Salt Lake City, UTAH - Young filmmakers at East Hollywood High School and the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica teamed up with The James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness (JRI) to save lives!

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In a two-day workshop, professional animators from AnimAction in Los Angeles came to Salt Lake City and the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica to teach students how to create four animated commercials.  The theme for this intense seminar was saving lives through organ donation. 

In a total of twelve hours, the students learned about organ donation, received a crash course in animation, developed four concepts for 30-second spots, and sketched out their ideas in 300 pages of drawings.  These pictures were rendered into a final product a week later in Los Angeles.

“I had no idea we could do this much in two days,” said Cheyenne Hall, a freshman who plans to pursue an acting career.  “I already knew a ton about organ donation, but I learned so much more.  It was a definite experience coming up with the ideas and drawing them out without computers.”

JRI’s animated PSA project uses the power of media to encourage people to make a lifetime commitment to be organ donors and have that message spread to their friends and family. 

James, Robert Redford’s son, received a liver transplant in 1993 and now uses his contacts in the entertainment industry to promote organ donation.

“This is a great way to motivate young people to sign up to be donors -  encourage their creative voice, produce an animated television ad that will appeal to their peers, and give them a chance to learn from professional animators.” said Annie Aft, executive director of JRI.

Mary Ann Hess, an art teacher at East Hollywood High, described how the workshop affected her pupils. 

“Students told me that they learned so much about organ donation and animation.  Despite the brevity of the workshop, they told me they were in love with the project, because it allowed them to see the connections between subjects and real life.  Also, they created a product that is airing on television,” Hess said.

“We are thrilled to have young people creating this spots that will speak to their peers about becoming organ donors,” said Alex McDonald, director of public education/relations for Intermountain Donor Services.

The 30-second TV spots were used for NDLM and put in Utah’s television advertising rotation.  Local television affiliates for FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS covered the project and several of them featured the finished product in follow-up news stories.

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