Adventures

We at Long Story Short Media have spent the past few months doing a lot of thinking about public housing – and visiting with amazing people across the country who have benefitted from having a safe and affordable place to live.

This week several of our videos premiered on the ReThink website – part of a national campaign to ask people to consider the positive impact that public housing has on our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and communities.

The Grammy nominated singer Jewel launched the campaign on Good Morning America, and will serve as a national ambassador for ReThink.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Jewel and talk about her own early experiences with homelessness, and why she thinks housing matters so much for millions of Americans.

Expect to see a new and powerful PSA from Long Story Short in the days to come….

We’ve been honored to work alongside Cone Communications and Housing Authority Insurance, Inc. (HAI), who are leading the charge to ask people to rethink the meaning of public housing for millions of Americans and their communities across the country.

Be sure to check out the ReThink site to watch our main campaign video, as well as individual profiles of the inspiring people we met living in public housing across the country.

And take the online quiz to see how much you know about the reality of public housing today versus the myths.

We hope it makes you rethink how much housing really does matter to us all.

Wowzas! Time really flies! We can hardly believe the SUMMER internship search is here already!

We need interns who are ready to be ready for everything and anything and are hungry to jump into the competitive, wonky world of Long Story Short Media.

What we look for in interns are SUPERSTARS who are not afraid to work hard, take on exciting challenges, and be part of a unique team who does the same.

Our past interns have been a combination of news junkies, office organizers, technology nerds, speedy transcriptionists, policy aficionados, creative writers, graphic designers, social media butterflies… and always, coffee enthusiasts.

As an intern you will have a variety of opportunities to both observe and get involved! LSS is a great place to polish and advance important skills like: organization, time management, research, design, business development, client relations, creative processing, field production, and more.

If you are a student trying to decide where you fit in the media industry, this internship is an excellent way to learn and be a part of a great team of creative professionals.

Sound interesting? Keep exploring our website to get to know us.

If our adventures, work examples, and musings about what it takes for memorable and effective storytelling sound like something you want to be part of...

Send Cristina an email with a cover letter, a resume, and examples of what you’re good at (Writing samples? Video reel? Graphic design? Original caffeinated drink?).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week, the Long Story Short team once again teamed up with Grammy Award winning artist Alicia Keys and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Greater Than AIDS “Empowered” campaign - this time in our hometown of Washington, D.C.

Our last collaboration was in December when we traveled to New York City to film a powerful conversation between Keys and five Empowered women living with HIV. At that point, the campaign was just getting fired up.

On Monday - the day after a sold-out concert at the Verizon Center for her “Setting the World on Fire” tour - Keys brought the Empowered message to the nation’s capital. She spoke to a policy audience at the Kaiser Family Foundation’s offices, and to local women at a hospital in Southeast D.C.

“We will never see an AIDS-free generation without harnessing the power of women,” said Keys as she officially introduced the Empowered campaign to an audience of policy makers, advocates, and media.

“It’s definitely time that women see HIV as our issue, and it’s time that we embrace our power. And that is why I am so crazy, ridiculously fired up about introducing you to Empowered.”

Keys herself introduced our Empowered video during the program - which we were proud to see received with an emotional response from all those gathered.

The program featured several prominent voices who are leading the fight against AIDS in the U.S. - including Eva, Stephanie, Cristina, Jen, and Kym, the five incredible women who are the faces of the campaign.

There were also powerful political supporters like Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Co-Chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus.

Each speaker discussed the impact of HIV/AIDS on women, and reiterated that it’s going to take open and honest conversation to change the way we approach the AIDS epidemic in this country.

“We want women to understand that in all the different roles that we play in our lives...as mothers, and daughters, and sisters, and wives, and partners, and friends - we have a tremendous power,” said Keys.

After the event, we accompanied Keys on a visit to the United Medical Center, which is confronting the severe HIV epidemic in Washington. There she had an intimate conversation with Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick and her support group for women living with HIV. They shared their own Empowered stories about how they are overcoming stigma and the effects of HIV.

 

The Empowered campaign has only just begun. There is plenty more to come from Alicia Keys, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Greater Than AIDS - which includes more content from Long Story Short Media!

You can watch the livestream of the event via Kaiser Family Foundation’s website, and keep reading below to see what the media is saying about Alicia Keys and the Empowered campaign.

Keep Reading »

The cherry blossoms aren’t blooming yet in Washington, D.C. – but right now in New York City you can catch a preview of what’s to come.

We’re excited to see that our promotional video for the National Cherry Blossom Festival is once again being shown in Times Square.

Over the past couple of years, Long Story Short has been proud to prepare promotions for and then document the 100^th anniversary of Japan’s gift of cherry trees to the U.S., which were first planted around Washington’s Tidal Basin in 1912.

Now the festival surrounding the trees’ annual blooming is considered the Nation’s Greatest Springtime Celebration. This year’s festival starts next week on March 20, and continues until April 14.

If you’re in Times Square, look up to see our work on display. Or watch our full promotional video for the Festival – which won the 2011 Bronze Telly Award – to get into the Spring spirit.

And keep an eye on the official Cherry Blossom Web Cam to get your first glimpse of this year’s flowers.

Keep Reading »

 

Did you know that 1 in 4 people living with HIV in the U.S. are women?

Today on International Women’s Day, we at Long Story Short are celebrating some very special women who are empowered in the face of HIV.

They’re the five women featured in LSS Media’s newest video – “Empowered” – released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

We are honored to be a part of this campaign, which teams up Grammy-award winning artist and HIV advocate Alicia Keys and the Kaiser Foundation’s “Greater Than AIDS” initiative.

Through this project, we learned more about the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic on a very personal level from the stories of our five Empowered Women– Cristina, Eva, Jen, Kym, and Stephanie.

They all sat down recently with Alicia Keys to break the silence about how HIV continues to affect women in the U.S.

Watch this video about their conversation in advance of National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, this Sunday, March 10.  We guarantee you will both learn and be inspired to take action.

Visit the Empowered website to see how you can make a difference, and to help spread the word.

And as Alicia Keys starts her “Set the World on Fire Tour” this week, keep an eye out for more to come from her and the Empowered campaign on this important issue affecting women across the country – and the globe.

Keep Reading »

This week saw amazing news for one of our longtime clients, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF).

A study was released showing what is thought to be the first functional cure for HIV in a newborn baby.

It was fitting that also this week we learned that one of our videos for EGPAF – “Countdown to an AIDS-Free Generation” – was selected for a 2013 CINE Special Jury Award as the best film in their Motivational category from 2012.

It was first honored last year with a Golden CINE Award, and now it’s up for CINE’s top prize – the CINE Masters Series Award, announced on June 17.

“Countdown” was most recently shown at the Kennedy Center by UNAIDS and its partners to open up the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.

It was originally produced in 2011 for World AIDS Day and for the Harvard AIDS@30 International Symposium, where it introduced a scholarly panel focused on the elimination of pediatric AIDS.

Now it looks like that goal is even closer to becoming a reality.

Keep Reading »

In December 2012, LSS Media headed to the Big Apple for a “Historic Night of Jazz” at the famed Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) to support the David Lynch Foundation (DLF).

The beautiful and acoustically breathtaking venue is home to the world’s first performance, education and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, in New York City. The night paired the achievements of DLF and the uniquely American art form for a celebratory evening.

LSS was excited to partner with DLF to produce another marvelous live event -- one quite different from our last show with the Foundation 

(remember our “Night of Comedy” in Los Angeles?).

Not only did Jessica Stuart write and produce the show (with the help of 6 week old baby Ella!), the LSS Media team also showcased a new video for the Foundation, “First Responders”, highlighting how Transcendental Meditation has transformed men and women coping with the effects of traumatizing careers like law enforcement.

The evening was hosted by ABC news anchor George Stephanopoulos, surgeon and TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, philanthropist Ray Dalio, and of course filmmaker David Lynch.

The evening honored several important supporters of the Foundation, including sixteen-year-old Joey Lowenstein, who has autism spectral disorder. Lowenstein was presented with the Foundation’s “Resolute Courage Award” for triumphing over overwhelming personal setbacks and starting the Joey Lowenstein Foundation to help children with autism, including providing them with meditation instruction.

After the awards was a gorgeously historic concert. The legendary Wynton Marsalis opened the evening and were entertained by legendary jazz talents included Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lynn Carrington, and Corinne Bailey Rae.

The night was organized to raise funds for teaching Transcendental Meditation techniques, which are used for promoting creativity, health, and resilience.

Transcendental Meditation is especially aimed to help the lives among people in need who have experienced violence and abuse, PTSD, and underserved students.

 It was an honor to be part of yet another memorable and successful event with the David Lynch Foundation! Stay tuned for what’s next!

And special thanks for the event photos courtesy of Ann Billingsley Photography.

Keep reading to see more pictures from the event!

 

Keep Reading »

If you “Liked” Long Story Short Media (LSS) on Facebook this fall, you already got a peek at our behind-the-scenes photos and developments about our work for Communities in Schools (CIS).

Over the past few months, LSS found ourselves sharpening our pencils and hitting the books, so to speak, as we got schooled in the state of the education system of the United States. Our team has a very personal interest in the subject (many of us have young children also currently in school), so we were excited to continue highlighting the powerful work of the entire CIS organization.

Shortly after our video “Stephanie’s Story” from the Unsung Heroes series was featured in the 2012 Gap Charity Campaign, we were honored to team up with CIS once more! Our first production of the New Year was to create a compelling video identifying how CIS is “Making A Difference” across the nation.

True to the signature LSS process – always-collecting content with future-use in mind – our team utilized the massive media library of footage we originally assembled for the Unsung Heroes series, and re-constructed it for “Making a Difference.” We are not going to leave 45 hours of video on a shelf after just one use!

Jessica Stuart also conducted an enlightening interview with CIS President Dan Cardinali who provided a big picture view of how CIS is developing today and how the CIS site coordinators, teachers, and leadership are now making a difference in the lives of 1.25 million children every year.

Collectively, the new and archived assets came together for an editorially stirring and visually striking production. Long Story Short… we are proud of it!

 

Watch the CIS “Making a Difference” video:

http://www.lssmedia.com/what/312/communities-in-schools-2013-development-video

 

Read what CIS reported in their press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/1/prweb10370179.htm

“We're privileged to work with organizations like Communities In Schools to document how they are moving the needle and improving outcomes in our education system," said Jessica Stuart. “It was clear to us that they know what it takes to help solve America’s dropout crisis, and to put at-risk kids back on track to graduate.”

 

Keep Reading »

If you’ve shopped Gap online or have been emailed a Gap newsletter in the pastweek, you might have noticed their new 2012 holiday charity campaign. We’re thrilled that this year’s campaign includes one of our clients, Communities In Schools (CIS).

But did you watch their video?

We are even more thrilled that one of LSS Media’s videos was selected to showcase the inspiring work of CIS for Gap’s “GiftCard That Gives Back” campaign.

This is a great example of how our videos often end up being used for much more than their initial purpose.

We originally produced this video as part of a series for CIS’s 2012 Unsung Heroes awards dinner in September. The videos highlighted 5 exceptional employees from CIS locations across the country who are doing their part to help end the country’s school dropout crisis.

Did you know that currently 1 out of 4 students in the U.S. don’t end up earning their high school diploma?

CIS, the nation’s leading dropout prevention organization, is helping to change this. By surrounding at-risk students with a community of support, they’ve been able to keep 97% of the students they serve stay in school.

This holiday season, you can help too. If you buy a Gap GiftCard, 2% of your purchase will support the work of Communities In Schools.

We’re proud to help CIS tell their amazing story, and we’re delighted when we see our videos helping clients in ways they might not have anticipated.

 

Much like the holiday Gap GiftCard, a powerful video can be a gift that keeps on giving.

 

Long Story Short was honored to be a part of the International Aids Conference Opening Concert, “Uniting for an Aids-Free Generation” held Saturday, July 21^st at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.  Celebrities, philanthropists and political figures came together to honor the work the international community is doing to end the AIDS epidemic everywhere in the world.  This is the first time the conference has taken place in the U.S. in 22 years, and over 23,000 people from as many as 183 countries have come to Washington for this event.

Much to our excitement, presented at the event was our Webby-nominated, and Golden Cine- and Silver Telly-winning video, “Countdown to an AIDS-free Generation,” which was re-edited specifically for this event. The video traces a 30-year history of AIDS and highlights key events in the global responses to the disease.  You can watch the new version of the video here.

Sharon Stone and Bill Gates headlined the event, which featured speakers and performers such as Jessye Norman, Annie Lennox, Nancy Pelosi, Alicia Keys, Herbie Hancock, Michel Sidibé, Barbara Bush and the African Children’s Choir.

The 2012 International AIDS Conference will continue through July 27^th at the Washington Convention Center. The conference will feature speeches, panels and forums concerning the major issues facing the combat against HIV/AIDS.

To learn more about the Kennedy Center event and the 2012 International AIDS Conference, keep on reading! 

Keep Reading »

The Lifetime of Bliss Award from the David Lynch Foundation for the legendary talent manager and TV producer, George Shapiro

 

Jessica Stuart, backstage, while George Shapiro accepts his award

Russell Brand, Jerry Seinfeld, Aimee Hyatt, George Shapiro, Sarah Silverman, David Lynch, Jay Leno and Garry Shandling took the stage together at the end of the night

George Shapiro and David Lynch, with Sarah Silverman and Jay Leno

Red high tops, featured throughout the "Night of Comedy" decor

 

For all of our photos from the event... CLICK HERE.