About Zadi Diaz

Recent Posts by Zadi Diaz

Hipsters, Hotdogs and Heaven



Good and Ready

I was invited by Melissa Rowley to appear on her new show, Good and Ready. It’s a series about how cause, brands, and celebrity intersect in the name of social good. In this episode, Adrian Grenier talks about SHFT, his new eco art gallery in downtown Los Angeles (which I visited during Art Walk – video coming soon).

Thanks again to Melissa for the invite. Also check out the good things fellow panelists are working on: Invisible People TV’s Mark Horvath, Ford’s Scott Monty, and SocialVibe’s David Levy.

Rocketboom Interview

Thanks to Molly, Leah, and the Rocketboom team for the interview. We go back a long way.

Dominican Republic 2010

Felipe the Monkey. I wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home. He wanted to make his home my head.
This was the second time visiting the place my mother was born.

I always forget that I’m a first-generation American. My mother immigrated to the United States when she was eleven and was schooled at a Massachusetts boarding school. Though Spanish was my first language, English replaced it as soon as I began attending kindergarten. The only time I’m able to practice is when I visit my grandmother.

It was great to go back for a second time and see the island with new eyes. It was also interesting to experience how I fit into the existing social strata, especially being merely an echo of a Dominican from the States.

All in all, my stay wasn’t long, but it was fun. And within a week of being immersed in the culture, my Spanish improved greatly.

Check out 65 more photos (with captions) of my trip here.

The Zadi Diaz Action Figure!

You could imagine my surprise when I opened a recently arrived Fed-Ex package to find a boxed toy. My first thought was “who would send me a toy?” Then I turned it over to see what was inside and staring back at me was something so eerily familiar it that it gave me goosebumps. It was me!

My mind started racing back in time until it hit on something C.C. Chapman said to me a few weeks earlier: “You’ll be getting something in the mail that I think you’ll get a kick out of.” Oh, I got a kick out of it alright, so much so, that I opened the package right away, dismissing any thought of perservation. I tore into the package like a hungry kid in a candy store. I mean, you get your own action figure and you want to play with it, no?

There was a note inside explaining the deal: CMT is launching a new block of programming they wanted to spread the word about called Adventure Country which is premiering on April 9th. Included in the block are two shows called Danger Coast and Gator 911, both about people who risk their lives in order to save others, whether human or reptile. My action figure was based on one of the shows. How cool is that?!

I’ve never watched any shows on CMT, I guess I assumed it was mainly country music, but obviously it’s a lot more. I’ll have to tune in to this show and see what it’s all about. From the promotional videos that were included in the flash drive, they seem really interesting. One featured a man stranded at sea, another featured a trapped nine foot alligator. In both cases, the hosts had to figure out how to get the subjects to safety without hurting them or harming themselves. I also loved that one of the videos included one of the hosts talking directly to me. No joke, he said “Hi Zadi…” Pretty cool. Marketers take note: action figures with personalized videos are definite wins.

If you want to check out what this is all about, you can head over to welcometoadventurecountry.com. Big thanks to CMT for giving me something to check off my bucket list. Sweet!

And if you’ve ever wanted your own custom action figure (someone asked me on Twitter), you can go to thatsmyface.com, but there are a few others as well!

Sir Patrick Stewart on Living Digitally

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sir Patrick Stewart for Digital Nation, which aired on PBS’s Frontline. In this interview, Stewart explains why he can’t reduce life to 140 characters and why he’s afraid to start gaming. He also tells us why he loves technology and how the Internet has changed his life.

After the interview, we asked him if he was aware of the life his persona had taken on the web, specifically on sites like YTMND. He mentioned having a Google alert for his name, but quickly disabling it when the alerts began flooding his email inbox.

Not surprisingly, the interview was quickly created into a pretty hilarious mashup video by an online fan. Because this is the Internet… and that’s just what you do. Someone even used the background to simulate their own PBS interview.

I think it’s very easy for networks, shows, and personalities to feel uncomfortable when their content is floating freely on the web for all to use in whichever context they wish. But there is also something creatively rewarding about giving super-fans the ability to redefine and reinterpret what they see. Editing video takes time and effort, especially mashups, so when someone takes hours to recreate a piece of video, you know it means more to them than just making a “cool video.”

Thanks again to PBS, as well as our amazing team Steve Woolf, Lan Bui, Vu Bui, Rick Rey, and Tracie Cotta.

Directing the J!nx/ Frag Dolls TV Commercial

This is a national TV commercial I directed and edited for Jinx.com featuring the Frag Dolls. It’s currently running on G4 as part of the “Get Into It” campaign.

Executive Producer: Ray Doustdar
Producer: Steve Woolf
Director: Zadi Diaz
Cinematography & Sound: The Bui Brothers
Associate Producer: Rick Rey
Editor: Zadi Diaz
Behind the Scenes videos: Bonny Pierzina
Makeup: Tracie Cotta, Ashley Joy Beck
Produced by Smashface Productions

Digital Nation

Above is a recent interview I conducted with the creators of Digital Nation: Life in the Virtual Frontier for PBS’s Frontline.

Producer & correspondent Rachel Dretzin and correspondent Douglas Rushkoff discuss how the Web and digital media have transformed work, learning and social interaction in ways that we are only beginning to understand. FRONTLINE’s “Digital Nation” premieres Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET on PBS. Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules

Global Change through Xchange

For the next few months I will be working with the British Council in helping to develop the Multilateral Community Xchange (MCX) pilot program, a component of the successful internationally recognised Global Xchange program which was primarily developed by the BC and VSO. The program will connect youth and community activists from six countries: USA, France, UK, South Africa, Sierra Leone and Rwanda.

Global XChange is a UK program comparable to the United States’ Peace Corps program. The aim of the program is to develop inter-community and inter-cultural dialogue skills through a series of activities that involve work-shadowing attachments, skills sharing, training workshops and community events. Five incredible Los Angeles nonprofits have been selected to participate: Street Poets, Create Now, Reach LA, Homeboy Industries and LA’s Best.

Here’s an example of the first program which took place in between Scotland and Malawi. Inspiring.

How can you help? Well, we’re currently looking for a sponsor to supply the group of kids who are participating with 2 Flip cameras to document their Xchange experience taking place in Durban and Belfast. Mad props and credit will be given where credit is due. So if you, or someone you know would like to participate, please contact me. I’ll continue to update this blog about the experience.

More info about Global Xchange.

globalxchange2010

A Call to Build Cross Cultural Relationships

TN2020 in Berlin. Photo by Z_Huey

In spring 2008, thirty young professionals from the US and the UK met in Berlin to discuss how we could build stronger ties with one another both professionally and personally. In fall 2008, we grew to 100 members and met again in Ireland. The group, called Transatlantic Network 2020 (TN2020), began as an initiative of the British Council to help emerging leaders develop solutions to global issues in the areas of politics, business, arts, civil society, science and media.

My involement with this young group of activists, artists, politicians, business professionals, media professionals, scientists, and entreprenuers has been nothing short of amazing. The people involved are smart go-getters who are extremely passionate about information sharing, problem solving, and giving back to their communities.

TN2020 in Ireland. Photo by Noneck

And now TN2020 is looking for new members. From their Web site:

TN2020 seeks to target outstanding early-career professionals who are shaping, or who have the potential to shape society in the coming decades. It is the goal of the network to bring together people from a wide range of educational, ethnic, religious, political and professional backgrounds.  It is essential to do this in order to have challenging discussions, real learning from others’ views and international outlooks, and ultimately – the cross fertilisation of ideas which lead to action in at least one of three focus areas – sustainable living; building resilience in communities; creativity and innovation.

All members, whatever their background, should be committed to learning from each other and working together on issues.  Members must be willing to give back, and see this as an opportunity to not only better themselves, but their wider networks and community.

Walking tour of Belfast. Discussing Protestant/Catholic divide. Photo by Plasticshore

If you’re a young professional (between 25-35 years of age) interested in cross-cultural relations and diplomacy, I encourage you to apply. The deadline for submission is January 17, 2010. If you’d like to connect with the members and join in on the conversation, there is a TN2020 Facebook group which is regularly updated.

I’ll be updating this blog more frequently on TN2020 activities leading up to the Summit in Chicago in June 2010, as well as other British Council initiatives I’m working on that I’d like you to participate in (more on that very soon). In the meantime, here are some links:

TN2020 Application

TN2020 British Council Web site

TN2020 Tumblr

TN2020 Flickr Photos

TN2020 YouTube Channel

TN2020 Twitter

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