Curated by Doc Society and Exposure Labs, in partnership with the New Orleans Film Society and the Southeast Climate and Energy Network, a virtual Climate Story Lab US-South is taking place the week of April 26th, 2021.
Climate Story Lab is a series of interventions designed by Exposure Labs and Doc Society with a laser focus determination to accelerate effective climate storytelling at the regional level.
The Southern region of the United States is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to the impacts of climate change, often plagued by extractive storytelling practices and viewed through a very narrow lens perpetuated by mainstream media. Women, BIPOC, and low-income communities are often at the forefront of the climate emergency, yet rarely at the forefront of storytelling, both as makers and as protagonists. There is a critical opportunity to support sustainable infrastructure for Southerners to determine who the story is about, who is telling the story, how it’s being told, and how it gets shared.
Over one week in April, we will bring together regional creative storytellers with the climate community - scientists, economists, political strategists, faith leaders, cultural curators, journalists, grass roots organizers and funders - for four days of radical collaboration. Together, this powerful group will:
Grow thought and power-building partnerships between climate storytellers, climate organizers and other stakeholders, that center and build potential for climate impact
Reimagine notions of success beyond the big festival circuit, the major institutional funders, etc
Discuss and share solutions around how to disrupt and challenge power in the storytelling landscape by examining and reimagining extractive storytelling and funding models
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are looking for up to 6 creative storytelling projects: We want to work with ambitious teams who are poised to launch into strategic partnerships with the regional climate community. We are looking for projects with the potential to combine powerful storytelling with innovative impact distribution strategies.
We will be focusing on stories produced by storytellers from the Southern region of the United States.*
This application is open to anyone. You do not need to be affiliated with a film or environmental organization to apply.
We are looking for media projects which are in early to mid production stages.
These projects could include feature length films, episodic series, short films, web series, VR projects, podcasts or beyond.
We welcome both nonfiction and fiction projects to apply.
For each creative project selected, we can support up to 2 team members to attend the virtual lab, which will take place in half days the week of April 26th, 2021. This team might include the Director, Producer, Impact Producer or Story Protagonist.
Selected projects will receive impact mini grants of $2,000 and participating team members will receive stipends for their time.
We will prioritize projects that:
Have impact as a critical component of their overall vision and goals
Bring quality, vision and originality (Past bodies of work, brings a unique voice and perspective, clearly articulates vision)
Demonstrate an ability to execute the project to completion (reasonable budget, collaborators, planning for production and impact, etc.)
Demonstrate a willingness to learn and be an active member of the cohort
Demonstrate a connection to community and/or place
Tells the story of underrepresented communities
*We are using the US Census Bureau definition of the South, which is comprised of the following states:
Division 5: South Atlantic (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia)
Division 6: East South Central (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee)
Division 7: West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas)
Applications now open
WHEN? Week of April 26th, 2021
LOCATION? Virtual
DEADLINE: Tuesday, February 9, 2021, 5pm EST. All applicants will be informed by February 19 on the status of their application.
QUESTIONS? Contact mona@exposurelabs.com
APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED
This US-South edition is produced by Exposure Labs in solidarity with Doc Society, New Orleans Film Society and Southeast Climate and Energy Network. If you would like to join us, please contact mona@exposurelabs.com
Thank you!
This initiative is made possible by generous support from Kendeda Fund, our Leadership Circle, and WILD Foundation and organizational support from Far Star Action Fund and Perspective Fund.
