Entertainment
Girls Who Code Launches Digital Experience to Change the Future of Women in Gaming
In this culture-shifting campaign, “Girls Who Code Girls” invites users to code the characters they want to see in games
Last Updated on July 30, 2024 by Daily News Staff
In this culture-shifting campaign, “Girls Who Code Girls” invites users to code the characters they want to see in games
The experience, in partnership with Mojo Supermarket, celebrates Computer Science Education Week.
Visit www.girlswhocodegirls.com
NEW YORK /PRNewswire/ — Today, Girls Who Code, a nonprofit working to close the gender gap in tech, launched Girls Who Code Girls, a desktop and mobile gaming experience empowering girls to create personalized video game characters with code. Right now, 77% of video game developers are men and only 20% of all characters are women. The platform aims to disrupt this imbalance and challenge a gaming culture marked by misogyny by inspiring users of all backgrounds to envision a gaming experience that’s more reflective of themselves and their communities.
Girls Who Code Girls is a gaming experience empowering girls to create personalized video game characters with code.Tweet
Girls Who Code Girls was designed to celebrate the diversity of the Girls Who Code community while teaching computer science fundamentals. The experience provides infinite code-able combinations, from hair texture to skin specificity to body size, and coders will be able to code their avatars with unique and underrepresented attributes. The learnings from the experience will be collected and shared with the intention of impacting the future of female characters in games. The library of characters will also be licensable and offered to gaming companies to inform their game development.
“Though almost half of all gamers are women, we don’t see them represented in game development. As a result, what we do see is a gaming experience catered to the white, male gaze that alienates some of its most passionate and diverse fans,” said Tarika Barrett, CEO of Girls Who Code. “That’s why we created Girls Who Code Girls. By turning users into creators, we’re empowering our community to use coding to upend the status quo and imagine a future where they can harness their passion and creativity into a career in tech. We want our students to know that they deserve to take up space in gaming and game development, and can create characters that reflect the best parts of who they are.”
Mojo Supermarket – the creative company behind previous Girls Who Code campaigns including the Cannes Lions Award and Clio Award-winning Doja Code – partnered with an interactive production studio, Make Me Pulse, to make Girls Who Code Girls a reality.
“With Girls Who Code Girls, we set out to accomplish two goals. First, provide girls and young women with a fun, creative entry point to trying out code. And second, to draw attention to the fact that if more women coded video game characters they would look more like real women. Our ambition is that with every line of code you type you can influence the future of women in gaming.,” said Kate Carter, Group Creative Director, Mojo Supermarket. “We saw how much girls enjoyed DojaCode as an interactive experience, so we wanted to give them another fun one, while showing the world, and gaming companies, why it’s so important that we invest in getting more young women into the tech and gaming fields.”
HOW DOES GIRLS WHO CODE GIRLS WORK?
- Gamers visit GirlsWhoCodeGirls.com, where they can code and customize their own gaming characters.
- Users are introduced to four coding languages featured on the site.
- As the experience continues, users are guided through the process with clear instructions on what to input and how — making it easy and seamless for a beginner.
- Users watch as their characters change in real-time based on the coding alterations they have written.
- As the experience wraps, fans leave Girls Who Code Girls and share the characters they have coded and created.
“As a woman in STEM, I am so excited and humbled to be partnering with Girls who Code on this campaign,” said Ainul Md Razib, a software developer & tech influencer based in Singapore (@ainlovescode). “Our global community still has much work to do in boosting women and non-binary people in gaming. That’s why I believe Girls Who Code Girls is and will be a crucial piece to expanding the diversity of people in gaming for the long term!”
Girls Who Code Girls was created with generous support from Lyda Hill Philanthropies.
“We are proud to see another innovative way more perspectives are being incorporated into gaming that young people consume in the Girls Who Code Girls experience,” Nicole Small, CEO and President of Lyda Hill Philanthropies said. “Closing the gender gap in technology spaces like video game design means a more inclusive and inspiring world for the next generation of young women.”
To enter the gaming experience, go to www.girlswhocodegirls.com.
About Girls Who Code
Girls Who Code is an international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology, and leading the movement to inspire, educate, and equip students who identify as girls or nonbinary with the computing skills needed to pursue 21st-century opportunities. Since launching in 2012, Girls Who Code has reached 500,000 students through in-person and virtual programming, and 115,000 of our alumni are college or career-aged.
Girls Who Code has sparked culture change through marketing campaigns and advocacy efforts, generating 14 Billion engagements globally. In 2019, the organization was named the #1 Most Innovative Non-Profit on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list, and in 2022 was named one of NonProfit Times’ Best Nonprofits to Work For.
Follow the organization on social media @GirlsWhoCode.
About MojoSupermarket
Mojo Supermarket creates ideas that rewire how people think. We’re a creative company responsible for Girls Who Code’s DojaCode, Truth Initiative’s Depression Stick, Match’s Adults Date Better, and more. And while we love our brand clients, we also create our own passion projects including Give Her a Break and The Slavery Cup. We’ve been named Ad Age’s Small Agency of the Year 2022, Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2022, and a finalist for Adweek’s Breakthrough Agency of the Year 2022.
SOURCE Girls Who Code
Looking for an entertainment experience that transcends the ordinary? Look no further than STM Daily News Blog’s vibrant Entertainment section. Immerse yourself in the captivating world of indie films, streaming and podcasts, movie reviews, music, expos, venues, and theme and amusement parks. Discover hidden cinematic gems, binge-worthy series and addictive podcasts, gain insights into the latest releases with our movie reviews, explore the latest trends in music, dive into the vibrant atmosphere of expos, and embark on thrilling adventures in breathtaking venues and theme parks. Join us at Looking for an entertainment experience that transcends the ordinary? Look no further than STM Daily News Blog’s vibrant Entertainment section. Immerse yourself in the captivating world of indie films, streaming and podcasts, movie reviews, music, expos, venues, and theme and amusement parks. Discover hidden cinematic gems, binge-worthy series and addictive podcasts, gain insights into the latest releases with our movie reviews, explore the latest trends in music, dive into the vibrant atmosphere of expos, and embark on thrilling adventures in breathtaking venues and theme parks. Join us at [insert website URL] and let your entertainment journey begin! https://stmdailynews.com/category/entertainment/
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Last Updated on November 7, 2026 by Daily News Staff
New hybrid event aims to give grieving audiences meaningful holiday viewing, with films from more than 25 countries and a mission centered on love, loss, and emotional truth.
A new film festival debuting in late 2026 is taking a different approach to holiday entertainment. Grief Fest™: The Grief Film Festival, created by My Grief Angels Inc., is being introduced as what organizers believe is the world’s first film festival dedicated entirely to grief, remembrance, resilience, and healing.
The hybrid festival will run in two segments: November 25–29, 2026, during Thanksgiving week, and December 24, 2026, through January 3, 2027, during Christmas and New Year’s. Top Honors films will be announced on December 31, 2026.
Organizers say the timing is intentional. Research cited in the announcement shows that grief and loneliness are major holiday stressors for many Americans, making the season especially difficult for people coping with loss. In that context, Grief Fest™ is positioning itself as an alternative to the flood of traditional feel-good holiday programming.
The festival is open to short films, features, documentaries, experimental work, AI-generated projects, and VR experiences. It is described as inclusive, non-religious, and LGBTQ+ friendly, with submissions already received from more than 25 countries. All films will be presented in English, either spoken or subtitled.
Grief Fest™ will be available both in person and virtually through Film Festival Plus, making it accessible to audiences worldwide. The launch of GriefFest.com also includes Lumen, a multilingual AI guide designed to help filmmakers and attendees navigate the festival in their preferred language.
Rather than focusing on industry prestige, organizers say the festival is centered on community and emotionally honest storytelling. For audiences who feel unseen during the holidays, Grief Fest™ is aiming to offer something rare on the seasonal screen: recognition.
Source: PR Newswire
Related Reading
- Grief Fest: Official festival site
- My Grief Angels Inc.: About the nonprofit behind the festival
- Film Festival Plus: Virtual access platform
Catch the latest in movies, TV, music, pop culture, and live events in STM Daily News’ Entertainment section.
Entertainment
Bring History to Life with Experiences That Feel Real
Bring History to Life: Reading books and watching documentaries can be good ways to learn about history, but there’s something particularly meaningful about immersive experiences that allow you to step inside the stories that shaped the world.
Bring History to Life with Experiences That Feel Real
(Feature Impact) Reading books and watching documentaries can be good ways to learn about history, but there’s something particularly meaningful about immersive experiences that allow you to step inside the stories that shaped the world.
During a visit to the U-505 Submarine exhibit at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Griffin MSI), guests can literally step inside a historic German U-boat captured during World War II. In 1944, the U.S. Navy underwent a top-secret mission to disarm and take over one of the German submarines that wreaked havoc on the high seas, attacking not just military vessels but merchant ships and supply ships as well.
Watch this video to see more:
“The mission was a dangerous one, as U-boat captains were under strict orders to sink their own subs if they were in danger of capture,” said Dr. Voula Saridakis, head curator at Griffin MSI, “but the U.S. Navy managed to take over the vessel and keep it afloat long enough to reach American shores. There, they studied it to gather German military secrets and other intelligence items, like the codebreaking Enigma Machine now on display at Griffin MSI.”
As you tour the submarine, you’ll experience firsthand what life was really like on board. Climb through the hatch, picture yourself bunking for the night in the cramped sleeping quarters, take a turn trying to maneuver the submarine while dodging torpedoes and imagine the bravery of the American soldiers who risked themselves on a perilous mission to capture the vessel and help turn the tide of the war.
There are many important lessons to glean from history, and they’re often easier to understand when presented in a tangible way. Planning visits to museum exhibits and historical sites allows you to stand where others have stood, see what they’ve seen and connect your human experience with theirs. Parents, children, educators, students and people of all ages can find something to inspire them in these stories.
Learn more about bringing history and science to life at GriffinMSI.org.
SOURCE:
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
Entertainment
Patrick Stewart, Beloved Star of Star Trek and X-Men, Dies at 86
Sir Patrick Stewart, beloved for his performances as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor Charles Xavier, has died at 86, leaving a lasting legacy across television, film and theater.
Entertainment News Brief
Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaimed actor best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died at 86.
Stewart died October 28 at his home in Los Angeles, according to a statement from his spokesperson reported by Reuters. The announcement said he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia and was with his wife, Sunny Ozell.
Stewart brought a commanding presence and a thoughtful approach to leadership to Star Trek: The Next Generation, which aired from 1987 to 1994. He later continued Picard’s story in feature films and returned for Star Trek: Picard.
His career also encompassed Shakespearean theater, including work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was knighted in 2010 for his contributions to drama.
For generations of viewers, Stewart helped make science fiction a place to explore questions of responsibility, compassion and humanity.
Sources
● Reuters: Patrick Stewart, Shakespearean actor turned Star Trek and X-Men star, dies at 86
● ABC News: Patrick Stewart dies at 86
