Expressions of Interest

Creative Producer / Delivery Partner: Global Media Exchange

Coventry UK City of Culture 2021

Deadline for application: 5pm, Friday 19th February 2021

Coventry City of Culture Trust is inviting expressions of interest from creative producers (arts organisations, agencies, or freelancers) with experience in digital content production and creative programme management in an arts context.

Global Media Exchange will be part cultural exchange, part digital storytelling lab, part commissioning programme, and will enable six young creatives (artists, filmmakers, digital storytellers, YouTubers, and activists) from Coventry and six from Nairobi to collaborate with each other and experts in the field of digital storytelling and production. The programme will enable participants to:

1. Experience and Exchange: what it is like to be young in a different society and culture.

2. Experiment and Learn: with new storytelling tools and from experienced creators.

3. Collaborate and Make: with international peers, developing original ideas for short-form interactive or immersive storytelling projects before producing and delivering their projects as part of Coventry’s UK City of Culture year.

Global Media Exchange is the fourth in our series of international exchanges in partnership with the British Council: Youthful Cities. At the heart of Youthful Cities is the Index: research conducted with young people in four international cities which form the location for a unique artistic and cultural exchange programme. The Index collected qualitative and quantitative data across a wide variety of categories (employment, entertainment, health, transport, etc) relating to daily life, wellbeing, and opportunity for young people in each city; this data will form the basis of research (the editorial brief) for the creation of art with a purpose: to influence and inspire change.

Our Youthful Cities locations and artforms are:

1. Bogota x Coventry – visual and street art.

2. Detroit x Coventry – music and sound.

3. Beirut x Coventry –poetry and spoken word.

4. Nairobi x Coventry – digital storytelling (Global Media Exchange).

The Global Media Exchange programme will be divided into seven stages to take place over 2021/22:

1. Cultural Exchange: virtual experiences encouraging the Coventry and Nairobi cohorts to explore their respective cities and cultures through issues raised by the Index.

2. Masterclasses: a curated series of virtual masterclasses by established digital innovators and storytellers working in the UK and Africa.

3. The Lab: a virtual series of intensive workshops designed and delivered by the Creative Producer/Delivery Partner and/or specialist contributors, introducing the cohorts to a range of existing, cutting-edge storytelling techniques, tools, and platforms. This will result in the development of initial project ideas in international teams.

4. Prototyping: working remotely and supported by the Creative Producer/Delivery Partner and Technical Production Partners (e.g. digital production studio) in each location, the cohorts will work in teams to develop a “cardboard” or working prototype of their project.

5. The Global Youth Summit: in October 2021, the cohorts of all four Youthful Cities exchange programmes will convene in Coventry for a cultural exchange “summit” to share their work and discuss challenges and hope for the future and the role of creativity in change. This will provide an opportunity for the cohorts to test and give feedback on their projects and receive additional mentorship from experts. The summit also offers an opportunity for the teams to gain a greater understanding of professional creative production, from development through to distribution, including what it is like to pitch ideas to commissioners, funders, and distributors.

6. Scale-up Production: working remotely and supported by the Creative Producer/Delivery Partner and Technical Production Partners in each location, the teams will scale-up and complete production of their projects.

7. Distribution: In February 2022, the month in which Coventry will celebrate the theme of “Hope”, the project will be published and distributed digitally (TBC) as part of the official Coventry UK City of Culture programme. It is anticipated that outputs will form a 6-part digital series.

Creative & Technical Brief

The programme will enable the cohorts to explore the data in, and stories that emerge and can be crafted from, the Youthful Cities Index. These stories will give a unique, cross-cultural perspective on specific issues faced by young people today in Coventry and Nairobi and will be shaped to promote an activist message, or “call to action”, for future change (the editorial brief). Relevant existing digital storytelling works that communicate important messages in creative new ways include (for example):

· Your Phone is Now a Refugee Phone by BBC Media Action (2016)

· Messages to a Post-Human Earth by Anagram (2020)

The programme will also enable the cohorts to gain an understanding of new forms of short-form immersive and interactive storytelling by learning from established innovators in this field, and by experimenting with existing digital techniques, tools and platforms (the technical brief) – an example of these “off the peg” technologies include those featured in BBC Maker Box.

The teams will be guided creatively and technically through the ideation, creative and technical development, production and distribution process by the Creative Producer/Delivery Partner and the Technical Production Partners in Coventry and Nairobi (e.g. digital studios). The types of creative content formats and techniques we anticipate the cohorts to gain an understanding of and ultimately produce (small/short-form versions of), include:

· 360 video

· Augmented reality (AR)

· A.I./interactive (e.g. computer vision, voice recognition)

· Binaural Audio

· UGC/capture

Therefore, we are looking for a Creative Producer/Delivery Partner with an understanding of this creative and professional landscape, experience of producing immersive or interactive content and/or the ability to identify and recruit partners across a variety of creative and technical production specialisms, as well as the ability to manage complex partner programmes.

Indicative Timeline

February 2021

Expressions of Interest & Appoint Creative Producer/Delivery Partner

March – April 2021

Programme Development & Planning

· Complete Programme Design and Planning

· Identify and Confirm Partners (with the Trust and British Council):

· Programme Cultural Exchange activities and Masterclasses

· Specialist partner/contributors for The Lab

· Technical Production Partners in Coventry & Nairobi

· Start creative and strategic planning for production and distribution (e.g. platform partners)

May 2021

Recruitment of Coventry & Nairobi cohorts

June 2021

Cultural Exchange: deliver virtual activities with the cohorts

July 2021

Masterclasses: deliver virtual masterclasses with the cohorts

August 2021

The Lab: deliver virtual workshops with contributors

September 2021

Prototyping: support cohorts and technical partners to develop prototypes (acting as creative producer of the projects)

October 2021

Global Youth Summit: work with the Trust and British Council to organise the participation of the cohorts and partners in the summit

November 2021 – January 2022

Scale-Up Production: support cohorts and technical partners to scale-up and complete production (acting as creative producer of the projects)

February 2022

Distribution: work with the Trust and British Council to develop and execute a distribution strategy (e.g. with a platform/media partner).

Expressions of Interest

If you have any questions about this brief (including budget, timescales and responsibilities) or the application process, please contact:

Tony Guillan, Digital Curator, Coventry City of Culture Trust (tony.guillan@coventry2021.co.uk)

Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Friday 19th February 2021

How to Apply

Your applications should be submitted in writing (Word doc or PDF preferred) or by submitting a short video.

Your application should answer the following questions:

· What is your previous experience of delivering similar projects or programmes?

(Up-to 500 words)

· If appointed, how would you approach the development and delivery of this programme (e.g. who might you work with)?

(Up-to 500 words)

Please also include a CV and/or professional history and details of your organisation (such as a website or portfolio).

Email to: tony.guillan@coventry2021.co.uk with the Subject Line: EOI GLOBAL MEDIA EXCHANGE.