Dani Luv is a musician and comedian at the well-known Sammy’s Roumanian Restaurant in New York. From behind his keyboard, Luv (his birth name is actually Lev, but he liked the sound of Mr. Luv) plays the “standards”; Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong are usually covered in his routine. But his shtick includes a lot more than classic tunes. Tip him just a couple dollars and you might get a serving of public embarrassment with a side of the middle finger. Luv’s interaction with the audience is intimate, direct and very entertaining.

Outside of Sammy’s, Luv can be a very different person. “I can’t take it when I tell a joke and people don’t laugh. I take it home with me,” says Luv. Though he is still funny and gregarious, Luv says he can also be very sad and often angry. This is made more difficult by his struggles with Attention Deficit Disorder.

Luv is in therapy and a receives a great deal of comfort from a long-term relationship with Linda, his on-again, off-again girlfriend. But he describes his time behind the keyboard as the place where he is free of the concerns that are with him offstage. To this Luv says, “It's really here I feel the best. I can sing. I can be who I want to be. I can pretend.”

Luv Shtick is a product of the MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop, where participants work alongside MediaStorm staff to create an intimate, character-driven documentary in just one week. Learn more about upcoming MediaStorm workshops and online training at mediastorm.com/train.

Lukas Augustin, Video and Photography

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.

Jillian Kitchener, Video, Photography and Editor

I have always respected MediaStorm for producing compelling multimedia with extremely high visual standards. Needless to say, working side-by-side with the team was a great honor.

From the first hour, I was immersed in the realm of storytelling. I learned how to find a visually-interesting story as well as interview techniques that encourage your subject to open-up. I learned MediaStorm’s editing workflow including how to build a narrative from the ground up. I learned photo editing techniques, b-roll selection, and tips and tricks to bring audio, visuals and narrative into a cohesive piece.

The MediaStorm producers were extremely focused on helping our story become the best that it could be. They stressed that the story was not ours – it belonged to the subject. Capturing Dani Luv’s personality truthfully and thoroughly was very important to my team. We worked through the editing process with coffee and candy, long hours, and friendly debates.

I came into this workshop feeling both excited and nervous, but have left with new friends, skills and the inspiration to develop that next story.

JT Thomas, Video and Photography

As a still photographer who has intentionally avoided video over the years, I approached the storytelling workshop with an intention to make the leap into DSLR video in a very deliberate way, alas. 

Leap I did and I landed in precisely the right collaborative environment to explore all multimedia storytelling and production. 

Prior to the workshop I had explored combining my still images with radio-styled audio interview of my subjects in order to create the narrative spine of my multimedia work. But I had dragged my feet when it came time adopt video into my workflow, largely out of the prejudice that video would encumber my personal process of achieving an intimate relationship with my subject.  

But those prejudices were quickly diffused as soon as it became apparent that I had been serving my own objectives as a storyteller and not the needs and voices of my subjects, as Brian so clearly re-framed it for me. 

I shot video all week and very few still images and I came out of the experience with an entirely different sensibility of how to build a narrative around the voice of my subject while still being able to move light, fast and attentively along with our subject as they shared their most authentic and personal moments. 

Video has now easily become part of my storytelling workflow, and I especially look forward to pursuing more collaborative multimedia projects where subjects - and their precious stories - can benefit from the media tools that are now readily available to visual storytellers.

NY Times: Lower East Side Troubadour

The Travel Photographer: MediaStorm | Luv Shtick

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