Taryn Southern is a storyteller, artist, speaker and brand strategist who works with emerging technologies. She was formerly known for her work as a TV host, actress and YouTuber.

Early life

Southern grew up in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

and landed her first starring role in a pre-Broadway theatrical production at the age of 10.Trussel, Robert (December 1995)
Could 'Jane Eyre' actors be Broadway bound?
''Kansas City Star'' ("10 year old Jane Eyre played by Taryn Southern") As a teenager, she co-hosted a regional teen talk show for WB Kansas . At 20, Southern graduated from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

, earning a B.S. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Journalism. While in school she competed in American Idol and received a grant to travel to Peru to study the shamanic use of

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' ( Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' desce ...

among rainforest communities.

Career

Emerging Technology and Storytelling

In 2017, Southern received a grant from the Google Creator Lab to create experimental VR content. One piece, New World, won AT&T's 2020 Film Award and another, Life Support, was nominated for a Streamy Award. Southern was also chosen to be an ambassador for The Geena Davis Institute Gender in Media #ShesGotDrive campaign to promote female voices in media. Southern's immersive content work led her to begin producing music with AI-based musical composition tools. In 2018, she released a music album titled I AM AI, where the instrumental backing music was generated using a variety of AI-based tools including Amper, an open source product which allows users to create music based on user generated inputs, IBM Watson Beat, Google Magenta, and AIVA. Her first single, Break Free, was released in August 2017 and features music generated using Amper. Her song New World was tokenized using blockchain technology to enable hundreds of collaborators to split backend royalties on sales and streams of the track. The album received international attention, and radio play in the US. In April 2019, Southern debuted her first full-length feature documentary, I AM HUMAN, which explored the co-evolution of the human brain and technology. I AM HUMAN had its worldwide premiere at the 2019

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...

in New York and was co-directed and produced by Southern. The Winner of four "Best Feature" awards following its premiere, I AM HUMAN chronicled the journey of three real-world pioneers with implantable brain-computer interfaces. I AM HUMAN won numerous awards including Best of the Fest at the 2019 El Dorado Film Festival, Audience Choice for Best Feature at the 2019 Eastern Oregon Film Festival, Outstanding First Feature at the Tallgrass Film Festival, Best Feature at Other Worlds Austin, Best Director at the Oslo Film Festival. I AM HUMAN was released on March 10, 2020 on

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

platforms.

Digital media and YouTube

On July 2, 2007, Southern released her first YouTube video, which garnered more than a million views and appearances on FOX and MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. {{cite video , url= http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19976248/ns/msnbc-hardball_with_chris_matthews/t/hardball-chris-matthews-july/ , title=Hardball with Chris Matthews for July 24 , date=July 24, 2007 , accessdate= Shortly after, Taryn was appointed the face of AT&T U-Verse's entertainment channel and Cosmopolitan Magazine's first daily online series.{{cite video , url= http://yhponline.com/2009/11/16/yhp-interviews-actress-writer-producer-and-tv-host-taryn-southern/ , title=YHP Interviews Taryn Southern , date=Nov 16, 2009 , accessdate= In addition, she starred in the first online series for The WB, '' Sorority Forever''{{cite news , url= http://www.tubefilter.com/2008/10/31/sorority-forever-finale-arrives-as-ladies-hit-global-scene , author= Hustvedt, Marc , title=Sorority Forever Finale Arrives , date=October 31, 2008 , access-date= May 1, 2012 In 2009, Southern wrote/produced her first comedic musical web series, which later sold to MTV as a half-hour comedy pilot, with David Zuckerman (Family Guy) as co-writer/executive producer.{{cite video , url= http://www.tubefilter.com/2009/03/11/mtv-orders-up-private-high-musical/, title=MTV Plans Spoof of High School Musical , date=March 11, 2009 , accessdate= May 1, 2012 In 2013, Southern released a musical comedy album, which reached #20 on the iTunes comedy chart and was recognized by Billboard." The song “Crush”, which was on the album, made it to the Top 100 in radio play that August. Southern ultimately released more than 50 original songs and covers as well as an 80's inspired album, Flashback Friday. Southern launched her YouTube channel in 2012 by releasing one video per week for a year. In 2014, Southern's YouTube Channel was listed on

New Media Rockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' (''NMR'') is an online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covers YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed because of lack of fund ...

Top 100 Channels, ranked at #52. As of 2015, she had more than 450,000 subscribers. By 2017, Southern had stopped posting regular content on her YouTube channel. She cited the YouTube algorithm as problematic for the digital community, and a desire to focus on other creative endeavors and experiments with emerging technology.

TV Hosting, radio, acting, singing

When Southern was seventeen, she was part of ''American Idol'' season three's Top 50. {{cite news , title=Lusty Online Ode Amuses, Enrages Viewers , url= http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=4162322c-2314-44a7-8b8c-7541ca196751 , author=Ottawa Citizen, date= July 14, 2007 , access-date= September 10, 2008She went on to host and executive produce

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California, El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary ...

's first original series, '' Project My World'' before landing other jobs in the entertainment industry and building a YouTube channel. {{cite video , url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/668610/directvs_new_original_series_project_myworld_sends_three_friends_to// , title=''DirecTV's New Original Series'' , date=September 26, 2006 , accessdate= May 1, 2012 She was later a live correspondent on the US version of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''.{{cite magazine , url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118046251 , title=''X Factor'' Expands Digital Domain , author=Wallenstein, Andrew , magazine= Variety , date =November 17, 2011 , access-date=November 22, 2011, a correspondent on Discovery Channel's Shark After Dark Live, which earned the #1 ratings spot in its time slot. Southern was later hired to continue her role as correspondent for Naked After Dark on

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

, a companion late-night show to Naked and Afraid.She also debuted a series with Marriott that was later renewed for a second season. and launched a digital talk show with Maker Studios. The series, which launched in 2015 and 2016, was an exploration of internet culture and featured guests ranging from celebrity/science enthusiast Seth MacFarlane and King Bach to psychedelic advocate Zach Leary and activist musician Kate Nash.{{cite web, url=https://ew.com/article/2015/10/31/stream-con-taryn-southern-interview/, title=Stream Con: Taryn Southern interview, website=EW.com, publisher=EW.com, access-date=2015-10-31 Southern's television acting roles included: a recurring role in the 5th season of the CBS comedy series ''

Rules of Engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pr ...

'', guest starring on '' New Girl'', ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'', ''

The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football leag ...

'', and '' Guys with Kids''.{{cn, date=January 2023

Videography

Film/TV

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" , Notes , - , 2007 , ''Project My World'' , Taryn , Nine episode documentary , - , 2007–2008 , ''The Heavy Show'' , Various characters , , - , 2008 , ''Senior Skip Day'' , Isha , movie , - , 2008 , '' Sorority Forever'' , Taryn Monaghan , 31 episodes , -ff , - , 2009 , '' Woke Up Dead'' , Debbie , - , 2010 , ''Pound of Flesh'' , Dyonesia Cosa , movie , - , 2010 , ''

'' , Allison , Guest Star in 5 episodes , - , 2010 , '' The Temp Life'' , Nancy Roder , 8 episodes , - , 2010 , '' Battle Los Angeles'' , Reporter on beach , movie , - , 2012 , '' New Girl'' , Megan , Guest appearance in Season 2, Episode 3 "Fluffer" , - , 2012 , '' Guys with Kids'' , Erica , Guest appearance in Season 1, Episode 12 "Marny's Dad" , - , 2014 , '' Last Man Standing'' , Rachel , Guest appearance in Season 3, Episode 15 "Tasers" , -

Discography

* ''Flashback Friday'' (2015) * ''I AM AI'' (2018)

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

{{Commons category, Taryn Southern
Official Website
* {{IMDb name, 2342543 {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Southern, Taryn 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American women singers Actors from Wichita, Kansas Actresses from Kansas American bloggers American women pop singers American film actresses American Idol participants American television actresses American women bloggers American YouTubers Living people Musicians from Wichita, Kansas Music YouTubers Singers from Kansas Songwriters from Kansas Writers from Wichita, Kansas YouTube vloggers 21st-century American singers Year of birth missing (living people)