 This is NIMBLE COLLECTIVE's fabulous logo. Love it! January is already shaping up to be an extraordinary month with new technical developments in animation production, a host of great movies set for 2016 release and groundbreaking initiatives coming out of WOMEN IN ANIMATION that will pull more women into the industry than ever before. Let's start with TECH! I had the fabulous opportunity to spend quite a long time with the folks over at NIMBLE COLLECTIVE in Mountain View, CA late last week, getting a close up look at their technology platform vision and their awesome plans for supporting the creation of new stories. For those who don't know about the work of NIMBLE, here's a link to their site. Stay on top of what's coming out of this studio because they are openly using the phrase, "DISRUPT"! Aiming to lower the technology bar for new and upcoming animation teams, this firm plans to remove barriers to collaboration and technology through new ways to use the cloud and pipeline methods. Keep your eye on this firm which is pre-IPO with $ 1.0m in seed funding in 2015. http://www.nimblecollective.com/ Palo Alto, CA and Orlando, FL (May 12, 2015)--Nimble Collective, a wildly creative startup led by Academy Award- winning animators and technology entrepreneurs, today announced its formation to focus on revolutionizing the $90 billion worldwide animation content market. With an initial $1 million in seed funding, Nimble Collective is developing the industry’s first cloud-based, end-to-end platform and world’s largest online animation community to serve an estimated 10 million professional and aspiring animators around the globe.  Next up my favorite - WOMEN IN ANIMATION! Last night I attended the student committee chapter meeting for the LA chapter of Women in Animation. Great plans are afoot and you can check out this year's action line up at: http://www.womeninanimation.org/ WIA recently announced an industry initiative to achieve 50% gender parity in the animation industry. I can't think of a better way to spend my time than educating girls about animation, and working to achieve this goal. On that, I've been selected as the student chapter global lead and will be opening student chapters for Women in Animation in cities around the world. If you are not a member, dues are not expensive and the rewards and networking opportunities are way high. Stay tuned for more excitement and Happy 2016! Hello January readers! I get asked a whole lot of questions about how digital media distribution works, about the international licensing market, how to monetize music and animation, how royalties work and what international licensing is really all about, including government regulations, how to deal with piracy and how international ADR works. I've been putting together a pretty complete "How to" tutorial but for now it's only available to the group of folks I work for as a consultant. In the meanwhile, to share this valuable and important knowledge, I'll start to post items here that help share knowledge and educate as I write new research that's not been created as part of a for hire contract. To start, below is a nice article from the folks at IndieWire that may be of interest to anyone wanting to monetizing their content in the digital sphere. There are many pitfalls to avoid and I'll start posting about those as well as guides to building an audience and reaching your core target market. For now...Enjoy this reprint. -J Reprinted from: IndieWire: http://www.indiewire.com/article/what_the_hell_is_digital_distribution_heres_eight_core_ideas_you_must_under
What the Hell is Digital Distribution? Here's 7 Core Ideas You Must Understand You get it: Digital distribution is the future and the future is now. What you probably don't get is exactly what that means, because… well, no one understands it. Not entirely, not yet. Too many players, too many moving parts, too much in flux. However, there are a few ideas -- seven, to be exact -- that you can act on now. 1. CARVE OUT DIY DIGITAL. Distributors and Foreign sales companies often want all rights, including all digital distribution rights. No matter what, you must carve out the ability to do DIY digital distribution (services include EggUp, Distrify, Dynamo Player and TopSpin) whether off your own site, off your Facebook page or directly to platforms. Platforms and services can almost always geofilter, which eliminates conflict with territories where the film has been sold to a traditional distributor. Often, distributors don't mind that a filmmaker also sells directly to fans, in any case. 2. PLATFORMS ≠ AGGREGATORS ≠ DISTRIBUTORS. Here's the most basic definitions: Platforms are places people go to watch or buy films; aggregators are conduits between filmmakers/distributors and platforms; distributors usually take more rights for longer terms. And some companies combine more than one of these functions. Aggregators usually focus more on converting files for, and supplying metadata to, platforms. They usually don't need rights for a long term and only take limited rights they need to do the job. Marketing is rarely a strong suit or focus for an aggregator. A distributor should be skilled at marketing -- otherwise, what's the point? Sometimes distributors are direct to platforms; sometimes they go through aggregators. Know the difference; fees are taken out every time there is a middleman. Filmmakers should want to know the fee the platform takes (it's not the same for all content providers) and know if a distributor is direct with platforms or goes through an aggregator. Also, filmmakers should have an understanding what each middleman is doing to justify the fee. Ask for a description in writing of what activities will be performed. 3. THINK OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS AS STORES. A film should try to be available everywhere. However, sometimes that's too costly or otherwise impossible. When that's the case, prioritize according to where the film’s audience consumes media. Back in the DVD days, you'd want a DVD of an indie film in big chains such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Video -- but a cool, award-winning indie would do well in a 20/20 or Kim's Video because those outlets target a core audience. Same with digital. While many filmmakers want to see their films on Cable VOD, some films just don’t work well there. Some films make most of their money via Netflix and won't do a lick on business on Comcast. Others do well on iTunes; some do business via Hulu or SnagFilms. Know your film and its audience's habits. If money or access is an issue, be strategic in picking your “stores” and make your film available where it's most likely to perform. It may not be in Walmart's digital store or Best Buy's. Above all, if you have a community (followers, a brand), your site(s) and networks may be your best platform stores of all. 4. KNOW YOUR CABLE VOD LISTINGS. It's hard to get films marketed well on Cable VOD platforms. Often metadata isn’t entered, or entered incorrectly -- and it's nearly impossible to fix after it goes live. Oversee the metatags submitted for your film and check immediately upon release. Also, since genre/category folders and trailer promotion are not always an option, films with names starting in early letters of the alphabet (A-G) or numbers can perform better. That said, there's a glut of folks trying that now and cable operators are getting wise to the ploy. All the more reason to focus on marketing your title so audiences look for it. 5. HAVE GOOD ART THAT WORKS SMALL. For God's sake, take good photos. And compose the images with an eye toward the fact that it won't be on a poster; it will be on a computer screen. Look at your key art as a thumbnail image and make sure it is still clearly identifiable. 6. TIMING IS EVERYTHING. If accessing Cable VOD is part of your plan, digital distribution often has to be done in a certain order,. Sometimes Cable VOD is not an option for a film (films often need a strong theatrical run before they can access it); in this case, the order of digital is more flexible and you can be creative or experiment with timing and different types of digital. However, Cable VOD's percentage share of digital distribution revenues is still around 70% (it used to be nearer to 80%), so if it's an option for your film it's probably worth doing. If your film is in the digital distribution window before Cable VOD, that will eliminate or at least dramatically diminish the potential that cable, or even an intermediate aggregator, will accept it. There is more flexibility with transactional services and much less flexibility with YouTube, or subscription or ad-supported services. Films that opt to be part of the YouTube/Sundance rental channel initiative could not get onto Cable VOD afterward. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but better to plan ahead than be disappointed. 7. THE DEVIL IS IN THE DEFINITIONS. There is no standard yet for definitions of digital rights. IFTA (formerly known as AFMA) has its rights definitions and for that organization’s signatories, there's a standard. But many distributors use their own contracts with a range of definitions that aren't uniform. When analyzing distribution options, be aware that terms such as VOD can mean different things to different people and include more or fewer distribution rights and govern more or fewer platforms. Consider VOD. IFTA describes it as a PayPerView Right (Demand View Right) and limit it to: “transmission by means of encoded signal for television reception in homes and similar living spaces where a charge is made to the viewer for the rights to use a decoding device to view the Motion Picture at a time selected by the viewer for each viewing”. However in some contracts, it’s defined as “Video-on-Demand Rights,” which is a lot more complicated and all encompassing. Here's one sample: a function or service distributed and/or made available to a viewer by any and all means of transmission, telecommunication, and/or network system(s) whether now known or hereafter devised (including, without limitation, television, cable, satellite, wire, fiber, radio communication signal, internet, intranet, or other means of electronic delivery and whether employing analogue and/or digital technologies and whether encrypted or encoded) whereby the viewer is using information storage, retrieval and management techniques capable of accessing, selecting, downloading (whether temporarily or permanently) and viewing programming whether on a per program/movie basis or as a package of programs/movies) at a time selected by the viewer, in his/her discretion whether or not the transmission is scheduled by the operator(s)/provider(s), and whether or not a fee is paid by the viewer for such function/service to view on the screen of a television receiver, computer, handheld device or other receiving device (fixed or mobile) of any type whether now known or hereafter devised. Video-on-Demand includes without limitation Near VOD (“NVOD”,) Subscription Video-on-Demand (“SVOD”,) “Download to burn”, “Download to Own”, “Electronic Sell Through” and “Electronic Rental.”Yeah. This is why lawyers have such nice summer houses. Here's some simpler questions to start: Ask if a definition of VOD or another type of digital right includes “SVOD” (Subscription Video on Demand) and includes subscription services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus. If a contract notes a distributor has purchased “VOD Rights” but does not define them, or defines them broadly, then do they have mobile device distribution rights as well? “Video-on-Demand” sometimes only refers to Cable Video on Demand; other times, it's more general. In a “TV Everywhere” (and hence film everywhere) multi-platform all-device playable universe, the content creator needs to know. Know what you want for and can do for your film in terms of distribution and carve it up and spell it out. This is an edited excerpt from "Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul, which was written by The Film Collaborative co-executive directors Orly Ravid and Jeffrey Winter in association with filmmaker/author Jon Reiss (“Think Outside The Box Office”) and Sheri Candler. It's available via Apple iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and ePub. It's supported by premiere sponsor Prescreen and official sponsor Dynamo Player. Prescreen and Area23a co-sponsored the book's printed edition. Good Morning Last Day of 2015. Tomorrow the calendar clicks over into 2016. Shall we go in? Our hand is on the knob and it's turning. Just a few more hours to go! Oh sure, why not?
After a long intentional break from writing, it's good to sit down and reflect on the passages of the last 8 weeks. In November I took a break from writing, after the Paris attacks, in order to allow that event, and others, to penetrate deeply enough to create a life change. Just when I was ready to get back in the saddle, San Bernardino happened - that shooting taking place quite close to home, a mere 15 minute drive east up the 210 freeway across Pasadena, where I reside most of the year. This post isn't about terrorism, politics, animation, homelessness, gender, inspiring stories or media. The world swirls around us, day in and day out in an unstoppable round robin of breathing in and out. This is how it should be. Taken all together, I would rather be here than not. This post is about a small window in my LA home - half of which is covered by a much needed (in the summer) regular old window screen. The other half isn't. It's not a big deal, not a fancy window, not an expensive window, not an expensive screen. Just a plain window on one side, with a screen on the other. You can open the side with the screen on it. Simple. So I'm lying in bed one morning, looking out the window before getting up and I see the screen on the window....I'm just kind of staring at it they way you do before you decide to focus your eyes. It's blurry and dusty and I see the big tree outside swaying in the breeze. I can see the tree but the screen is grey and blurred out, just kind of a grey film over the tree. You've all done that....let your eyes focus in and out while you are just kind of staring at something. "Huh", I think, "that's funny, the clear side of the window makes me think of old fashioned 35mm film - capturing images on its emulsion with no pattern - just floating layers of emulsion responding to light wave after light wave. The other side, the one with the screen on it, makes me think of computer animation, pixels defining each point of light, cutting the image into segments, like the way the screen defines the scene outside the window by overlaying a grid pattern on it. Huh funny." Next I'm sitting in the kitchen, and there it is again, a window with the same configuration. OK, this isn't rocket science. Windows have screens. But again, I'm thinking about the two windows side by side, one clear and open, the other with the grey and dusty screen with its little squares, neatly dividing what I can see. Well, this goes on, obviously, until I'm staring at every window in the house and contemplating the two sides - which every window has of course. I'm thinking about those screens, about those little squares until I can't really think about anything else. You see where this is going. Because I know that our minds are like that. Every moment I have a choice - will I look out at the world, or inwards towards myself through the clear window, or will I slid a screen into place, clicking grids into position in order to process, make sense of, judge, limit, define my experience? Which is it? At this point, this imagery and my new found obsession with the window screens is pretty much dominating my free time. I'm consumed with the metaphor and reviewing aspects of my life, communication style, emails, Facebook posts, resumes, job hunts and wondering how I can get more and more of my life into the clear window space. I'm thinking about windows and screen and seeing them everywhere like you do when you have to buy a new car and all you see is the model you just test drove. I didn't know there were so many dark green Honda hybrids on the road until I test drove one. Anyway, this obsession with the screens and the windows and the grids just wont let up. It was kind of like getting smacked in the face with a truth that once it takes hold just pretty much replaces old thinking. In some ways, it's not particularly deep. Yea, we all have our thought patterns, our ways of making sense of experience. But lately, I've been feeling this very intensely - they way we do violence to one another, not only in the terrible obvious ways, but in the little tiny grid patterns we overlay over our loved ones, family members, friends and children. They way we carve up our love into bite sized pieces that we can chew and swallow in order to simply deal with it all. I've been actively in the job market for about 5 months, since I relocated to LA and taking my big alive clear window self and carving it up into smaller bite sized pieces that I want someone to hire. That's normal. I've been consulting and working but always looking for that 9 to 5 situation. Maybe staying, big, wide open and clear - well, maybe that's old school, it's 35mm film emulsion living. Back to the window and screen. This small story this morning ends with my once again waking up, now as I do each morning, staring at that small window, back and forth, back and forth, thinking about living fully in full color, and then switching to living through the grid pattern, back and forth, my eyes glancing from the tree to the window to the screen. At some point I reach up, and slide open the window even though it's only 40 degrees outside.. Now there is just the screen, no window pane between me and the big tree in the cold wind. After about 10 minutes, I get up, grab my coffee and go outside. Now there is no window at all, no screen, no back and forth. No contemplation, no waiting. Just doing. I'm walking down the block to find the tree that's outside my window three flights up. Here it is. Now there is no division between me and the tree. I'm freezing. It's cold, here is the tree. Here am I. I put my hand on the tree. I feel it, thank it. Now there is nothing between me and the tree. Just us, in the cold. It's windy. The tree is tall. I see it. I touch it. It's cold. There are birds, there is wind, there is the sun, there is the sky. It's 2016 soon - Let's go into that time grid.....There will by 365 tiny days, carving up our experience. The doorknob is turning, click, it's time. Tiny bites of time. The tree doesn't know what time it is, and right now neither do I. That's about right and right where I want to be. Peace in the "New Year". This week our blog will be silent to support reflections on peace-filled actions, and to contemplate practical ways to form a personal and meaningful response to violence, blood shed and the loss of innocent life.
We will resume posting Monday, November 23, 2015 Peace on your journeys.  A good friend pointed me towards ZYNGA for the latest in fun to play games, great company culture and a host of open positions. A worldwide company, there are too many open position to list here. Here are the ones in San Francisco alone, check them out!
From https://www.zynga.com/about Connecting the World Through Games“Zynga today represents a unique combination of assets, talent and opportunity. No other company offers consumers our breadth of game offerings and dedication to combining consumer accessibility with fun and social.” San Francisco, CA, United StatesAdministrative Assistant, Facilities San Francisco, CA, United States Architect San Francisco, CA, United States Architect San Francisco, CA, United States Art Producer San Francisco, CA, United States Commercial Paralegal San Francisco, CA, United States Community Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Corporate Counsel San Francisco, CA, United States Creative Director San Francisco, CA, United States Data Analyst San Francisco, CA, United States Data Analyst - CDO San Francisco, CA, United States Data Scientist San Francisco, CA, United States Director Corporate Development San Francisco, CA, United States Director of Engineering San Francisco, CA, United States Director, Learning & Development San Francisco, CA, United States Director, Product Marketing San Francisco, CA, United States Engineering Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Front End Architect San Francisco, CA, United States HR Business Partner (Director/Sr. Director) San Francisco, CA, United States HRIS Systems Analyst San Francisco, CA, United States Intern/Co-op Product Manager - Current Students (Summer 2016) San Francisco, CA, United States Intern/Co-op Software Engineer - Current Students (Summer 2016) San Francisco, CA, United States Lead Recruiter San Francisco, CA, United States MySQL Database Adminstrator San Francisco, CA, United States New Grad Full-time Product Manager (UR) 2016 San Francisco, CA, United States New Grad Full-time Software Engineer (UR) 2016 San Francisco, CA, United States Principal Rendering / Graphics Engineer San Francisco, CA, United States Principal Software Engineer San Francisco, CA, United States Principal Software Engineer San Francisco, CA, United States Principal Software Engineer, Mobile SDK (Ad Platform) San Francisco, CA, United States Product Counsel San Francisco, CA, United States Product Marketing Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Project Manager San Francisco, CA, United States QA Engineer I San Francisco, CA, United States QA Engineer I San Francisco, CA, United States QA Engineer II San Francisco, CA, United States QA Engineer II San Francisco, CA, United States QA Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Recruiter (Executive Staffing) San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Data Analyst San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Data Scientist San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Database Engineer San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Director Studio Operations San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Director, Business Operations San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Game Systems Designer San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Manager, FP&A San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Manager, IT Audit San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Product Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Product Manager, Data Science San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Production Artist San Francisco, CA, United States Senior QA Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Senior QA Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Software Engineer (Front End) – Unannounced Project San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Software Engineer (Hit It Rich) San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Software Engineer, Analytics San Francisco, CA, United States Senior Software Engineer, Web San Francisco, CA, United States Senior UX Designer San Francisco, CA, United States Senior UX Designer - New, Unannounced Game! San Francisco, CA, United States Software Engineer San Francisco, CA, United States Software Engineer, Marketing Analytics San Francisco, CA, United States Sr. Director, Compensation & Benefits San Francisco, CA, United States Sr. Financial Analyst, FP&A San Francisco, CA, United States Sr. Manager, Global Facilities Operations San Francisco, CA, United States Sr. Recruiter (Contract) San Francisco, CA, United States Sr. Tech Recruiter (Contract) San Francisco, CA, United States UI/UX Designer (Hit it Rich) San Francisco, CA, United States User Acquisition Manager San Francisco, CA, United States Zynga.org Social Media and Marketing Intern San Francisco, CA, United States  It's Tech Talk and Thursday and never easy to report on controversy that includes a respected former colleague - whom you want to succeed - but ignoring the controversy around Mattel's new Hello Barbie, simply because the developer of the technology is a former co-worker, would be short-sighted. An organization I have long admired, the Center for a Commercial Free Childhood has taken Hello Barbie into the boxing ring. With SIRI taking over the role of The Question Man in the lives of young people, many see Hello Barbie as a simple next step in the evolution of interactive toys. Others see the new doll as opening the gates of hell, dragging our young people down a rabbit hole of confusion and addiction, replacing imagination with computers and handing the key to our children's bedrooms to corporate profiteers. It's possible to wish for the success of a friend, while still taking a strong stand in opposition to a technology. Many believe, as I do, that mobile technology has insinuated itself far too deeply into formerly private psychological spaces. It needs a big STOP sign erected to protect individual freedom, the space for an unmediated experience of life, open imaginative play and protection and relief from marketers. Remaining neutral on this doll is not taking the leap into the deep end that my life and work experience demands. A shout out to Miranda McDonald-Stahl, a 17 year old culture keeper who rightly pointed out that my appearing neutral on this issue didn't reflect my true beliefs, nor what she and many other young people, young consumers, new voters, and builders of the future, also fervently believe about the role of tech in the live of young people today. "As Robert Kennedy explained in 1964, "President Kennedy's favorite quote was really from Dante, 'The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.'" Hello Barbie, in my view, represents a violation of a sacred play space for young people. Recording conversations, parsing those through an AI interface, crafting and delivering responses to unsupervised children deeply repels moms and dad who already have to cope with too many spaced out kids addicted to their phones, staring blankly at world they cannot focus on if there isn't a screen to touch. Posted here is the position paper from the CFCC and I hope to supply a statement from Toy Talk's founder, Oren Jacob in the January interview series, for a balanced perspective. For today's Tech Talk Thursday, please enjoy this side of the debate over your morning coffee and quieted SIRI please, I'm reading...... Re-posted from: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/action/hell-no-barbie-8-reasons-leave-hello-barbie-shelf Campaign for a Commercial Free ChildhoodHell No Barbie: 8 reasons to leave Hello Barbie on the shelf This holiday season, Mattel hopes to make Hello Barbie, a doll that records and analyzes children’s private conversations, a must-have toy. But experts agree: it’s a threat to children’s privacy, wellbeing, and creativity. Here are 8 reasons not to buy Hello Barbie. Please help us spread the word about this terrible toy. If Hello Barbie is a hit, other eavesdropping toys are sure to follow. 1) Children’s private conversations shouldn’t be shared with corporations or strangers. Children confide in dolls and reveal intimate details about their lives, but Hello Barbie won’t keep those secrets. When Barbie’s belt buckle is held down, everything your child says is transmitted to cloud servers where it will be stored and analyzed by ToyTalk, Mattel’s technology partner. Employees of ToyTalk and their partner corporations listen to recordings of children’s conversations--and ToyTalk won’t even say who their partners are. 2) Is Hello Barbie a “friend,” or a viral marketer? Mattel says “there is no advertising content within Hello Barbie,” and “your children’s conversations will not be used to advertise to your child.” But Mattel doesn’t define what it means by “advertise.” Will Hello Barbie discuss other Barbie products with children? Her script already includes several lines of dialogue about her sisters, who have dolls of their own for sale on Mattel.com. Mattel has also acknowledged that Hello Barbie will talk to children about pop culture, and the doll’s script will be updated to discuss the latest movies and music. Isn’t that marketing? How does Mattel decide which artists and media Barbie talks about? And when Mattel and ToyTalk update their privacy policy, they could use Hello Barbie—and the valuable information it collects—to advertise to children. That means parents (if they are even aware of the privacy policy changes) will face a terrible choice: allow Hello Barbie to market to their child, or take their child’s “friend” away. 3) Hello Barbie undermines creative play. Dolls have always talked—through the power of children’s imaginations. Children should use their own initiative and creativity to hold conversations with a doll, impart a personality, and build their relationships. With Hello Barbie, Mattel and ToyTalk’s programmers and algorithms drive the conversation, undermining the creative play that is so critical to children’s development. 4) Surveillance has no place in children’s play. In an era where corporations monitor what we say, where we go, what we buy, and who our friends are, Hello Barbie will instill exactly the wrong habits in children. Children should be taught to protect their privacy, not encouraged to divulge their private thoughts to a device that will share their secrets far and wide. 5) Children deserve a genuine listener, not a robot. Children naturally confide in their dolls and share their deepest feelings. At a tender age, they need to have their feelings genuinely heard and validated, and they should be sympathized with, uplifted, and supported. Children learn best from sincere dialogue with a real listener. 6) Why let the Barbie brand have more influence over your child? Barbie’s unattainable body type and her preoccupation with fashion and gender-stereotyped pursuits are well-documented. Research has found that girls have a more limited sense of what kinds of careers they can have when they grow up after playing with Barbie, and that girls’ exposure to images of Barbie correlates with lower body satisfaction and a desire to be thin. Mattel asserts that Hello Barbie is different, but the doll sports the same unrealistic body type, and sure likes to talk about fashion. 7) Even parents shouldn’t listen to secret recordings of their children. A child expects their intimate conversations with a doll to be private. But parents can access audio files of their child's conversations with Hello Barbie through daily or weekly email reports. Think back to how you played with dolls when you were young, and imagine how you would have felt if you learned that your parents were listening to recordings of everything you said. 8) Hello Barbie is vulnerable to data breaches. Hello Barbie’s recordings of children’s conversations are vulnerable to data breaches, like all information transmitted via the Internet and stored on the cloud. In addition, media reports indicate Hello Barbie could be a tempting target for hackers, who could access data stored by your family on home devices and networks through the doll. ToyTalk has acknowledged: “No way that we are claiming that the doll can’t be hacked.” What you can do:
1. Don’t buy it! And let friends and family know why you don’t want them buying Hello Barbie for your child either. 2. Spread the word by sharing this page far and wide. Pick your favorite reason(s) why Hello Barbie is a terrible toy and post our sharable pictures on social media with the hashtag #HellNoBarbie. 3. Talk to your child about Hello Barbie. Having an age-appropriate conversation with your child about why you won’t buy this toy is exactly the kind of good relationship-building that Hello Barbie devalues. Further reading:Advocates say "Hell No Barbie" to Stop Mattel from Spying on Kids Press Release—November 9, 2015  A World War II veteran shares the story of the harrowing six months he spent in German prison camps and his eventual triumphant return to the United States. At just 18 years old, Hjalmar Johansson went on his first WWII mission as a nose gunner in a B-24 bomber. When his squadron came under heavy fire, Hjalmar and the rest of the crew were forced to abandon their plane behind enemy lines with no help in sight.
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-veterans-day/videos/leap-of-faith-a-wwii-story From our friends at www.history.com THE GREAT WAR & ARMISTICE DAY Though the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, November 11 remained in the public imagination as the date that marked the end of the Great War. In November 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day. The day’s observation included parades and public gatherings, as well as a brief pause in business activities at 11 a.m. On November 11, 1921, an unidentified American soldier killed in the war was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.; the U.S. Congress had declared the day a legal federal holiday in honor of all those who participated in the war. On the same day, unidentified soldiers were laid to rest at Westminster Abbey in London and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Did You Know? Red poppies, a symbol of World War I (from their appearance in the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae), are sold in Canada and the United Kingdom on Remembrance Day to raise money for veterans or worn in the lapel as a tribute. On June 4, 1926, Congress passed a resolution that the “recurring anniversary of [November 11, 1918] should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations” and that the president should issue an annual proclamation calling for the observance of Armistice Day. By that time, 27 state legislatures had made November 11 a legal holiday. An act approved May 13, 1938 made November 11 a legal Federal holiday, “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’” In actuality, there are no U.S. national holidays because the states retain the right to designate their own, and the government can only designate holidays for federal employees and for the District of Columbia. In practice, however, states almost always follow the federal lead. FROM ARMISTICE DAY TO VETERANS DAY American effort during World War II (1941-1945) saw the greatest mobilization of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force in the nation’s history (more than 16 million people); some 5.7 million more served in the Korean War (1950 to 1953). In 1954, after lobbying efforts by veterans’ service organizations, the 83rd U.S. Congress amended the 1938 act that had made Armistice Day a holiday, striking the word “Armistice” in favor of “Veterans.” President Dwight D. Eisenhowersigned the legislation on June 1, 1954. From then on, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. The next development in the story of Veterans Day unfolded in 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which sought to ensure three-day weekends for federal employees–and encourage tourism and travel–by celebrating four national holidays (Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day) on Mondays. The observation of Veterans Day was set as the fourth Monday in October. The first Veterans Day under the new law was Monday, October 25, 1971; confusion ensued, as many states disapproved of this change, and continued to observe the holiday on its original date. In 1975, after it became evident that the actual date of Veterans Day carried historical and patriotic significance to many Americans, President Gerald R. Ford signed a new law returning the observation of Veterans Day to November 11th beginning in 1978. If November 11 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the federal government observes the holiday on the previous Friday or following Monday, respectively. CELEBRATING VETERANS DAY AROUND THE WORLD Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate the veterans of World Wars I and II on or near November 11th: Canada has Remembrance Day, while Britain has Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday of November). In Europe, Britain and the Commonwealth countries it is common to observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. every November 11. In the United States, an official wreath-laying ceremony is held each Veterans Day at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, while parades and other celebrations are held in states around the country. Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day–a common misunderstanding, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Memorial Day (the fourth Monday in May) honors American servicemembers who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle, while Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans–living or dead–but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.  Even though the deadline for submissions has passed, this new initiative from SUNDANCE means we have some awesome new talent to watch out for in 2016. See the Press Release below: Sundance Institute Announces New, MultiYear Initiative to Support Theatre Artists from Middle East/North Africa Theatre Lab for U.S. and MENA Artists to Take Place in Morocco, May 2016, and TheatreMakers Residency at the Sundance Resort in Utah, June 2016; Submissions Accepted Through October 15 at sundance.org/theatre Institute’s Existing Programs for MENA Artists Include Documentary and Feature Film Creative and Financial Support through Labs, Workshops and Collaborations New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced a significant expansion of its international cultural exchange programs for independent artists with a new, multiyear initiative to support theatremakers from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). With the goal of creating new opportunities for crosscultural connectedness and indepth mutual artistic reflection and exploration, the Institute will expand its existing international Labs to include a pilot Theatre Labin MENA, to take place in May 2016. Theatre artists in the U.S. and from MENA can submit their work for consideration for this Lab as well as a new TheatreMakers Residencyat the Sundance Resort in Utah in summer 2016 through October 15 at sundance.org/theatre in a new application process. Application guidelines are also available in Arabic and French. Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “We believe stories have the power to impact our culture and build a more engaged society. With a spirit of experimentation and exchange at the core of our work, we hope our support for artists in the Middle East and North Africa will help the most interesting voices reach a global audience.” Under the supervision of Sundance Institute Theatre Program Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma and led by Middle East/North Africa Manager Jumana AlYasiri, the Theatre Lab in MENA will replace the annual Theatre Lab in Utah in 2016, which over the past three decades has provided critical support and development to theatre works including the two most recent Tony Award winners for Best Musical, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori’s Fun Home and Robert L. Freedman & Steven Lutvak’s A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, as well as titles such as ToasT, Appropriate, Circle Mirror Transformation, An Iliad, The Lily's Revenge, The Good Negro, The Light in the Piazza, Passing Strange, Stuck Elevator, Spring Awakening, Laramie Project and I Am My Own Wife. Up to eight projects by theatremakers (with equal representation from both the U.S. and Arabicspeaking countries) will be selected to participate in the Lab, taking place at the Fellah Hotel, in collaboration with Dar alMa'mûn. The Institute will provide transportation, rehearsal space, dramaturgical support, and an acting company, creating an immersive environment where artists can experiment and see their work take shape. The Lab culminates in a closed presentation of each project for Lab participants, followed by a productive feedback session. For the Lab, the Institute will collaborate with Fellah Hotel, Dar alMa'mûn, Sahara Experiences and the Morocco National Tourist Office. In keeping with our look at the global rise of initiatives supporting the education of girls in the world of technology and science, sometimes we need to swing our vision over to macro-economic themes such as population statistics. Embedded in these statistics are realities that can be otherwise hidden, or difficult to tease out.
As the poet Maya Angelou put it: "I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass." Today I am sharing an in depth article that aired on NPR, contributed by John Poole, tackling the tough questions that surround China's one-child policy, (recently ended), and the trend in India for families to abort girl children. Re-printed from: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/10/20/448407788/where-the-girls-are-and-aren-t-15girls The world's girls are healthier than ever. They live longer and more of them are going to school than at any time in history. This story is part of our #15Girls series, profiling teens around the world. But most of them face discrimination simply because they are girls. The discrimination happens at every point in their lives. In some cases, it starts even before they're born, when parents decide to abort a pregnancy if the fetus is female. A good way to get a sense of the progress — and the remaining gaps — in worldwide gender equality is by looking at the data. Numbers can tell a compelling story. The story we're going to tell focuses on girls ages 10 to 19, an age range used by the World Bank and other groups to track populations. Worldwide, about 600 million girls fall into this age range. Nearly half of them live in just seven countries. Those countries are the focus of our story. You might expect that there would be an even number of boys and girls in this age group in these seven countries. But you'd be wrong. The Missing Girls Consider the girls who were never born. On average, about 105 boys are born worldwide for every 100 girls. Girls tend to make up for this difference over time because of their greater resilience and resistance to disease. But if you look at the two biggest countries in the top seven, you'll find a very different picture. Based on 2010 numbers from the United Nations Population Fund, China is "missing" about 24 million girls between the ages of 0 and 19. That's over 14 percent of the female population in that age range. Since the late 1970s, China has had a one child per family policy. Many families want that child to be a son. The increasing availability of prenatal ultrasounds and blood tests for gender makes it possible for parents to abort a female fetus if they want. The uneven ratio of boys to girls born in China suggests this is happening. [Editor's note: Since this post was originally published, China has announced that it will halt its one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children.] A similar dynamic is at play in India, and preliminary data suggest that as access to prenatal gender tests increases there, fewer girls are being born. India's percentage of girls missing at birth is lower than China's at 5.6 percent of the female population between 0 and 19. But because India's population is so large, India is missing 13 million girls out of its under-20-year-old female population. Adding up the unborn girls, there are currently about 37 million fewer 0- to 19-year-old girls in India and China than the world average ratio would predict. To put that number in perspective, that's about 2 million more than the entire population of Canada. China and India aren't the only countries that show this trend. They are just the largest. Why Some Parents Prefer BoysIn India and China, the birth of a son is cause for celebration. The family has gained a future asset: a child who can earn money for his parents and support them when they are old. That's not the case for girls. "It's more expensive for a family to have girls than boys," says Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. A boy has greater earning potential in these societies because there is a stigma against women working outside the home. And in India, when a daughter gets married, her family usually makes a generous donation of money and gifts to the groom's family. So a daughter is seen as a drain on the family's resources. There's an Indian saying: Raising a daughter is like "watering someone else's garden." In other words, the benefits of raising a daughter will be reaped by the family the daughter marries into, not her own family. In India, a girl is also more likely than a boy to die before she turns 5; that's the only country in the world where that's true. It's mostly to do with neglect. Biologically, girls have an advantage in the first few years of life. But in India, where the majority of people don't earn much more than $2.40 a day, scarce resources can mean a boy gets extra food and medical attention while his sister doesn't. A girl who dies from neglect probably wouldn't create much of a stir among people in a small village in India, who understand the preference for boys, says Valerie Hudson, a professor in the Department of International Affairs at Texas A&M University who studies India's gender imbalance. "No one raises it as a public issue within the community, so while it's not secret, it isn't commented upon." What Happens At 15? Turning 15 is an important milestone in many societies. Think of quinceañera in Latin American countries — the celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, marking the end of childhood and the beginning of womanhood. In India, 15 is the age where a young bride traditionally goes to live with her husband. (Child marriage is illegal, but still widely practiced, according to researchers.) This recognition of the age 15 as a milestone is biologically based. Researchers think that most of the world's girls have had their first periods by age 15 and are able to get pregnant. But it's difficult to get a good snapshot of what's happening with girls around the age of puberty — not much information has been collected. This is a problem, says Marni Sommer of Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. "There's this assumption that [the age of menarche] is a nonissue since getting a period isn't a deadly thing, but we've found that many girls have never had conversations about periods, and it is a significant issue. Maybe they keep it a secret or are ashamed. This is a relevant issue for girls' health and well-being, for their confidence." Moving Into Adulthood: The Education Gap Some good news: The education gap is narrowing. Most school-age girls in our seven countries have attended some form of primary education. And those entering school now are projected to stay in school for more years than past generations, catching up with boys in many places. Pakistan still has a gap of about a year for the time boys and girls stay in school. But in the past 15 years, it has made the largest jump of these seven countries in closing the literacy gap, according to the World Bank. Almost 65 percent of young women are now literate in Pakistan compared with 43 percent in 2000. In India, 82 percent of young women are literate — that's up 14 percentage points from 2000. At the other extreme, Indonesia has made little to no progress in terms of girls' literacy in the past 15 years, and Nigeria's young women are now slightly less likely to be literate than they were 15 years ago. During this same 15 years, Nigeria's economy grew by almost 90 percent and Indonesia's by 120 percent, according to the World Bank. Marriage And Babies Early marriage (often forced) along with early pregnancies are two of the biggest barriers to girls getting more education. Almost 30 percent of girls in India are married before they turn 19, and marriage often means that the girl leaves school to live with her husband or because she becomes pregnant. Working Hard But Not For Much Money In countries with high rates of early marriage, the lives of girls and women are also held back by underlying social and cultural beliefs. The World Values Survey, compiled by a global network of social scientists, tries to quantify these attitudes. The most recent version was conducted in 60 countries between 2010 and 2014. People don't always act in line with their stated values and beliefs, but with that caveat, the World Values Survey gives a glimpse of the thoughts and attitudes that shape popular opinion — and action — around the world. One question in the survey asks people whether they agree with this statement: "A university education is more important for a boy than for a girl." A large proportion of people in our seven countries agreed that higher education is more important for boys. A possible reason for this bias could be that women make up less of the paid labor force in nearly every country in the world. In countries where the bias is strongest, there is an expectation that women do not work outside the home. Washing clothes, cooking, cleaning and taking care of children are hard work but often not paid work. The World Values Survey then asks participants whether they agree with this statement: "When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women." In Pakistan, 73 percent agreed. In India, where one-fifth of the world's adolescent girls live, more than half agreed. Women In PowerIn all seven of the countries we examined, there's an attitude that women don't make good leaders. For instance, when it comes to a man versus a woman holding a political office, the gender bias increases dramatically, even in the United States. The World Values Survey asks respondents if they agree with this statement: "On the whole, men make better political leaders than women do." Even in the United States, around 18 percent of people agreed. The actual percentages of women serving in a parliament or a congress in these countries reflect this feeling. Not a single one of our seven countries has even come close to gender parity in national political representation. It's interesting that the U.S., in many respects a relatively progressive country when it comes to gender, has a lower percentage of women in Congress than both China and Pakistan do in their national assemblies. Why do China and Pakistan do so well in this area? Both countries have passed laws that mandate minimum female representation quotas. The relatively high percentage of women in Pakistan's National Assembly is due to a law that requires 17 percent of its seats to be occupied by women. Also notable in Pakistan is that these women are not directly elected. Their seats are allocated by the winning political parties. Girls And The Big Picture All told, the state of 10- to 19-year-old girls in our survey of seven countries isn't great. They have to overcome the odds at nearly every stage of life just to stay on par with their male peers. But if we put things in a historical perspective, we can see progress. Compared with the year 1960, general health as measured by average life expectancy for women has improved in all seven of our countries. India and China's girls have much longer lives to look forward to now. And in all these countries, and actually in nearly every country in the world both then and now, women live longer than men. The quality of their lives is harder to measure. But looking at the United Nations Gender Inequality Index, a general measure of girls' and women's well-being, the trend over the past 10 years looks promising. Maybe one day in the not too distant future, the numbers will tell a different story. And if and when they do, it will be due in large part to the efforts of women and girls. As the poet Maya Angelou put it: "I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass."  Probably by far the most defining live action studio of our age, LucasFilm is located in glorious Northern California on the Presidio campus in San Francisco.
This creative and technical powerhouse employs hundreds of filmmakers in a wide variety of positions. The sound and post-production facility, Skywalker Sound, mixes the highest number of feature films in the country, and boasts a' school, organic farm and guest houses for friends and relatives when mixes go late into the night. The foley and sound stages and premiere screening rooms are deluxe. With an animation team located in Singapore, the company continues to push the genre of animation and FX into new global and creative territory. Film, games, effects, you name it, Landing a job at LucasFilm, LucasArts or Skywalker Sound is a lifetime achievement for many. With a long and rich history too deep to post here, let's just get right to the jobs page. May the force.... well, you know.... Job Title Company Country City Director, Engineering-ADGILMxLAB U.S. San Francisco 3D & Sound Asset AdministratorLucasfilm U.S. San Francisco CompositorIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco Creative ExecutiveLucasfilm U.S. San Francisco Creative ExecutiveLucasfilm Animation U.S. Los Angeles Creature ModelerIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco Creature ModelerIndustrial Light & Magic UK United Kingdom London Creature Technical DirectorIndustrial Light & Magic Singapore Singapore Singapore Facilities AssistantSkywalker Sound U.S. San Rafael FX Technical DirectorIndustrial Light & Magic Singapore Singapore Singapore HR AdvisorIndustrial Light & Magic UK United Kingdom London ILM SINGAPORE RecruiterIndustrial Light & Magic Singapore Singapore Singapore ILM UK Technology Support SpecialistIndustrial Light & Magic UK United Kingdom London Manager, Animation & Digital AssetsLucasfilm U.S. San Francisco Photo EditorLucasfilm U.S. San Francisco Previz ArtistIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco Principal Rendering Engineer - ADGILMxLAB U.S. San Francisco Production CoordinatorLucasfilm U.S. San Francisco Production Coordinator (Business Affairs)Lucasfilm U.S. San Francisco Recruiting CoordinatorLucasfilm Entertainment Company U.S. San Francisco Senior AnimatorIndustrial Light & Magic Singapore Singapore Singapore Senior Concept Artist - ILM LondonIndustrial Light & Magic UK United Kingdom London Senior Crowd TDIndustrial Light & Magic Singapore Singapore Singapore Senior FX Technical DirectorIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco Senior GeneralistIndustrial Light & Magic Singapore Singapore Singapore Senior Rendering Engineer-ADGILMxLAB U.S. San Francisco Senior Software Engineer-ADGILMxLAB U.S. San Francisco Senior Texture ArtistIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco Shipping & Receiving ClerkLucasfilm U.S. San Francisco Technical Assistant, Level II Technical PublicistIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco Texturing SupervisorIndustrial Light & Magic Singapore Singapore Singapore VANCOUVER 3D Generalist SupervisorIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Animation AssistantIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER AnimatorIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Creature TDIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Lighting Technical DirectorIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Matchmove / Layout ArtistIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Pipeline Technical Director - Level 1Industrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Recruiting CoordinatorIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Senior CompositorIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER Senior FX Technical DirectorIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VANCOUVER VFX SupervisorIndustrial Light & Magic Vancouver Canada Vancouver VFX ProducerIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco Virtual Production Stage TechnicianIndustrial Light & Magic U.S. San Francisco VP DevelopmentLucasfilm U.S. San Francisco |
Julie M McDonaldArchives
October 2022
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