What You Can Do: June 2013

Friday, June 28, 2013

Our June 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

What You Can Do is spending this summer honoring our oceans from coast to coast. Recently, we made trips to The Parker Manatee Aquarium at The South Florida Museum and The Monterey Bay Aquarium to interview their experts on the current health of our oceans, and what people can do to help.

Our videos spotlighted the issues of climate change, plastics, sustainable seafood, and the human impact of overfishing and trash disposal. More importantly, we highlighted one minute ways to make an impact and help.

In addition, on June 22nd, What You Can Do's video: Help Fight Hunger in New York City, featuring one of our favorite organizations, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, screened at the Manhattan Film Festival in Greenwhich Village. Thanks to the festival for including us. We had a blast!

Wish you and yours a happy kick off to the summer,
The On the Leesh Team

A few weeks ago, Amanda visited The Monterey Bay Aquarium to interview experts on the most pressing topics affecting our oceans today.

First up, Amanda interviewed Jim Covel, the Senior Manager of Guest Experiences, about the state of our oceans and ocean health in general. All the choices we make affect our oceans. Everything from the pesticides we use on our lawns, the cars that leaks oil onto pavement, and the cleaning products that we choose for our homes, all will eventually run off into our seas. Even if you're in the middle of the country! Check out the video to learn how you can help make better choices to protect one of our most valuable resources.

Next up, Ryan Bigelow, outreach manager for the Seafood Watch Program, explained that we have already lost over 85% of the big fish in our oceans. According to the aquarium, catching fish faster than they can reproduce may be the single biggest threat to ocean ecosystems. Downloading the app or a pocket guide from Seafood Watch, allows consumers to make better choices at restaurants and supermarkets. Making better choices and talking about the issue of overfishing will help bring back fish populations. It has worked to bring back Swordfish and Chilean Sea Bass, so let's give it a try! Watch this video to find out more.

Thanks to The Monterey Bay Aquarium for such a warm welcome, and to everyone who got involved in the conversation on Facebook. Be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube.

UP NEXT

July continues What You Can Do's dedication to our oceans. We're traveling to Bradenton, Florida to interview Marilyn Margold at The Parker Manatee Aquarium at The South Florida Museum. The Parker Manatee Aquarium is the home to the ambassador of Manatees, Snooty. He's turning 65 this year, so stay tuned to find out who you can celebrate manatees in his honor. Marilyn also discusses the biggest threats to our marine wildlife and how we can help make a difference.

If you're an artist, we're holding a contest in honor of our oceans in New York City. We're seeking works of art made from recycled plastic that will be featured as part of a show at Bushwick Coffee House, a coffee shop in Brooklyn, NY. The contest will culminate in an event and concert with the Sea Monsters on July 20th. Write us at info@ontheleesh.com for more information.

Be sure to write in and share your ideas on how to protect our oceans!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

What You Can Do Featured on +Social Good Site: Support Ocean Health in One Minute

This summer we have been focusing on Ocean Health and how we can make a difference in our Oceans over the long term.

We are excited that two of our summer videos about helping Sea Turtles and Protecting Ocean Health are being featured on the website +Social Good. A website that was inspired by the Social Good Summit. It is a place that "Unites a global community of innovators around a shared vision: The power of technology and new media to make the world a better place."

You can check out our feature here:

http://www.plussocialgood.org/Post/This-summer-discover-ways-to-support-Ocean-Health-in-just-a-minute/fe8dcb87-f17c-4668-a0df-e7de0613173d

If you want to learn more about how you can help protect our Oceans for generations to come please check out our youtube site for more great videos about how you can be the change you want to see in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsIUjdZM2Mk&feature=youtu.be

Thank you +SocialGood for helping us spread the word about how you can make a difference even one minute at a time. A huge thanks to our friends at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for letting us visit their amazing facilities and learn about our oceans. And finally a big thank you to our friends at www.iamthedarkranger.com for helping us with our video about Protecting the Night for Sea Turtles.

#bethechange
#oceans

Friday, June 21, 2013

Cooking and Dining with Sustainable Seafood

Wanna learn how you can cook and dine on sustainable seafood choices? Well What You Can Do recently spoke with the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Outreach Manager, Ryan Bigelow, about their Seafood Watch program and how to create delicious dishes at home and make the right choices while dining out.

Shot and Directed by - Amanda Blohm
Edited by - James McGann
Associate Producer - Melissa Jernigan
Additional Sound - Melissa Jernigan
Additional Footage Courtesy of Shutterstock Inc.

For more information on What You Can Do, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/whatyoucando
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/whatyoucando
Other YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.coom/whatyoucando365
Blog - http://www.whatyoucandoseries.blogspo...
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/1minette
Website - http://www.whatyoucando.com

For more information on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/montereybayaq...
Twitter - https://twitter.com/montereyaq
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/MontereyBayAqu...
Seafood Watch Program - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr...
Website - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Thursday, June 20, 2013

In honor of What You Can Do's screening at the Manhattan Film Festival, here are some other ideas

This Saturday, June 22nd, What You Can Do's video "Help Fight Hunger in New York City" will be screening at The Manhattan Film Festival at 2pm. In honor of our video that highlights NYC organization, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, we wanted to give you simple one minute ways that you can help fight hunger in New York City.

Be sure to join us at the festival, and to share your one minute ideas on how you can help combat hunger.

Starring: Melissa Jernigan & Greg Gallagher
Written by: Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by: Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group

Statistical Information provided by: City Harvest, http://www.cityharvest.org
Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission
Special Thanks: Heather Wallace and everyone at City Harvest, and Dennis Arinella

For more information on What You Can Do, please visit:
Website - http://www.whatyoucando.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/whatyoucando
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/whatyoucando
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/whatyoucando365
Vlog - http://www.youtube.com/unstoppableminute
Pintrest - http://www.pinterest.com/1minette

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

What You Can Do Presents an Interview with Ryan Bigelow of Seafood Watch

What you Can Do speaks with Monterey Bay Aquarium's Outreach Manager, Ryan Bigelow, about their Seafood Watch Program. Download the Seafood Watch app, or print the pocket guide to find out what seafood to buy to keep the ocean healthy, and which restaurants are serving you sustainable seafood. This program is an excellent way to enjoy seafood sustainably in one minute!

Shot and Directed by - Amanda Blohm
Edited by - Amanda Blohm
Associate Producer - Melissa Jernigan
Additional Sound - Melissa Jernigan
Additional Footage Courtesy of Shutterstock Inc.

For more information on What You Can Do, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/whatyoucando
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/whatyoucando
Other YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.coom/whatyoucando365
Blog - http://www.whatyoucandoseries.blogspo...
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/1minette
Website - http://www.whatyoucando.com

For more information on Buick Audra, please visit:
Website - http://www.BuickAudra.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/buickaudramusic
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/BuickAudra

For more information on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/montereybayaq...
Twitter - https://twitter.com/montereyaq
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/MontereyBayAqu...
Seafood Watch Program - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr...
Website - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

What You Can Do visits The Monterey Bay Aquarium to learn about ocean health

What You Can Do takes you to The Monterey Bay Aquarium to talk about the current state of our oceans with expert Jim Covel. Jim describes changes that are taking place below the ocean's surface, and how we can take one minute to help keep our oceans healthy.

Shot and Directed by - Amanda Blohm
Edited by - Amanda Blohm
Additional Footage Courtesy of Shutterstock Inc.

Special Thanks to Jim Covel, Ken Peterson, and everyone at The Monterey Bay Aquarium.

For more information on What You Can Do, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/whatyoucando
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/whatyoucando
Other YouTube Channel -http://www.youtube.coom/whatyoucando365
Blog - http://www.whatyoucandoseries.blogspo...
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/1minette
Website - http://www.whatyoucando.com

For more information on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/montereybayaq...
Twitter - https://twitter.com/montereyaq
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/MontereyBayAqu...
Seafood Watch Program -http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr...
Website - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Monday, June 17, 2013

What You Can Do at the Manhattan Film Festival

This Saturday, June 22nd, What You Can Do's episode - Help Fight Hunger in New York City will be screened at the Manhattan Film Festival.

If you're in town and want to come and watch us - you can buy your tickets here. We're screening at 1pm at Quad Cinema at 34 West 13th Street in Greenwich Village.

We hope to see you there!

~The What You Can Do Team

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

What You Can Do Honors Our Night Sky and Supports Our Troops

May 2013

Dear Friends,

What You Can Do spearheaded two campaigns this month - one to protect the natural darkness of the night sky, and one to honor our service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

First up we called upon Dark Ranger Kevin Poe to revisit one of our favorite topics, Protecting the Night Sky. Kevin outlined the major threats our bodies and our planet face from excess light pollution and shared simple one minute ideas to help combat them. By the campaign's end, we had 2,100 people vow to become Dark Rangers and agree to join the battle to Protect the Night.

In honor of Memorial Day, we then teamed up with Solider's Angels to honor our fallen service members. We asked our community to visit Soldier's Angels' Facebook page to share messages of gratitude on theirFallen but not Forgotten Memorial Wall. Through this collaboration, we had over 28,000 people share photos and submit messages of support and thanks.

In addition to these two successful campaigns, What You Can Do has exciting news to report! We've been named the 2012 Accolade Awards' Humanitarian of the Year. In addition, we received a Gold Remi from Houston WorldFest for Commercials or Public Service Announcements. Thank you to everyone who made this possible!

Thanks so much,

The On the Leesh Team

What You Can Do's Campaigns to Protect the Night and Honor Our Service Members

Protecting the Night: Our Connection to the Stars

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and every summer we head outside to perform one of our favorite past times - star gazing. Unfortunately, all of the artificial light that we use, not only makes it harder to see the stars, but has a serious and detrimental impact on our environment and our health. This month, What You Can Do teamed up with the always informative and ever entertaining Dark Ranger Kevin Poe, to learn about the issues we face from excess light pollution. Sea turtles and migrating birds are two of the species affected by artificial nighttime light, but they're not the only ones. Humans are directly impacted by this issue since it affects our ability to sleep, and sleep is so important for our bodies' restorative functions, keeping our stress down, and helping to curtail future illness.

Does this all seem overwhelming? Well Kevin not only illuminated the issues we currently face, but he also followed up with simple one minute ways that we can make a difference. If you haven't watched the videos on our YouTube channel, be sure to check them out. For more information on how you can help fight the issue of light pollution, follow Ranger Poe on Facebook or YouTube. He regularly posts great facts, anecdotes and and innovative ways to get involved.

Memorial Day is also a time to stop and give thanks to our service members, and to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. For the last two weeks in May, What You Can Do and Soldier's Angels partnered to honor fallen service members and their families. We encouraged our community to visit Soldier's Angels' Facebook Page. Under their photo album labeled "Fallen but not Forgotten," people could write messages of thanks, appreciation, support and encouragement.

What You Can Do also encouraged our community to share their thoughts on our Facebook page. People wrote in their own messages of thanks, shared our photos of appreciation and re-tweeted our messages of gratitude. The words that were shared were forwarded on as letters to active service members. We are proud to report that through this collaboration, over 28,000 people came together to offer their gratitude and support to our troops.

Thanks to everyone who got involved in the conversation on Facebook, and be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube.

UP NEXT

This summer, What You Can Do is dedicating June and July to our oceans. We're partnering with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and The Parker Manatee Aquarium at the South Florida Museum to highlight the most pressing issues currently affecting our seas as well as highlighting some inspirational stories of people working in the field. We'll spend the summer celebrating our oceans and the amazing creatures that live within them.

Be sure to write in and share your ideas on how to protect our oceans!

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

What You Can Do has just been named the 2012 Accolade Award Humanitarian of the Year. We are completely honored and humbled by this award

In addition, What You Can Do won a Gold Remi Award from Houston WorldFest for Commercials/Public Service Announcements. We're so thrilled with this honor. Lastly,What You Can Do has been selected to compete in the2013 Manhattan Film Festival - if your'e in NYC, be sure to check it out.

It's been a busy month for us, and we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to the entire cast and production crew of What You Can Do, as well as the wonderful organizations we partner with, and our incredible fans and community!

Wanna know more?

OUR BLOG

Stop by our "What You Can Do" blog for new posts and features like Missy's Homestead. Get in on the conversation & let us know what you'd like to read about next!

JOIN US ON PINTEREST

Min' Ette, the face of the Unstoppable Minute Vlog, has been busy mining the web for facts, constellations, and images of our Night Sky as well as inspiring photos that honor our Service Members.

Corporate and Instruction Videos

On the Leesh would like to extend our congratulations to our clients at Super Styling Sessions: Jay Scruggs and Sue Zecco. Our video won the Barkleigh Award for "Best DVD 2012" which is the follow up for our Barkleigh Award win of "Best DVD Series - 2011."

Check out our corporate video site for new video clips from our clients and contact us to learn more about maximizing visibility for your company.

What You Can Do Series Celebrates Our Oceans in June and July

What You Can Do Series Celebrates Our Oceans in June and July

June 3, 2013 – New York, NY – The What You Can Do series dives into ocean conservation this June and July, revealing easy ways to help preserve the beauty of our coasts for future generations. The series will feature inspiring work of activists from the Monterey Bay to the Florida shore, focusing on critical ocean concerns such as pollution, wildlife health and sustainable seafood. Check out the video launch of the Oceans campaign here: http://youtu.be/Z0SOQdnlD8U.

“Our team traveled to both coasts to discover the latest issues affecting our oceans and simple ideas to take positive action,” shared Jessica Arinella, What You Can Do creator and producer. “From buying sustainable seafood to packing a beach picnic with reusable items, we can make a big impact with small changes.”

To spotlight one of the biggest threats to oceans, What You Can Do announces the competition “Plastic Art for a Healthy Ocean”. The contest invites artists to submit a 2D or 3D ocean-inspired piece using primarily plastics and other mixed media. At an event on July 20^that the Bushwick Coffee House in Brooklyn, NY, the What You Can Do team will announce the winner of a $100 cash prize and matching donation to an ocean conservation charity. Event details will be announced on the What You Can Do Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/whatyoucando. For contest details, visit:https://www.theartlist.com/art-calls/plastic-art-for-a-healthy-ocean.

What You Can Do will screen at The Manhattan Film Festival on June 22 at 1pm, for more information, visit:http://www.manhattanfilmfestival.org. The Webby Awards named What You Can Do as an official honoree in the Public Service and Activism category for 2013. The series also received the 2012 Humanitarian Award from the Accolade Competition in recognition of the mission to help change the world, one minute at a time. Houston World Fest, the oldest independent film and video festival in the world, presented What You Can Do with a Gold Remi Award for Television Commercials/Public Service Announcements in 2013.

Produced by On the Leesh Productions in New York City, the What You Can Do web and television series spotlights easy and powerful ways to help solve important issues such as rainforest preservation, climate change, hunger and animal cruelty. The series has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens, The Daily Green web site, Mrs. Green’s World radio show andVideography Magazine. To view What You Can Do episodes and for more information, visit:http://www.whatyoucando.com.

On the Leesh Productions is a New York City based company that creates film, web series and corporate video. For more information about On the Leesh, visit: http://www.ontheleesh.com/.

Media Contact: Sponsorship Contact:

Ashley Kaufman Kristin Thomas

ashley@eluxpr.com KristinReniseThomas@gmail.com

336.255.7565 704.369.1492

What You Can Do Honors Our Oceans

This summer, What You Can Do is partnering with the Parker Manatee Aquarium at South Florida Museum and the Monterey Bay Aquarium to bring you up to date information about the ocean and how you can help to improve its health.

Shot and Directed by - Alicia Arinella
Edited by - Amanda Blohm
Music by - Buick Audra
Additional Footage Courtesy of Shutterstock Inc.

Special Thanks to Allison Barratt, Marilyn Margold, Jessica Schubick, Snooty the Manatee and everyone at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Parker Manatee Aquarium at the South Florida Museum

For more information on What You Can Do, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/whatyoucando
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/whatyoucando
Other YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.coom/whatyoucando365
Blog - http://www.whatyoucandoseries.blogspo...
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/1minette
Website - http://www.whatyoucando.com

For more information on Buick Audra, please visit:
Website - http://www.BuickAudra.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/buickaudramusic
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/BuickAudra

For more information on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/montereybayaquarium
Twitter - https://twitter.com/montereyaq
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/MontereyBayAquarium
Seafood Watch Program - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
Website - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

For more information on the Parker Manatee Aquarium at the South Florida Museum, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/SouthFLMuseum
Twitter - http://twitter.com/SouthFLMuseum
Website - http://www.southfloridamuseum.org/TheAquarium.aspx