Lear Center

Bouman Wins 2010 Rogers Award in Entertainment Education

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:52:27 -0800

Dr. Martine Bouman, director of the Center Media & Health in the Netherlands, has been named the 2010 recipient of the Everett M. Rogers Award for Achievement in Entertainment Education. The first woman to receive this prestigious award, Dr. Bouman will discuss her work on Wednesday, September 22, at a special noon lunch colloquium at the USC Annenberg School. That evening, she will be recognized as the sixth recipient of the Rogers award at the Writers Guild of America, West. Download the press release.

hitRECord.org

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:50:36 -0800

Scott McGibbon Scott McGibbon is Project Specialist at the Norman Lear Center. On my recent L.A.-bound vacation, I took the time to check out a Web site I'd had my eye on for months: hitRECord.org , a supremely cool, online collaborative media-making venture started by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It seems to have reached a happy and coherent critical mass lately (I was a bit confused when I first stumbled upon it), most deliciously expressed in a whimsical live action/animated short, Morgan & Destiny's Eleventeenth Date "The Zeppelin Zoo." Aside from the Lewis Carrollish narration and visual razzle-dazzle, what's so remarkable about this film? The credits. Wait for them, because you'll discover that there were 306 online collaborators (58 musicians, 54 actors, 95 visual artists, 95 animal creators and 4 digital engineers) who contributed ideas, music and images and then helped re-shape and remix the film into its finished state.

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:43:57 -0800

Don't fling your slower-than-ever iPhone 3G out the window just yet: A French company has invented paper board games and folding books that magically use an iPhone as an interactive playing piece or game board. more>> more>>

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:39:54 -0800

Can video games help save lives? The trapped Chilean miners just got Sony PSPs to distract them from their reality and keep their spirits up while they wait four months to be rescued. more>>

2010 Sentinel for Health Awards Finalists

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:20:25 -0800

The Lear Center's Hollywood, Health & Society program announced nine finalists for this year's Sentinel for Health Awards, which will be presented in a ceremony followed by a panel discussion with the writers on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at the Writers Guild of America, West, in Los Angeles. In its eleventh year, the Sentinel for Health Awards recognizes exemplary achievements of television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives. Five categories of storylines will be recognized - primetime drama, primetime drama minor storyline, children's programming, telenovela, and global health storyline. The 2010 Finalists are: Primetime Drama • Army Wives (Lifetime): "Claudia Joy's Diabetes" (diabetes); Written by Karen Maser, Rebecca Dameron, T.D. Mitchell, Elizabeth Jacobs • Grey's Anatomy (ABC): "How Insensitive" (obesity and patient sensitivity); Written by Bill Harper • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC): "Hammered" (alcohol abuse); Written by Dawn DeNoon Primetime Minor Storyline • Private Practice (ABC): "Triangles" (schizophrenia); Written by Steve Blackman Children's Programming • Sesame Workshop (PBS Primetime Special): "Families Stand Together" (financial stress); Written by Chrissy Ferraro • Sesame Workshop (PBS Primetime Special): "When Families Grieve" (grief & bereavement); Written by Chrissy Ferraro Telenovela • El Cartel 2 (Caracol TV): "Larissa's Baby" (folic acid and healthy pregnancy); Written by Jorg Hiller • Perro Amor (Telemundo): "To Give Folic Acid Is To Love You" (folic acid and healthy pregnancy); Written by Roberto Stopello and Juana Uribe Global Health Storyline • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC): "Witness" (rape in the Congo); Written by Dawn DeNoon and Christine M. Torres

HH&S News: Zoanne Clack Presents "Truth In Storytelling" at CDC

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:39:30 -0800

In mid-August, members of the Lear Center's Hollywood, Health & Society program presented four panels at the National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media at the CDC in Atlanta. As part of their team, they brought Zoanne Clack, MPH, MD, writer/producer on Grey's Anatomy, whose succinct presentation "Truth in Storytelling" proved to be one of the most popular. Click on the PowerPoint image above to advance through her presentation. For a larger version, visit the HH&S program page.

HOT PRESS: New Publications

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:02:42 -0800

Lessons from Fashion's Free Culture Lear Center deputy director Johanna Blakley delivered this witty and incisive talk at this year's TEDxUSC. A Conversation with Shepard Fairey BrandSpace's Sarah Banet-Weiser talks with guerrilla artist Shepard Fairey about art, politics and his take on free culture in this engaging Visions & Voices event.

Marty Kaplan at Berlin MINTiff Conference

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:41:33 -0800

Marty Kaplan will present the talk "Hollywood, Health & Society: The Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California" September 7 at the MINTiff "Don't Think It's Only Entertainment..." Conference in Berlin. The MINTiif (Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Science, Technology and Equal Opportunities in TV Drama Formats) project is funded by the German Federal Education Ministry and the European Social Fund to explore the lack of role models for women on TV in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Also speaking at the conference is Martine Bouman, this year's recipient of the Everett M. Rogers Award for Achievement in Education Entertainment.

Raymond Roker named 2010-11 Popular Music Project Distinguished Resident

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:54:33 -0800

The Popular Music Project is proud to announce Raymond Roker, Co-Founder and Publisher of URB magazine and URB.com, as its 2010-2011 Distinguished Resident. Through web, print and events, URB connects with progressive urban explorers and passionate music aficionados worldwide. While in residence, he will lead a student workshop exploring new avenues and applications that mix music, media and technology. On Thursday, October 7, 2010, at 7 p.m., the Popular Music Project will host an introductory presentation by Roker about his work and the challenges and promises of the new media landscape. The discussion will take place at USC Annenberg's Geoffrey Cowan Forum (Room 207). Read the press release.

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:50:22 -0800

Blogging & Tweeting. Egypt becomes a model for how social media can spur social change in the Middle East. From NPR. more >>

The fashion copyright debate

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:39:15 -0800

As the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act makes its way through Congress, Lear Center Deputy Director Johanna Blakley weighs in on its merits and how it will hurt creativity, innovation and ultimately the fashion industry. Her article was published on the Web site Design Observer. Read her article here.

Why Me? A Visions & Voices Event

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:30:21 -0800

Joe Saltzman, director of the Lear Center's IJPC project, will screen his landmark 1974 documentary on breast cancer Why Me? as part of a special USC Visions & Voices event. This award-winning documentary addressed a subject not seen before that time on television; it was viewed by one out of every three women in the Western world, and it has been credited with saving thousands of lives. The event takes place Thursday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Annenberg Auditorium. For more information, visit the USC Visions & Voices Website.

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:47:01 -0800

A group of scientists found the perfect place to study and think about how heavy use of digital devices effects the brain: rafting on the San Juan River in Utah. more >>

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:42:36 -0800

Web video shows, like zombies, keep coming back. This time, they might be unstoppable. Venture capital firms are again paying attention to the industry and one show has jumped from the Web to cable TV. more >>

Laureana Toledo's The Limit: Screening & Discussion @ Redcat with Josh Kun

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:27:37 -0800

REDCAT will host the U.S. premiere of a new film by Mexico City-based artist Laureana Toledo on Tuesday, August 17, at 8:30 pm, followed by a post-show discussion and Q&A with the artist and Josh Kun, director of the Lear Center's Popular Music Project. Disguised as a thirty minute fan documentary, The Limit investigates how information and pop culture are digested, what activates our fantasies and expectations, and how the secondary role of women around rock bands is funnily reversed. For more information and tickets, click here.