The goal of Wise Not Withered, in all of its phases, is to expand representation of middle-aged and elderly women, in a society that currently values feminine youth (and baby-making potential) over wisdom and expertise.
Phase 1, the Wise Not Withered Show, includes interviews with women who are 40 or wiser, where we talk about upbringing, careers, challenges, successes, and lessons learned.
Phase 2, the Global Collaborative Project, incorporates the talents of writers, illustrators, voice actresses, and composers—100 women of all ages, all over the world.
While the tangible end goal of Phase 2 is to send a thought-provoking package to video game companies (more on the story behind that here), the product of the collaborative project will also be available to the public for viewing and purchasing!
With 25 characters representing all kinds of adventures that women can have into middle age and beyond, the concept extends further than just video games. Each character will have a handful of illustrations (a close-up of her face, a couple static shots, a couple action poses), and a written story about her (2-4 pages double-spaced, including poetry, descriptive prose, inner thoughts paired with action, monologue/dialogue, 4-5 minutes when narrated).
What will be available to the public after Phase 2 is done is, for each character, one complete, polished picture (a static or action pose, with a background/setting, maybe a few of the other characters from her story), with her name written on it and a quote from her story written on the picture as well. An audio excerpt of the narrated story with background music will also be available (narration by a voice actress and original music by a female composer).
If people want access to the full set of illustrations without watermarks, as well as a transcription of the entire story, AND the full audio with narration and music, they will have to pay some money through the crowd-funding page that will be opened later in the year.
Phase 3: The Wise Not Withered YouTube Series / WNW Show – Season 3
When the project is complete, which will most likely be near the start of 2020, a YouTube series will begin, with one episode a month over the course of 25 months. Each episode will feature the audio excerpt of the character’s story, as well as an “interview” between me and the Wise Not Withered character (her voice actress). Throughout each month, more content will be released, like interviews with the artists (if the illustrator, writer, voice actress as herself, or composer is willing to participate) and articles and videos made by yours truly! 🙂
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Stay tuned for updates about Phase 1 and Phase 2 here on wisenotwithered.com and on the Wise Not Withered Instagram page!
Wise Not Withered 