What's Your Why with Mike Damanskis, Senior Content Producer at HelpGood
We spoke with the mind behind HelpGood’s impactful multimedia work to explore what drove him to pivot from his background in satire to a career in impact.
What’s Your Why is a series by The Anthem Awards team asking Judges and previous Winners to explore the guiding principles that have, and continue to, shape their journeys in social impact.
Mike Damanskis is an award-winning video creator known for his satire and social impact work. With over 500 million online views, his videos have been featured on Comedy Central, MSNBC, Gizmodo, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, at SXSW, and at film festivals in over 40 cities worldwide.
After kicking off his impressive career at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Damanskis is now the Senior Content Producer at HelpGood—an impact marketing agency blending strategy with transformative storytelling.
We spoke with Damanskis to discover what drove his shift from satire to purpose. Read on to explore what inspires him to use humor and multimedia to create positive change in the world.
Can you tell us a bit about the work you do? How long have you been working in social impact?
I started out in 2005 as an intern at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I went on to get a job as a video producer making political satire for The Second City’s YouTube channel. Making comedy videos was a sort of coping mechanism for things in the news that made me angry. I went on to make comedy for a few other media brands, but media is a brutal business. After a while I got tired of the instability of changing media jobs every few years.
When I worked at The Second City, HelpGood contracted us to make a one-off comedy video to raise awareness for humanitarian relief in the Horn of Africa. 7 years later, I saw a job posting at HelpGood on LinkedIn. Even though it wasn’t a comedy job, I decided that if I had to choose between being funny or making an impact, I’d choose making an impact. I work on a lot of the same causes, but take action through a different lens. I was always more of a behind-the-scenes producer anyway, rather than being the on-camera star.
Why were you drawn to this cause or social issue? Do you have a memory or moment that sparked your interest?
I remember being inspired by how Jon Stewart could criticize the Iraq war in ways that others couldn’t. When the Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) spoke up, they got canceled. But Jon Stewart was able to speak to these issues like no one else could. There is power in that.
All of the goofing off about the news that I did in college was really validated when I got my internship at The Daily Show. That’s the one thing that really set me on this path. If that didn’t happen I’d probably be in my hometown working at QVC, selling cutlery.
”When it comes to third-rail issues, I actually like negative comments more than I like positive ones—because I know I’m hitting a nerve that threatens the other side’s belief system.”
What background or lens do you bring to this space? How do they shape the way you tackle projects or initiatives?
I’ve straddled the world between comedy and social issues, and so I sometimes get to bring some fun into my work—even if it’s not as edgy or as unhinged as I’d be able to make for a comedy brand. Nonprofit brands often have a different lens through which they view the world than a satirist does, so it can be tough to mix the worlds.
But on the positive side, nonprofits have more of an actual impact on the issues than satire. Nonprofits are out there feeding hungry kids, helping people in need, and changing the world. Comedians have their role, but it’s less direct of an impact.
I just try to bring some fun to this work when I can, and not get too caught up in the negatives.
Who do you do this work for? Which communities are you interested in uplifting through your projects and why?
I don’t really have any pet causes besides generally making the world a better place. I usually work on whatever’s in front of me. Sometimes I don’t even know much about an issue, and I only begin to care about it after getting to know it through my work.
That said, I especially like to work on projects that are controversial, because people are scared of them. I feel like speaking up about them shifts the Overton window. Climate change was once like that. Gun control was once like that—and still is to some degree. When it comes to third-rail issues, I actually like negative comments more than I like positive ones—because I know I’m hitting a nerve that threatens the other side’s belief system.
In social impact, the work is long and the road isn’t easy. What is your North Star, principle or philosophy that keeps you going? What keeps you rooted?
Mission: JOY (the project that won us our Anthem Awards) really helped me by remembering to keep joy front and center of the work we do. The film shows how the Dalai Lama and the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu both lived through extreme hardship, but continued to live with joy despite their circumstances. We need joy – aka, Happiness with a Purpose – in our lives to recharge and bring new people into our cause.
I think that’s why I was drawn to satire earlier in my career – it was a way of flipping a negative into a positive, or at least having a laugh at our problems.
Sometimes the news can be crazy-making. But taking any action about the things in this world that upset you is a great way to deal with anger, hopelessness, and despair. Plus, there are a lot of benefits to living with joy that are backed by science. It’ll help you live longer, be more successful, and be less likely to divorce. They go into this in the Mission: JOY film. And remembering that despite the world’s problems, there’s never been a better time to be alive.
"But taking any action about the things in this world that upset you is a great way to deal with anger, hopelessness, and despair."
Did you ever want to give up? How did you overcome that?
I’ve had a lot of failures. I spent 7 years working on an indie film that will never see the light of day. I spent 3 years developing a VR game that I had to abandon because I realized I didn’t have time to develop my skills enough to finish. I think instead of setting big, ambitious goals, it’s sometimes better to just focus on smaller wins, and keep reinvesting that energy into the next small win. And then eventually, your efforts will snowball into something larger over time. You’re never going to have one project or one decisive victory that is going to change everything overnight. Especially by yourself!
Giving up isn’t really an option because these issues aren’t going away, and time is going to pass anyway. What else am I going to do?
Can you share three bodies of work that inspire your own?
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is what set me on this journey, but the 3 years I spent at The Second City also was even more influential. I worked in the video department of their LA Improv school. We said yes to almost every idea and I got to try a lot of things – some of them are pretty out there. I think that taught me to forget about self-doubt, because we’d just jump into making stuff, and we had a lot of hits. Even the dumbest ideas would often turn out way better than expected. And even when we missed the mark, the failures weren’t really a big deal.
Interested in celebrating your impact work at The Anthem Awards? Please reach out to marycharles@anthemawards.com for more information.
