The annual festival is hosted on Catalina Island and was ranked by MovieMaker Magazine as a “Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.” Their film selection process is competitive and champions imagination, education and destination. The Catalina Island Conservancy is honored to be included in this prestigious festival on the Island we cherish and work to protect. The festival takes place Sep. 25-27, 2026 and our film will screen at the Avalon Community Church Theater during the Makers, Mentors & Meaning slot at 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. MORE ABOUT THE FILM In 2004, the Catalina Island fox was listed as federally endangered. By 2016, thanks to conservation efforts, it was downlisted to threatened. The species has survived and recovered, but our work continues to ensure it stays safe. Back from the Brink: Resurgence of the Catalina Island Fox” is an 18-minute film that traces the fox program from crisis to recovery.…

I essentially lived in the Media Lab at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1994. I'll be honest — when I got the call, I didn't quite know what to say. Being named to the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame is one of those honors that feels almost too big to hold onto, and I am deeply honored to be included among this year's class of inductees. On November 12, 2026 I'll join five other honorees at the State Historical Society of Missouri's headquarters in downtown Columbia to be formally inducted — the 22nd group to receive this recognition since the Hall of Fame was founded in 2005. Being in that room, surrounded by people whose work has shaped how we see the world, is humbling. It also has me thinking back on where all of this actually started, which for me means one place: Mizzou. William Hankins, who nominated…

MediaStorm founder Brian Storm (left) and Shaul Schwarz (right) of Real Peak Films. A powerful documentary begins with more than a compelling subject. It needs a story worth following, a practical plan for making it, and a strategy for getting it seen. MediaStorm’s Documentary Storytelling From Concept to Distribution Master Class is a four-day intensive for filmmakers and multimedia storytellers who are ready to strengthen both their craft and their understanding of the business behind the work. Led by MediaStorm founder Brian Storm and filmmaker Shaul Schwarz of Reel Peak Films, the program follows the full life of a documentary project—from early concept through release and impact. Over the first two days, participants explore the foundations of effective documentary and multimedia storytelling: interviewing, sound, working with stills and video, editing workflow, design, client and partner relationships, and distribution for digital platforms. The sessions also examine the practical decisions behind a sustainable production…

I joined MSN News in the summer of 1995. A year later, I met Bill Gates for the first time when he announced to our newsroom that we would join forces with NBC News to create the MSNBC joint venture. I put together a few slideshows of the projects and people I was lucky enough to collaborate with from 1995 to 2002: https://brianstorm.com/msn-news-msnbc I became MSNBC.com’s first director of multimedia, leading an amazing team and our work in photography, audio, and video. For seven years, I had the rare privilege of watching—and helping shape—what digital journalism could become. In 1996, the web was still a wide-open frontier. News organizations were learning how to report in a medium that was immediate, visual, interactive, and constantly changing. We were building the plane while flying it: inventing ways to bring together reporting, photography, design, video, data, and emerging technology in service of a story. What…