2025 VIDEO STORYTELLING WORKSHOP
Maysville & Mason County, Kentucky
OCT 21 - 25, 2025
Immerse yourself. The experience is waiting for you.
Photo by Akash Pamarthy
If you are looking to jump-start your visual journalism career, or if you need to rejuvenate your passion for storytelling, spend a week with us in the Bluegrass State for a week of immersive learning, inspiration, and community interaction at the 50th annual Mountain Workshops.
Registration opens
Payment begins July 1, 2025
June 1
Tuition
Save $100 off the $950 tuition if you pay before August 31.
$850
Celebration Dinner
Participants are welcome to join us Monday, Oct. 20 at a special rate.
$30
VIDEO STORYTELLING WORKSHOP 2025
Are your video productions stuck in a rut? After all your hard work and days of production, do your stories seem flat, lifeless and lack meaning? If you are comfortable with the technology but are looking for the workshop that will help you uncover, capture and edit a compelling narrative arc, then look no further.

With a coach-to-student ratio average of 1:4, the Mountain Workshops Video Storytelling Workshop can teach you how to bring the story back into storytelling. You will establish a close relationship with your subject, get up early and stay out late, stretch yourself creatively beyond your previous limits and ultimately have a career and life-changing experience.

Mountain is all about building relationships and using meaningful moments to tell a story. If you want to reach a new level in your documentary work, your coaches – some of the best visual professionals in the nation – will give you a motivating push in the right direction.

To complement your days and nights of shooting, editing and collaborative production, each evening there are inspiring presentations by the coaches from all forms of visual journalism. Any downtime you may find will be spent soaking up the knowledge of your passionate coaches and maybe catching a little sleep.

Chris janjic, Independent Cinematographer

" This isn't just a skills workshop. It's a shot in the arm of motivation and inspiration for visual storytellers of any experience level."
MAYBE THE VIDEO WORKSHOP IS NOT FOR YOU?
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER OPTIONS!
WHAT WE DO
Each October, a group of visual journalists set up shop in a different community in Kentucky to document life and culture in a unique way. Raw and live, it’s all about the people and their stories, not the institutions. It’s called the Mountain Workshops, and dozens of students and professionals from around the country swoop in for a week every year to garner new skills and fresh inspiration.

It’s a crash course in visual journalism.

Participants can choose from one of three options for the week. Photojournalism, Video Storytelling or Picture Editing. Three workshops held in one location, in one week, with a constant flow of new ideas and one-on-one guidance by the top professionals in their fields, all add up to an intense five days of high-octane education in visual communication and storytelling.
1
What you create
  • A two-to-three-minute short-form video documentary that will be published in the Mountain Workshops website and displayed in the traveling gallery
  • Moments of learning that rapidly propel your skills forward.
  • A network of friends, colleagues and connections that will remain a part of your life throughout your career.
2
Who should attend
  • Pre-professional or early professional visual storytellers looking to increase their knowledge in the art of storytelling.
  • Any visual journalist or commercial videographer in need of inspiration or a week away to experience visual immersion to rejuvenate their passion.
  • College students interested in documenting communities and the people who live in them.
A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT THE 2024 MOUNTAIN
Video by Sean McInnis
HEADQUARTERS LOCATION
THE COX BUILDING
2 E Third St
Maysville, KY 41056
HOUSING
You are required to provide your own lodging and dinning arrangements during the Workshops.

There are three hotels within walking distance from the Workshop's headquarter. The faculty and staff are being lodged at the French Quarter Inn. The Lee House Inn and the Moon River Bed and Breakfast are also located in downtown Maysville. The greater Maysville area has many charming AirBNB options worth exploring and the Hampton Inn and a more budget friendly Quality Inn are just outside of town.

Once you have been accepted AND paid to attend the workshop of your choosing, you will be invited by your registration email to join a PRIVATE Facebook group for all the 2025 participants. It is in this social space that many of our workshop attendees coordinate hotel and transportation arrangements. We will post on Facebook any private housing options as they become available from the community.
TRAVEL
You will need to have a vehicle for the workshops.

The Photojournalism and Video workshops requires each participant to work individually at various locations each day and it is mandatory to have your own transportation during the week as well as get yourself to and from your airport if you are flying in for the workshop.

The nearest airport is Cincinnati, Ohio. (CVG) and is 66 miles from our headquarters or Lexington, Ky. (LEX) which is 72 miles away. It is always worth looking at other airport options to perhaps find better prices or connections but it can come with double the driving distance. You can consider Louisville, Ky. (SDF) at 137 miles from our headquarters. Another option would be Columbus, Ohio (CMH) at 127 miles away.

If you are in the Picture Editing workshop AND you book a room at one of the three in-town locations you will be able to walk to and from your hotel to our headquarters. The participants in Picture Editing do not travel for their assignments but will need to provide their own transportation for all other local activities as well as airport ground transportation.
DINING OPTIONS
Since this year's workshop headquarters is located in a downtown district, there are multiple dinning choices for breakfast, lunch or dinner, not to mention the obligatory fast food establishments on the outskirts of town. Participants are invited to join us for our celebration dinner on Monday, Oct. 20 at a reduced rate of $30. You will purchase your ticket at the time of registration.
THE 50th CELEBRATION DINNER AND PRESENTATION
Honoring our past, inspiring our future
For half a century, the Mountain Workshops have helped shaped visual storytelling for countless numbers of individuals, and this year, we celebrate our anniversary! Join us in historic Maysville, Kentucky, on Monday, Oct. 20 at 6:00 pm to honor this legendary experience.
LEARN MORE
2025 TENTATIVE VIDEO STORYTELLING SCHEDULE
All times are EASTERN

TUESDAY | OCT. 21

7:45 - 8:45 AM
7:45 - 8:45 AM
Workshop Registration
8:00 AM
8:00 AM
Vendor's Open
Visit our national, regional and local sponsors.
9:00 AM
9:00 AM
Video Workshop Introductions
TIM BROEKEMA Mountain Workshops Production Director
Production overview and individual coach assignments.
9:30 AM
9:30 AM
Meet Your Coaches
SMALL GROUP SESSION
9:45 AM
9:45 AM
What is Story Arc?
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
The 8 steps of narrative structure.
10:15 AM
10:15 AM
Visuals for Video Storytelling
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
The fundamentals of video storytelling
11:15 AM
11:15 AM
The Power of Audio
TBD  | VIDEO ROOM
Video storytelling and the art of audio.
11:00 AM
11:00 AM
Lunch
Visit one of the local downtown restaurants and spend time with the vendors.
12:30 PM
12:30 PM
Welcome and Community Comments
JAMES KENNEY Mountain Workshops Director
Join the photo and picture editing workshop participants for our grand opening of the 2024 Mountain Workshops. Photo and video participants will draw their subjects name out of the hat.
1:30 PM
1:30 PM
Cut the Deal
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
Ethics and working with sensitive subjects/subject matter.
2:15 PM
2:15 PM
On location
IN THE FIELD
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
Dinner
On your own.
7:30 PM
7:30 PM
Evening welcome and announcements
JAMES KENNEY Mountain Workshops Director
7:45 PM
7:45 PM
Evening Lecture Series "What Makes A Story?" #1
8:20 PM
8:20 PM
Evening Lecture Series "What Makes A Story?" #2
8:55 PM
8:55 PM
Evening Lecture Series "What Makes A Story?" #3
9:30 PM
9:30 PM
Interviewing Techniques
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
Empathy and finding ways into the hardest parts of someone’s journey & visual styles and technical approach.
11:00 PM
11:00 PM
Workshops Building Closes

WEDNESDAY | OCT. 22

Sunrise!
Sunrise!
Fieldwork
Shooting schedules are built by interaction with you, your subject and your coach's guidance.
9:00 AM
9:00 AM
Workshops Building Opens
Vendors tables are open.
12:00 PM
12:00 PM
Lunch
On your own.
12:30 PM
12:30 PM
Methods for Story Organization
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
Transcribing, storyboarding, radio cut, story pitch.
1:15 PM
1:15 PM
Story Pitch and Finding the Real Story
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
Sometimes the perceived story is not really the story at all, hidden gems.
2:00 PM
2:00 PM
Fieldwork
In the field with subject.
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
Dinner
On your own.
7:30 PM
7:30 PM
Evening Welcome and Announcements
JAMES KENNEY, Mountain Workshops Director
7:45 PM
7:45 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Finding the story within the story." #4
8:20 PM
8:20 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Finding the story within the story." #5
8:55 PM
8:55 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Finding the story within the story." #6
9:30 PM
9:30 PM
The 30-second Pitch
VIDEO ROOM
What is the story, why should I care, explore conflict, tension and challenge.
12:00 AM
12:00 AM
Workshops Building Closes

THURSDAY | OCT. 23

Sunrise!
Sunrise!
Fieldwork
Shooting schedules are built by interaction with you, your subject and your coach's guidance.
9:00 AM
9:00 AM
Workshops Building Opens
Vendors tables are open.
12:00 PM
12:00 PM
Lunch
On your own.
Afternoon
Afternoon
Mandatory Check-in
Assets drop and coach visit for review and advising.
Afternoon
Afternoon
Fieldwork
In the field with subject.
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
Dinner
On your own.
7:30 PM
7:30 PM
Evening welcome and announcements
JAMES KENNEY, Mountain Workshops Director
7:45 PM
7:45 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Making the Story Visually Unique." #7
8:20 PM
8:20 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Making the Story Visually Unique." #8
8:55 PM
8:55 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Making the Story Visually Unique." #9
TBD
9:30 PM
9:30 PM
Production
VIDEO ROOM
Radio cut presentation with one-on-one coach participation and feedback.
12:00 AM
12:00 AM
Workshops Building Closes

FRIDAY | OCT. 24

Sunrise!
Sunrise!
Fieldwork
Last chance for content gathering with subject.
9:00 AM
9:00 AM
Workshops Building Opens
Vendors tables are open.
12:00 PM
12:00 PM
Lunch
On your own.
12:30 PM
12:30 PM
Production Time
At the lab beginning your story production.
3:00 PM
3:00 PM
The Rhythm of the Edit
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
How to guide an audience to make connections.
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
Dinner
On your own.
7:30 PM
7:30 PM
Evening welcome and announcements
JAMES KENNEY Mountain Workshops Director
7:45 PM
7:45 PM
Evening Lecture Series " Why Do We Do What We Do?" #10
TBD
8:20 PM
8:20 PM
Evening Lecture Series " Why Do We Do What We Do?" #11
TBD
8:55 PM
8:55 PM
Evening Lecture Series " Why Do We Do What We Do?" #12
TBD
9:30 PM
9:30 PM
First Edit
VIDEO ROOM
Rough cut ready for one-on-one with coach and peer review, critique, discussion.
1:00 AM
1:00 AM
Workshops Building Closes

SATURDAY | OCT. 25

8:00 AM
8:00 AM
Workshops Building Opens
Vendors tables are open.
8:00 AM
8:00 AM
The Final Touches
Audio sweetening and color grading.
12:00 PM
12:00 PM
Ceremonial Closing of Content Gathering
Some fun with your new friends, group photo.
12:30 PM
12:30 PM
Sponsor Equipment Return Deadline
If you borrowed equipment from our sponsors, all equipment should be returned. If possible, please return as you can throughout the morning.
12:45 PM
12:45 PM
Lunch
On your own.
3:30 PM
3:30 PM
Deadline
Final project due, quality control check.
3:30 PM
3:30 PM
What's Next
TBD | VIDEO ROOM
Wrap up and what's next for your career. A round-table with your moderated by Emily Kassie.
5:30 PM
5:30 PM
Welcomes and Announcements
JAMES KENNEY Mountain Workshops Director
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Where Do We Go From Here?"#13
TBD
6:35 PM
6:35 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Where Do We Go From Here?" #14
TBD
7:10 PM
7:10 PM
Evening Lecture Series "Where Do We Go From Here?" #15
TBD
7:45 PM
7:45 PM
Pizza Party
Sponsored
8:30 PM
8:30 PM
Presentation Viewing
Sit back and enjoy - dare we say revel, in your success as you present your work and get a chance to see all the photo stories, videos and page design produced this week.
12:00 AM
12:00 AM
Closing Comments
Canon, Sony and Tamron door prize winners announced. Closing overview video you do not want to miss!
12:30 AM
12:30 AM
Workshops Concludes
Ready to Apply?

The application process opens April 1 and will continue until all seats for each workshop sells out or by September 15, whichever comes first. Our payment window opens July 1. Acceptance into each workshop will be based on various factors, including your portfolio, resumé and additional information you may supply.


Interested participants must fill out the online application to start the process to be considered for the Mountain Workshops. Once accepted, you will be notified by your registration email (be sure to monitor your SPAM folder) and instructed on how to pay to reserve your spot. This workshop can sell out. Your seat is not confirmed until you pay. Registration and acceptance alone does not guarantee a seat.