SimpleCitizen Hosts Screening about Utah Tech Immigrants
In conjunction with Utah Tech Week, SimpleCitizen announces the screening of Rooting in America, a short-form anthology series focusing on immigration stories.
The event will be held on January 26th, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM, at Kiln - 26 S. Rio Grande St Suite 2072 Salt Lake City, UT 84101
The evening's program will feature the screening of "Rooting in America," produced and directed by Luis Puente, a BYU Film Grad, Mexican immigrant, and Sundance Film Festival Nominated Director (2023) and produced & co-directed by Karina Gale, Marketing and Media Strategist at SimpleCitizen.
Rooting in America is a short-form documentary film and part of a three-part series about 'The Diaspora of Tech in Utah." See preview here.
The previous three parts of the anthology include:
- Sam Stoddard's Story - What is SimpleCitizen? How love and tech come together to create opportunities for others
- Ayde Soto Wright's Story - Rooting in America: The Story of Ayde Soto, Mexican Immigrant, and Tech CTO
- Desange Keunihira's Story - From War-Torn Congo to a Life of Resilience
The event will also include a panel discussion on immigration issues featuring with special guests.
"This newest episode is by far my favorite," said Sam Stoddard, CEO & Co-Founder of SimpleCitizen. "Luis & Karina have found the voice of this series and have brought a compelling story to life via filmmaking that demonstrates an incredibly high level of skill. It's beautiful and breathtaking. I hope that those of us in Utah, who are builders in tech, will see the same excitement and wonder that drew many of us to this calling at an early age. Those moments when our parents brought home the first family computer. My own father sacrificed to purchase an Apple II for the family and we always had a computer in the home."
He continued, "For many of us this was our portal to another world. After entering, we never looked back. This series of events happened across thousands of homes in the Wasatch Front in the 80s and without it, we might never have met the versions we know and love today of Ryan Smith, Bruce Bastian, Josh James, Paul Allen, Aaron Skonnard, Blake Murray, Brandon Rodman, and so many more. This episode tells that story!"
The afternoon's program will feature the following:
3:00 PM - Refreshments
3:10 PM - Welcome remarks by Kiln and SimpleCitizen
3:15 PM - Film intro with Bassam Salem, Luis Fernando Puente, Karina Gale, Daniel Tu
3:30 PM - Screening of SimpleCitizen’s short-form series “Rooting in America”
4:00 PM - Panel discussion with special guests and industry experts
5:00 PM - Event concludes
Click here for more information about the event.
