Address:
2007 Wagon Crossing Path
Austin, Texas 78744
Email: santuccilauren@gmail.com
Mobile: 3135063988 Office:
Job Description:
As a contract video journalist at Education Week, I develop, produce, film, and edit sensitive and character-driven digital videos about national education issues. While my contract is just short of full-time, I often take on freelance assignments with various news organizations such as The Texas Tribune, Frontline PBS, and Al Jazeera.
Number of Years Experience: 2
Organization: Education Week
NPPA Member: Yes
Personal Statement:
For me, the greatest privilege of video journalism is the constant exchange of experiences, knowledge, and traditions. I always aim to communicate and connect with sources to foster trust and comfort in telling their stories.
I first found my passion for video journalism in my final semester of graduate school as a photojournalism student at Ohio University. For my video class, I started a project about a mother who lost her son to increasing gun violence in Columbus, Ohio. I built and sustained a relationship with this mother as she coped with the burden of grief. Tragically and unexpectedly, she lost her only remaining son to gun violence just a few months after I started filming. I followed her as she buried her second son and learned to live again after the loss of her only two children. This short won a Gold Award in Multimedia Storytelling at CPOY and was later published by Al Jazeera in May.
After graduation, I worked for The Texas Tribune as both a video journalist and multimedia fellow. From pitch to publication, I produced, shot, and edited both feature and breaking news video stories that reveal the impact that Texas law and policy have on residents. I covered stories across the state of Texas, from immigration on the Southern border to fentanyl overdose deaths in West Texas.
Now working as a contract video journalist for Education Week and as a freelancer, I’m still learning new skills and developing more passion for my work each day. However, as a remote, contract employee, I’ve truly missed being in a room full of visual journalists and learning from their work and careers. I was only able to take part in one visual journalism workshop before the pandemic started and halted my plans to attend more. I’m looking to challenge myself in the shooting and editing track of the workshop to improve on both of these skills, especially on short deadlines.
For these reasons, I’d love to attend the News Video Workshop but I do not have the funds at this early stage in my career. Because I’m a contractor and technically self-employed, the cost of insurance, equipment, and time off falls on me. The assistance of this grant will help to cover the registration fees of the workshop so I can then cover my travel costs to Oklahoma. Thank you for your consideration.
Video Story One:
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/al-jazeera-close-up/2022/5/25/us-mothers-fighting-against-gun-violence-close-up
Video Story Two:
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/video-from-afghanistan-to-austin-one-refugee-students-experience/2022/12
Video Story Three:
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/15/fentanyl-overdose-deaths-texas/