Vinta Nanda, the Founder & Managing Director of the Asian Center for Entertainment Education (ACEE) and The Third Eye Project, also a prolific film and television producer, director and writer of popular Indian serials ‘Tara’ and ‘Miilee’, art house film ‘White Noise’ starring Rahul Bose and Koel Purie and several documentary films on compelling social issues will be a panelist on a plenary session at the World Cancer Congress 2014. 

This session is organized by Center for Disease Control and Hollywood Health and Society, Norman Lear Center USC, represented by Kate Langrall Folb, Director, and Chris Dzialo, Program Administrator, Creative Alliance for Global Health & Sustainability. 

The other esteemed panellists are writers Jennifer Cecil (Private Practice & 90210) from Hollywood and Kate Bradley (Neighbors & Home and Away)from Australia and Demitrius M. Parkar, CDC

Melbourne Australia: The World Cancer Congress will be hosted in Melbourne from the 3rd to the 7th of December this year.

 The 2014 World Cancer Congress theme  Joining Forces – Accelerating Progress  will emphasise the impact that can be realised by consistently and energetically applying what we know, rather than waiting for possible future “breakthroughs” to change the landscape. This will be discussed across a variety of economic and cultural contexts. 

The congress is to feature a plenary and workshop with communities of outreach experts discussing the POWER OF STORYTELLING in raising awareness on cancer.

The workshop will allow participants to:

• Hone their storytelling skills to make presentations more effective
• Learn how to select the important aspects of a particular cancer subject matter for a variety of communication efforts, and how to      convey the critical information in a compelling and meaningful way that keeps audiences engaged
• Gain experience by telling their stories and receive feedback from the professionals.

The Third Eye led by Vinta Nanda is a project which was launched two years ago, in a collaboration between ACEE, India, and HH&S at the Norman Lear Center, University of Southern California.

It is a free on demand resource for creative communities to avail expert information in the field of health, sustainable development and climate change so as to enrich their content with accurate information and raise awareness on these issues through their works of entertainment.

“It has been a tremendous journey up to this point, of exploring ideas and strategies and testing them to enrich content with accuracy and realism; also helping writers and creative leaderships make their narratives more effective. At times it been like, ‘Who are you, and why do you think we, who watch this universe from on top, should need your help?’; and at other times, ‘Thank you so much, you have been like a blessing in disguise!’; but all in all it is the success we have achieved through the experience of impacting television viewers at the grassroots and effecting change in their lives, which I am carrying with me to share with an audience of communicators at the World Cancer Congress 2014 along with our partners Hollywood, Health & Society, and my co-panelists”, says Nanda.

The team at present is consulting on the series Hamari Sister Didi produced by Tony & Deeya Singh for Sony Pal, and soon to be launched medical drama for the channel LifeOK which is produced by Sanjay Tripathi and helmed by director Suhail Tatari.

ACEE also conducts exploratory studies and research to discern existing attitudes and beliefs on social issues and determines the attitudinal and behavioural impact of the value additions to the content it is consulting on.

The project engages with creative communities and leaderships in India through a digital presence on its websites   www. acee-thethirdeye.org and www.thedailyeye.info and helps networks, studios and producers of the industry of entertainment through consultations and briefings, to design content promoting best practices among viewers, while retaining entertainment in the storytelling of popular media.

This is what the leaderships at the Asian Center for Entertainment had to say, when we met them:

We facilitate a dynamic exchange between the grassroots, the experts and the creative communities which makes way for meaningful and enriching stories that empower along-with entertain.

                                        -Deepa Bhalerao-Singh, Program Outreach Manager

“I feel that at The Third Eye, we are creating a model of content creation, audience engagement and research strategies that will lead to high quality content that impacts audiences and will benefit all stakeholders present.”
                            -Hans Kapadia, Head of Business Development and Strategy

“By retaining the entertainment value in content, we are able to reach out to communities with fluidity and have a subliminal catalyzing effect on their attitudes and behaviours in a positive manner”
                                    -Shiv Bhalla, Creative Director

“Our current challenge lies in convincing the content leaders of the country to adapt to the changing realities and wield their power to steer us to a more positive and informed future.”
                                   -Pratik Punjabi, Director- Content Strategy