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XSnap and LACMA Partner on a Series of Citywide Augmented Reality 'Monuments'
Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

A swarm of flying street-vendor carts festooned with multicolored umbrellas was seen hovering above MacArthur Park this week, alongside a cadre of magical objects that included a gigantic rolling orange, a rocket-propelled elote stand and a humongous white bucket overflowing with flower petals.
The scene was one of five new virtual monuments dotting L.A. available through Snapchat, collaboratively developed by Santa Monica-based Snap and the L.A. County Museum of Art.
Ruben Ochoa's "¡Vendedores, Presente¡"pays tribute to the hustle of L.A.'s street vendor community.
"Snap and Lens Studio are a tool to empower the creativity of others," said Sophia Dominguez, Snap's head of camera platform partnerships. "The whole idea behind this project was to rethink what it means to create a monument in today's world, that can teach others around the world about specific Los Angeles histories and untold stories."
The lenses are available to Snapchat users anywhere, but have connections to specific sites across L.A. To see them, users in the area can find the lenses via the sites' markers on the Snapchat Map, while those elsewhere can access them from LACMA's website.
Ruben Ochoa, of West L.A., created "¡Vendedores, Presente¡", the vivid, circus-like flying food-cart lens, as a tribute to the hustle of L.A.'s street vendor community.
Raised by a mother who created her own tortilla delivery business, Ochoa was moved by the rough plight faced by L.A.'s street vendors during the pandemic. In addition to facing economic hardship, he noted, some were physically attacked.
"That was really hard to bear witness to," he said. His lens includes links to nonprofit organizations whose work supports street vendors.
Mercedes Dorame's "Portal for Tovaangar" pays tribute to L.A.'s indigenous Tongva people, whose legacy includes familiar names like Cahuenga, Topanga and Tujunga. Dorame, who is based in Glassell Park, is part Tongva herself. She said her lens aims to transport users into the Tongva mindset, which is inspired by the land, sky, celestial bodies and "the infinite ability to connect to these entities and with each other."
"I'm always looking at the landscape of Los Angeles, the idea of Los Angeles, how we visualize the city, and trying to kind of re-envision it and show the indigenous presence and the native people who always inhabited this place," Dorame said.
"It was a really fun opportunity to imagine something that wouldn't be possible in a non-virtual space," she added.
Dorame's lens depicts levitating stones connected by swirling red ribbons to a portal-esque circle with indigenous imagery, accompanied by Tongva music. It is meant to be experienced on the LACMA grounds, next to the La Brea Tar Pits, which fittingly also connect the present to an earlier era, Dorame said.
The three other lenses are linked to Magic Johnson Park and the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Ada Pinkston's "The Open Hand is Blessed" pays tribute to Biddy Mason, who passed away in L.A. in the late-19th century as one of the wealthiest Black women in America.
"All of the artists and lens creators use the same tool, but all of the results are just so wildly different," said Dominguez.
Ada Pinkston's "The Open Hand is Blessed" pays tribute to Biddy Mason.
Snap and LACMA commissioned the works as part of a multi-year initiative called "Monumental Perspectives." The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will provide future funding for community engagement, public programming and bringing on more artists in the coming years as part of its five-year $250 million "Monuments Project" initiative.
In 2018 Snap joined LACMA's Art + Technology Lab Advisory Board, and in 2019 the two organizations partnered to present Christian Marclay's "Sound Stories" installation.
Next week, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Snap's chief executive Evan Spiegel will join the heads of LACMA and the Mellon Foundation on a panel to discuss the future of monuments, with an eye toward using technology to create more virtual, interactive experiences.
"LACMA is very much driven by innovation and always seeking to try out new things, and at Snap that really resonates with us," said Dominguez. "We hope in the next iteration of this the lens creators and the artists can leverage some of our even newer technology and do even wilder things than what we can imagine today."
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Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake
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TikTok’s Latest Ad Strategy: Let Brands Crowdsource Creators
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
TikTok’s newest advertising program will allow brands to crowdsource content from creators.
Branded Mission, which the Culver City-based video-sharing app announced Wednesday, is currently being beta-tested. The program lets brands release briefs containing specific creative directions—such as incorporating a specific hashtag, visual effect or audio—with the goal of procuring videos that will become promoted ads. Creators with at least 1,000 followers will be compensated with cash payments if the content performs well.
Creators participating in the “authentic branded content” program, as TikTok described it, can choose which brand initiatives they wish to participate in—with each Branded Mission “page” highlighting details like how much money a creator could potentially receive for participating. TikTok told Business Insider that it’s testing various payment models, including a first-come, first-serve model as well as “boosted traffic” compensation.
“Creators are at the center of creativity, culture and entertainment on TikTok,” the social media firm said in a statement. “With Branded Mission, we're excited to bring even more creators into the branded content ecosystem and explore ways to reward emerging and established creators.”
TikTok’s previous advertising strategies have relied on creators with large followings, with the recently announced TikTok Pulse targeting users with at least 100,000 followers. Branded Mission, on the other hand, gives creators with smaller platforms a chance to make more revenue beyond programs like TikTok’s Creator Fund.
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Greater Good Health Raises $10 Million To Fix America’s Doctor Shortage
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
The pandemic highlighted what’s been a growing trend for years: Medical students are prioritizing high-paying specialty fields over primary care, leading to a shortage of primary care doctors who take care of a patient’s day-to-day health concerns. These physicians are a cornerstone of preventative health care, which when addressed can lower health care costs for patients, insurers and the government. But there’s a massive shortage of doctors all over the country, and the pipeline for primary care physicians is even weaker.
One local startup is offering a possible answer to this supply squeeze: nurse practitioners.
On Wednesday, Manhattan Beach-based Greater Good Health unveiled $10 million in new funding led by LRVHealth, adding to $3 million in seed funding raised by the startup last year. The company employs nurse practitioners and pairs them with doctor’s offices and medical clinics; this allows nurse practitioners to take on patients who would otherwise have to wait weeks, or even months, to see a doctor.
“This access and equity issue is just going to become more pervasive if we don't do things to help people gain more access,” Greater Good founder and CEO Sylvia Hastanan told dot.LA. “We need more providers to offer more patients appointments and access to their time to take care of their needs. And in order to do that, we really need to think about the workforce.”
There has been a growing movement in the medical industry to use nurse practitioners in place of increasingly scarce primary care physicians. California passed a law in 2020 that will widen the scope of nurse practitioners and allow them to operate without a supervising physician by 2023. Amid a shortage of doctors, there’s also the question of what will become of the largest and longest-living elderly population in recent history, Baby Boomers. Public health officials are already scrambling for ways to take care of this aging demographic’s myriad health needs while also addressing the general population.
“By the time you and I get old enough where we need primary care providers to help us with our ailments and chronic conditions, there aren't [going to be] enough of them,” Hastanan said. “And/or there just isn't going to be enough support for those nurse practitioners to really thrive in that way. And I worry about what our system will look like.”
Nurse practitioners function much like doctors do—they can monitor vitals, diagnose patients, and, in some cases, prescribe medication (though usually under the supervision of a doctor). Nurse practitioners need to get either a master’s degree or higher in nursing and complete thousands of hours of work in a clinical setting. All told, it usually takes six-to-eight years to become a nurse practitioner, compared to 10-to-15 years to become a practicing physician.
Greater Good Health’s platform puts nurse practitioners in often years-long care settings where they manage patients—most of whom are chronically ill, high-risk patients that need to be seen regularly and thoroughly. This allows them to follow up more carefully on patients they have managed for years, instead of catching up on a new patient’s history and treating them in the moment. Patients, meanwhile, don’t have to see a rotating door of clinicians and can talk to a provider they already have an established rapport with.
The one-year-old startup will use the funding to provide learning and development opportunities for its nurse practitioners and also connect them with each other through virtual support groups. Burnout has been an issue across health care during the pandemic, spurring an exodus of nursing and support staff and leaving health care facilities woefully understaffed. Greater Good hopes that keeping nurse practitioners in more stable, years-long care situations and offering them career development opportunities will help retain them and keep them in the workforce longer.
“We want them to be well-rounded and balanced both in work and life, and we see that returns us healthier, more engaged and ready nurse practitioners,” Hastanan said.
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
Plus Capital Partner Amanda Groves on Celebrity Equity Investments
On this episode of the L.A. Venture podcast, Amanda Groves talks about how PLUS Capital advises celebrity investors and why more high-profile individuals are choosing to invest instead of endorse.
As a partner at PLUS, Groves works with over 70 artists and athletes, helping to guide their investment strategies. PLUS advises their talent roster to combine their financial capital with their social capital and focus on five investment areas: the future of work, future of education, health and wellness, the conscious consumer and sustainability.
“The idea is if we can leverage these people who have incredible audiences—and influence over that audience—in the world of venture capital, you'd be able to help make those businesses move forward faster,” Groves said.
PLUS works to create celebrity partnerships by identifying each client’s passions and finding companies that align with them, Groves said. From there, the venture firm can reach out to prospective partners from its many contacts and can help evaluate businesses that approach its clients. Recently, PLUS paired actress Nina Dobrev with the candy company SmartSweets after she had told them about her love for its snacks.
Celebrity entrepreneurship has shifted quite a bit in recent years, Groves said. While celebrities are paid for endorsements, Groves said investing allows them to gain equity from the growth of companies that benefit from their work.
“Like in movies, for example, where they're earning a residual along the way, they thought, ‘You know, if we're going to partner with these brands and create a tremendous amount of enterprise value, we should be able to capture some of the upside that we're generating, too’,” she said.
Partnering in this way also allows her clients to work with a wider range of brands, including small brands that often can’t afford to spend millions on endorsements. Investing allows high-profile individuals to represent brands they care about, Groves said.
“The last piece of the puzzle was a drive towards authenticity,” Groves said. “A lot of these high-profile artists and athletes are not interested, once they've achieved some sort of level of success, in partnering with brands that they don't personally align with.”
Hear the full episode by clicking on the playhead above, and listen to LA Venture on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
dot.LA Editorial Intern Kristin Snyder contributed to this post.