At the 25th Annual Communicator Awards, “The Life of Firestrike” was honored by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts with an Award of Excellence for online video advocacy.
With over 6,000 entries received from across the US and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals. Other winners who received the competition’s highest honor, the Award of Excellence, include ESPN Films, Forbes Media, PepsiCo, Scorpion, WWE, and Publicis Sapient.
“We are extremely proud to recognize the work received in the 25th Annual Communicator Awards. This class of entries we received this season embodies the ever-evolving marketing and communications industry” noted Derek Howard, director of the AIVA.
He added, “On behalf of the Academy, I’d like to applaud the entrants this season for their dedication to producing outstanding content as they continue to push the envelope of creativity.”
Visit www.communicatorawards.com to view the full winner’s list.
The Life of Firestrike was drawn by an eight-year old boy in Family & Children’s Services (F&CS) Child Abuse and Trauma Services – also known as CATS.
One of CATS’ methods for helping children work through traumatic events is by having them draw and tell their stories. Through the power of storytelling, CATS children can find healing and the path to a brighter future.
Firestrike’s mother (Flamer) was in her addiction for 14 years before joining F&CS’s Women in Recovery (WIR) program (Superhero School). As Firestrike went through therapy, he learned coping skills and how to deal with anger and sadness.
Flamer graduated from WIR’s 23rd graduating class.
The animation was created by F&CS’s Chief Communications Officer, Dee Harris.
Harris said, “From the moment I saw the illustrations of The Life of Firestrike I knew that the story needed to come to life through animation. Not only is it an amazing hero’s journey, it’s a beautiful superheroes journey. The story is a powerful example of how both the CATS and WIR programs are able to change trauma into reunification and a promising future. I was honored to be able to tell that story.”
About The Communicator Awards: The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for marketing and communications professionals. Founded by passionate communications professionals over two decades ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best digital, mobile, audio, video, and social content the industry has to offer. The Communicator Awards is widely recognized as one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA), a 600+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current AIVA membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: PureMatter, Condè Nast, Disney, Republica, Tinder, MTV, Starbucks, Fast Company, Tribal DDB, Yahoo!, and many others.
