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Matt
Johnson is executive director of Strive Media Institute, whose
mission is to promote diversity through mass communication.
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At Strive Media Institute, a team of
artists recently earned an Emmy award for a series of commercials they
developed encouraging Milwaukee bus riders to behave.
Not bad for a bunch of teenagers.
"The Emmy is an adult test of peer
recognition," says Matt Johnson, executive director, of the young
prodigies. "The best thing about this award is what it will mean
for the resumes and careers of the young people who worked on the
project."
Regional Emmy Awards recognize various
achievements in television production. The National Academy of
Television Arts and Sciences makes the awards in 20 markets across the
United States.
Strive students Martinez White, Kurtez
Ellis, Dalyn Wark, Morgan Finke and Hayward Jenkins — high school
juniors and seniors at the time — developed, acted in and shot the
spots. The short pieces ran on the Transit Television Network screens
on 75 percent of Milwaukee County Transit System buses in early 2006.
Jeff Becker, an adult employee who
helped to produce the segments, says the Strive students were
initially hired by MCTS for focus groups, but the project gradually
expanded. The young people participated in all aspects of the shoot,
including brainstorming, concepts and acting. The pieces were shot
during a single afternoon on a bus provided by MCTS.
Although this award is Strive’s first
in the PSA category, the agency has earned three Emmy Awards overall.
Strive was recognized with awards for outstanding children’s
programming in 1996 and 2003.
Strive trains teenagers in print
journalism and integrated marketing, as well as film, video and radio
production. The program runs after school and on weekends at Strive’s
studio at 1818 N. Martin Luther King Drive.
Strive participants publish GUMBO
Magazine, a national publication written by and for teens, and produce
GUMBO TV, which runs on WTMJ-4.
Johnson says Strive generates 50
percent of its budget by providing a range of media production
services for corporate, public and nonprofit clients like MCTS.
MCTS Community Relations Manager Jackie
Janz says the agency was pleased with the results of the project.
"Strive kids have the best point of view for communicating to
others their age about safe riding habits. They deserved the
Emmy," she says.
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