This mesh of live action and animation, with paper cut-outs prevalent, tells the story of a boy who becomes an orphan and goes through the emotional rigors of enduring multiple foster homes, court proceedings and a sense of abandonment. But through volunteers and donations, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is able to help the lad through a daunting maze which typically entails moving from one foster home to the next, working with five or six case workers, multiple lawyers and having to be heard by different judges along the way.
CASA, though, eventually, finds a permanent home, a loving family and stability for the youngster as the organization’s slogan concludes this minute-long PSA, “Lift up a child’s voice. Lift up a life.”
Mode Project produced this PSA, with an ensemble of talent that included CG project lead Stefan Draht and producer Kate Soczka. Agency was EPIC (Engaging Philanthropy Inspiring Creatives) which was connected to Mode Project via design studio liaison Thirst.
John Leguizamo Delves Deeply–and Further Back–Into Latin American History Via PBS Docuseries
If you think Latin American history starts with Christopher Columbus, John Leguizamo would like to have a word.
He points out there were great empires and civilizations during the thousands of years before 1492 โ like the mighty Incas, Aztecs and Maya, whose great strides in medicine, engineering and science echo today.
"I get power from that," says the actor and activist. "It helps me to keep going in today's America that is a difficult landscape at the moment."
Leguizamo is spreading the word with a new PBS three-part series, "VOCES American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos," which unspools the fascinating history and often overlooked contributions of Latino people. It starts airing Friday.
"John Hopkins University did a study and found that 87% of Latino contributions to the making of America are absent in the history textbooks. And the 13% that's there gets less than five sentences. So this is our corrective for that," Leguizamo says.
The first part includes the legacy of the Taino, Maya, Aztec and Inca, or as Leguizamo calls them, "the OG civilizations of Latin America." Then the show explores the Latino roles in the American Revolution and Civil War and the building of the United States. The third part is about the fight for Latino civil rights and preserving their cultural history.
"I want my daughter to feel very proud of the ancestry and the roots that she came from and hopefully other Latino kids and adults will get the same feeling from it," says co-creator and director Ben DeJesus.
"American Historia" features over a dozen leading historians, anthropologists and experts, as well as actors reading source material, including Benjamin Bratt, Bryan Cranston, Rosario Dawson, Laurence Fishburne, Ethan... Read More