LUCEO  announces its call for entries for the third annual LUCEO Student Project Award. The award is offered each year to a student photographer working to develop a significant body of work. The 2011 Student Project Award recipient was Ohio University undergraduate student Maddie McGarvey. Her photo essay on grandparents raising grandchildren was selected as the winner by a panel of judges headed by Michael Wichita in June 2011. This year, both full-time graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit an application for submission.  Ten finalists will be announced in late May. A select panel will judge from the ten finalists and the winner will be announced in June during LOOK3: The Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia. Michael Wichita, Director of Photography at AARP, will once again serve as Lead Judge. LUCEO's 2012 winner will receive $1,000 towards completion of his or her project, as well as a yearlong mentorship on the…

Advanced Storytelling Workshop at MediaStorm We have one spot open in our upcoming Advanced Storytelling workshop that starts this Saturday, March 24. Please apply immediately if you are interested in participating in this one-week Advanced Storytelling workshop. The primary goal of the MediaStorm Advanced Storytelling Workshop is to create an intimate, character-driven documentary that is ready for publication. Participants will work directly with two MediaStorm producers, in the field and in the editing suite, as part of a crew dedicated to telling a story. Participants will create their stories under the direction of MediaStorm producers in a collaborative, educational and hands-on environment.         Deadlines and dates for two upcoming Advanced Storytelling Workshops: July 28-August 3, 2012 with an application deadline on June 5, 2012. November 10-November 16 with an application deadline on September 12, 2012. Learn more about the Advanced Storytelling Workshop, and apply here.  Human Rights and the Media NYU…

A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan, by Seamus Murphy, was selected by the Media for Liberty Award jury panel as the winning submission for the third annual Media for Liberty Award, a $50,000 journalism prize that recognizes media contributions that examine the link between economic and political liberty.  Print, broadcast and online submissions were judged on criteria including thematic relevance, educational value and relevance to the public discourse. “This was a powerful story that unfolds over fourteen years and illustrates the physical, emotional and economic toll the years of political instability took on an average Afghan family,” said John Malone, Chairman of Liberty Media. “On behalf of the jury panel, we congratulate Seamus Murphy and MediaStorm for producing an educative and compelling piece that stood out among this year’s entries.” Read more about the Media for Liberty Award, and watch the winning film, A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan.

Congratulations to Elles van Gelder and Ilvy Njiokiktjien for placing 1st in this year's World Press Photo Multimedia Contest with their project, Afrikaner Blood. The Dutch multimedia production follows young white Afrikaner teenagers in South Africa who attend a holiday camp set up to teach them self-defense and how to combat a perceived black enemy. The jury chair Vincent Laforet called ‘Afrikaner Blood’ “an incredibly well crafted and nuanced piece with a very cohesive structure and refined execution.” He added: “We as the jury appreciated the restraint that the authors demonstrated in the telling of this story. All of the multimedia elements and careful attention to detail served to push the narrative forward, as opposed to distracting from it.” Second place went to Maisie Crow, a former MediaStorm intern, for her production of Half Lives: The Chernobyl Workers Now, and third place was received by James Lo Scalzo, for his production of America's…

MediaStorm is proud to launch the project, She Looks Back, by Rick Gershon and Tim McLaughlin for American Institutes for Research (A.I.R.). She Looks Back, explores the state of girls education in Liberia from the prism of two young students, Rose and Tina. The film tracks these girls as they face challenges that stem from the civil war, as well as gender-based discrimination, which often keeps them from attending school regularly, if at all. With new research projects beginning in Zambia and Liberia, A.I.R. sought out MediaStorm to document the situation and produce a story about the real impact their programs are having in participating communities. Established in 1946, A.I.R. is an independent, nonpartisan not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. Watch She Looks Back, and read more about MediaStorm's collaboration with A.I.R. to produce…