Call for ideas by female-identifying creators – The Montreal/Miami New Narratives Lab

Explore the future of mixed-reality storytelling. Participate in a 3-day guided design workshop in Miami. Receive remote mentoring for your project. Present your project and your creative process to an audience of industry professionals and funders, in Miami and Montreal. Submission deadline: October 13, 2020 (new date).

The context

FilmGate Miami, MUTEK, the National Film Board of Canada interactive studio and O Cinema are organizing the Montréal/Miami New Narratives Lab, a cross-cultural exchange between creative storytellers, organizations, and innovative technology industries, in pursuit of exploring the future of storytelling in augmented and mixed reality. It is also an opportunity to combine our efforts across borders and continue the work of gender parity in the global tech industry.

Offering this opportunity to female-identifying creators, we aim to counter current industry statistics by creating an inclusive space, in which they can develop strong ideas for immersive and interactive storytelling and thrive in the creative roles that such projects demand.

What are we looking for?

We invite creators from different backgrounds (such as virtual, augmented and mixed reality, data science, film, architecture, dance, literature, music, fine arts or even street art, etc.) to submit a proposal for an augmented and mixed-reality project.

We encourage the submission of ambitious ideas, combining an original narrative with a strong desire to play with the codes of interactive storytelling in a mixed-reality experience. We are looking for non-fiction projects with an original worldview.

The process

Selected for their meaningful proposals, six creators, three from Miami and three from Montreal, will engage in a creative process from February to December 2021. Throughout the Lab, they will work together on their project ideas and receive mentorship and hands-on support from expert storytellers and technologists.

If the health mesures related to the pandemic allow it, the 3-day Lab in Miami* will result in several original mixed-reality narrative concepts, supported by proof of concept material.

In the months following the workshop, between March and December 2021, the creators will receive mentorship to help them prepare a presentation on their concept. In the final stage, creators will present their concepts and creative process at the FilmGate Miami Interactive Media Festival in December 2021.

Selected creators will receive $ 2,000 (CAD) for their participation.

For all the details, please consult the call for ideas PDF document.

Please note that the new submission deadline is October 13, 2020, at 12:00 PM (EST time)

*Depending on the evolution of the health crisis, the lab could be adapted to take place 100% online or be postponed to a later date.

The Montréal/Miami New Narratives Lab is organized by FilmGate Miami, MUTEK, the National Film Board of Canada and O Cinema, in collaboration with the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), with the support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.