[Music]
I came to tip Lisi Georgia as an artist
in distress two years ago I was living
in Boston I was running my own freelance
company and making a lot of money but
that success felt mediocre and it took
me moving 5,000 miles to figure out why
I decided to be an animator when I was
11 and I told my dad and thanks to his
enthusiasm and support I started taking
classes immediately from there I grew my
knowledge to incorporate all things
post-production and I find it endlessly
fascinating I’ve worked in television
for public broadcast cartoons for
Cartoon Network feature films and
documentaries daily news and ultimately
in my own independent commercial work my
career has brought bean from the east
coast to the west coast of the United
States and back and all of these jobs
gigs and internships – things were
always the same one I tried to make more
high-quality and innovative work and two
I was always told not to I hated the way
my skills were being utilized I was
constantly being bullied into
compromising on quality and subsequently
made to dress up an unclear message
selling some product some new photo app
that was going to change the community
some new marketing company that was
going to change the world once a client
even asked me to guarantee that his
video go viral clearly he did not
understand the meaning of the word viral
I was using a bag of tricks that easily
delighted my clients and bosses and all
the while I was struggling to stay
passionate could the purpose of all of
this intense focus and commitment be to
just sell a product or a brand
and then move on to the next one let me
let you inside the artists brain for a
second when you have a good idea as an
artist you have to stand behind it when
you don’t good ideas deteriorate and
when you are making something you don’t
like you inevitably let go of that
initial vision that made you excited to
create in the first place in the end all
creativity is a race you prep for the
race by filling your head with work you
admire and things you see you approach
the start line and the starting gun is
in your hand but you paced back and
forth waiting you only get to fire that
gun when you get that lightning bolt of
inspiration a figment of something you
need to see you take off and from then
you’re to racing the developing vision
of that initial lightning bolt and if
you take too long or if something throws
you off course you become disoriented
fragmented intangible yourself because
when you have a great idea you live that
idea you are that idea those lightning
bolt ideas are borrowed from somewhere
we can’t understand and we don’t get to
linger on the thought inspiration has a
shelf life and so it was in this
intangible fragmented state that I moved
through many industries staying in each
place just long enough to learn all of
the new skills that the job required of
me I would add it to my resume and move
on to a new beginning somewhere else as
I negotiated more and more impressive
job titles I was unchallenged
unsatisfied although in arguably a huge
success exactly one year ago today I
came to Georgia to work with BBC legend
natalia antonova and her journalism
start-up Kota story the idea who was not
so simple we were going to be
reimagining how to visualize text pieces
for journalism these stories
didn’t have any photos didn’t have any
videos were sensitive in nature and
therefore we could use none of the usual
animation gimmicks that was used to so I
said okay this is a challenge I was
ready to take on a challenge to make
beautiful videos while maintaining the
dignity of the subjects in art form and
to do it in a turnaround time
appropriate for news typically one of
our animations can be made in a week
from scripting to final deliverable two
days of which are actual animating that
is a very fast turnaround time there was
the added hurdle a finding way to reach
people without using my usual gimmicks a
carefully built toolset of canned visual
concept that sparkled shined and awed
clients pretty easily without a lot of
effort on my part but it’s just not
appropriate for the subject matter and
so we got to work and some of our first
stories were about LGBTQ rights in the
region
[Music]
here we were tasked with visualizing the
brutal beating and murder of numerous
gay men in the Ukraine now there’s
nothing funny about that there’s nothing
cute about that it’s not a cartoon it’s
a serious piece of journalism we started
with toe tags and body bags for drama
and then evolved our idea to something
more tasteful and just as powerful but
it took a lot of effort to get it right
and many overdramatize concepts and it’s
important not just for the men that have
been hurt or killed it’s important for
an entire region miss categorizing
sexual preference as evil I got to
visualize this story in a way that I
think is beautiful
ethical and respectful to all subjects
involved we’ve made video after video
like this
visualizing brutal and cruel are
unbelievable stories with as much
honesty and respect as possible I had no
idea that we were creating a style and
technique that was going to grow in
popularity so much and give us such a
foothold in the industry and as we grow
in popularity we are given the
opportunity to put more time and
resources into these stories elevating
the medium I get to visualize story
after story in a way that has dignity in
a way that’s important and in a way that
has no gimmicks and so I’ve returned to
the education of my film school years
I’m telling stories in an incredibly
cinematic way by focusing on beautiful
compositions and communicating using
simple movements with the help of a
network of local artists on building
scenes that recreate moments in life
that are hard to describe or connect to
unless you can see something and with
how desensitized audiences are too
horrific photography and video
visual storytellers need to get more
creative with how they reach people
journalists and animators belong
together
animation + journalism equals gold as it
turns out not a lot of news companies
are doing this for some reason there’s
the if it’s not broken don’t fix it
argument they have plenty of readers so
why risk wasting resources on a pricing
gamble to reach new audiences
unfortunately attention spans are
shortening and our audiences are getting
desensitized to familiar formats
that’s why journalism has to be right at
the forefront of visual storytelling
right there with the movies the tech
companies and video games we can’t be
chasing an audience that has already
moved on to something cooler if we want
to change minds we need to be brand new
so I’d like to ask those of you in
journalism a question why not open your
mind to some new ways of visualizing a
story why not bring art into your
journalism journalism speaks to the
intellectual side an art to the
emotional the merging of the tube is not
only natural but electric it’s more true
to the way we experience reality artists
want work that we can care about and we
are sick of the gimmicks so why not hire
an artist no the artists don’t settle
for a job making something that you
don’t believe in the market is changing
we are in higher demand now than ever
before and in many different industries
we don’t have to work for free anymore
or beg for work from undeserving clients
don’t settle making art for people that
can’t make art themselves you are not
the vessel for someone else
creativity and I promise you if you keep
pushing for the right job you will find
something that makes you feel like
you’re selling more than other people’s
ideas you’ll be selling truth journalism
has saved animation for me and I think
animation can save journalism as well
there are always people that will read
news but how do you make people that are
not inclined to news more aware of
issues they need to understand about
their world so that’s what we’re doing
here at Kota that’s what I’m doing here
in Georgia in an increasingly polarized
world what can be more important than a
profession that fosters empathy people
need to have a better understanding of
the world around them I am proud to be
able to translate it into a visual
format and we are going to keep pushing
and we are going to keep finding new
ways to show these stories whether it’s
360 or interactive apps or graphic
novels or augmented reality we will find
a way to bring these very important
stories to you thank you
[Applause]
I came to tip Lisi Georgia as an artist
in distress two years ago I was living
in Boston I was running my own freelance
company and making a lot of money but
that success felt mediocre and it took
me moving 5,000 miles to figure out why
I decided to be an animator when I was
11 and I told my dad and thanks to his
enthusiasm and support I started taking
classes immediately from there I grew my
knowledge to incorporate all things
post-production and I find it endlessly
fascinating I’ve worked in television
for public broadcast cartoons for
Cartoon Network feature films and
documentaries daily news and ultimately
in my own independent commercial work my
career has brought bean from the east
coast to the west coast of the United
States and back and all of these jobs
gigs and internships – things were
always the same one I tried to make more
high-quality and innovative work and two
I was always told not to I hated the way
my skills were being utilized I was
constantly being bullied into
compromising on quality and subsequently
made to dress up an unclear message
selling some product some new photo app
that was going to change the community
some new marketing company that was
going to change the world once a client
even asked me to guarantee that his
video go viral clearly he did not
understand the meaning of the word viral
I was using a bag of tricks that easily
delighted my clients and bosses and all
the while I was struggling to stay
passionate could the purpose of all of
this intense focus and commitment be to
just sell a product or a brand
and then move on to the next one let me
let you inside the artists brain for a
second when you have a good idea as an
artist you have to stand behind it when
you don’t good ideas deteriorate and
when you are making something you don’t
like you inevitably let go of that
initial vision that made you excited to
create in the first place in the end all
creativity is a race you prep for the
race by filling your head with work you
admire and things you see you approach
the start line and the starting gun is
in your hand but you paced back and
forth waiting you only get to fire that
gun when you get that lightning bolt of
inspiration a figment of something you
need to see you take off and from then
you’re to racing the developing vision
of that initial lightning bolt and if
you take too long or if something throws
you off course you become disoriented
fragmented intangible yourself because
when you have a great idea you live that
idea you are that idea those lightning
bolt ideas are borrowed from somewhere
we can’t understand and we don’t get to
linger on the thought inspiration has a
shelf life and so it was in this
intangible fragmented state that I moved
through many industries staying in each
place just long enough to learn all of
the new skills that the job required of
me I would add it to my resume and move
on to a new beginning somewhere else as
I negotiated more and more impressive
job titles I was unchallenged
unsatisfied although in arguably a huge
success exactly one year ago today I
came to Georgia to work with BBC legend
natalia antonova and her journalism
start-up Kota story the idea who was not
so simple we were going to be
reimagining how to visualize text pieces
for journalism these stories
didn’t have any photos didn’t have any
videos were sensitive in nature and
therefore we could use none of the usual
animation gimmicks that was used to so I
said okay this is a challenge I was
ready to take on a challenge to make
beautiful videos while maintaining the
dignity of the subjects in art form and
to do it in a turnaround time
appropriate for news typically one of
our animations can be made in a week
from scripting to final deliverable two
days of which are actual animating that
is a very fast turnaround time there was
the added hurdle a finding way to reach
people without using my usual gimmicks a
carefully built toolset of canned visual
concept that sparkled shined and awed
clients pretty easily without a lot of
effort on my part but it’s just not
appropriate for the subject matter and
so we got to work and some of our first
stories were about LGBTQ rights in the
region
[Music]
here we were tasked with visualizing the
brutal beating and murder of numerous
gay men in the Ukraine now there’s
nothing funny about that there’s nothing
cute about that it’s not a cartoon it’s
a serious piece of journalism we started
with toe tags and body bags for drama
and then evolved our idea to something
more tasteful and just as powerful but
it took a lot of effort to get it right
and many overdramatize concepts and it’s
important not just for the men that have
been hurt or killed it’s important for
an entire region miss categorizing
sexual preference as evil I got to
visualize this story in a way that I
think is beautiful
ethical and respectful to all subjects
involved we’ve made video after video
like this
visualizing brutal and cruel are
unbelievable stories with as much
honesty and respect as possible I had no
idea that we were creating a style and
technique that was going to grow in
popularity so much and give us such a
foothold in the industry and as we grow
in popularity we are given the
opportunity to put more time and
resources into these stories elevating
the medium I get to visualize story
after story in a way that has dignity in
a way that’s important and in a way that
has no gimmicks and so I’ve returned to
the education of my film school years
I’m telling stories in an incredibly
cinematic way by focusing on beautiful
compositions and communicating using
simple movements with the help of a
network of local artists on building
scenes that recreate moments in life
that are hard to describe or connect to
unless you can see something and with
how desensitized audiences are too
horrific photography and video
visual storytellers need to get more
creative with how they reach people
journalists and animators belong
together
animation + journalism equals gold as it
turns out not a lot of news companies
are doing this for some reason there’s
the if it’s not broken don’t fix it
argument they have plenty of readers so
why risk wasting resources on a pricing
gamble to reach new audiences
unfortunately attention spans are
shortening and our audiences are getting
desensitized to familiar formats
that’s why journalism has to be right at
the forefront of visual storytelling
right there with the movies the tech
companies and video games we can’t be
chasing an audience that has already
moved on to something cooler if we want
to change minds we need to be brand new
so I’d like to ask those of you in
journalism a question why not open your
mind to some new ways of visualizing a
story why not bring art into your
journalism journalism speaks to the
intellectual side an art to the
emotional the merging of the tube is not
only natural but electric it’s more true
to the way we experience reality artists
want work that we can care about and we
are sick of the gimmicks so why not hire
an artist no the artists don’t settle
for a job making something that you
don’t believe in the market is changing
we are in higher demand now than ever
before and in many different industries
we don’t have to work for free anymore
or beg for work from undeserving clients
don’t settle making art for people that
can’t make art themselves you are not
the vessel for someone else
creativity and I promise you if you keep
pushing for the right job you will find
something that makes you feel like
you’re selling more than other people’s
ideas you’ll be selling truth journalism
has saved animation for me and I think
animation can save journalism as well
there are always people that will read
news but how do you make people that are
not inclined to news more aware of
issues they need to understand about
their world so that’s what we’re doing
here at Kota that’s what I’m doing here
in Georgia in an increasingly polarized
world what can be more important than a
profession that fosters empathy people
need to have a better understanding of
the world around them I am proud to be
able to translate it into a visual
format and we are going to keep pushing
and we are going to keep finding new
ways to show these stories whether it’s
360 or interactive apps or graphic
novels or augmented reality we will find
a way to bring these very important
stories to you thank you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: