Left to right: Glynn Washington, Jacquie Jones, Al Letson, Michael Garofalo, Photo by Maria R.M. Howell

“Storytelling is a sacred and beautiful art that we have to continue passing down, whether it be in film, whether it’s on radio, whether it’s on the Internet, whatever multimedia platform that we have to prepare ourselves for, the way that we do it is through telling those stories.” – Al Letson, host of State of the Re-Union

In February I attended the Media That Matters conference at American University, where I spoke about BRIDGE THE GULF on a panel about collaboration. Lately I’ve been immersed in editing and new media work and it was so energizing to be surrounded by creative people experimenting with new forms of communication and storytelling. I was really excited by the final speakers, who are using public radio in new ways and delving into other forms (video, animation, performance) to expand the richness and reach of their stories. I urge you to check out the work of Al Letson (State of the Re-Union) and Glynn Washington (Snap Judgment) and to take a look at the animated documentary series StoryCorps Shorts that airs on P.O.V.

Left to right: Luisa Dantas, Jackie Olive, Pat Aufderheide, Roland Legiardi-Laura, Photo by Maria R.M. Howell

It was great to see that BRIDGE THE GULF was just one of three projects featured at the conference that came out of last year’s Producers Institute for New Media Technologies — Jackie Olive (Always in Season) and Roland Legiardi-Laura (Power Poetry) spoke on a panel titled “Producing Media Across Platforms.” We went through new media “boot camp” together and it was great to hear how these other projects have evolved. For more on what happened at the Media That Matters conference read this report or visit the Media That Matters Facebook page.

Left to right: Amanda Hirsch, Leah Mahan, Dean Hamer, Photo by Maria R.M. Howell