Meet-the-Expert: Evidence-Based Storytelling by Dan Bennett
Connecting students with industry experts increases their understanding and perspective of how to communicate with an audience via storytelling. Storytelling skills are valuable whether you are reporting about forest health, scientific issues, or creating films for Disney and Pixar. Journalistic nonfiction and creative fiction are often similar in storytelling craft. Participants will learn the connection between basic journalism and digital film storytelling, including a look at Pixar as an outstanding storytelling model. Participants will learn about evidence-based journalism through traditional storytelling techniques, including the significance of a lead sentence (news, feature and news-feature), "inverted pyramid" story flow, data usage, quotes, and human-interest. Participants will learn how to use the American mythologist/philosopher Joseph Campbell's model of "The Hero's Journey" as a template. CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS: *Dan Bennett, Founder Director, Children’s International Film Festivals, Guest Speaker *Dr. Yvonne Marie Andres, GFL Education & Outreach Director *Dr. Elena Yulaeva, GFL Project Director *Students of Francis Parker School, San Diego (Rose Hanscom, Lead teacher) ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Guest expert, Dan Bennett, is founding director of The Children’s Film Festival Company, a non-profit international youth film festival series – the largest film festival and hands-on creative workshop network in the world - specializing in screening of narrative films, animation and documentaries, and educational workshops, for toddlers through teens and their families. Festivals include the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the San Diego International Children’s Film Festival at Comic-Con International and other prestigious venues, the San Francisco Bay Area Children’s Film Festival at the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose; and the New Orleans International Children's Film Festival at the New Orleans Museum of Contemporary Art. Dan Bennett is a longtime reporter, essayist and arts-culture journalist whose work has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, MTV.com, and Movieline magazine. He was a staff writer and section editor for the North County Times in San Diego for 26 years. He has a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from San Diego State University. Dan is the founder of StoryGrip, a consulting agency that helps non-profits and governments craft stories that boost awareness of their mission, using time-honored storytelling techniques. Dan shares his expertise around at film festivals around the world, including the Varazdin Animation Festival in Croatia, the Helsinki Children’s Film Festival in Finland, the Golden Elephant Film Festival in India, and Sharjah International Children's Film Festival in Sharjah, UAE. BACKGROUND READING: The Hero’s Journey mythologyteacher.com/documents/TheHeroJourney.pdf =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Global Forest Link is an award-winning S.T.E.A.M. education program that engages high school and middle school students in the collaborative analysis of local forest health and helps them explore the impact of environmental change factors. Students share results online via photographs and digital stories with peers in other cities and countries, giving them a local and global perspective. Global Forest Link NOW accepting participants Collaboratively investigate forest health w/peers worldwide REGISTER: globalforestlink.com/register =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Global SchoolNet is all about collaborative learning! Global SchoolNet's mission is to support 21st century, brain-friendly learning, and improve academic performance through content-driven collaboration. We engage educators and youth in brain-friendly e-learning projects worldwide to develop science, math, literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork, civic responsibility, collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multi-cultural understanding. We prepare youth for full participation as productive and compassionate citizens in an increasing global economy. Founded in 1984, GSN is a 501(c)3 non-profit education organization. Let's work together to give youth the skills they need. Get Involved Now! www.globalschoolnet.org/gsnmembers/contribute.cfm
