MediaFutures second call led by ZABALA will close at 12:00 noon (CET) on the 27th of January 2022. Differently from the last one, this open call will only cover a single challenge that can be addressed via the use of any dataset or combination of datasets, from those provided in the data infrastructure of MediaFutures, or other open or shared datasets and applications will have to be submitted online through the platform provided by the F6S platform.
HOW DOES THE OPEN CALL WORK
MediaFutures competition calls consist of three tracks of funding:
Startups for Citizens (SfC): Stand-alone startups/SMEs building a product or service that encourages novel, more meaningful ways to engage with content the focus will be on areas of public interest: journalism, including bottom-up forms, science education, and digital democracy. Startups in this track will be funded with up to €65,000.
Startup meets Artist (SmA) consists of a startup and an individual artist or artistic company collaboratively developing a new concept of data technology and the arts aimed to lead to new experiences to make data exploration both entertaining and informative, building upon products, services, and tech used or developed by the startup. It can be funded with up to €80,000 per startup and €40,000 per artist
Lastly, artists for Media (AfM) artists or artistic companies propose an innovative artwork concept and production process. The submission should propose new ideas and experiences in visual and performance arts that critically and materially explore data and technology to question and comment on its impact on individuals and society. The focus will be on data relevant to the media value chain, including social media in which artists are funded with up to €30,000.
MATCHMAKING FOR “STARTUP MEETS ARTIST” (SmA) TRACK
This tool allows the artists and startups to present themselves shortly and search for the appropriate partner. Two matchmaking sessions are planned on December 16th, 2021, and January 12th, 2022, at 01:00 PM (CET), for the artists and startups to virtually meet and match.
PHASES OF THE OPEN CALL
The START Phase consists of the first steps for joining the support programme in which up to 7 startups/SMEs and 8 teams will access it. The funding of €5,000 is subject to participation in a pitch-competition event at the end of this phase. Artists will not go through the START phase but will start directly in the BUILD phase.
The BUILD Phase will also last for 6 months. This phase will consist of the acceleration and residencies programme and includes most of the services provided by MediaFutures. The projects that access this phase will be funded with up to: i) 50,000€ for the SfC track; ii) 65,000€ for the startup/SME and 30,000€ for the artist/artistic company on the SmA track, and iii) 25,000€ on the AfM track. Within this 2nd Open Call, up to 3 startups/SMEs (out of 7) from the SfC track, 4 teams (out of 8) from the SmA track and 5 artists/artistic companies from the AfM track will access the BUILD phase. The funding is subject to the completion of a set of tasks including meetings, training, participation in events, artwork creation, impact assessment and communication duties.
The last phase is the EXHIBIT Phase in which the most successful projects from the BUILD phase will be selected. From those successful projects, one project per track will access the final prizes. The final prizes on each of the tracks will be determined at a final event.
WEBINARS
The project is hosting two webinars one on the 16th of December and another one on January 12th to explain the process of registration and share past experiences with the participants of the first open call. The registration is open, but the videos will be later shared on YouTube.
