New MediaStorm Project Coming Soon: Rite of Passage by Maggie Steber

MediaStorm is collaborating with photographer Maggie Steber on a Kickstarter campaign to produce and distribute her new project Rite of Passage, a short documentary about her mother's struggle with dementia. Visit the Kickstarter campaign now. The Project Maggie Steber was an only child. Madje Steber was a single parent. They were all the family they had and it wasn't easy. Madje was divorced by the time Maggie was just six months old. Strong and independent, Madje raised her daughter in Austin, Texas. She had a keen awareness about what others might be thinking at a time when being a young single mother was often viewed as a scarlet letter. Their tiny house had strict rules and a formality that rubbed Maggie the wrong way, especially during her teenage years. Their relationship was strained with arguments and threats to move out. At the age of twenty-one, Maggie finally did. "I had to leave,"…

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Crisis Guide: Iran Poster

Crisis Guide: Iran Receives Overseas Press Club Award for Online Excellence

Crisis Guide: Iran produced by MediaStorm and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) received the 2011 Overseas Press Club (OPC) award for Web: Online General Excellence. The OPC awards have been recognizing online journalism since the 1940s and this year they added six new categories for online coverage to acknowledge the changing media landscape. Crisis Guide: Iran was honored for its superb use of multimedia in a timely and in-depth study of Iran’s politics, economy and nuclear program. The seven-chapter publication was recognized for using interactive graphics, archival slideshows, graphs, timelines and video interviews to showcase the history and government of the country in a visually pleasing and accessible way. Crisis Guide: Iran is the seventh in a series of guides produced by MediaStorm and CFR that look at major international issues, including Pakistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Korean Peninsula, Nuclear Energy, the global economy, global covernance, and climate change. Crisis Guide:…

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Read more about the article New Stories from the March 2012 MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop

New Stories from the March 2012 MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop

We are pleased to launch two new stories produced in the March 2012 MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop. From March 24-30, 2012 a team of journalists collaborated with MediaStorm at our workshop to create, Remember These Days and A Hundred Different Ways. During the MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop participants work directly with MediaStorm staff to create an intimate, character-driven documentary in just one week. For Walter Backerman, seltzer is more than a drink. It’s the embodiment of his family. As a third generation seltzer man, he follows the same route as his grandfather. But after 90 years of business, Walter may be the last seltzer man. Watch it now. In 1987, Catherine Russell first stepped on stage in the play, Perfect Crime. Twenty-five years and only four missed performances later, she’s in The Guinness Book of World Records for the most performances by an actor in a single part. Watch it now. We are currently…

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Read more about the article Final Push: Seamus Murphy’s ‘A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan’ on Kickstarter

Final Push: Seamus Murphy’s ‘A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan’ on Kickstarter

Only a few days to go before MediaStorm's 'A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan' Kickstarter campaign officially ends! Please take a look today and consider supporting this important project! We are half way there towards meeting our fundraising goal of $10,000, and we need your help to make the final push! Please donate here on Kickstarter, and help us spread the word! A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan is a collaborative documentary film based on the work of photojournalist Seamus Murphy, who has spent over 15 years recording unexpected stories of struggle, survival and hope. Seamus' mission is to promote an understanding of this mysterious, complex and fascinating culture. In Seamus' words: Afghanistan’s recent history is a roller-coaster of foreign involvement and abandonment, resulting in a global crisis the world continues to struggles with today. The country was granted hero-status by the West when it resisted the Soviet invasion. But the vicious civil war that followed the Soviet…

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Read more about the article MediaStorm Workshops launch two projects

MediaStorm Workshops launch two projects

From July 23-29, 2011, six talented participants collaborated with the MediaStorm team at our Advanced Multimedia Workshop. Over the course of a week, they reported, edited, and produced two stories. A Thousand More by Kristina Budelis, Piotr Malecki, and Jeff Rhode A family is determined to give their disabled son a whole and vital life. In the midst of a great burden, one small child – with a seemingly endless supply of love – is the blessing that holds a family together. Nine Digits by Dominik Baumann, Gabriela Bulisova, and Meredith Davenport Nine Digits tells the story of Cesar, a young man fighting for U.S. citizenship. Our next Advanced Multimedia Workshop will be held November 12-18, 2011, in Brooklyn, NY. Application deadline is September 16, 2011. These workshops, held in New York City, are intensive, hands-on educational experiences in advanced multimedia storytelling. Over the course of a week, participants work in three-person…

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