dreamfleur

Here’s a great opportunity for young women who are into journalism and media:

NikeWomen.com is searching for the One. A girl with crazy charisma and sports savvy to become the next Nike Field Reporter. She’ll hop across the continent to interview sports stars, music stars, rising stars and super stars.

She’ll chill with them. She’ll chat with them. She’ll challenge them. And report it all back in the form of videos and blog posts on
nikewomen.com.

Learn more about the contest and enter at:
http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikewomen-en_US/2010/03/31/about-the-gig

Deadline: Contest ends April 30, 2010

Who’s eligible: A one-of-a-kind 18 to 24 year old with crazy charisma and sports savvy.

Check out the promo video below to see clips from past field reporters:

Syndrome Studio, made up of three artists, Micah Hancock, James Larese, and Mars Sandoval, is one of the design studios whose work really inspires me. Syndrome specializes in motion design for multiple mediums, and their work is amazing to view, raging from directing music videos for Estelle, Danity Kane, Day26, Black Eye Peas, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Wyclef, Jo Jo, Mickey Avalon and many more. They also did motion graphics for the movie ATL, and for networks like Disney, HGTV, and MTV.

Here’s an interview I found with them at Convey Magazine where they described their struggle “to get to the point where we were considered ‘directors’ as opposed to, ‘those graphic guys that also direct.’ Their portfolio shows that you can find a way to create a niche within the entertainment industry, or any industry doing what you love and do best, while working hard to make your way to the top. Their success was only achieved with “tenacity, passion, having a precise game plan and believing 1000000% in ourselves… if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.”

I love how they merge motion and 3D work with video production and directing, and how they work in so many mediums to make a finished product. You can click here to view their website with samples of their incredible work. One of my favorites was Keke Palmer’s “Keep It Movin’” music video, below, which they animated and directed.

“Don’t lose your passion. The second you are chasing a check instead of a vision could be the beginning of the end.” - Syndrome Studio in an April 2008 interview with Convey Magazine

Dreamer Profile: Kevin Clash:
Puppeter, Author and Producer

DreamFleur is Presented to you Today By the Color Red, and the Letter P - for Passion.

When it comes to life passions, sometimes the thing you love to do the most is something that’s not the standard for success for people around you and can cause others to talk and judge.

Kevin Clash is a puppeteer you may not know, but you definitely know some of his work. He’s the creative mind behind the lovable character Elmo on Sesame Street, and many other playful personalities we’ve grown up with and love.

Clash’s pursuit of his puppeteering career didn’t come easy. In an article he talked about how he was teased as a child for his passion to make puppets, while other kids in his Baltimore neighborhood dreamed of playing basketball or going into the music business. He had loved puppets since age 10 after watching Sesame Street and had been enchanted with them ever since. In his book he said kids threw taunts at him like, “Look at him, he’s playing with dolls. He sews. He sleeps with his puppets.”

Even so he kept doing what he loved with the support of his parents who continually encouraged him. After doing puppet shows in his neighborhood starting at age 12, he got the chance to go on television and eventually made his way to Sesame Street in 1985. He came up with Elmo’s distinctive voice and laugh, making Elmo one of Sesame Street’s most popular characters. (He also did the voice of “Baby Sinclair” from the “Dinosaurs.” Come on, you know you remember that show.)
His work also won Clash an Emmy Award, and he appeared on Oprah in an episode about obscure celebrities. Now he serves as Sesame Street Muppet Captain and co-executive producer, and he’s in homes worldwide teaching children life lessons through his lovable characters. Talk about passion.

Clash says he hopes his book will “inspire everyone to hit their goals.” In this interview he talks about how he never imagined he would be doing something he loved as a career, and how it doesn’t even feel like work. That’s the type of career I would like to be able to have, one that comes naturally. He’s truly living the dream.

Here are some of the videos and articles about Kevin Clash and his work that I enjoyed most:

I loved this interview with Clash in the New York Times where he talks about how people react to him when they realize he’s an 6-foot-tall black man, about his life, and about the art of puppetry and making stories relevant to kids lives today.

This interview with Kevin Clash and Elmo was hilarious:

Kevin Clash on “Reading Rainbow (That was my show back in the day):

And my anthem as a child, the Dinosaur’s Baby Sinclair, “I’m the Baby, Gotta Love Me”