Brian Myers

Introduction: Brian Myers is an enthusiastic media producer, nicknamed “the digital commander” by his spirited colleagues. He has an educational background in both the creative and technical sides of technology. Respecting traditional mediums while welcoming new forms of media consumption and engagement. Through social issue documentaries, community health journalism, and promotional marketing of organizations and services, he emphasizes video production as a tool to emotionally connect the intended audience with the content. When characters can be empathized with, he believes sincere action can be asked of the viewer. Brian currently serves as a multimedia journalist for the Speak City Heights media collaborative. His work can be found in the reputable San Diego news organizations KPBS and Voice of San Diego. By focusing on issues of community health and social justice in underserved neighborhoods, he helps to boost residential voices to greater attention. His media is often broadcasted on the nightly news report KPBS Evening Edition. In addition, he collaborates with a KPBS reporter to provide featured content to the television show. Such as a story about a low-income single mother attempting to prepare healthy meals for her family, while living in a neighborhood labeled a food desert. The story told the personal struggle of finding nutritious food in the area, while also speaking towards culturally appropriate recipes, and highlighting an attempt of one organization to challenge the greater issue. In 2014, Brian was presented with an award by the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists for his contribution to Second Opinion, a KPBS radio and television series about the affects the Affordable Care Act would have on a diversity of San Diegans. With drive and enthusiasm he independently seeks out and produces creative stories. He has tracked down an elusive artist that keeps community murals clean of undesirable graffiti and profiled a temporary park built on a vacant lot in a community regarded as park deficient. Cal Humanities, an organization that promotes the humanities in California, awarded a grant to produce Brian’s vision of a location based interactive multimedia project. Brian served as director of the project that documented urban agriculture activity and examined communities relationships to local food systems in neighborhoods that were developing inventive responses to hunger and limited access to healthy food. Health care provider Kaiser Permanente sponsored the development of the project, as they found it to be an original way to promote healthy living and diabetes prevention. The documentary series screened locally and nationally in communities that share similar food system related struggles. Brian has been a dedicated supporter of the community technology center Media Arts Center San Diego since he was in college. Over the years, he has earned a variety of roles: instructing media production workshops to youth and adults, facilitating and scheduling equipment rental to support independent media development, graphic design and marketing to encourage member involvement and increase the membership body, providing assistance for technology repair and troubleshooting network issues, and representing the organization at community and business functions. His most rewarding responsibility at Media Arts Center San Diego has been building a successful social enterprise department within the organization. This branch specializes in video production services marketed towards government agencies, community organizations, and regional businesses. Brian’s involvement is tasked throughout the production cycle: meeting with potential clients, consulting with clients to develop story ideas, strategizing distribution routes, coordinating crew productions, completing post-production to guarantee client satisfaction, tracking project budgets, processing necessary forms and reports, and planning and performing backup and archival procedures. An organization recently reached out to Media Arts Center San Diego, because they knew the work they were performing was improving the quality of life for those they serve and they were operating more efficiently than other providers of the service. They needed to get this message out to be able to make greater change. Their problem was that they were just too busy with their regular tasks to effectively get that message out. Brian spent time with the organization, meeting their dedicated staff and the people they serve. He found individuals who were passionate about the organization and wanted to share their experience. With the help of a small production crew, they created a product that was emotionally appealing and informative. The organization now uses the video for fundraising purposes and attracting supporters.