Adobe Selects 10 Young Creative 'Ambassadors' for BuzzFeed Homepage Takeover

Today, 10 young talents took over BuzzFeed’s homepage as part of “Make the Feed,” a campaign designed to give the next generation a potent platform—and put the diverse tools available in Adobe Creative Cloud on display.

Selected from hundreds of applicants, the group features Gen-Z designers, photographers, musicians, filmmakers, animators, dancers and more. Each took part in a four-week Adobe-BuzzFeed mentorship program, using their diverse skills to create projects steeped in digital storytelling.

Now, through this initiative developed with creative agency Pereira O’Dell, BuzzFeed gives their diverse projects the star treatment for the next couple of days.

Here’s a project trailer:

And the BuzzFeed takeover links to this page, which houses the content, a multimedia mélange of words, images and motion that captures the tenacity, spirit and humor of these aspiring digital natives. It’s a very mixed, frenetic bag, ranging from a cheeky take on the role of fictional sidekicks (which one are you?), to a meditation about doctors disbelieving patients’ symptoms, to the misadventures of Frank, a hapless fork.

“We were looking for diversity in every aspect: regionally, racially, the mediums they wanted to explore and more,” BuzzFeed head of partner innovation Jake Bronstein says of the project. “We looked at people knocking on our door through every channel and found a collection of people who not only balanced out nicely across all of these aspects, but who we also found ourselves rooting for.”

He adds: “Everyone came into the program with a baseline knowledge of the Adobe Creative Cloud, and then proceeded to learn the most-used products at BuzzFeed—all while being given the space to lean into what their passion is and the reigns to direct and create content.”

The work recalls Adobe’s online film festival with all footage sourced from the company’s stock library, and its Billie Eilish-themed art contest judged by the singer/songwriter. Such interactive excursions put users in the picture and help position the company as a creative partner that understands their needs and appreciates their talents.

“We want our audience, especially the younger audiences, to see new and interesting voices in the mix, and see how Adobe products—even after just a bit of playing with them—make telling their stories easier,” Bronstein says. “Obviously the more this group explores these products and their own storytelling abilities the better everything will become … but this Generation Create, what we call Gen Z, should see how easy it is to get started, and then once you get started, how far your creativity can take you.”

Ambassadors:

• Anne-Fatima Syed, 19, Bay Area, Calif.
Multimedia designer and photographer who hopes to bring a new perspective into the creative world through her spiritual and cultural roots through visual storytelling.

• Brianna McCall, 22, Queens, N.Y.
A host/producer who has a passion for storytelling and enjoys discovering new ways of creativity through producing and editing videos.

• Elaeì Hill, 21, Fayetteville, N.C.
A nomadic millennial who seeks his passion and joy through music and stepping out of his comfort zone, as he values knowledge as power.

• Jake Zach Sachs, 24, Bellmore, N.Y.
An artist specializing in photography, acting, film production, and editing.

• Jalese Ayana, 24, East Orange, N.J.
A published content creator using the mediums of photography and music. Influenced by gender, sexuality and mental health she released her 2018 project “Pretty Girl Blues,” a film that details the experience of young tomboys.

• Katherine Pickhardt, 23, Pittsford, N.Y.
Majored in television production with a concentration in screenwriting from Ithaca College.

• Madison Ruiz, 24, Montclair, N.J.
An illustrator and animator; while studying in Hong Kong, she received a BFA in Animation and a minor in fashion and hopes to merge the two in a meaningful way.

• Mickalia Forrester-Ewen, 22, Brooklyn, N.Y.
She graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts where she strengthened her passion for acting as a Drama major.

• Nehal “Neil” Banik, 21, Los Angeles
Incorporates his experiences with filmmaking and his time spent in the dance community to produce short conceptual videos and music videos to better help creative artists in the South Asian community.  

• Sophie Park, 21, Irvine, Calif.
A Korean American digital media artist and aspiring producer who wants to share stories of underrepresented voices.

CREDITS

ADOBE
Global Vice President, Head of Marketing, Digital Media: Monte Lutz
Director, Marketing: Michi Alexander
Global Campaign Marketing Lead, Next Gen: Ellen Vanderwilt
Campaign Marketing Manager: Lexie Hartnett
Education Campaign Project Manager: Courtney Heatherington
Social Media Strategist, Students: Rebecca Decker
Sr. Social Media Manager: Annie Radsliff
Sr. Manager, DMe Social: Leah Walker

AGENCY: PEREIRA O’DELL
Creative Chairman: PJ Pereira
Chief Creative Officer: Robert Lambrechts
Executive Creative Director: Jason Apaliski
Creative Director: Jean Morrow
Copywriter: Will Martin
Art Director: Connor Witt

Integrated Producer: Josh Diaz
Content Producer: Lauren Gould
Director of Project Management: Lindsey Anderson

Director of Business Affairs: Camara Price
Chief Executive Officer: Andrew O’Dell
Managing Director: Natalie Nymark
Group Brand Director: Jessica Smith
Brand Manager: Kendall Richardson
Director of Brand Strategy: Sean Staley
Group Brand Strategy Director: Lenny Karpel
Associate Director of Communications Strategy: Breanne Brock
Social Strategist: Cristina Azanza
 
MEDIA: WAVEMAKER
Shelby Hamilton- Associate Director, Planning
Sara Wine- Senior Associate, Planning
Cori McCarty- Associate, Planning
Jen Chu- Manager, Digital Analytics
Sylvia Yu – Senior Associate, Data Sciences
Abhishek Bharekar- Analyst, Data Science
Erika Morato- Associate, Digital Activation
Jessica Illescas- Associate Director, Digital Activation
Jordan Moore- Senior Associate, Digital Activation
Eric Wolff- Senior Associate, Planning