Lukas Augustin is a journalist, film producer and director of photography based in Germany. For two years he lived in Afghanistan, living with a local family, learning the local language and volunteering for the humanitarian aid organization Operation Mercy. After freelancing as a photojournalist and in the film world for several years producing documentaries and short films he returned to Afghanistan in 2011 with his wife, who also has a background in photography and directing. The trip resulted in a short film “Afghanistan - Touch Down in Flight", which was featured in the iPad edition of the Süddeutsche-Zeitung Magazin and online in the Atlantic and the Washington Post.

After taking courses in film directing and production at the Met-Film School at Ealing Studios of London and at Prague Film School he and his wife Salome Augustin started their own production company. While he is in Germany he continues with his studies in Orient and Islamic Studies and Literature at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. At the same time he participates in a trainee program in cross-media journalism at the Journalisten-Akademie (academy of journalism) as a scholarship holder of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation.

Together the couple continues to access people and their stories in conflict zones and at the fringes of mainstream media coverage. They were one of the first media teams to enter Mogadishu, Somalia after the drought crisis in 2011 and Lukas went to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012 to report about the ongoing exploitation of conflict minerals. For his film and documentary work he has been awarded with numerous prizes.

Lukas participated in the November 2012 MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop. He had the following to say about his experience:

I loved the fact that this course was made for people who already have experience and who are not starting from zero. I really enjoyed being a team instead of a lone ranger. Working as a collaborative team with so many talented and passionate people is not a one man show but a stretching experience that is rarely seen in our industry and elevates the product to a much higher level.

I loved the first day when Brian gave the introduction on multimedia storytelling and going with us through their previous work. Admiring their quality of work and the depth that their stories provide it was great to hear and see background information that explained why MediaStorm does things others don't.

It was great getting practical the following days and working alongside of an experienced team to produce a multimedia story. I have learned about the importance of the narrative and at the same time to stay true to the subject and putting all energy to portray his character and personality in a true light. The best though was the screening at the last night after getting through the editing. We had heated discussions, got feedback from the other teams and learned where we screwed up and what to do better next time. I love the idea of having the time to develop and fine tune story to its full potential rather than throwing out a piece of crap on a regular basis.

Dani Luv is a musician and comedian at the well-known Sammy’s Roumanian Restaurant in New York. Luv likes to sing classics from the likes of Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong.

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