Workshop Participants
Laurentiu Diaconu-Colintineanu
Deutsch Welle
Laurentiu Diaconu-Colintineanu was born in 1981 in Bucharest, Romania. He studied International Economics and mastered in Tourism Administration at the Bucharest Academy for Economic Studies. He began his career as a radio journalist and host for the National Public Radio in Romania. After having won two fellowships for young journalists in Germany, Laurentiu was offered a contract at Deutsche Welle, Germany's International Broadcasting Corporation.
His multimedia projects range from investigating the effects of civil wars and frozen conflicts in Eastern Europe to fighting the stigma of depression. Currently, Laurentiu is working on an investigation covering school violence in his home country, Romania.
Laurentiu participated in the July 2010 MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop. He had the following to say about his experience:
If you want to have a life-changing experience with the best multimedia professionals in the whole world, if you want to be terrified of going back to your job because you just discovered the most meaningful way to do journalism, if you want to learn more than in a week that you have, probably, in your entire career so far, then you'd better close this window and start completing the application form NOW!!!
I arrived in Dumbo as a journalist and left being a dreamer. I dream of teams of professionals, of uniting each member's skills in order to create profound narratives. I dream of changing my professional life and making people care about human issues and stories. It was such a privilege to work with the entire team at MediaStorm, I still can't find the right words to describe it.
It was magnificent to rediscover that people let you enter their life and share their story with you. It was wonderful to know that you not only documented a story, but helped your subject change her life as well. You become part of that life-changing moment and part of a big family. How awesome is that?!
To sum things up: one week felt like one month because it was so rich with emotions, laughter, ups and downs, mistakes and success. There are so many moments going through my mind right now, that it's hard to find all the words. But I think it doesn't matter anyway, 'cause you guys will probably never get to read this far. By now, surely, you are navigating the application form, right?!
Diana Ortiz spent over half her life in prison for a crime she committed when she was a teenager. Now 45, she has turned her life around and works to help other inmates rebuild their lives. Exodus is her story.