Storyhunter Staff Picks: January 2020

The 2019 Storyhunter Staff Picks featured world-class work from our worldwide community for companies like the San Francisco Giants, Instagram and Great Big Story. Just a month into 2020, Storyhunter freelancers are already upping their game. Keep an eye out for some of these videos when it comes time for this year’s Staff Picks in December. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves though. Take a look at just a few of the many phenomenal projects from the first month of the decade. Congratulations to the freelancers, as well as the companies who worked on them!

10-year-old Kairan Quazi is a college student
60 Second Docs
Documentary Filmmaker: Mike Kuba

60 Second Docs utilizes Storyhunter’s Freelancer Management System to create interesting, short documentary pieces about unique people from all around the world. For this project, they turned to Mike Kuba for the 6th time. Mike is a San Francisco-based documentary filmmaker who earned his MFA in Film and Electronic Media from American University. 60 Second Docs’ producer left this review on Mike’s profile — “Mike was great to work with on this project! Got everything we needed and found ways to elevate the content! Look forward to working with him again soon!”

Check out Mike’s Storyhunter profile to see the rest of his outstanding work!

Collateral: In the Shadow of the Storm
The Weather Channel
Video Journalist: Anirban Mahapatra

The Weather Channel needed a video journalist to help them create this short documentary about the fallout from two tropical storms that ravaged Bangladesh. For this project, they commissioned Anirban Mahapatra, for the fourth time. It’s no surprise to see Anirban in the January Staff Picks, after he took home the 2019 Staff Pick for Best Mini-Doc for his work with Great Big Story.

You can view all of Anirban’s work on his Storyhunter profile.

Introducing Course Correction — A New Podcast From Doha Debates
Doha Debates
Motion Graphics Designer: Hope Sincere

Doha Debates is launching a podcast called “Course Correction”, which will tackle global crises and how to fix them. For the announcement video, they needed an animator to craft some motion graphics. They turned to Hope Sincere, who with this commission, completed her seventh project on Storyhunter! Her other work can be seen in videos for BBC, Politico, as well as in three other videos for Doha Debates.

Check out those videos on her Storyhunter profile.

‘She Literally Saved My Life’
Arnold Ventures
Video Journalist: Mike Kane

Arnold Ventures wanted to document some of the inspirational work that the LEAD Program in Seattle does for the homeless community. They worked with Storyhunter freelancer Mike Kane to profile the amazing organization. Mike has also collaborated with Starbucks and received this review for his work — “Hard working, pleasant, attentive and precise. Mike is one of the best.”

You can connect with Mike and see his work here on his Storyhunter profile.

¿Qué pasaría si pudiéramos volver a congelar el Ártico?
Underknown
Senior Producer: Marie Lucia Abello

Underknown needed a Senior Producer for its original web series What If Español, which Underknown describes as “An epic exploration of possibilities”. For this episode about a potential solution for the effects of global warming, they hired Marie Lucia Abello of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is the fourth time that Underknown has hired Marie for this series.

You can see the rest of Marie’s work on her Storyhunter profile.

By Jake Watkins, Head of Stories