Ashoka, International Emmys & Sundance
(1) Thanks Tracy for previously posting about our game (RePlay: Finding Zoe) winning the Ashoka Changemakers & The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation game contest Why Games Matter: A Prescription for Improving Health and Health Care. It was selected as one of three winners this past November 8th from 74 entries representing 13 countries - winning was pretty unbelievable. The game is in version 1.2 and there may possibly be further enhancement and optimization in the near future.
(2) We presented the game at last month's International Emmys (IEMMY) in NYC - as part of a panel entitled "Telling Stories, Changing Minds". The panel participants included Jim Baker, Director of USC's IMSC, Yoko Sekita from FX Palo Alto Lab, Matt Bieber from Mobile Commons, and Dr. Subhi Quraishi from ZMQ Software Systems. The panel's speakers were given the challenge by the IEMMYs to propose ways in which an existing TV serial drama dealing with issues of domestic abuse (in a fictionalized developing country named "Borania") may be merged with other media platforms in order to enhance impact. Our project fit very well indeed, as it is an online game dealing with abusive relationships and gender stereotyping - and it was a great experience to think of how that it could merge with traditional broadcasting, as well as to work with the other panelists in order to conceive of ways in which all our efforts could somehow traverse.
(3) Also, I'll be speaking at this year's Sundance Film Festival - as part of a New Frontier On Main panel, entitled "Alternative Storytelling for New Digital Media Platforms -- How do you tell good stories in a world where your computer is a television, your cell phone is a movie screen, and your avatar addresses a global virtual audience?" I am very excited and my head swirls with the many number of things I would love to convey at this critical venue... suggestions welcome of course!
