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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1488864
Finding Inspiration As is now the tradition, MAX’s second day keynote featured successful creators who have used their talents to make an impact. This year, the presentations were far more cerebral than celebrity-dominated, though it did include one Oscar winner, CODA writer/director Sîan Heder. It has been clear at these conferences that Adobe has a sincere interest in having their products used for positive change, social, environmental, and dare we say, political? The second day keynote is Adobe’s opportunity to inspire their community to do the same and consider the greater good when using their gifts. Many of this years talks were a call to action, challenging us to use our gifts and talents to speak out and work to make the world a better place. One of the best examples was the first speaker, the somewhat nervous but renowned artist and illustrator, Kadir Nelson. Indebted to his parents for acknowledging his talents early in life and tutored by talent uncle and high school art teacher, he went on to illustrate dozens of children’s books and magazine articles and covers. The meaning and spirit that was imbued in his work, which frequently celebrates the lives of Black Americans, gave it the qualities of fine art. The stories these pictures tell have lasting meaning to everyone who sees them. They bring us all closer together because they make it is so easy for us to relate to what we he is showing us. We see everyday people in a new and sometimes glorious light and the most touching and human side of the famous faces we all know. They are a bridge to a perspective that brings us all closer together. From Sîan Heder we again heard that a supportive family can provide the boost that a budding creative needs to begin what is often an arduous path to success. After years of penning scripts for shows like Orange is the New Black and Little America, her second feature film as writer and director, CODA, won an Oscar for Best Screenplay and was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival and on Apple TV+. Taking experiences from her own life to build characters that became a family for her, CODA takes us into the world of a child of deaf adults (CODA) that should be so different but is, in reality, turns out to be so familiar. A Peek at the Sneaks Each year, just before the ever-popular MAX Bash that takes over a block or so of downtown L.A. for a very loud and crowded party, are the equally popular MAX Sneaks. This year, co-hosted by Bria Alexander, Adobe’s Brand