, or those around you the way that you want to. But part of healing is getting back in touch with how important love is, and even respecting its own form of therapeutic, healing power. Listen to these words from a very wise sage about just how important love is, in the natural order of things: "Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world." -- Chief Dan George, Canadian First Nations chief, poet, author and Academy Award-winning actor." StoryCorps in partnership with POVStories from the Peabody Award-winning oral history nonprofit, which help to bridge the gap in understanding between veterans and civilians. StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative provides post-9/11 veterans, service members, and their families the opportunity to record and share their stories with the public -- through broadcasts on NPR and short films on PBS animated by the Rauch Brothers. Browse 4 veterans stories here: http://www.pbs.org/storycorps/watch-shorts/military-veterans/ 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Williams reflects on being the sole survivor of a bomb blast that killed his entire 12-man squad. The Last Viewing Allen Hoe tells the story of a chance encounter with a stranger who knew his son, Army 1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe. The Nature of War Army National Guard Specialist Justin Cliburn remembers the unlikely friendship he formed with two Iraqi boys he met while deployed in Iraq. Germans in the Woods Joseph Robertson was an infantryman in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. From "Can the simple act of listening help them heal?" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leila-levinson/ptsd-veterans-writing_b_1078971.html When you have suffered a major setback, experienced betrayal or loss, what have you found brought you some relief? Did the ear of a friend help? Someone listening, not trying to solve your problem, but showing in their eyes that they care. They hear, and they care. Telling our stories helps us heal. It releases some of the energy the experience created and begins to externalize the experience. In telling it, in giving the story to another, it is not ours alone. Someone is sharing it with us. In enabling another to understand and have empathy, we move out of the sense of isolation the experience fostered into community, a requirement for healing. In the last 20 years, medical practice has increasingly recognized the importance of what's come to be called "narrative medicine" to the patient's healing. Many medical schools such as Columbia University now have Narrative Medicine programs.Columbia's "fortifies clinical practice with the narrative competence to recognize, absorb, metabolize, interpret and be moved by the stories of illness." Recognition of the value of storytelling's ability to heal is evident in the plethora of writing workshops for veterans that have sprung up across the country since troops began returning from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Poet and author Maxine Hong Kingston began the first veterans writing project in 1993 in the Bay Area, where she witnessed the healing power of writing about war experiences and sharing them in a group. "Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace" resulted from that project. Warrior Writers began in New York City in early 2007, providing writing and art workshops to veterans to create a culture that articulates veterans' experiences. It now makes their workshops available around the country. There is Veterans Writing Project in Washington, D.C., and others exist in Reno, Nev., Ogden, Utah, San Diego and various veterans administration medical centers. Amherst, Mass. has the Veterans Education Project and the Hudson Valley area of New York has the Veterans Writing Project. The Writers Guild Foundation of Los Angeles runs the Military Veterans Writing Workshop, and New York University holds the Veterans Writing Workshop. A unique program that enables veterans to both write their story and tell it is theTelling Project. It works with veterans in universities, communities and organizations to produce innovative performances. After interviews, trainings and rehearsals, veterans and their family members tell their stories on stage for their communities. The Telling Project has performed in Eugene and Portland, Ore., Seattle, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Starkville, Miss., Baltimore and Iowa City, enabling veterans to speak their truths and their communities to listen. For a few years the National Endowment for the Arts supported a writing project called "Operation Homecoming" to help U.S. troops and their families write about their wartime experiences. This program brought distinguished writers to military installations to conduct writing workshops. A related call for writing submissions resulted in more than 1,200 submissions and 12,000 pages of writings. Almost 100 of those were featured in the anthology, "Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families." Writing is an essential step in telling one's story, because writing enables us to create order out of memory's chaos. In sorting through the chaos and stringing together a narrative, we make clear the experience's meaning -- for ourselves and for others. Our truth might not only allow empathy but enlighten. I once sat with a veteran of World War II, who like my father had been among the liberators of the Nazi concentration camp the GIs referred to as Nordhausen. Like so many other WWII veterans, especially those who had been among the camp liberators, this gentleman had never spoken about his memories of the war. But as we sat there, me listening and showing familiarity with his subject and keen interest, he began to unwind his memory, a knotted spool of thread. When he came to a knot, I encouraged him to continue talking. "You know," he said at one point, "I've never been able to make sense of my memories. But now, with your help, I see how the pieces fit." A few minutes later he turned to his wife of 62 years and said, "I have struggled to stay alive every day since." Her face whitened in astonishment as she clasped his hands. Trauma produces an intensification of senses and then shuts them down to protect the mind from becoming overwhelmed. And while this is life-saving in the short term, it is soul-numbing in the long term. Those frozen, intense sense memories get encapsulated in the brain and refuse to fade, taking us whirling back in a second, unpredictably. Finding a way to a narrative, to connecting the pieces, gives us a way to defuse those terrifying memories, to release the pressure that has built up around them. And then to see someone listen to the story, to hold our hands in compassion and love -- that opens the door to the possibility of safety. To coming home. Let us celebrate and support the invaluable writing programs for veterans within our communities. And then let us listen to the stories our veterans speak. On Sunday night, "60 Minutes" had a feature about Operation Project Exit that takes veterans suffering PTSD back to Iraq as a means of healing. As one young veteran said at the end of the show, "I always hear people complain about stuff, and it just makes me mad because a lotta people don't understand. They don't see the stuff that -- they just go about their daily lives, while there's still people dyin' every day. For them. And it -- it upsets me a lot." Let us listen and heed. |
Julie M McDonaldArchives
October 2022
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