NEW MEDIA PROJECT GRANT Application Guidelines

Submission deadline:
Monday, January 14, 2013

WHAT IS THE NEW MEDIA PROJECT GRANT?

The New Media Project Grant provides funding for one innovative cross-platform or interactive media arts project. Successful applicants will demonstrate excellence in storytelling, innovation, and artistry in the media arts. The grant recipient will receive $50,000 to create his/her proposed project.

The purpose of this grant is to support a project that demonstrates the unique power of media artists to illuminate compelling points of view, and to inspire and engage people to respond to them. Projects will use innovative ways to reach a wider audience, pushing the boundaries of traditional distribution outlets.

Projects may be fiction or nonfiction stories; they must include a cross-platform or transmedia component designed to engage new audiences in imaginative ways.

The $50,000 grant can be used for a project in pre-production, production, or post-production. One grant will be given in 2013; production and outreach platforms must be completed within two years from the time of the grant.

The selected project will have access to media mentors/collaborators experienced in the artist’s medium as well as in additional media platforms. IFP will connect the artist with mentors, technical experts, and/or organizations that further the project’s vision.

The grant winner will be announced during the last week in April.

 

WHAT TYPE OF PROJECT WILL THIS GRANT SUPPORT?

Works made for all available media platforms are eligible, such as the Internet, interactive and mobile technologies, and digital games, as well as radio, film/video, and television.

Examples of projects that could be eligible for funding:

• A narrative or documentary film with cross-platform components: a game (online or physical), iPad app, comic book, online interactive map, character blog, etc.
• An independent radio documentary with an accompanying interactive website or app.
• A series of webisodes with a cross-platform component.
• A website with video, audio, and/or interactive elements and a social media outreach.
• A series of live events with editioned video screenings.

Examples of cross-platform projects have been collected here (courtesy of Ingrid Kopp, Tribeca Film Institute.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND SUBMISSION RULES

In order to qualify for the New Media Project Grant, applicants must comply with all of the following requirements.

• Your proposed project must be a fiction or nonfiction media project that integrates the story across two or more media platforms in an innovative way.

• Submitted projects must show enough footage, designs, script, wireframes, or prototypes to illustrate your storytelling ability.

• You must clearly describe how your cross-platform approach will engage audiences in new ways.

• You must be a current Minnesota resident who has resided in the state continuously for a minimum of one full year before the application deadline.

•  You may not be a full-time student at the time of the application deadline, and you may not attend school full time during the two-year grant cycle.

•  You must be at least 18 years of age.

• You may apply as an individual or as a team of no more than two artists. Each applicant on the team must fulfill all the eligibility requirements.

• You may not apply for the 2013 McKnight Media Arts Fellowships if you apply for the 2013 New Media Project Grant.

APPLICATION MATERIALS

All applications must be submitted through this online form. You must include:

• A project description (1-2 pages). The description must include these sections:
• Story description: What is this project about?
• Cross-platform strategy: What platforms are you using, and why?
• Outreach and engagement strategy: How will you engage audiences in your project?
• Project sustainability: Once the project is launched, who will maintain it and for how long?

• Bios of the applicant(s) and key team members. This should include all the key team members who will be working with you to write, direct, produce, and/or build the interactive/cross-platform elements of your project.

• For projects with a major narrative element, an excerpt of the script/design document of no more than ten pages.

• Media work samples of no more than 20 minutes from each applicant. The samples may be from previously completed work or from the proposed project, if the proposed project is currently in production or post-production. 

You may submit your work as a URL, or upload it as an attachment to the online form, or as a DVD. If your work is on DVD, please submit two copies.

• A budget for your project, indicating the total cost of your project and how you would use the grant, whether you will be raising additional funds and from what sources, etc.

• A timeline explaining the sequence of steps required for the completion of the project by January 2015.

APPLICATION DEADLINE IS MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

SELECTION PROCESS

IFP staff will determine eligibility of the applications. Eligible projects will be judged by a national juror with broad expertise in media arts.

Judging criteria will include:

• Artistic quality as demonstrated by work samples.
• Feasibility of the project proposal.
• Subject matter that presents a compelling story.
• Quality of cross-platform approach.
• Effectiveness of outreach and sustainablility plan.

Applicants may be asked for an in-person or phone interview prior to the final decision.

 

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

Completed applications must be received no later than 6:00 PM on Monday, January 14, 2013. This is an in-office deadline. Your online application must be submitted by that time.

If you are submitting your media work samples as DVDs, please mail them to:

New Media Project Grant
IFP Minnesota
2446 University Avenue West
St. Paul, MN 55114

 All other materials must be submitted as part of the online application form.

INFORMATION SESSIONS

Attend a free information session or webinar to learn more about the New Media Project Grant. 

TWIN CITIES

Tuesday, October 9th, 6pm
Wednesday, October 24, Noon

IFP MN Center for Media Arts
2446 University Ave. West
St. Paul

Red Wing

Wednesday, November 7, 6:30pm

Anderson Center
163 Tower Drive
Red Wing

WEBINAR

Thursday, October 25, Noon

 Check IFPMN website and Facebook page for information on how to log in.

Questions? Please contact Lu Lippold, llippold@ifpmn.org, 612-998-0915.

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The New Media Project Grant is supported by The McKnight Foundation.