Officially kicked off in November 2015, SWIM is a collaborative effort of creative women from the Midwest (specifically, Minneapolis, MN) whose purpose of existence is to support Strong Women In Motion.
Born of the insanely creative mind of our very own Alicia Reece SWIM has a vision of illuminating the other half of the gender divide within the motion graphics industry (and beyond) by encouraging and celebrating talented females making waves in various aspects of the motion industry as well as to provide a platform for insight, inspiration, and community.
Initially joined by Julia Iverson as Innovative Art Director, the ever-organized Amy Schmidt as producer, Courtney Rasmussen as World Wide Web Wonder Woman, and Lisa Edwards as Concrete Copywriter, the desire to showcase and spotlight these women became real. There’s actually a more detailed and fun story behind how it all came together but I won’t write about it here. Perhaps, it’ll be detailed in a podcast, direct from the horse’s mouth!
With a stated objective of focusing efforts on featuring and promoting talented women through interviews and social media shout-outs, waves of accomplishment have been happening these past few months, ripple by ripple.
The podcast we host features a woman we here at SWIM have been inspired by began with an interview of Pamela Green, a Director/Producer in the film and entertainment industry. Her abilities range from creative direction, to producing music videos, to creating main titles for feature films, including The Kingdom, Furious 6, 42, and The Muppets. She is also the co-founder of PIC, an entertainment and motion design studio based in LA, California.
Then December brought Kelli Miller to the mic. Kelli is a Creative Director and co-founder And/Or, a creative studio in Brooklyn that has worked with MTV, Sundance TV, Logo and Vevo to provide media-acclaimed branding and show packages. Kelli’s satirical humor, zippy intellect, and unique 8-bit style in her illustrated ‘zine Total Bummer earned her a For Print Only award.
The New Year was rung in with Rosie Garschina, a triple threat in the creative industry. Her extensive history in print, motion, and digital media has given her ample knowledge to kick ass in her current position as Associate Creative Director with Trollback and Company. Her elegant and thoughtful design solutions stand out in a highly competitive field. Some familiar brands Rosie has collaborated with include, but are not limited to, the New York Times, Chase Bank, MetLife and Perry Ellis.
Mad love to Jeanne Kopeck for taking the mic in February. She is an award winning and nationally recognized commercial director whose resume boasts a multitude of Emmy, BDA, and Telly Awards. Her directorial credits include works for the Discovery Channel, Food Network, and HGTV. In 2007 she formed Mrs K, a creative design & production studio specializing in spot work, show packaging, promos, and branding/ID campaigns.
Owing to some technical problems as well as the speed at which we have been swimming, the month of March necessitated we all take a breath and analyze the direction SWIM has been moving in. Was it shaping up to be what we wanted? Could we do more than we have been in some other areas? By what other means could we create some waves?
As these questions were swirling among the SWIM founders, kismet bumped into fate at a local industry event. The imitable Anna Fliessner whose genius in the realm of SEO, hashtagging, and general social media savvy has truly been a boon to the SWIM outreach was found to be available and willing to join forces. And Katey Haflund, the only visual artist in the twin cities we know whose capability with the written word assures SWIM a trifecta in modern communications (audio–visual–written); she too was amenable to SWIM.
And that brings us to the present day. We will continue with the podcast, uploaded to our website (soon into iTunes), a bi-weekly blog post on Tuesdays that will highlight the next up interview, the #SWIMfan woman of the month, the happenings within our SWIM forum, or some other timely topic relevant to our cause.
We’ve leapt off the bow; come SWIM with us. Dive in online and like us, follow us, pin us, tell us what you think! Know someone awesome who would be a good feature? Toss us a swim ring!