Jacob Potashnik’s novel The Golem of Hampstead and Other Stories was a finalist for QWF’s Concordia University First Book Prize. His screenplay for Stardom, co-written with Denys Arcand, won the WGC’s award for best feature-film screenplay. Jacob has worked as a screenwriting teacher and consultant, and has a special interest in mentoring emerging, talent from minority communities.
The Writers in CEGEP program allows Jacob to focus on a growing concern: media platforms that use addictive narratives and visual techniques to appeal to young viewers, a subject of interest for him since completing his BFA in Communication Studies at Concordia. The ability to discern truth from fiction, authenticity from deception, has been negatively affected by the addictive character of social media. The notion that one does not exist unless one is validated on social media is pervasive. Directed guidance with mentors might be missing from the education cocktail.
The goal of the 90-minute workshop is to give the participants the tools to see the manipulative, market forces behind popular entertainment. Teachers will canvas their students a week in advance and compose a list of the popular social media content they follow. We would then screen some of these choices and discuss whether they represent “reality” or have been contrived to appeal to a certain target market. How does social media content result in an increased consumer engagement? Can social media ever be authentic? How can we develop the faculties that will allow us to understand when we are being manipulated?