Damien Somerset has an odd way of telling his green stories. That’s what I like. His site, ShiftLogic.org, caught my attention (Ok, so he included my blog in his video, much to my surprise). I dig his unique approach to sustainable storytelling. So I asked Damien to frame his own story to see what we can derive from his madness.
Here’s Damien.
Tell us about the protagonist
Well, I am Shift Logic. I do everything. From the writing, production, web page building, catering, to the dog washing, I do it all. The basic concept behind SL is to make environmentalism fun. No doom, no gloom, just jokes while hopefully deepening the viewers understanding of an issue. I’ve worked for a number of environmental websites like Treehugger, Ecorazzi, & my last show ZapRoot, which all have one thing in common and that is they don’t take themselves too seriously. I just want to make green focused media that reflects the way I see the environmental movement & speaks to smart modern environmentalists.
Write the end of your story
I’d love for the show to get picked up by a large green website or something, but I’m just gonna make the show and let the chips fall where they may. Success would be great, but I learned a long time ago that making something based on if it will be financially successful or not, means you’ll definitely fail.
Villains
Time. Having enough time to do it. Right now I’m the Project Manager at the AFI Digital Content Lab & I also work as a social media consultant, and I have a girlfriend, and a dog, so finding time to do it is the major problem. The show is deceptively time consuming.
What the hell just happened? (The inciting incident)
My last few project have been team efforts and I kind of got tired of the team process. So I just wanted to do everything myself and do the kind of show that I felt like doing. So if I wanna make a joke about eating disorders and ballet classes, I just go ahead and do that.
Act Two.
Well, I kinda feel like time is kinda kicking my ass. I’d like to put up more shows regularly, but this thing is a marathon not a sprint. So I’ll just keep making the show and whatever happens will have to be good enough.
All is Lost…
Self doubt, in this digital age, is just about the biggest obstacle you have. Sometimes I throw my hands up and say this isn’t funny, nobody cares about this crap, I suck, everything sucks. That’s when I start drinking… heavily….
Act Three.
Of course I would like to get tons of views, but I’m just happy when anyone says they like what I do. I try not to forget that that person just spent their own time to watch the thing I made, then tell me they like it. That’s a serious thing.
Finale.
I don’t really have a destination in mind, so I guess I won’t know when I get there…. man your giving me an existential crisis here.
Damien Somerset writes, hosts, & produces Shift Logic He also produced the green web video series ZapRoot, was the editor of Ask a Ninja, and has been the Project Manager for the AFI Digital Content Lab. His diverse credits include, Executive Producer of TreehuggerTV and Producer for Ecorazzi, Writer for Whole Life Times and Worldchanging Los Angeles, Curator for Pixelodeon, and a Web Video Consultant for GOOD Magazine. Damien is very active in both online media and environmental advocacy, and hopes to use both to help reshape the face of modern environmentalism. More info can be found at DamienSomerset.com.
