Girl Talk
A former Oscar winner changes her focus to games for girls.
After winning an Oscar for Best Short Film and an MTV Video
Award, Laura Groppe decided a career transition was in order. So in
May 1994, she left the Hollywood limelight, took her $75,000 life
savings, and started an Austin, Texas-based media company, Girl
Games Inc.
"It made perfect sense to stay in the entertainment
industry and yet move in the direction I saw entertainment going
in, which is interactive," says Groppe, 33. "I saw there
was nothing for women and girls and decided this was the perfect
niche."
Though the medium is indeed hot, Groppe's first project, a
CD-ROM series called Let's Talk About ME!, is "focused
more on the girl than on the platform," she says.
"We're entering an era where nine out of 10 of these girls
will be income earners. We have an opportunity to feed these girls,
give them the tools, and tell them to go for it."
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Offering everything from a diary with a "panic button"
for privacy purposes to in-depth interviews with 23 role models,
the series takes on the considerable task of trying to make
adolescence fun. "It's a treacherous zone," Groppe
admits. "I want to say, `You'll make it--you'll get to
the other side and be all the better for it.' "
With the second version of Let's Talk About ME! due for
spring release, Groppe reflects on entrepreneurial moments that
rival the thrill of receiving an Oscar, like "seeing the box
on the shelves, knowing this was just an idea a year and a half
ago. And, at a [computer store], when a 12-year-old girl played
with the game, bought it, and said to me, `Thank you so much for
doing what you do,' that was a very cool moment."
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