Youth Media Project Austin

This blog documents the work of students participating in the Youth Media Project and their mentors.

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    The Indie Van Game Jam is a web series where Binary Solo (a local indie studio) creates a video game on the road in the style of another fellow indie studio as they travel to meet the other studio.

    It's always nice to see local people at the ever-growing event that is SXSW. And the icing on the cake is that they're also an independent! Binary solo is an Austin based indie gaming company with one soul purpose, "Make the games that we would want to play, and play the games that we would want to make." The indie scene isn't like the hipster's underground music scene that everyone associates with indie. Instead it's a way to produce games that go against big publishers that prefer to churn out bland, dumbed down games that allow the lowest common denominator to not feel like they're bad at the game for a second.

Playing one of Binary Solo's game showed us that you can learn from your mistakes and succeed. That is something that I look for in a game, and the the fact that Binary Solo is bringing their production on the road across the U.S. is another reason that Binary Solo is an awesome studio!

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“SprATX (pronounced Spray-TX) is a collective of street artists,

muralists and creative energies in Austin, TX. We use our talents and visual art to impact our city in positive and beneficial ways.”

    This local street artist group started around the same time as South By last year with only around 13 people. That number has quickly jumped up to 28 unique and extremely talented artists using their art to benefit the city of Austin with amazing art.

    The catalyst for their rapid growth is Free Art Friday. Every Friday one of the artists puts out an image of a free piece of art, alongside the location of the piece. Local fans that follow the SprATX Instagram account will set out to find this art. This event also grew in numbers as the first event had around 20 people looking for the art piece and now it has grown to about 200 people combing through the local area to find these gems. Not only is it a fun way to give back to the community, but it’s also an extremely creative (and effective) way to further promote SprATX.

    Aside from their art, many of SprATX’s artist sell art pieces in the form of shirts and much more of their art can be found at spratx.com.

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MVMT 50 - The Bright Continent: Not Your Mama's Africa

Zeros To Hipsters covered the MVMT 50 event "The Bright Continent: Not Your Mama's Africa" presented by Dayo Olopade. The event spoke closely on the energy and activity involving sub-Saharan Africa which has six of the 10 fastest growing countries in the world.

Her focus was to speak on how Africa doesn't get much credit for its improvement in Heath care and income rising because the Ad industry markets symbols of disempowerment  and on the other hand this preference for looking at organizations institutions and formal governments instead of the people where all the energy is. So Dayo Olopade set out wrote  a book that looks at those people.

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Chris Ordal - Jogg

After overhearing a conversation at the Creative Job event Tony had a chance to meet Chris Ordal, the developer of Jogg, a media collaboration application meant for story telling and collaboration.

   Chris Ordal's vision for his app is to connect video content, creators, amateurs, and professionals alike with a simple way to create videos, tell a story, and communicate your ideas with the help of people from all around the globe.

   After our interview, Chris told us he was inspired to create this app because of a project that he was involved in where he recorded elders for one day to be able to retain the history of that elder. After realizing the expenses of this project someone suggested creating an app, soon after Jogg was in development.

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At this year’s SXSW Interactive showcase, this year’s technology was bigger and bolder than ever. Companies from around the world came to show their best work to industry professionals, tech enthusiasts and even those of us who are barely tech savvy enough to play Flappy Bird. Each company that came brought their own creative innovation to add a fun family environment to the already business one.

One of the most popular gadgets came from Pure Michigan who put a modern twist on batting cages by allowing the player armed with paddles to hit a levitating beach ball into one of the four screens to gain as many points as they could under 60 seconds. This device defined the mix of fun and tech because it was pure fun while marketing the developing silicone valley happening in Michigan.

Throughout the trade show companies created a great way to mix business with pleasure by finding an educational, fun and innovative way to promote their products.

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The Queen of Comedy - Mindy Kaling

We attended "The Mindy Project," where head writer, producer and actress Mindy Kaling, along with her writers Adam Pally and Ike Barinholtz were interviewed. They told things about themselves and explained how they rose to their level out of all cost and their success of the creation of their show "The Mindy Project." 

"A boss who rules with an iron fist" co-writer Adam Pally and Ike Barinholtz opened up the event by explaining Mindy Kaling. A "bro" and true personality; characters are half of what they are is how Mindy explains both Barinholtz and Pally. Barinholtz emphasizing his position of being "part bro" opens the audience to laughs.

Their hostess, Anne Fulenwider, then took charge with simple fun questions of "What's your favorite TV show?" in which Pally responded "Game of Thrones" and Mindy responding with "The Walking Dead." They lightened up and rioted the audience with greatest movie endings, pet peeves - being allergies, moodiness and jokingly Mindy's moodiness. They then asked what Mindy Kaling's favorite vacations were, and she responded with New York further explaining that she visited her god daughter and met president Obama the next day. Adam Pally then started doing a hilarious impression of Obama getting all offended by her putting her god daughter before him, and setting the audience ablaze.

Later during the interview, they got to more serious questions in reference to the show and questioned Kaling about her feelings of being a boss. She explained with joy of how she loved her incredible team and every aspect of total creative control, even with the pressure of having to fit so many good ideas into a 22-minute episode. She concluded with the question that the only thing she missed was the "hangout" aspect where she, as an actress, could just hang with the cast and talk.

They finished the event with a question and answer session involving people from the crowd. A woman asked if being a women of color, as a producer in the film business, was a challenge? Kaling responded strongly that being a part of a "new era" there are equal challenges no matter what and for whom ever. Especially getting an idea for a television out on air, including women creating controversy throughout the discussion and creating a better understanding.

Finally someone questioned a future release of another book writing in which she said she is working on right now. She said that at the end of the year she will be ending it. 

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Silicon Valley

Mike Judge is best known for animation, with shows like "King of the Hill" and "Beavis and Butthead." Now he is presenting a new comedy "about the inner-workings of tech campus playgrounds in Northern California." This is Judge’s first live-action comedy series.

Richard Hendricks, a computer programmer lives in a hacker-hosteling star incubator with colleagues Big Head, Giloyle and Dinesh, where they are all trying to make it big in Silicon Valley. They live under the same roof with Erlich, a dotcom millionaire who houses them for free in exchange for a ten-percent stake in their projects. After failing a sale pitch to billionaire venture capitalist Peter Gregory, Richard is upset having to go back to his job at the tech company Hooli, founded by an egoistical man named Gavin Belson. Monica, Mr.Gregory's Head of Operations, and Jared, a Hooli executive, while checking out Richard's app idea called Pied Piper, realize the value of Richard's compression algorithm on his software system. Once Peter Greogory and Gavin Belson find out about this, the two men are willing to do whatever it takes to get a hold of the algorithm. Richard is now stuck in the middle deciding who he wants to go with, Peter Greogry, who will offer Richard to keep his company for 95 percent or Gavin Belson, who will offer more than 10 million dollars for it.

The writing is excellent, and the characters are interesting and enjoyable. This show has great potential! I am looking forward to watching the rest of the series when it comes to television.

Remember to set your calender date for April 6 for the premiere of Silicon Valley, it will start at 10 p.m. on HBO. This show is gonna be great so don't miss out on it! 

The cast of Silicon Valley

  Mike Judge; the creator and producer of Silicon Valley

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INDiscussion: Save Detroit

"There’s a perfect storm that destroyed Detroit and there’s a perfect storm that’s bringing it back."

With Detroit being bankrupt and in an economic downturn, many business owners are seeing that Detroit is in a transitional stage.

This panel discussed Detroit’s need for “brain gain” meaning that it is focusing on bringing young innovative entrepreneurs to develop startups in an attempt to bring Detroit back to the striving economy they once were. With Detroit in economic turmoil, young entrepreneurs look to change Detroit into the new Silicon Valley. “Detroit has all of the basic ingredients to be a roaring city again,” as said by one of the panelists. As they continued their discussion they explained that Detroit has the potential to be the San Francisco of Michigan but entrepreneurs are too afraid to take the same the risks they took in the past. As they began to wrap up their conversation, they explained that Detroit can be saved and in order to save it, entrepreneurs would have to be willing to take risks and open their minds to trying new things.

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The Seth-sperience.

On our first day at SXSW, we attended Inside Late Night with Seth Meyers in which Meyers, host of NBC's "Late Night," brings his signature wit and humor. We learned a lot about what goes on behind-the-scenes, and their future plans for the show.

They opened the night by asking Meyers what it's like 'living the dream' in reference to fame.  His response: "reality with whip cream"

Meyers told the audience that it's hard for him to think of sketches because you can think of a great idea, but it's never really easy. Most of his routines pull from Twitter as a main source for writing, and the best ones end up coming when he his relaxed and well-rested.

When asked about future plans for Late Night, Myers laughed, "Ha, future plans already...his thing just started!" He went on to explain that so far there is no strategy for what happens later on.   He simply wants the show to just follow on its 'happy routine.'

Later on in the interview, Myers explained that he was hired by Saturday Night Live for his acting impressions of other actors, but later found his place as a writer.

Overall the panel was fun and serious.   We were able to get in a few laughs, but also gained a greater understanding of what goes into the creation of Late Night television.

Left to right: Olivia Munn,Seth Meyers and Mike Shoemaker

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The Adventures of Toxic Sushi: SXSW Edition

Howdy SXSWers!!

Toxic Sushi had an amazing day at the film and interactive portion of SXSW! We kicked the morning off at the Austin Convention Center to listen in on what CEO and founder of Nasty Gal, had to say about the start of her company and what the future holds for her business. Sophia Armuso shared several tips with the audience on how to stay successful. The one nugget of wisdom that stuck out to us the most was to surround yourself with positive people.

After the keynote, Toxic Sushi embarked on an adventure to locate free food around Austin. Luckily it took no time to locate the Oreo lounge! We danced and munched on delicious Oreos, and documented our fun times!

After filling our tummies with wonderful cookies and cream, bright lights attracted us to the AT&T lounge. While there, our creativity was expressed exponentially when we created beats and rhythms on a dance pad!

Our day at SXSW ended at the gaming expo. Toxic Sushi was exposed to the quirky world of gaming and the people that partake in it. Our two team members Jordan and Cedarius had a blast learning about the newest games and app-related technology. Although we left the expo early, we will return tomorrow to soak up a little bit more of this interesting culture!

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Detroit: Failing City On The Come Up!

left to right : Marlon Nichols, Jim Serbinski, Erin Teague, and Lauryn Hale

YMP University attended the MVMT50 event at the Hilton Garden Inn. The panel was called Exploring Technology, Start ups and Turnaround Economies. Speakers Lauryn Hale, Marlon Nichols, Erin Teague and Jim Serbinski discussed about the city of Detroit, and how it can go return to its original state.

Marlon Nichols suggested that more people should try to invest in companies. The more people that invest in companies, the better schools and education the city can build.  He also argued that doing so will increase the economic employment rates.

On discussing the New School vs. Old School, Lauryn Hale said the battle always stays the same, but the faces of the new entrepreneurs tend to always change.  She encouraged investment in entrepreneurship to help turn around the job force and education sector by providing a bigger networking system. 

Learn More Adventures About YMP On http://e4youth.org/ymp/

#YMPUniversity #sxYMP #Detroit 

Published By Shadow Valentine,Monty Hill, Myles Johnson, Jessikah Campbell.

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Introducing YMP University!

YMP University is a group of four teens who are talented and ambitious, striving to pursue what it takes to be in the social media industry. We are a part of YMP. 

Myles Johnson is 18 years old and from Chicago, Illinois. He likes to play video games and occasionally play basketball while attending school.

Jessikah Campbell is 17 years old and is from Chicago as well. She likes to socialize and meet new people. She also loves shopping.

Imani Lands is 17 and is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She likes to fix and customize cars. She plays the snare drum at Reagan High.

Shadow Valentine is 19 and from Saint Louis, Missouri. He like to write music and has a unique talent in photography. He also graduated from Stony Point High School.

Left to Right: Shadow Valentine, Imani Lands, Jessikah Campbell, and Myles Johnson

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The Ligerbauns!

starting from left to right, Nadia, Val, Victoria, Jeremy, and Arianna.

 Who are we?  Just like our name we are a mixed group of creative students coming together to spread the word of YMP with our work.  Just like the Spice Girls our group consists of four talented members by the names of Arianna Bernal, Nadia Samani,  Victoria Swenson, and Val Weatherspoon.  Our mission is to produce quality material for YMP with interviews and blogs created from our experience at South by SouthWest.

Words from the members:

My name is Arianna Bernal, I am the writer for our group the Ligerbauns. My interests consist of music and photography. I am a 15 year old student at Connally High School and was born and raised in El Paso, Tx. I moved to Austin this year and joined YMP to further my knowledge in the media and hope to further a career as a musician.

Bonjour my name is Nadia and I am currently the photography of the group. I am from Austin, and this will be my first time to participate in SXSW. I am looking forward to attending a number of interactive and film events, which will provide me with great exposure. I want to use this opportunity to advance my media and marketing skills. 

I'm Val, the producer of the group. I plan on being where I'm needed during and after filming, including helping out with editing. Being drawn to cinematography, I'm going to help Nadia a lot. I'm going to approach people for interviews and be the part of the group that makes connections with celebrities (hopefully!)

#WhoIBe I am Victoria Swenson. I run the Social Media. I am in charge of finding creative ways to intrigue the audience to look into our work and find out more about us. I am a 17 year old student at McCallum High    School. I  am there for the Fine Arts Academy, I play the violin and viola. In my spare time I like to play lacrosse and goof off. But when it comes to work I get serious. I am looking forward to attending the events at SXSW and being able to learn from them and use social media for a good cause by informing them what happening at these events .

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What's that smell? It's Toxic Sushi!!

Howdy! We're Toxic Sushi. Each member of the group has a different personality. We don't see ourselves as "average" or "normal" teenagers. So we created the name Toxic Sushi, which is unique within itself, and perfectly describes our group. Our group is composed of three talented, driven, and passionate individuals. We are also accompanied by our fun loving and excited mentor and YMP volunteer. We hope the exposure to this event will provide us with the tools necessary to succeed in the entertainment industry. Follow us on our three day journey throughout the opening weekend of SXSW!

Meet the team:

Kennedy Huff Producer/Director

Yo! I'm Kennedy and I aspire to become a broadcast journalist and one day host my own talk show. Those around me would describe me as chill, exciting, and most of all kind. I hope to meet a great amount of unique and interesting people at the SXSW festival! While there I plan to check out the hottest indie films and get tons of interviews at panels.

Kasha Davey Social Media

Hey hey hey! I'm Kasha, I have quite the out going personality. My passion in life is to be a part of the music industry, specifically in music production. For SX I plan to cover sports, a little bit of film, and the interactive conference. I'll keep y'all posted on all the phenomenal people and stories.

Jordan Creech Photographer/Cinematographer/Music Supervisor

I'm a creative young man trying to make it in this world. I'm involved in every aspect of music; including production, rapping, and singing. I look forward to SXSW for the movies and the music (especially). I'm extremely ecstatic to attend the Childish Gambino and Chance The Rapper concert. 

Kendra Croft Mentor/Volunteer

Well hello there! I am a third year student at The University of Texas. I am majoring in Advertising with a minor in African and African Diaspora Studies. I am excited to work with this amazingly "toxic" group of students. They are pumped to tackle SXSW and so am I! Look out for us on the streets!

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Believe IN the Hype

Left to Right: Jessica Luna, Kyleeil Johnson, Sarena Chism, Dana Summers. Bottom: Jalen Ervin

INHype is a direct source for exclusive SXSW coverage. We're to highlight the craziest moments amongst SXSW and share them through social media with the advantage of press and backstage access. INHype is composed of 5 great Austin-based artists.

Kyleeil Johnson:

As the team leader, Kyleeil will dedicate himself to managing INHype and ensuring that everyone is performing accordingly. This young entertainer is involved in SXSW with hopes of networking and gaining a great experience.

Dana Summers:

A filmmaker who loves what's new and current. As the photographer, Dana will be responsible for capturing electrifying visuals of SXSW. Through this week of the sickening but curious chaos that is SXSW, she is looking for innovation and inspiration from her surroundings. 

Jessica Luna:

A storyteller who loves drawing and listening to music. As the editor, Jessica will bring what's documented from SXSW together and produce an excellent final cut.

Jalen Ervin:

The pep in INHype's step takes on the role of the producer as well as the co-editor. Jalen will bring his vision to life through interviewing those participating in this years SXSW.

Sarena Chism:

The team overseer provides insight and advice on how to make the group's vision come true. Sarena pulls the best qualities out of everyone and pushes them to fulfillment. 

INHype will deliver the SXSW experience to you.

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Zeros To Hipsters - Three Individuals Team Up!

 Zeros To Hipsters is a content creation group formed within the Youth Media Project (YMP). Our goal is to cover SXSW with our own creative skills, and the skills that we've been taught during this media workshop.

The Team Name

The name "Zeros To Hipsters" was cultivated after an assignment where we interviewed Austinites with a poll-like question. We chose to ask people "Can you describe a hipster?" We got a lot of interesting results and had a few interviewees describe us as hipsters. So out of our original name, "Zeros To Heroes," "Zeros To Hipsters" spawned.

The People

[Left To Right: Ariel Gonzalez, Tony Donithan, and Donovan Bailey]

  Tony Donithan

Leader/Interviewer

Tony Donithan is very interested in advertising, marketing, and music. Over the years he has had the opportunity to participate in SXSW as an attendee multiple times. This year he decided that it would be a great idea to gain some advertising and marketing experience behind the scenes of SXSW. Through Facebook he discovered the opportunity to participate in YMP, an organization that builds advertising and media skills, and gives youth the opportunity to gain real life experience in roles such as producing, photography, and journalism. He’s very grateful for the opportunity and is looking forward to showcasing his skills at SXSW.

  Donovan Bailey

Videographer

Donovan Bailey, a sophomore at Harmony School of Political Science, has interest in media, music, and sports. After finding out about YMP he decided that it would be a great opportunity to grow his media knowledge. With the help of YMP his skills in digital content production, photography, and social media has shown great progress. He is looking forward to covering one of Austin’s most anticipated event SXSW, and having the opportunity to showcase his skills, while further gaining experience.

  Ariel Gonzalez

Social Media Manager/ Video Editor

I'm a junior at John B. Connally High School. Born in Mexico City, raised in Austin, TX. I'm interested in music, video games, and computer hardware. I'm also passionately improving my cinematography, storytelling, and editing skills by participating in Audio/Video Production and Photojournalism classes in school. I found out about YMP and saw it as a chance to put my skills to work by learning how to create high quality content for SXSW with the help of the mentors and new team mates.

  The group is eager to experience SXSW for the first time as creators and not just consumers.

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Getting pointers on camera usage. #sxYMP #ympMentor #sxsw