Category Archives: Digital Content

Behind the Scenes, Commercials, Digital Content, international Talent, Interviews & Features!, Production Company, Production Design, Reviews, Interviews & Features!, VFX Artist, Visual Effects

Staying Ahead of the Curve in an Ever Changing Industry: Meet Video Artist Denis Ogorodov

December 15, 2020 Rhian_Bosco Leave a comment

Denis Ogorodov is arguably one of the most uniquely skilled video artists in the industry today. His ability to create videos that leave viewers feeling a deep connection to a brand has undoubtedly made him shine in the eyes of the advertisers who hire him, but it’s his jack-of-all-trades approach to media production that has ultimately placed him ahead of the curve and made him a creative worth looking to for inspiration.

Last year Denis’s technical skill set and artistic prowess landed him the opportunity to design for the multi-billion dollar streaming giant Twitch from Amazon, an interactive platform where millions of users engage online to dive deeper into gaming, concerts and more.

Known for his vast skill set, Denis has proven himself as a leading editor, vfx artist, colorist and so much more, that’s one of the reasons he’s referred to as a video artist– because there’s no other title that can really do justice to all the things he handles.

For Twitch, which is estimated to be worth an astounding $5 billion, Denis was called in specifically to work as the lead editor on their ‘Twitch January Drop’ digital campaign, which showcased the platform’s numerous features, as well as an impressive line-up of interactive events, programming and content.

The vibe of the campaign was intended to be energetic and fast-paced in order to coincide with the incredible range of things the platform offers

“We wanted this 60 second ad to feel almost overwhelming by showing just how much content there is on Twitch,” he says. “We had to find a song that was very energetic that was able to keep the momentum, but at the same time find a balance, where yes it feels almost overwhelming, but people are still registering what’s going on.”

Official “Twitch January Drop” video

“The campaign was designed to be interactive… So many of the assets had to be built in such a way that they could fit together like building blocks, sometimes changing the order, speed, branding or titles…the main video was designed to function as the kick-off for the event.”

The fact that the campaign was interactive not only made it unique, but also challenging, as it was updated live during each stream. As the lead editor, this is one area where Denis’s technical expertise proved invaluable, as his work helped ensure that the campaign’s design remained consistent across every channel and update.

Not only was Denis responsible for video editing the campaign, as well as working on some of the motion graphics and animation, but he worked with the other designers to build VFX templates that were capable of being updated on the fly.

“He’s very proactive when it comes to finding solutions and is never one to sit around wasting time,” says his ‘Twitch January Drop’ coworker Hondo Logan, who is head of production at Color and Motion.

“He’s also great at working with and coordinating larger teams. When the workload gets split up and everyone has their own job to do, I never have to worry about Denis’s part, I know he’ll always deliver polished work.”

While it’s no surprise that Denis was called in for the project as he is one of the best at what he does, there’s still a little something uniquely special about being tapped to work on the Twitch campaign.

He recalls, “Back in school I was always fascinated by both computers and art, I was always interested in video game development, photography and all that.”

With his long-time interest in video game development the Amazon Twitch job proved to be thoroughly exciting for Denis, but there’s no question that he put in an unfathomable amount of hours developing his craft in order to go from his humble beginnings in Italy to get to where he is in Hollywood today.

Denis’s career really started to kick off back in 2014 when he landed a competitive internship at Reset, an acclaimed production company founded by Oscar Award nominated director David Fincher (“Se7en,” “The Social Network,” “Gone Girl”) and Dave Morrison (“Oblivion,” “Gully”). He got his bearings in the industry at Reset where he was responsible for curating treatments to support their directors’ pitches. That early work had him utilizing a range of software such as Premier, Avid, DaVinci Resolve and Autodesk Flame in order to translate the director’s visions from the early storyboard phase right on through to the final editing stages.

That use of software and being able to translate the director’s vision through the storyboard phase have been integral to his success today. Since his time with Reset, Denis has come to be known as something of an industry “unicorn,” in layman’s terms– someone who’s an expert in an incredible range of areas.

Considering that the commercial and film industries rely heavily on the ever-changing world of technology, having such a broad technical skill set like Denis’s has been an advantage that has kept him ahead of the game.

And when Covid hit he was able to adapt better than most, as his established digital career allowed him to remain on the precipice of change as the entire industry shifted towards working online.

Denis Ogorodov applying his color grading skills behind the scenes

“With technology being the great equalizer, it is more and more possible to achieve professional industry level work from the comfort of your own home, and the current pandemic we are living through has accelerated this process,” he explains.

“Having built a brand of reliability and efficiency has allowed me to work on my own terms before the pandemic, which allowed me to transition to working remotely instead of in-house quite smoothly.”

While the pandemic has proved to be an extremely difficult time for so many, Denis brings a humble and kind-hearted approach in order to support the industry he loves, something that proves him to be the exact kind of creative talent that any media outlet wants to have driving their team.

He says, “I’m happy to say that I’ve been able to get four of my US colleagues work recently, so it’s nice to be able to give back.”

Having collaborated with so many critically acclaimed filmmakers and global production companies, and led numerous companies to success with his work as a video artist, Denis Ogorodov has made a significant mark on an international level– and we can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Art Director, Commercials, Digital Content, international Talent, Interviews & Features!, Motion Graphics Design, Technology

Art Director/Motion Graphics Designer Ilya Tselyutin’s Innovative 3D Revolution

May 19, 2017 pressva Leave a comment

Art Director/Motion Graphics Designer Ilya Tselyutin specializes in a field of media technology so advanced that it almost seems he’s straddling a unique cusp between day to day creative facts and out of this world science fiction. Already recognized as a master in his field—a fast moving discipline that combines graphic design and animation in motion picture title sequences and television commercials—Tselyutin also excels in the exotic field of spatial augmented reality.

“This is also known as projection mapping, video mapping and 3D mapping,” Tselyutin said. “One of the earliest public displays of projections onto 3D objects was Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride back in 1969, but it wasn’t until the early 2000’s, when more advanced tools and software became available, that artists began using projection mapping in artwork.”

“It is a special technology used to display moving objects on various surface as a video projection, so, for instance, an entire building can be turned into a multimedia installation and become a part of a compelling story.”

The California based Tselyutin’s singular palette of skills, both as a creative artist and technical innovator, made him particularly well suited to explore this territory, a long-standing interest which he first he became involved with as a university student back in his native Russia. His fascination with 3D graphics, animation and design coincided with formal training in computer science and provided an ideal confluence for opportunity when the technology first arrived in the country in 2009.

“I was working at Channel One Russia as a broadcast designer,” Tselyutin said. “I was constantly exploring other areas of 3D motion graphics and the ways it can be implemented. And when I heard the Radugadesign agency was looking for 3D professionals to work on something that was quite new and challenging I was eager to try it.”

The Moscow agency was the perfect new professional home for the talented, ambitious Tselyutin, and he quickly distinguished himself in the vital new field. “I saw great potential in this and left my job at the TV channel to focus solely on 3D mapping and augmented reality,” he said. “And 3D mapping technology was unheard of in Russia when we created the first car projection show for Audi in the country.”

Created for the 2011 Audi Car Design Awards the spot featured graphics that changed the colors and tires of a 3D car model and established Tselyutin as a fast-rising 3D sensation (see it here). “I took part in all of the 3D mapping projects while working at Radugadesign,” Tselyutin said. “We worked on commercial projection shows for such clients as Audi, Samsung, some national mobile operators and many others.”

Tselyutin’s dedication and groundbreaking achievements benefitted everyone involved. “Working with Ilya was always a very pleasant experience,” Ivan Nefedkin, Radugadesign founder-CEO, said. “He was one of very few professionals in Russia who completely understood the specifics of 3D augmented reality. There was no really a university degree for what we did, so there were only a few people who could do the job. He always went extra mile to support our team by overtaking the hardest tasks to make sure the project is delivered on time—on the Audi projection show, he would stay up working all night. Ilya played a critical role in establishing Radugadesign as one of the country’s leading media agencies.”

Tselyutin’s professional reputation as an innovator and visionary quickly spread throughout the international media world. “Right after we produced that first car projection show, many agencies in Russia and abroad started implementing the same technology,” Tselyutin said. “I was invited to produce a projection show by the National Institute of Technology Kartanaka, Mangalore, India, who were quite impressed by what we were doing in Russia. I began receiving many offers from all over the world, and decided to move abroad.”

Currently residing in Hollywood, where he serves as Art Director/Motion Graphics Designer at the prestigious Trioka agency, Tselyutin is still breaking new ground, always expanding and elevating his technique. “Working on those challenging projects helped me master a great variety of new skills,” he said. “The most important knowledge I gained was learning how to successfully generate dynamic visual effects on static footage for a completely immersive effect. This proved to be very useful later on in my career,

Taken with an already impressive roster of achievements, the influential Tselyutin’s future potential is limitless.

“Ilya has a unique set of skills,” Nefedkin said. “From the advanced technical knowledge he acquired studying computer programming to his outstanding graphic design skills—he always came up with new creative ideas, challenged himself and the whole team, and pushed the boundaries of what was possible. Our clients loved it. He never ceased to amaze us with his both creative mindset and perfect technical execution.”

Digital Content, international Talent, Music Videos

Animator and designer Cynthia Larenas talks working with eBay and music legend Egyptian Lover

April 14, 2017 pressva Leave a comment

CynthiaLarenas_1 — Designer and Animator Cynthia Larenas

Despite working all around the world, Cynthia Larenas’ upbringing is very important to her. She was born in Quito Ecuador, and moved to Australia at the age of four. Growing up in Adelaide, she still stuck to her Spanish roots and is completely bilingual. Her heritage is something that she wants to keep alive while travelling for her work.

Larenas is a designer and animator, working for large companies and small businesses to create apps, videos, print designs, and much more. Her extreme versatility lends it hands to many mediums, and she has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world, including eBay.

“I wanted to work at eBay because I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn new things, to challenge myself, and experience working at a large company. I wanted to undertake the rebranding projects because I thought it was a fun and exciting opportunity to produce work that would be seen at such a huge scale,” said Larenas.

As only one of two in-house designers for eBay Australia and New Zealand, Larenas’ responsibilities included rebranding Group Deal, Flash Sale and Fashion Gallery creative, and leading the design of eBay’s fashion Gallery brand towards a more Gen Y demographic. She created eDM design and build, was involved in casting, photo and design direction of external agencies, created promotional material for in-house employee engagement campaigns, and did animation work for eBay’s 2013 Christmas Campaign. Her work was featured on the homepage of eBay Australia and New Zealand every day for a year.

“It was great to work at eBay and I got to learn a lot, particularly what is involved to run and maintain the creative on such a big website. It was also fun seeing what you had worked on up on the website and seeing that the hard work you were doing were converting to sales. It’s been the best place where I have been able to get direct results of my creative,” she said.

While working with eBay, Larenas had the ability to measure her work, test mobile placements, pitch ideas, and challenge herself. For the Fashion Gallery rebranding project, the aim was to attract a more Gen Y audience to the gallery. This meant she got to research and create some fun pieces that brought something different to the eBay site, directly contributing to their sales and growth.

“It was really cool to see. I remember I was subscribed to eBay eDMs before I worked there, and shortly after I started, I received an email as I normally did, however this time I saw my work on there being shared out to me. It was a funny and proud moment in my career,” said Larenas.

Larenas’ work continued to impress with the different companies she worked for. While working as an animator with Electric Studios, she helped on campaigns for Bosistos, Old Spice, and Jack Daniels. She also was a Creative Director, Designer, and Animator for Nectar + Co, and Designer at Imano, where she helped shape Ray-Ban’s app “Never Hide” during that time.

“I love that I get to make things look good and have then opportunity to influence the world around me,” said Larenas.

Continuing with this trend, Larenas worked with the American musician, vocalist, producer and DJ, Egyptian Lover. He was an important part of the L.A. dance music and rap scene in the early 1980s. He is widely known as being ‘The King’ of the Roland-TR 808. For the release of his song “Into the Future”, Larenas and Carl Jiorjio were asked to create an animated music video for it. Jiorjio and Larenas have worked together on a few different promotional animations and music videos for artists in the UK and US, but the most notable was for Egyptian Lover last year.

“Cynthia is one of the most dedicated and hardworking individuals I have worked with. For as long as I have known her she has always been working hard on different projects that have been keeping her busy in the creative industry. What I like most about working with Cynthia is her ability to push herself when it comes to a project, often studying to expand her skill set and knowledge for the greater good of the projects she undertakes. I’ve also admired her fearlessness when it comes to design or animation challenges, always pushing to provide creative and powerful solutions. She is motivated by pressure and never turns down a job because it’s too hard. I have witnessed her time and time again take up challenges, learn new programs and techniques that exceed clients’ expectations. Her all-round knowledge and broad range of skills are rare in the design world these days,” said Jiorjio.

“Having worked all around the world has helped her not only to understand different cultures and approaches, but it has also resulted in her applying a professional and easy to work with ethic. I have never seen her become defeated by a job and have recommended her highly throughout my career,” he continued.

Jiorjio served as creative guidance and did the final editing of the clip. As the two of them were fully responsible for the music video, from concepts to storyboards, to animation and final editing, it meant they had complete creative freedom to explore our imaginations as far as they wanted.

“Working on the Egyptian Lover video was rewarding, challenging, fun and one of my favorite projects to date,” said Larenas. “I love collaborating with musicians or other artists because I get to work with really talented creative people that push me to do better.”

Her tasks involved art direction, storyboarding, compositing, 2D and 3D animation and illustration. Although the video was released only a couple of months ago, it has received an extremely positive response. It already has over 8,500 hits on YouTube and was shown on LA television station Link TV which reaches 33.7 million US homes and 6.7 million regular viewers. None of this could have been possible without Larenas’ dedication to the project.

“Making this clip for Egyptian Lover was also humbling as he is a pioneer in electronic music, with thousands of adoring fans across the world,” said Larenas. “Although it was a massive task, that spanned over a year, it was extremely rewarding when it was finished.”

Larenas’ extraordinary talent is evident to all those that saw the Egyptian Lover music video, and all of her other work. With such innate talent, there is no doubt as to why she is so respected in the industry, and considered one of the best at what she does.

Digital Content, Reviews, Interviews & Features!

Larissa Giampaoli takes advantage of changing music industry

October 25, 2016 pressva Leave a comment

It takes a lot of people to create a great album. When you are driving in the car with the windows down, listening to a favorite song, it isn’t just the voice of the lead singer, the sticks of the drummer, or the guitar solo that gets your head moving. Larissa Giampaoli knows this better than most, as she has been involved in the music industry since the age of 16, and now has a successful career as a creative producer for many of her favorite rock bands.

Growing up in the culturally rich city of São Paulo, Brazil, Giampaoli moved to Los Angeles and graduated in Music Business from the University of California. She was then hired as a day-to-day manager at one of the most prestigious boutique management firms in the metal music industry, and has since then been working to improve the careers of household Grammy award winners while applying her most creative ideas and business skills into helping to develop the new idols of tomorrow.

“Being able to work with my passion is priceless. Music has got me where I am today, and it is the reason why I am away from home. It’s an absolute privilege to be working with so many talented individuals,” she said.

Giampaoli has not only adapted, but she has also taken advantage of the changing industry. Technology has been changing the music business. It is no longer what we all used to know.

“From 1999 to 2016, album sales would drop every year. Although Napster had a short life, it revolutionized the way we share and listen to songs forever. Now we have many different ways to consume music, from YouTube to subscription services like Apple Music and Spotify,” said Giampaoli.

This revolution in the industry is why the role of creative producer has become so pivotal for the success of artists and bands. Social media allows fans to connect to their favorite musicians like never before. Getting a tweet back from an artist makes someone’s entire year. Giampaoli manages new media, day-to-day operations for the band, and runs tours.

“I am able to combine the artists vision with management goals in a global perspective,” she said.

Giampaoli’s ambition has always been her greatest asset. While growing up in Brazil, she put herself ahead of the crowd by learning to be completely fluent in the English language. This allowed her to network with bands touring in Brazil, by having an English speaking guide to help them navigate. At 18, she realized the potential this had, and opened her first business, an online store that brought to Brazil the latest American fashion trends. Even at a young age, she knew the importance of the internet.

“I have a love for music and business,” she said. “My goal is to keep working with bands I believe in, and help push their careers to the next level.”

Giampaoli has already begun not only achieving, but far surpassing this goal. She has worked with bands such as Slayer, Mastodon, Gojira, Ghost, Bjork, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, The Used, Story of the Year, Funeral For a Friend, and many others. She also worked with the band We Came as Romans with the band’s former manager Adam Mott.

“Larissa is a forward thinking person, that helped me tremendously with the band’s social media content, marketing for their records and overall big picture thinking. She was always prompt with her answers and a true asset to everything I do with the Rick Sales Entertainment Group,” said Mott. “Larissa is a great asset to our team and she always shares her opinion on every issue and it helps me think outside of the box on trying to grow our bands to the next level. I think she is a valuable asset for our company and any organization to help grow/market their artist.”

“The We Came as Romans self-titled album has sold fifty thousand copies as of July 2016, a massive testament to the incredible efforts Larissa has made in reaching our fans, and was praised by numerous high profile music publications including Alternative Press, Rolling Stone Magazine, and Outburn Magazine, to name a few. I am sure that we would not have celebrated the same overwhelming response following the release of the album had Larissa not helmed these crucial responsibilities as the leading creative producer,” Mott continued.

Despite already achieving international success, Giampaoli keeps looking ahead.

“Personally, I am very excited about the years to come,” she concluded. “I grew up in this new world, and I foresee a bright future.”

Art Director, Artist, Digital Content, Illustration, international Talent, Motion Graphics Design

POETRY IN MOTION Animator Angela Yu’s Compelling Vision

May 17, 2016 pressva Leave a comment

Angela_Yu_credit_courtesy_Angela_Yu — Animator Angela Yu: “I love telling stories carrying a message that matters to people.” (photo courtesy of Angela Yu).

With a dazzling visual style, an acute eye for design and a keen ability to overcome unexpected challenges, animator-art director Angela Yu’s boundless technical capacity and artistic creativity are remarkable. Moreover, she has an innate knack for approaching projects with a transformative originality that frequently redefines and improves upon the initially proposed concept.

Yu’s spent her entire life preparing for this, going all the way back to her childhood in Bejing, China. Yu became fascinated by comics, anime and manga books at an early age, covertly defying her parents’ strict bedtime rule to read them by flashlight under her blanket. “I always loved to draw and became obsessed with beautiful things and I wanted to know how to create things like that,” Yu said. “Manga books were my earliest inspiration for drawing—I’d doodle the characters all over my text books. I also loved watching animation, especially Japanese anime—“Dragon Ball” and “Sailor Moon.” I still watch anime these days, such as “One Piece.”

“I grew up in a very traditional family in China, and though I dreamed of being a Manga artist or animator as a kid, I never thought I’d have a chance to do it in reality—because for all my life I had made decisions based on whether or not they would impress my parents,” Yu said. “But when I was 22, I came to America and was studying at Michigan State University, just as my parents planned. This gave me a chance to view my culture from a distance, with a different perspective, and it gave me the space to think independently and the courage to pursue what I really wanted for my own life.”

Once that decision was made, Yu, with an MA in advertising from MSU, did not hesitate. “I studied Motion Graphic Design at the Ex’pression College for Digital Arts. Since I graduated, I’ve worked at studios and agencies such as Goodby Silverstein and Partners, Oddfellows, First person. And I worked on projects for clients like Google, Yahoo, Cisco, Comcase, NBA, Motorola, GE, Adobe.”

“I love telling stories carrying a message that matters to people. It needs to be meaningful. It can be either an artistic short film or a commercial project. As long as I feel what I am creating has a purpose, I find it fulfilling,” Yu said. “It’s all about how strongly I believe in the message I work on, even on a branding video for a digital product. If I believe the message in the video will make a difference to the brand, to people who work for the brand, then I enjoy what I am doing.”

Once Yu brings her talent to bear, the results are impressive. The ability to enhance and elevate has been a hallmark of her career; if Yu is brought in to consult, she’ll envision something that takes the entire project to a higher level; when Yu finishes a task, it often assumes a life of its own, garnering more notice and appreciation than anyone expected, whether a promotional film or a rock music video.

As Dorry Levine, Digital Media Strategist at ReThink Media, describes her: “Angela was easy to work with, very accessible, met every deadline, was flexible with our ever-changing requests, and turned out a phenomenal project that people are still talking about. The video she animated for us was even covered by the New York Times. I’d work with her again in a heartbeat!”

Yu’s artistic vision is a marvel in its own right. Her gorgeous animated short, “This is California,” is a perfect example of the animator’s rich aesthetic. With stunning visual design and flawless animation, it depicts some of the Golden State’s most iconic spots in an arresting, irresistible form that earned Yu the Best Animation award for 2015 at the IndieFEST Film Festival.

Yu’s already impressive roster of successful jobs with some of the world’s biggest companies underscores both her illimitable potential and singular gift for expanding the parameters of any design or animation undertaking. “Angela is the type of person that makes the seasoned artist step up their game, while also reminding everyone what that fire looked like when they first started,” said Mike Landry, Creative Director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Most importantly, Yu loves what she does: “I see animation as music written in pixels. I don’t play music very well, but I am fortunate to find animation as the medium to express my creativity,” Yu said. “To this day today, I still enjoy spending the whole afternoon nerding out a motion curve in the graphic editor. It is a very ‘zen’ feeling. I enjoy my craft, and I never stop creating original content. I want to keep developing myself as a better animator and designer.”

Digital Content, Human Rights, Reviews, Interviews & Features!, Technology

Ishita Srivastava Uses Humour to Help Audiences Connect on Polarizing Topics

May 10, 2016 lgreenbaulm Leave a comment

As a population we are bombarded with an influx of content and information on a daily basis, so much so that it becomes challenging to sift through the over saturated media and find stories that really matter. Regardless of whether someone wants to spread a message about an upcoming event, groundbreaking discovery, or just wants to make a YouTube video with the possibility of going viral, knowing how to produce the message in a way that will reach the most diverse audience and actually have an impact is the most fundamental building block; and, digital content producer Ishita Srivastava knows exactly how to do that.

Some of the projects she has spearheaded and produced digital content for include the “Deport the Statue” campaign that reached over 20 million people in 2013, and the “Be That Guy” campaign, which aired on the Jumbotron at the NASCAR Miami Speedway Championship in 2013 as well as every other NASCAR race across the nation over the course of 2013 and 2014.

What is even more impressive than the reach and effectiveness of the digital content Srivastava has produced to date is the fact that she uses her brilliant skill to create work that spreads awareness and mobilizes people to take a stand against injustice. The issues she focuses on in her work, such as immigration reform, violence against women and racial injustice, notoriously elicit a wide spectrum of opinions. Naturally, you are probably wondering how Srivastava has managed to create content that diverse audiences with clashing beliefs can connect with when it comes to polarizing human rights issues; and the answer is– humour!

As the Producer and Deputy Director of the U.S. branch of Breakthrough, a global human rights organization that she has worked with for the last six years, Srivastava has continually used humour and storytelling as a tool to magically transform issues like gender equality, immigration and race into topics we can come together and see as “human” issues that affect us all.

For the first video of the “Be That Guy” campaign, Srivastava was charged with the hefty task of creating content that would inspire audiences at NASCAR races across the U.S. (an event that notoriously draws a large group of beer drinking race fans, most of whom are men) to stand up against sexual harassment and violence towards women when they see it happening.

Instead of creating a PSA that vilified men (which would immediately turn off a vast majority of the audience), Srivastava created an animated short film that portrayed the sexual harasser in the video as someone we all probably know or have met in our personal lives. The video in no way tried to make us hate him, instead it made us feel a bit sorry for his ignorance, and called on audiences step up and intervene, letting him know “hands are for beer and high fives, to imply, “hey man, that’s not right.”

Over the years, Srivastava, who has directed and produced countless films including the powerful documentaries “Desigirls,” “Inside- Out: Expressions of Gender and Sexuality,” “Checkpoint Nation” and “Mansimran,” has proven herself to be a master storyteller. So, it’s not surprising that when she was asked to transform the initial NASCAR-fan targeted “Be That Guy” video into a video that would effectively spread the message to audiences at a Green Bay Packers’ tailgate party, she was up to the challenge. Set in an animated version of the Packers’ beloved Lambeau field, the video portrays a crude fan in the stands shaking a hot dog as he makes lewd sexual innuendos at the stadium waitress.

The overall message of these videos is that if an action promotes violence or sexual harassment against women, regardless of how small an act it is, then it is up to us to take a stand and let others know that it’s unacceptable.

About creating the “Be That Guy” campaign and producing videos that would make an impression on these audiences, Srivastava explains, “they were great challenge because they were totally outside of my comfort zone in every possible way.”

While using humour appears to be a seemingly simple approach that helps those with opposing views see eye to eye over issues that under normal circumstances are known to cause arguments, there are few other digital content producers, and even fewer human rights activists, who have been as effective as Srivastava in transforming the way we see many of these polarizing topics.

One of Ishita Srivastava’s most recent projects for Breakthrough is THE G WORD, a global storytelling platform that is transforming our perception of gender norms by inviting people to submit their personal stories and experiences with the subject. After launching in December, the platform has received hundreds of powerful story submissions from people of all ages all over the world, many of them are available on The G Word website: http://us.breakthrough.tv/thegword/

In an interview with Sue Ding for Docubase, Srivastava explained, “We invited people, not just women but everybody, to share their story with the invitation that we all have a gender story. They range from everyday experiences of norms to really dramatic stories of discrimination and violence.”

THE G WORD brings together a collection of stories that span a wide range of subtopics such as consent, masculinity, dating violence, the women’s movement, greek life and many others, all of which are connected through the issue of gender. Besides giving people all over the world a platform to share their stories, THE G WORD has made it apparent that many issues that we might not think of as being gender related, actually are. The Chore Challenge, one of the many story categories Srivastava created for The G Word, asks audiences to contemplate what household chores they have taken on and whether they are rooted in gender roles. Simple examples such as young girls being taught to do the laundry, whereas their brothers are tasked with such things as fixing things around the house or mowing the lawn show how gender norms have been woven into the fabric of each and every one of our lives; and that these issues connects us all, whether we realize it or not.

“THE G WORD has been a dream project for me—it is characterized by all the things that I love, the things that get me to work in the morning, Some of the stories we get can be hard to read, but they’re honest and nuanced, and work so well to inspire empathy and make complex and intersectional issues relatable.”

THE G WORD platform and the impressive collection of ‘videos for change’ that Srivastava has produced to date have not only been astonishingly effective in spreading messages about globally relevant issues, but her unique and thoughtful approach to digital content has made it possible for her work to break through the cultural and perceptual barriers that separate us, in turn providing us with a common ground where we can stand together.