Workshop Details

The MediaStorm One Day Master Class: An intensive one day overview session with MediaStorm founder Brian Storm, focused on the art and business of digital storytelling.

MediaStorm founder Brian Storm will walk you through specific examples, and share his business experience, as well as proven tips to improve your interviewing, shooting and editing techniques.

Approach

Theory is backed up by real world examples using MediaStorm’s award winning work.

Although this is not a hands-on workshop, active discussion is both encouraged and expected from all participants.

The One Day Master Class is designed for anyone interested in learning about the ins and outs of producing and distributing documentary video and multimedia content.

Program

What You Will Learn:

Narrative Storytelling

• Developing the best approach for creating effective multimedia stories
• Pre-production planning, finding the story's focus and execution of those ideas and techniques

Reporting Approach

• Using the best tools to get the story
• When to use a still camera, when to use audio and/or video
• How to ask questions and get to the heart of the story

Teamwork

• Getting the most out of the reporter/editor relationship
• Common issues and how to resolve them

Business Model

• Collaborating with clients
• Syndication models
• Distribution of projects across various platforms

Dates & Locations

One Day Master Class

An intensive one day overview session with MediaStorm founder Brian Storm, focused on the art and business of digital storytelling.

Testimonials

"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 to keep pursuing my entrepreneurial journey. 

Brian used the first portion of the day to show several MediaStorm film projects and explain the technical details that made them work. Watching these films and hearing the stories behind them was powerful and emotional. As a journalist who has been mainly focused on print, I learned many new visual storytelling techniques that I can use to immediately improve my own work and help guide and critique the work of others. I’m eager to get out in the field and start putting them into practice. 

The second half of the seminar was devoted to how to build a business around this kind of storytelling. I was truly amazed at how thoroughly Brian has thought about different opportunities to scale his business — including publishing, syndication and licensing, technology and training. Even more astounding is that Brian is willing to share so openly the lessons that he’s learned over 20 years. Most entrepreneurs would guard this hard-won knowledge as if their lives depended on it, but Brian puts it all out there and shares it. I came away with at least a dozen ideas to consider as I start my own venture. 

I recommend Brian’s workshop to anyone who is thinking about delving into this meaningful but economically challenging field. I really hope to take a five-day session with him soon!"
— Julie Makinen, JSK Stanford Fellow

"Brian's workshop was a great blend of inspiring experiences and business insights, creating a great atmosphere for learning. He opened up his business and shared the core and true concepts behind MediaStorm. 

His one day well rounded workshop is a great overview of MediaStorm decision making process. I can't wait to do the full five days. 

Thanks Brian Storm, you are an inspiration and a master storyteller!"
— Clara Gonzalez Sueyro, JSK Stanford Fellow

"I know next to nothing about video or how to tell stories via video, but I had a vague understanding that Brian knows, so I happily signed up for this workshop. 

The first impression was that Brian really cares about people and storytelling, and that all of the really important things that go with that don't add up to shit without that genuine commitment to people and persons and craft. 

Brian's workshop might take you from 5 to 8 on the Spinal Tap scale, if you only care about the (institutional/academic?) function of filmmaking and storytelling. That's not where Brian comes from. His craft is inseparable from his head and his heart. His heart is human, and it takes him/audiences to profound places. Not exclusive places, but profound in the sense that the stories connect with viewers in a rare, common space. 

He's a good fucking storyteller, and he cares about craft, and he is an innovator because he had to figure that stuff out. And he's very generous about sharing his experience. I feel in debt to people like Brian, and I'm inspired to take on his commitment to craft, which includes teaching others what you know."
— Dustin S. Bleizeffer, JSK Stanford Fellow

"Brian Storm's one day master class offers a good balance of inspiring content and technical overview. He took the class step by step through his journey of starting MediaStorm, what stories they are most proud of and some basics to improve our own visual storytelling. The entire class is 8 hours, but it does not feel that long because the day is well organized and filled with interesting content.

I am currently a graduate student, but worked in the journalism and photography industries for several years prior to school; and the thing I appreciated most about Brian's instruction was his honesty. There are a lot of people that paint a very soft and pretty picture of what it will be like in the field and Brian tells it to you straight. He gave candid examples of tricky relationships with clients and things he would have done differently now looking back on starting MediaStorm. The other added benefit of this master class is meeting the other inspiring people who attend, all in all it was a very inspiring experience."
— Mary Newman, Visual Journalist

"There is a big difference between content and photography (multimedia). Most of what we see is content, imagery that crosses the eyes but never connects with the brain, so when you see quality photography/multimedia it stands out as a reminder that great things are being done. I learned a long time ago that I if I wanted quality all I had to do was look at MediaStorm.

I signed up for this workshop with both a specific need and an open mind, and both items were addressed and then some. Seeing individual films broken down minute-by-minute, even second-by-second, was eye opening, strategic and motivational. Brian delivers in a refreshingly honest way, something we should all appreciate. From creation to syndication and tech, the workshop covered all angles. Well worth the time and effort."
— Daniel Milnor, Creative Evangelist, Blurb Inc.

"As someone who is more comfortable in text than in any other medium, I found the MediaStorm One Day Masterclass to be both an accessible introduction to visual storytelling and a revelation about the power of multiplatform video."
— Stacy-Marie Ishmael, JSK Stanford Fellow

"Brian has developed a truly incredible and engaging body of work and speaks directly from his experience. When he walks you through the decision making process involved in each example of his work he breaks down storytelling with clear contextualized examples of what went into all the elements of a scene or a project. This helps you learn tremendously about what works and why in filmmaking, and challenges you to find the skill and craft you need to tell those engaging stories. 

Brian also has a very humanistic approach to getting those projects made. It's inspiring and validating to see that when you take on a project and engage your subjects with authenticity and respect that's when great work emerges."
— Alex Reiter, Filmmaker, Relevant Media

"As a photographer with a background in legacy media, I’ve found the familiar way I’ve told stories in the past was limiting, and the result, often disappointing. I came to MediaStorm’s one day workshop because I love the quality of MediaStorm’s work and wanted to figure out ways to make a project I’m starting the best it could be. I also came with a deep prejudice against using video. 

I bet you can guess the end of this story. I left with more questions than answers - a good thing. I also left with a deep appreciation of the power of video and an even deeper appreciation of Brian Storm’s generosity in sharing what he knows; the depth of his love for and knowledge about storytelling; and gratitude that somehow, despite figuratively dragging myself kicking and screaming, I saw the light…the light that video can throw."
— Michele McDonald, Freelance photographer

"This workshop was a rich introduction to MediaStorm’s work and methodology, spanning an incredibly broad range of topics in a single day. Brian did a great job of navigating between illuminating the factors that drive him and his team to create such powerful work and addressing the practical challenges of developing a sustainable business model to make that work possible. 

I especially appreciated how Brian lifted the curtain on the story behind the story and deconstructed partnerships with artists and clients, from the evolution of those relationships to the nitty gritty of nuanced editing choices. Brian’s dedication to the power of good storytelling and commitment to growing the industry is a real gift to aspiring producers and entrepreneurs in the field."
— Kelly Creedon, Independent Producer

"Just want to tell you how much I enjoyed the workshop yesterday. For me it was off-the-charts great. I love the way you deconstruct the storytelling process. And the information about your business model was awesome. To do the kind of inspiring work you're doing and actually make money at it is nothing short of amazing."
— Barbara Kornreich, Independent Film Producer and Editor

"I became a storyteller to change the world. It wasn’t until I got older, more mature, that I realized I’d become a storyteller to help people connect. I believe it’s in that connection that we truly change our world. That’s why I’m so impressed with the work MediaStorm does. 

On technical skills alone, the MediaStorm team can easily produce a beautiful film. What makes them so special—and I never got this until I took their storytelling workshop—is that they bring human connection into the process. 

They emphasize the power of emotion in a way you don’t often hear. They bring a level of grace and dignity to the work that results in the most elegant stories about humans. They have inspired me to no longer settle for mediocrity, but to elevate my storytelling in a way that honors the people I feature."
— Michelle Zelsman, Director, Marketing and Communications at National Breast Cancer Coalition

"As a print photojournalist, I went into MediaStorm's workshop with a skeptical eye. Two days later both my notebook and my brain were filled with the new ideas and opportunities being offered by the medium of web-based visual journalism. Two months later, I am still processing what I learned. This stuff isn't the future. It is now. I am convinced there has never been a better time to be a visual journalist. And there may be no person better suited to show you the way into this new medium than Brian Storm."
— David Hobby, Founder of Strobist.com

"I learned more in a couple days with Brian than I could learn in several months any other way. I still refer to my notes from his workshop. Even more than the technical information I picked up, Brian's enthusiasm directly lead to a new vision for multimedia in our department."
— Wes Pope, Multimedia Producer at The Rocky Mountain News