THE APPLICATION
roles: storyteller, producer, applicant;)
Hello! Here is my response answering the questions included in the application and as well as my personal piece. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.
Hi people that I think are really cool and hope to collaborate with,
My name is Claire. I love telling stories, building dungeons and dragons characters, and writing letters and poems to myself to express my thoughts and feelings. I hope you’ll join me in this letter to myself and you, the bold and always zagging, BBH.
The easiest thing to know about me is my love of storytelling. I can trace all of my most impactful moments, favorite experiences, and personal qualities to storytelling. My first experience telling stories was through theatre. I love to tell them, write them, and analyze them, so I am endlessly excited with the opportunity to build and tell stories to better understand them in any capacity set before me.
Honestly
Things have started to make less and less sense
Lately
Lots of uncertainty
Made by me
Made by rejection
Made by that tiny, annoying piece of doubt in my ear
But storytelling is steadfast
It sparks joy
Acting
Producing
Improv
Dungeons and dragons
Monster of the week
Musical writing
Conflict management
I love to tell stories
I love to build characters
I love to brainstorm
I love to solve problems
I love to listen
You wonder about my most profound black sheep moment? Hmmm very great or intense… the intensity that I experience things has varied greatly lately. I often find myself in spaces that are against who I am and so it feels like the only option is to go against the herd. Part of it is misunderstanding myself and what I want. Oops, it looks like we are approaching the great internal conflict within myself. The most profound moment to me was the acknowledgement that I could go in my own direction. I think that the well paved path can be a little too cozy at times, so actively choosing to go against it opened a lot of possibilities for me. Now I’m writing a musical, I made a twitch stream about dungeons and dragons character creation knowing that it was a very niche and possible unsuccessful idea, and I moved to New York. Once I started acknowledging that I was going to go in a different direction than was expected of me, all the other moments felt less profound and more ordinary. They aren’t ordinary, but I hope I continue to surround myself with extraordinary experiences and moments.
This is going to sound silly to you, mx advertising people, but I don’t super love ads. I do tend to mute or zone out right when a commercial pops up on my tv or on my phone. I might attest that to the habit of my family’s behavior, but with me being an adult and not living with my parents, I still do it. When an ad catches and holds my attention, it leaves a bigger impact on me. We’ve only just met, but you know I love storytelling right? Easiest thing to know about me ;) so it’ll be no surprise to know that I love ads that tell cohesive stories. The ones that draw you in and maybe you don’t know who the ad is for until the end. I also love ads that try to leave a positive impact. My favorite and most captivating of late is called “She, a J&B Tale.” It’s a holiday ad for a global drink brand called Diageo. I love it for all the reasons I have mentioned about telling a story, having the story be the focus, and for it’s positive impact. I also think it’s captivating because it takes your assumptions and twists them in the best way. An older man practicing applying makeup over time for the purpose of being able to help his trans granddaughter feel beautiful and comfortable celebrating with family for the holidays.
My first choice is Creative Copywriting and my second choice is Strategy & Project Management. I’ve actually already met some of you. Back in 2020 when the world was ending and my sense of self was at peak confusion, I was selected to participate in the 2020 cohort of Griffin Farley’s Beautiful Minds. That’s really when I first met BBH and how I came to hear of the BARN program as well. I loved my experience learning more about strategy and connecting with my mentor Steph Mack. She has been endlessly helpful as a mentor and a friend, and that was all because of you! I do hope I get the opportunity to speak to you in the future. Have a wonderful day BBH BARN :)
Love you,
Claire
For my personal piece, I wanted to give a feel of how I write character backstories for dungeons and dragons campaigns. This one is for an orphaned tiefling arcane trickster rogue. Her name is Tilia Knight :) the quotes in this backstory are from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Once upon a curse, a baby was born. The birth was difficult, the mother died. The baby had two elvish looking ears, the smallest horns, and a hint of a tail. The skin was not what it should have been. None of this would have caused discomfort if not for the human father questioning the source of these non-human features. Embarrassment or shame brought the father to abandon his child in the woods, unwanted. He told himself that this wasn’t his fault, that any deals he made were honest and pure, he didn’t cause the death of his wife and the disgrace of his child. He hoped something would eat the child, removing his mistake from piercing eyes.
“Great wonder grew in hall
At his hue most strange to see,
For man and gear and all
Were green as green could be.”
Wrapped in green clothes, almost lost in the wooded foliage, a kind and bookish elf discovered the discarded child, glowing white eyes peering up. Something strange overcame him, and the elf carried the small child to his home that was slowly becoming an orphanage on the edge of the village of Millmere. Surrounded by elves, half-elves, and humans, the small child grew up knowing she was a different sort of elf than her friends, with a much higher purpose.
Tilia frames her early childhood through a story of adventure and excitement! Found in the Hollowbury outside of Millmere, she was a magical baby with a heroic purpose! She would be dun dun DUNNNN, an ADVENTURER!!! She knew she was different than the other elves, because she was born with cool horns and glowing eyes, so clearly that meant she was destined for greatness. Her pure intentions may not have looked so pure to the standard passerby. As an orphan with no connections, she spent a lot of her time alone teaching herself to move fast and not be noticed. She loved watching card tricks and learning how to make them look like magic. Another reason why she knew she had an important purpose is that her magic was different than the other elves, and she thought that was cool and meant awesome things were in store for her!! Not only that, but she came up with the coolest name, Tilia Knight! The latter part came from the most cool and awesome story ever.
Her biggest inspiration was the only good book at the orphanage, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!! It was a story full of stealth and bravery and tricks and amazement!! She admired the Green Knight and his magical tricks and cunning that helped him survive and be brave! And Sir Gawain!! He looked danger right in the FACE and was also just as clever and wise. Her closest friend in the orphanage, Adrie, basically her sister, also loved the story, but she thought Sir Gawain was honorable and noble blah blah blah. They disagreed a lot over what the last chapter said, because their copy of the book had a couple of missing pages. The Green Knight obviously spared Gawain because he realized how clever of a trickster he was and appreciated him. Duh. Anyway, it was Tilia and Adrie’s dream to go on an equally awesome adventure some day!
“Said Gawain, gay of cheer, ‘Whether fate be foul or fair, Why falter I or fear? What should man do but dare?’”
