VENTURA, CA (June 9, 2009) – VJ Multimedia Workshops, in partnership with Brooks Institute in Ventura, CA, has launched a tuition-free multimedia workshop open to all university students and any visual journalists who have been laid off during the last two years. The workshop will be held at the Ventura campus of Brooks Institute from July 30 through August 2, 2009.
Responding to the current U.S. economy and the state of the newspaper industry, VJ Multimedia Workshops founder and executive director Paul Myers developed the multimedia workshop to provide college students and professional journalists with strategies for storytelling in the ever-changing media landscape.
“Over the years, so many people in the visual journalism community have volunteered in support of the education of the next generation of visual journalists, Myers said. “Our goal is to give back to the visual journalism community by educating a new generation of visual journalists in current practices and strategies.”
Myers, who is a visual journalism faculty member at Brooks Institute, founded VJ Workshops in 2009 with Brooks colleagues Greg Cooper, Susan Bloom and freelance photographer Daryl Peveto.
“My goal for this workshop is to create a space where we can share ideas, techniques and, most importantly, philosophies about visual journalism in a workshop environment, Myers said. “Rather than creating one portfolio quality multimedia piece, the aim is to nurture a philosophy of practice in the participants that will provide strategies for creating compelling multimedia stories on a daily basis as the industry continues to change.”
The tuition-free multimedia workshop is open to all university students and visual journalists who have been laid off during the last two years. The only costs for attendees are their personal expenses: travel to the workshop, transportation, food and lodging during the workshop.
The workshop provides a shooting and production environment for visual storytellers based in the traditions of journalism. The deadline to apply for the workshop is June 21, 2009. Applications can be found on the workshop’s Web site.
Using video, audio and still photography, participants in the workshop will document life in Ventura within a span of 24 hours, followed by two days of hands-on post-production days in a team environment. Additionally, a variety of guest speakers are lined up to provide inspiration and discuss technical aspects related to multimedia storytelling.
The foundation of the workshop will be steeped in the documentary tradition, Myers says, using the latest technology in visual storytelling and led by a team of media professionals. The team leaders include Tom Kennedy of www.kennedymedia.net; Scott Anger, director of video at the Los Angeles Times; Myung Chun, videographer at the Los Angeles Times; Pauline Lubens, a staff photojournalist at the San Jose Mercury News; and Jim Merithew, Wired.com photo editor.
The workshop staff, guest speakers, team leaders and technical assistants are volunteering their time and expertise to make this workshop tuition-free. Additional industry support from Brooks Institute, Olympus, and Photoshelter makes this workshop possible, as well. More information about the workshop and the application process is available at the VJ Workshops Web site, www.vjworkshops.org.
