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Remembering Sudan

Remembering Sudan

Remembering Sudan, a film by Ami Vitale and MediaStorm, documents the potential extinction facing Northern White Rhinos and the heartbreaking story of caretaker Zacharia Mutai.

More about the film:

Zacharia Mutai was devastated the day he lost his best friend Sudan. Sudan was someone he spent years with, someone he knew better than his own children, someone he loved. This death was tragic, but not a surprise.

Zacharia, the head rhino caregiver at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in northern Kenya, was caring for the last remaining northern white rhinos on the planet. His friend Sudan was the last male rhino of this species.

Sudan, 45 years-old, was gentle, hulking and otherworldly. His final moments were eerily quiet—just the sound of the rain falling, a single bird scolding, and the muffled sorrow of his caretakers.

But this is not just the story of Zacharia’s loss or of the death of a rhino. This is the story of the death of a species. A loss of such magnitude is a loss for all of humanity. Without these creatures, we suffer more than just the loss of ecosystem health. We suffer a loss of imagination, a loss of wonder, a loss of beautiful possibilities.

In Remembering Sudan, photographer and filmmaker Ami Vitale documents the heartbreaking crisis facing the northern white rhinos and keepers like Zacharia Mutai who sacrifice so much to protect them.

After Sudan’s death in 2018, only two northern white rhinos remain, both females. Through Zacharia’s story, Vitale explores efforts to protect these rhinos as well as the groundbreaking scientific developments aimed at bringing the species back.

How did we arrive at the point where such desperate measures were necessary? It’s astonishing that a demand for rhino horn based entirely on misinformation has caused the wholesale slaughter of a species. At the same time, it is encouraging that a disparate group of people have come together in an attempt to save something unique and precious, something that if not saved, will be gone forever.

Go to olpejetaconservancy.org and Biorescue.org to learn more about saving and protecting these endangered species.

Posted in MediaStorm Announcements, MediaStorm Commissioned Work, MediaStorm Projects | Comments closed

Art of the Photo Book with David Campany

Curator, writer, editor and educator David Campany explores the craft of photo books, detailing his early love of photography and providing a look at some of his favorite books in a short-film, as well as a deep dive into 18 pivotal books, in the latest project by MediaStorm and Harbers Studios.

Campany pulls from many years of experience in the field to shed light on the different ways photographers craft photo books to communicate their artistic message, including detailed looks at some of his favorites.

Campany takes us on a journey through the evolution of photo book publishing, from Walker Evans’ seminal 1938 work American Photographs, to Henri Cartier-Bresson’s pivotal book The Decisive Moment, to Mark Neville’s contemporary book about Ukraine Stop Tanks with Books.

Campany’s decades of experience in the field, including more than 20 books to his name, make him the ideal guide for this journey into the world of photo books.

Posted in MediaStorm Announcements, MediaStorm Commissioned Work, MediaStorm Projects | Comments closed

Welcome Back Brow

On the 17th anniversary of MediaStorm, I am excited to announce the return of Robert Browman, one of MediaStorm’s original family members.

Also known simply as Brow, he has rejoined MediaStorm as an editor and producer.

Brow was the first member of the MediaStorm team, joining me a full year before the company launched.

He coded the first version of our website by hand, helped select and produce our early publication projects and worked on client projects for MSNBC, The Council on Foreign Relations, The Open Society Foundations and the Rocky Mountain News.

Our friendship and collaboration has spanned multiple chapters. Brow joined the multimedia team at MSNBC.com in 1999, and we also collaborated at Corbis prior to MediaStorm.

He left MediaStorm in 2008 to pursue other adventures in the journalism and news industry, including a long period as an editor and producer at the Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico.

On top of working alongside each all those years, we’ve remained great friends, and I’ve always considered him one of the founding minds behind our approach.

I couldn’t be more excited to welcome him back as we move forward together with our next chapter at MediaStorm.

Read more about Brow here.

Posted in MediaStorm Announcements | Comments closed

MediaStorm Master Classes Dates Announced

MediaStorm is excited to announce the dates for our MasterClass training events for 2023. The schedule includes options for both video conference and in-person events. All courses are offered at 50% off.

Methodology Master Class

  • Video conference: December 12 – 15, 2022
  • Los Gatos, CA: August 7 – 9, 2023
  • Los Gatos, CA: December 11 – 14, 2023

Apply Now

 

 

One Day Master Class:

  • Online video conference: November 12, 2022
  • Online video conference: May 6, 2023
  • Online video conference: September 23, 2023
  • Online video conference: October 22, 2023

Apply Now

 

 

Here’s what people say about our master classes:

“MediaStorm’s class broke down storytelling theory in a way that challenged me to think about my past projects and better prepared me for those that I am currently working on. Brian is a charismatic instructor who loves sharing the knowledge he has gathered with anyone willing to learn. His anecdotes and projects serve as his syllabus and he teaches with an authenticity that cannot be faked.”   McArdle Hankin, Co-Founder Back Pocket

“As a longtime reporter and editor looking to start a new media venture, I found Brian’s one-day master class both practical and inspirational. In an age of click-bait “journalism,” Brian’s unwavering commitment to quality storytelling resonated with me deeply, and has motivated me to keep pursuing my entrepreneurial journey.” Julie Makinen, JSK Stanford Fellow

“My week at the Methodology Workshop with Brian Storm and his team has been life changing. All of my questions about MediaStorm’s quality documentary filmmaking were answered as we went deeper than I expected into the storytelling secrets that make them who they are. Now the blanks are filled in, and I’m looking forward to increasing the quality of my own multimedia projects with renewed passion. Clearly compassion rules the way MediaStorm tells people’s stories, but they also make sure to get the stories in front of people who can benefit from them the most. Thank you Brian and all the team at MediaStorm for your inspiring generosity. I will make it count.” Carla Adelmann

Posted in MediaStorm Announcements, MediaStorm Events | Comments closed

The 2022 ICP Infinity Award Films By MediaStorm

ICP Infinity Awards

Since 2013, MediaStorm has partnered with the International Center of Photography and Harbers Studios to produce films that pay homage to the winners of the annual Infinity Awards for their contributions to the field of photography and visual arts.

Each year, the ICP recognizes these outstanding artists at a fundraiser that supports a full range of programs, including exhibitions, collections, community outreach, scholarships, and the ICP School. MediaStorm’s films have been highlighted as the signature moment of the event.

For MediaStorm, these films are a tribute to our roots in photography and our aspiration for the field, that it continue to be a force for change.

Watch it now

 

ICP Infinity Awards

Sebastião Salgado says “a good picture, a fantastic picture, you do in a fraction of a second, but to arrive to do this picture, you must put your life in there.”

 Watch the film and see the slideshow

ICP Infinity Awards

Esther Horvath has sent questions to the universe and she has received answers. She found her calling to tell visual stories that show the full research story behind our climate data.

 Watch the film and see the slideshow

ICP Infinity Awards

See photographer Acacia Johnson’s growth from her earliest explorations of Alaskan landscapes to a National Geographic cover for a documentary project among indigenous people of the Arctic.

 Watch the film and see the slideshow

ICP Infinity Awards

Sky Hopinka says his work “is about wandering through ideas of language, identity, culture, history and the present without necessarily a clear idea of where to go or how to get there.”

 Watch the film and see the slideshow

Posted in MediaStorm Announcements | Comments closed
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