Funding up for grabs to celebrate Culture year

A CHANCE to get a slice of a six figure funding pot is up for grabs, but the deadline is fast approaching.

Creative groups in Coventry and the West Midlands have until August 31 to apply for funding that will help them create immersive stories using augmented and virtual reality to mark Coventry’s year as

UK City of Culture. After a shortlisting process, the City of Culture Trust will give one West Midlands creative company the opportunity to create an idea that would use this technology to reach young people in Coventry.

The call out is open, and the initial selection process will bring six West Midlands creative companies together with technologists to explore new approaches to improving health and wellbeing for Coventry City of Culture in 2021.

The project is called Positive Realities, and will have a particular focus on accessing young people and engaging them with the year of culture.

It will explore how recreational and educational experiences on virtual and augmented reality platforms could have a positive impact on young people’s resilience, reduce the potential of isolation, while encouraging young adults to live fuller and more active lifestyles.

Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director of Coventry City of Culture Trust, said: “With our City of Culture year we set ourselves the dual challenge of developing innovative technology projects to entertain, as well as to tackle difficult social issues and find new creative solutions.

“Using immersive technologies we hope to tell Coventry’s stories in new ways, to create incredible audience experiences, and to support innovative cultural approaches to areas such as health and safety.”

She added: “As a city with world test bed status, we’re proud to provide a national platform for cutting-edge research led by regional talent, and to be prioritising the needs and expectations of Coventry’s next generation.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Create Central and Storyfutures Academy to offer this unique opportunity for regional creative companies.”

The past few months has seen a flurry of City of Culture activity as the team prepare for their celebrations, which will now take place from May 2021.

From cash grants for under represented community groups, and a £1m cash boost for local groups embedded in the community, there has been a lot happening in the city.

For this particular project, the Coventry City of Culture Trust is partnering with Storyfutures Academy, the UK’S National Centre for Immersive Storytelling, and Create Central, an industry body for creative content professionals.

It is a rigorous selection process, and the funding will be awarded to just one company at the end of it.

The shortlisted creative companies from the worlds of film, TV, games, digital media and other creative content sectors will attend a two-day workshop where they will discover augmented reality smartphone apps and virtual reality simulators, and how content on these platforms could promote positive everyday experiences to support better health and well-being. Each company will then apply what they have learned to create ideas that would use immersive technology to maximise their story’s reach to young audiences across Coventry, with three shortlisted ideas then moving on to a period of paid development before one is selected to move to a prototype stage.

The selected prototype will be backed with a budget of up to £120,000 - and support from Create Central, Storyfutures Academy and Coventry City of Culture Trust - to deliver the project to audiences during Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture in 2021.

Will Saunders, Chief Creative Officer at StoryFutures Academy, said: “We are making the virtual a reality for Coventry, City of Culture. And we hope Storyfutures Academy can add commercial value for creative companies across the West Midlands and social value for young audiences in Coventry in 2021.”

Ed Shedd, Create Central Chair added that it is “a fantastic project that will demonstrate the benefits of collaborative working in our region.”

Creative individuals and companies wanting to apply for one of the six spaces have until 31 August 2020 to do so.

Interested creative professionals can apply before 31 August byvisiting: www.storyfutures. com/ news/ coventr yannouncement.