Soul Survivors

Producer: Jason Smikle

Spoken word poets are like television journalists. They paint a picture of the world in vivid detail to their communities, many times referencing their own experiences in the process. But how do they translate their experiences into words? We wanted to find out, so instead of having them write about a past experience, Soul Survivor places poets in a unique (and many times uncomfortable) experience, forcing them to consult their inner feelings as a source for their spoken word performance.

Jason Smikle is a business leader and a creative entrepreneur. When he was a teenager, he started In-Sites Websites, an interactive web design business that served small businesses and nonprofits in Chicago. Through the Emma Bowen Foundation, he worked over four summers at CBS2, Chicago in production, marketing, web and executive offices. He attended Temple University’s Annenberg School of Communications, where he majored in Broadcast Television and Mass Media. Jason worked as a production assistant at MTV News and Docs (My Super Sweet 16). He is the co-founder of TUVonline.com; an interactive web channel that showcases originally produced web series inspired by real college life. In 2009, TUV was recognized by Business Week as one of the Top 25 Young Entrepreneurial Companies.

Ebele Mora is a social entrepreneur who co-founded Dzine 2 Show, the first and only student organization dedicated to fashion at the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently the co-founder of TUVision, LLC (TUV). She manages operations, human resources and finances for TUV and is leading the development of TUV’s nonprofit organization. Ebele graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics.

Fabricio Sousa, co-founder and Director of Production for TUV, is a native New Yorker and recent transplant to the Bay Area. He worked in online advertising and web content development for NBC Universal. While at NBC, Fabricio spearheaded all online video projects for digphilly.com, a social media website developed for the Philadelphia media market. He’s worked at Cision, a global media-monitoring agency, where he was awarded an Outstanding Performance in both post production and Spanish language editing.