Finalists of the "Dreams of the Future" contest learn how to find their voice in media
The National Centre RUSSIA hosted the masterclass "Towards Your Dream: A Success Story and Experience of Working on Camera" as part of the II Video Essay Contest " Dreams of the Future". The session was led by Ivan Orlov-Smorodin, editor-in-chief of Mash Room and creator and host of the "Without Leaving the Room" podcast, for competition finalists and participants in the Young Journalists School project.
At the beginning of the meeting, the speaker admitted that, as the son of doctors from a major city and a customs officer by his education, he had never imagined that he would one day be able to work in journalism. Nevertheless, his interest in media and persistence eventually led him to Ostankino, Channel One, documentary filmmaking and, ultimately, to the team behind one of Russia's most cited Telegram channels.
"At your age, you are already one step ahead of where I was. You are learning within a professional environment, you have mentors and opportunities to try your hand at real work. It is important to hold on to that and not miss the moment," Ivan Orlov-Smorodin noted.
The expert then examined contemporary media formats. Using Mash and Mash Room projects as examples, he demonstrated how the constant flow of news can be complemented by "slow media" content, including podcasts, long-reads, special projects and a print magazine. Participants saw how an entire media ecosystem can grow out of a Telegram channel: a podcast with a distinctive visual style, offline tours for subscribers, and historical special projects such as Mash Room Tour, featuring interactive panoramas of key events in Russian history.
Ivan Orlov-Smorodin also explained what makes content vivid, engaging and in demand: "I look at any piece of content from three perspectives: emotion, conflict and character. I have never seen a project that successfully combines all three at once — if all three are present, it means you have something truly brilliant."
The participants also discussed how to tell a story in just 15 to 60 seconds, create a hook within the first few seconds of a video, build a compelling conflict and still maintain clarity and pace.
The highlight of the lecture was a mini-workshop on finding one's place in media. Ivan Orlov-Smorodin invited the participants to answer a series of questions. Who is a "cool" media personality in their eyes, and why do they admire them? What do they enjoy doing in their free time? Which types of shows or blogs do they like most, and why — is it for their atmosphere, hosts and guests, editing style, music or manner of speaking? What content do they watch for the longest periods of time, and what do they feel is missing from today's media landscape? Finally, what does their ideal creative day look like — working alone or as part of a team, reflecting quietly or actively filming content?
The speaker then turned the list on its head:
• the personalities participants admired revealed qualities they would like to develop in themselves;
• their hobbies and interests suggested themes for future projects;
• favourite formats highlighted techniques and modes of expression worth studying;
• content-consumption habits pointed towards the media environment best suited to them — text, podcasts or video;
• and answers about what is missing from existing content helped identify potential niches and unmet audience needs.
In this way, an exercise with a simple set of questions became a roadmap for participants' future media projects, ranging from short-form vertical videos to podcasts and original editorial series.
At the end of the session, guests had the opportunity to ask questions. Contestants and young journalists wanted to know: how to join the Mash Room editorial team; how to create memorable project titles; how to maintain a regular publishing schedule without burning out; how to move beyond the uniformity of trend-driven vertical videos; and what to do when everyone presents topics in the same polished way. One question focused specifically on the future of journalism in the age of artificial intelligence.
"We use AI tools only to save time on routine, linear tasks that can be automated. The most important thing right now is to go through this stage without any author losing their own voice. Many people become dependent on AI and gradually lose their professional skills. If you want to become a professional, you must be able to do your job entirely on your own — quickly, efficiently and to a high standard. If you can do that, no AI system will replace you," Ivan Orlov-Smorodin said.
The masterclass was held as part of the awards ceremony for the II Video Essay Contest "Dreams of the Future", which this year brought together teams from all 89 regions of Russia and 10 neighbouring republics: Uzbekistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Transnistria. A total of 935 teams entered the competition, with 3,740 people taking part in the creation of video essays.
The project continues the work launched at the International Symposium "Inventing the Future", aimed at reviving public interest in designing the future and encouraging people to make conscious choices about their life paths.
A master-meeting with the long-time host of the "Vremya" news programme, Yekaterina Andreyeva, at the National Centre RUSSIA left a lasting impression on participants of the Young Journalists School.
The "StudAptatsiYA"("Student Adaptation") game was held at the National Centre RUSSIA on 7 June as part of the II Video Essay Contest "Dreams of the Future".
The participants discussed how content plans work in new media, which formats help retain an audience and how platform algorithms operate.
