The 2019 Storyhunter Staff Picks
The Storyhunter Community is full of talented filmmakers, journalists, producers, and freelancers of many other creative disciplines. The projects selected to The 2019 Storyhunter Staff Picks are perfect examples of the quality of work that freelancers deliver on Storyhunter every single day. They are fascinating, visually stunning, and truly represent our diverse, worldwide community.
Congratulations to everyone who worked on these stories! May you continue to tell stories from every corner of the world!
Best Vertical Video
#HiddenGems: Aerial Adventures with @aleta_ventures
Instagram
Videographer: Savannah Cummins
Instagram uses Storyhunter to hire freelancers around the world for their IGTV series #HiddenGems. They needed a Documentary DP for this project about an aerialist who does her work in the canyons of Utah. They received a number of applicants and decided to work with freelancer Savannah Cummins. She’s a filmmaker and photographer from Salt Lake City, Utah, who has a love for the outdoors. In the past, Savannah has worked with Google, The North Face and Patagonia.
Best Environmental Video
Racing to Preserve Mongolia’s History
QuickTake by Bloomberg
Video Journalist: Peter Bittner
Bloomberg’s QuickTake was looking for a video journalist, who could also shoot some drone footage for this story about an archaeology expedition in Mongolia. They hired Peter Bittner, a Storyhunter freelancer who moved to Mongolia after earning a Master’s Degree in New Media Journalism from UC Berkeley. Peter has also worked with CNN International, Al Jazeera and The New York Times, and has the goal of “telling some of Mongolia’s most underreported stories”.
Best Sports Video
A Visit with the Dubón Family in Honduras
San Francisco Giants
Video Journalist: Valentina Pereda
The San Francisco Giants are one of the most historic franchises in the MLB and this year, they signed Mauricio Dubon, the first player to be born and raised in Honduras to make it to the big leagues. The team needed a video journalist to travel to his hometown of San Pedro Sula, to tell the story of how he made it out of one of the most dangerous cities in Honduras. They hired Valentina Pereda who reports on a lot of tragic stories in Central America. She said, “It’s special to cover an inspiring story that’s filled with hope.”
Best Drone Photography
Germany’s Adventure Park Is Home to Europe’s Largest Scuba Diving Pool
Great Big Story
Video Journalist: Brian Papish
Great Big Story needed a Video Journalist for this video showcasing Europe’s largest scuba diving pool located in Duisburg, Germany. For the tenth time, they hired Brian Papish, an independent producer and editor from Berlin, Germany. Brian is just one of many examples of a freelancer that has grown a great relationship with a digital publisher through Storyhunter.
Best Use of Motion Graphics/Animation
Are Future Water Wars Inevitable?
Doha Debates
Motion Graphics Designer: Zac Rigg
Doha Debates was in need of a Senior Producer/Motion Graphics Designer for this eye-opening video about earth’s water supply. They hired Zac Rigg, a video creator from Los Angeles, California. He also has experience as a Creative Director has worked with Doha Debates six times now. Doha Debates’ videos “examine complex global issues” like capitalism, world-wide passport inequality and the refugee crisis, just to name a few.
Best Mini-Doc Series
Instagram: #Advocates
Instagram’s own Instagram account (@Instagram) is the most popular social media account in the world, with a diverse audience of 324 million followers. In 2019, they began hiring freelancers on Storyhunter to shoot and edit mini-docs for multiple IGTV series, including #Advocates, this year’s Best Mini-Doc Series. #Advocates tells the stories of people all over the world who are looking to make the world a better place, like actress/oceans activist Shailene Woodley and climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Best Video for a Non Profit
Sick History: Malaria
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Executive Producer: Storyhunter Studios
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with Storyhunter Studios to produce this six-minute, informative piece on the history of Malaria. Believe it or not, Malaria is the disease that has had the single largest impact on the human species. In this video, Dr. Jennifer Gardy explains how Malaria affected the way people lived from the days of Celopatra’s reign, to Europe in the 1600s.
Best Untold Story
The Last Inhabitant of Argentina’s Flooded City
BBC Reel
Documentary Filmmaker: Martin Errichiello
BBC Reel put a Call for Pitches up on Storyhunter, looking for stories that “look at particular trends, case studies, and moments that are shaping work and life for different generations across the globe”. They received 47 pitches and produced videos for 4 of them, including this one from Martin Errichiello, about a flooded city in Argentina that recently emerged from its waters. Martin did a fantastic job of capturing the destruction that the area experienced and the nostalgia that Pablo has for the place he calls home, garnering a five-star-rating from BBC Reel.
Best Customer Testimonial
Rae Robinson Uncovers Father and 3 Half-Sisters With MyHeritage
MyHeritage
Documentary DP: Erik Mauck
MyHeritage needed a Documentary DP to capture this story surrounding one of their users, who met her three half sisters and her father for the very first time. They decided to hire Erik Mauck, a freelancer based in Austin, Texas, just over an hour away from the shoot, which was in San Antonio. Erik has worked with 13 different companies on Storyhunter, including Business Insider, NBC News, and Verizon. This is one of many emotional customer stories that MyHeritage has told with the help of freelancers on Storyhunter.
Best Explainer Video
Infrastructure: The Hardest Easiest Problem
Bloomberg Law
Editor/Motion Graphics Designer: Aulistar Mark
Bloomberg hired the Storyhunter Studios Post-production Unit to edit and add motion graphics to this explainer video about America’s infrastructure. Storyhunter Studios managed the production of the project and worked with Motion Graphics Designer Aulistar Mark to ensure the highest quality for Bloomberg Law. This was the first project Aulistar completed on Storyhunter, and it earned him a five-star-review and praise for his “talent and professionalism”.
Best Mini-Doc
This Soup Has Been Simmering For 45 Years
Great Big Story
Documentary DP: Anirban Mahaptra
Every once in a while, a story is so compelling and people find a genuine interest in it, that it has the potential to go viral. When brands are able to tell a fascinating story in a visually stunning way, their digital content can break out. That’s exactly what happened with Great Big Story’s piece on the Bangkok restaurant, Wattana Panich’s soup that’s been cooking for 45 years. Great Big Story found this incredible subject and hired local Storyhunter freelancer Anirban Mahapatra to deliver the remarkable visuals.
Best Live-Stream
Amazon Fires Coverage by Happs
Happs is a web-based news platform that specializes in bringing live coverage of major events around the world to its community. On any given day, you can find live-streams of political rallies, sporting events and in this case, natural disasters. Throughout 2019, the Amazon rainforest has been ravaged by wildfires. Happs worked with multiple international freelancers to keep people around the world updated on the state of the region in real time.
Best 360°/VR Video
Determined For Hope: Manal al Amal
AJ Contrast
360° Documentary Videographer: Amal Al Yarisi
AJ Contrast is a division of Al Jazeera that specializes in creating immersive 360° documentary films. This piece tells the stories of mothers and children currently living through the wars in Yemen, as they suffer from malnutrition and try to survive one of the worst humanitarian crises the world is facing today.
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By Jake Watkins, Content Marketing Manager
