Biography
Who is Taryn Southern?
Early life and education
Taryn Southern was born in Wichita, Kansas. She attended Wichita East High School before moving on to higher education. At the age of 20, she graduated from the University of Miami with two degrees, a B.S. In anthropology and a B.A. In journalism.
During her college years, she competed on American Idol. She also received a grant that allowed her to travel to Peru. This trip focused on studying how rainforest communities use ayahuasca for shamanic purposes.
Career in digital media
Taryn began her digital career with a YouTube video titled Hott4Hill in July 2007. This specific upload reached over one million views and was featured on programs like Hardball with Chris Matthews. She later served as the face of Cosmopolitan's first daily online series and the entertainment channel for AT&T U-Verse.
In 2012, she launched a dedicated YouTube channel and released one video every week for a full year. By 2014, her channel was ranked at number 52 on the New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels list. She reached a subscriber count of more than 450,000 by 2015.
Music and emerging technology
Southern uses artificial intelligence to produce music. In 2017, she received a grant from the Google Creator Lab to develop experimental VR content. Her single Break Free, released in August 2017, used Amper to generate its music. In 2018, she released the album I AM AI, which used tools like IBM Watson Beat, Google Magenta, and AIVA.
She has also experimented with blockchain technology. Her track New World used this tech to allow hundreds of collaborators to share backend royalties from sales and streams. Her work in this field includes the 2020 award-winning piece New World, which earned an AT&T Film Award.
Film and television work
In 2019, she co-directed and produced the feature documentary I AM HUMAN. This film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and explored the link between the human brain and technology. The documentary won several awards, including Best of the Fest at the El Dorado Film Festival and Best Director at the Oslo Film Festival.
Taryn has also appeared as an actress on various television programs. Her credits include a recurring role on the CBS comedy Rules of Engagement. She also made guest appearances on shows such as New Girl, American Dad!, The League, and Guys with Kids. Also, she worked as a correspondent for Discovery Channel programs like Shark After Dark Live and Naked After Dark.
Birthday and age
Taryn Southern was born on July 16, 1986, which makes Taryn 40 years old today. That birthday falls under the Cancer sign. Taryn shares the date with 32 other famous people.
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