MediaStorm Interview: Ricky Montalvo

This interview is the first of a series we will be conducting with former workshop attendees. The interviews are intended to gain insight into how these creative professionals approach their work and bring out the story in their subjects. Ricky Montalvo is a video producer for Yahoo! Studios and is based in San Francisco. Ricky is one of the few "one man shows" within the Yahoo! Studios group, where he shoots, edits and often produces content that runs throughout Yahoo!'s online network. You started out at Yahoo! working in project management and sales, and then decided to make a career change to video production. What sparked the change? Part of it was a passion for filmmaking in general. But I never went to school for that, so obviously trying to break into that industry proves somewhat tough. I decided to leave Yahoo and take some time off. I had been there for…

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LOOK3 – Ashley Gilbertson

One of the most powerful talks that I attended during the LOOK3 festival in Charlottesville this year was given by Ashley Gilbertson. Gilbertson presented his latest project titled, “Bedrooms of the Fallen.” The project consists of a series of pictures of the dormant bedrooms left by soldiers who died at war. Gilbertson explained that he had become frustrated by the public’s lack of response to his photographs coming out of Iraq that depicted the violence surrounding him and the soldiers assigned to protect him. It was moving to hear him talk about the soldiers in his pictures, and in many cases, explain how they were killed. His wife suggested that he photograph their bedrooms as a way for people to relate to their lives. Since then, Gilbertson has photographed dozens of bedrooms across the US and Europe. In many cases, the rooms are arranged in the exact same way as the day…

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LOOK3 Recap

I'd like to welcome Matthew McAllister to the blog. Matthew is a project management intern this summer and we're excited to have him on board! -Jessica The MediaStorm crew got back from the LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph a little over a week ago and we’re still processing the amazing experience we had! LOOK3 is hosted in Charlottesville, Virginia and gathers photographers from across the country and around the world. As a new intern with MediaStorm, it was quite a way to start the summer! Speakers included Antonin Kratochvil, Massimo Vitali, Sally Mann and Nan Goldin. Additional talks covered a wide range of topics from a discussion with Steve McCurry on how he got the now infamous National Geographic cover photo of Sharbat Gula, to the showing of a video piece about high school Proms by Martin Bell and Mary Ellen Mark. Everyone walked away from each and every session inspired and…

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