Scotty Iseri (born April 6, 1979) is an American

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

and mobile application creator and director, as well as a freelance sound designer, producer, and theater artist. Iseri's web series, ''Scotty Got an Office Job'' brought him to national prominence in which he secretly filmed the goings-on in his office job in Chicago. "Using a Flip camera and his laptop’s webcam, Iseri manages to get an impressive range of footage while on the clock...the series’ very existence is one that proves perhaps there are some people who are meant to wear grown-up pants in an office, and there are some people who aren’t. And for the latter, Scotty is an inspiration." In 2010, Iseri, who is half-Japanese, received a fellowship with the

Center for Asian American Media The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) was founded in 1980. The San Francisco-based organization, formerly known as the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA), has grown into the largest organization dedicated to the adv ...

and in 2012 developed the app ''The Digits'' for elementary school children who are struggling with math and math concepts. The web series enlists talent from the Pacific NW, specifically

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, and the curriculum of the show is designed for third and fourth graders, a time when "Math and science learning get harder at around age 8," he says. "So there's not much for children to watch." Iseri currently is the creator and host of The Imagine Neighborhood podcast, produced by Committee for Children.

Early career

Ontario, Oregon Ontario is the largest city in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It lies along the Snake River at the Idaho border. The population was 11,366 at the 2010 census. The city is the largest community in the region of far eastern Oregon, also ...

, native, Iseri graduated from

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

in 2001 with a degree in theater, and moved to Chicago and pursued a freelance career as a sound designer for theater and radio. He also worked as a producer and contributing editor for

Chicago Public Radio WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and list ...

on a weekly show called

Smart City Radio ''Smart City'' is a weekly radio show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. Smart City is a weekly, hour-long public radio interview show that takes an in-depth look at urban life, the people, places, ideas and tren ...

The Paper Hat Game

Iseri also created the Paper Hat Game, an urban ARG played on public transit. In Chicago, he became known as the "Paper Hat Guy" after handing out newspaper hats to hundreds of train and bus riders. The game later inspired a toy theater piece by Duke University Professor Torry Bend. The show "The Paper Hat Game" toured nationally, and was nominated for a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

in 2016.

The Digits

On November 16, 2012, Iseri's app The Digits became available in an iOS version to the App Store with its first episode entitled The Digits: Fraction Blast. The app features a 45-minute video and more than a dozen mini-games that teach a math curriculum focused specifically on fractions. "Unlike the majority of educational apps, says Iseri, The Digits follows the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curriculum and the app was also created under the guidance of a designer and implemented by a 20-year veteran school teacher."

The Imagine Neighborhood

Iseri currently hosts the podcast The Imagine Neighborhood, a podcast designed to help children develop their social and emotional skills. The podcast won the 2020

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media award. The show was nominated for Best Asian Hosted Podcast by the People's Choice Podcast Awards, and won a National Parenting Product Award in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iseri, Scotty 1979 births Willamette University alumni Living people American Internet celebrities American artists of Japanese descent People from Ontario, Oregon American podcasters