Emmy

Yes, you read that right. An actual Emmy. Meet Cameron Woodward (handsome fellow on the right) and Brandon Tauszik (handsome fellow on the left), two Invisible Children alumni, currently heading up video production company Sprinkle Lab. Like anyone else, we at Invisible Children love name-dropping and bragging about our friends, so we especially love it when we get to simultaneously name drop and brag in a single blog post.

Cameron started out as a Deep South Roadie in 2007, and later joined our staff to lead the recurring donations program with the Mission Department. He then went on to become the project lead in Digital Media Marketing where our online properties including Twitter, Facebook and this very blog were built. And just in case that wasn’t enough, he worked on a number of operational and business development projects with Chris Sarette, our current VP of Business Operations.

Brandon was a 2009 Europe Roadie, and then took a position as a staff editor/director working on tour media for the Rescue, Legacy, and Face to Face tours, as well as dozens of campaign podcasts. In 2010 he was sent to Uganda to capture our programs on the ground. Since then, he’s assisted Magnum photographer Jim Goldberg, and directed a number of commercials for some of the largest companies in the world.

To cap it off, both worked with our Music Department to set the editorial tone of the SXSW Silver series.

After their time at Invisible Children, the duo started their commercial video firm Sprinkle Lab. “We started Sprinkle Lab in 2011 to discover and support the most talented designers, directors, and producers to create commercials, films, music videos and objects for audiences, clients and ourselves. We’ve worked on projects with Microsoft, Twitter, Razorfish, Partizan, IBM, GOOD, charity: water, Robyn, Magnum Photos, and on occasion, we even get to work with our parent company, Invisible Children.” (#ThatsUs)

(So in case you didn’t follow, they did all of that before winning an Emmy award… It’s ok if you’re feeling inadequate. I know I am.)

So on to the Emmy award. Cameron and Brandon were the producers (via Sprinkle Lab) and won in the “Community/Public Service (PSAs)” category,  for which there was one spot. (You can click that link if you don’t believe us). They beat out Bank of America (#bigbucks), Alaska State Troopers (who had two project nominations), and two other nominees in their category. It goes without saying that these guys are amazing at what they do.

Here's Cameron casually hanging out at the Emmy awards show, holding the Emmy he casually won.

Here’s Cameron casually hanging out at the Emmy Awards show, holding the Emmy he casually won.

I asked Cameron to share a bit about the project and this is what he had to say:

We could not have done it without the incredible education and mentorship we both received from the Invisible Children community. Specifically, Jason, Chris S. & Chris C. As for the project, it was a Public Service Announcement in conjunction with Frause and Seattle Hip-Hop legends, Blue Scholars. The video is part of a larger campaign called “Be Smart. Be Safe.” launched by Sound Transit in connection with new Sounder commuter train service from Lakewood to Tacoma. “People don’t realize how quiet the Sounder train is, and how fast it travels,” said Carol Doering, community outreach specialist for Sound Transit. “We want everyone who lives and works in the Lakewood area, where our new service just started, to pay attention and obey all the signs and signals around train tracks. We’re very excited to have a group as popular as the Blue Scholars helping us deliver these messages.

We couldn’t be more excited and proud of these guys, and we’ll keep bragging about our Emmy award-winning producer friends, because it’ll never get old. (#NotSorry)

(Photo credit: 1, 2)