fiscal sponsorship
Walk In My Shoes
TYPE: Transmedia Documentary
GENRE: Documentary
STATUS: Pre-Production
LOGLINE
Walk In My Shoes is a multimedia project that analyzes anecdotes of racialization from Atlantans in order to illuminate paths toward racial-unification for the larger country.
SYNOPSIS
The question, “How can we unite a racially-divided America?” has exploded over the past several years and with the election of Donald Trump the tension only builds. Due to Atlanta’s unique diversity, the experience of Atlantans can be examined to study the consequences of racialization today. Only by examining these voices can we move forward with addressing these issues in the larger, national dialogue.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Walk In My Shoes materializes the intangible by packaging anecdotes of racialization as raw, face-to-face portraits. Furthermore, Walk In My Shoes ensures its impact by harnessing a multimedia approach to engage with audiences on social media, in theaters, and in virtual reality. Each of these formats gives audiences the opportunity to engage with a brutally honest discussion on race and racism. In Walk In My Shoes, the storyteller constantly confronts the audience, forcing viewers to connect the identity of the storyteller to the story. Complimenting these storytellers’ images onscreen are metaphorical vignettes, which provide each storyteller the opportunity to “materialize the intangible”. Example: a flower slowly burns as a young South-Asian Muslim girl recounts witnessing a garbage man hurling trash at her mother and shouting “sand nigger” while she waits for her school-bus. These metaphorical vignettes never overwhelm the presence of the storyteller but instead subtly enhance the storyteller’s ability to visually communicate the indescribable in order to evoke empathy from the audience. In between the seven chapters of Walk In My Shoes are vignettes depicting a variety of storytellers conducting habitual activities from morning to night. These activities range from brushing teeth in the morning to eating lunch in the afternoon to praying before bed at night. By showing each storyteller conducting the same routines alongside one another, the intention of these vignettes is to illustrate similarities of the human experience, we all perform the same habits, just in different ways. Finally, as aforementioned, Walk In My Shoes ensures the impact of its research by using a three-part, multimedia approach, combining social media, long-form film, and virtual reality (VR). - Part One: A Social Media Campaign Walk In My Shoes plans packaging many of these storytellers’ anecdotes and releasing them daily as a shareable social media content in order to build buzz and expand reach. Think: Humans of New York meets AJ+. - Part Two: The Film Compiling the most compelling anecdotes in order to create the narrative of racialization and paths to move forward, Walk In My Shoes is intended disseminate this information in the festival circuit and through either televised broadcast or digital streaming services. - Part Three: Virtual Reality With the idea of creating a virtual museum exhibit, these VR vignettes anchor the project and allow Walk In My Shoes to truly influence and educate views through the unique state of suspended disbelief that only VR offers. Each viewer will be able to literally walk in the shoes of one of our narrators, experiencing recreations of micro-aggressive, traumatic, or violent experiences first-hand.
KEY CREW
Tyler William Huyser - Director and Co-Producer
In George Orwell’s “Why I Write”, he lists his reasons for writing, the most important of which was: “Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people’s idea of the kind of society that they should strive after.” This is how Tyler models his film career, making films and telling stories as a means to facilitate social change and give back to society. Tyler recently completed his undergraduate degree at Columbia University’s Columbia College and has a proven track-record of producing engaging, relatable, and urgent narratives. Notable accomplishments include: Best First Time Director at the Young Filmmaker Awards in 2016 (“Savage Inequalities”) and 2015 Selection Miami International Film Festival (“Emory”).
Isabel Deborah Carton - Co-Producer
Isabel Carton is a young professional living in NYC, who is a member of GE’s Commercial Leadership Program. Isabel recently graduated with the class of 2016 from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and Jacobs School of Music with two degrees: Information Systems and French Horn Performance. In 2014, she was the treasurer Indiana University’s Grammy Nominated Singing Hoosiers, and developed a fundraising campaign that successfully funded an international tour of Australia for 50 performers and herself. In 2015, she co-produced an album with Paul Mahern, producer of The Fray’s How to Save a Life, which was funded by a grant from IU’s Borns Jewish Studies Program. Isabel has experience with being a music director, jazz performer, orchestral player, and using innovative technologies to enhance art. She is excited to be working as the producer of Walk in My Shoes, and seeing how the project can affect the way people view diversity.
Dale Adams - VR Director/Producer
Dale Adams is an experienced transmedia producer, sound designer, and founder of interactive solutions start-up, Architek One. While Dale has lent his transmedia talents to music festivals and tech start-ups, his passion lies in assisting social-justice projects achieve maximum impact. His project, “One Night” aims to create empathy from the homeless in Atlanta. By combining laser-cut installations, photography, and virtual reality, One Night offers users the opportunity to experience homelessness first-hand, from the vantage of a homeless individual leaning against a brick wall on the streets. From his entrepreneurial endeavors, Dale Adams is considered an expert in the growing VR community, having moderated numerous trade-show panels and conference workshops.
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