Read more about the article MediaStorm Presents: The Girls of Gashora

MediaStorm Presents: The Girls of Gashora

Gashora Girls Academy in Rwanda educates the country’s most talented girls in science and technology, preparing them for college, and empowering them to become future leaders. In 2013, they graduated their pioneer class. Girls of Gashora documents the days prior to this celebration. MediaStorm was commissioned by the Harbers Family Foundation and the Rwanda Girls Initiative to create a film that would illustrate the desires and caliber of students at the Gashora Girls Academy as well as inspire potential donors to take action in support of their mission. Read our case study to learn more about how we tackled this challenge. Here are girls who have faced seemingly enormous obstacles in order to receive a first-class education and the hope of making their families, and their country, proud. These are the stories of Gashora. Learn more about the academy and how you can donate at RwandaGirlsInitiative.org.

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Read more about the article “The Long Night” Screens at Paley Center
The first private screening of "The Long Night" at the Paley Center for Media. Photo: Shameel Arafin / MediaStorm

“The Long Night” Screens at Paley Center

The first private screening of “The Long Night” at the Paley Center for Media.
Photo: Shameel Arafin / MediaStorm

On Wednesday night, influencers in media and activism gathered at the Paley Center for Media to celebrate the first private screening of The Long Night. MediaStorm’s first feature-length film and the first project funded by the Alexia Foundation’s Women’s Initiative grant, The Long Night is a shining example of both organizations’ commitment to driving change through the power of storytelling.

“When we first started working on this film, we thought we were producing a 10-minute piece about domestic minor sex trafficking in our country today,” executive producer Brian Storm said while introducing the film. “We quickly realized that this story was too big and too important to try to fit into that framework.”
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Read more about the article MediaStorm Presents “Swan Song” and “These Bones of Mine”

MediaStorm Presents “Swan Song” and “These Bones of Mine”

How do you tell the story of a massive organization with a broad scope that brings resources, education and connection to hundreds of thousands of people throughout Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast? This was the challenge Neighborhood Centers Inc. brought to MediaStorm. With Swan Song and These Bones of Mine, we answer the question of why Neighborhood Center’s work matters with intimate, cinematic narratives of the people they serve everyday. Swan Song is the story of The Greers, a 3-woman unit of mother and daughters nicknamed “The Greer Girls.” When Marilyn is diagnosed with dementia at age 58, her daughters refocus their lives to care for her during her most precious years. They try to juggle it all until they are forced to make a heartbreaking decision. These Bones of Mine is the story of Syed, the black sheep. When he told his family he wanted to convert to a minority…

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Read more about the article MediaStorm Presents: The Story of Ripple Effect Images

MediaStorm Presents: The Story of Ripple Effect Images

Ripple Effect Images is a team of journalists dedicated to documenting the plight of poor women and girls around the world, and highlighting the programs that are helping to empower them, especially as they deal with the devastating effects of climate change. MediaStorm developed a series of videos to the explore the lives and work of the celebrated photographers Annie Griffiths, Lynn Johnson and Ami Vitale, and what they hope to accomplish as Ripple Effect Images. The Ripple Effect series tracks the careers of Griffiths, Johnson and Vitale as they come to the conclusions that ultimately caused them to form their collective. Read our case study to learn more about how MediaStorm tackled this challenge. For more information on Ripple Effect Images and their mission to document the needs and the innovative programs that are helping women and girls across the globe visit RippleEffectImages.org.

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Read more about the article Pulitzer Center and MediaStorm Present “Japan’s Disposable Workers”

Pulitzer Center and MediaStorm Present “Japan’s Disposable Workers”

In collaboration with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, MediaStorm created a documentary based on Shiho Fukada’s portrait series, Japan’s Disposable Workers. In three sections the film explores the labor issues affecting Japan, and in so doing, illustrates the larger global labor crisis: Overworked to Suicide After the recession of the 1990s, Japan’s white collar salarymen increasingly must work arduous hours for fear of losing their jobs. Working essentially two shifts a day for weeks at a time leads frequently to feelings of depression, something that is still stigmatized in Japan. Net Cafe Refugees Internet cafes have existed in Japan for over a decade, but in the mid 2000s, customers began using these spaces as living quarters. Internet cafe refugees are mostly temporary employees, their salary too low to rent their own apartments. Dumping Ground Kamagasaki, Osaka, Japan used to be a thriving day laborer’s town. Today, it is home to approximately…

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