The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality is a programme developed by La Biennale di Venezia to navigate the most innovative and exciting technology of today – Virtual Reality. In its approach to fully exploring the aesthetic and narrative opportunities offered by this new form Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality provides filmmakers and creative professionals from a wide range of backgrounds with the skills to prepare them to fully engage with 360° interactive immersive future.
With the support of experts and international specialists in the field, Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality will help existing independent filmmakers and creative professionals from all over the world to appropriate the medium of VR and learn how to adapt their knowledge to VR in a fluid transitional way. In the process participants will acquire the specific know-how around 360° immersive storytelling that will redefine the relationship between story and audience.
Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality will select 9 director and producer teams to work on the development of VR projects of between 10-20 minutes duration, at concept stage, helping them to advance their projects covering creative, production, audience/market and financial concerns.
As part of the programme we aim to financially support the production of up to 3 VR projects with € 30,000 each to premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in early September 2017 and to present the other developed projects at the Venice Production Bridge as part of the Gap Financing Market activities.
The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality, realized with the support the Creative Europe – Support for Training, will be collaborating with the Netherlands Film Funds and the TorinoFilmLab.
Call for applications
We are looking for VR concepts, of between 10 – 20 minutes duration that can be made within €30,000 and completed for exhibition at the Venice International Film Festival in 2017. It is essential that the projects submitted can only be realized using VR technology and they truly engage with the new form and what it has to offer.
The Call is open from 12th December 2016 to 8th February 2017 to teams of director and producers at their first, second or third VR production.
There is no age limit and no participation fee. All participants have to cover their own travel costs for the first and second workshop in Amsterdam and Venice. All project teams will have their flights and accommodation covered for their attendance at the Venice Production Bridge in September 2017.
The selected teams will sign an agreement with the Biennale that assures their presence throughout the whole Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality process. Please read the programme description before completing the application.
Who can apply
As Virtual Reality is a new audio visual form whose language and grammar is still being discovered we are looking for a mix of creative professionals to enrich the programme and maximise opportunities to fully explore the innovative nature of the new medium. Applications are welcomed from people involved in film, gaming, theatre, dance, opera, visual arts and other creative fields.
Participants will need to provide work that demonstrates their creative, visual and production skills, openness to taking on new practices and a desire to fully engage with the technology.
The training will be project led and applicants will be expected to apply in director and producer teams. For those applying from the film world experience in short films, documentaries, and/or features is required and for those creative professionals applying from outside the film world they will need to have a body of work which can demonstrate their ability to understand narrative and spatial concerns.
How to apply
The application consists of a number of written and visual materials, which you will need to submit (see list below). Please spend the time getting the materials together as we won’t consider incomplete applications.
You will have to provide the following materials in English:
a. A project concept for a VR project of between 10 – 20 minutes length (1 page, max 350 words or 1.800 characters)
b. A treatment that fully describes the VR project (5-10 pages, max 3.500 words or 18.000 characters) including: A Director’s Vision which can be represented by a mood board, a project-book (few pages of a storyboard, a colour script, a series of drawings or photographs) or by a video (max 3 minutes). It visually complements the written concept, and describes the project through images
c. Previous works by the director (max 2) digital or on film, to be uploaded directly on the website 360°and/or flat.
d. A Total Budget up to a maximum of 30.000€
e. Biographies of the director and the producer
f. A Production Company Profile
g. A Video-Presentation by the director (max 3 minutes)
h. An Audience Engagement Plan (1 page, max 350 words or 1.800 characters), which describes how to create audience awareness through on-line communities
i. Rights Disclosure with regards to full ownership of rights to the submitted project or, should the rights of third parties be involved, a guarantee that the acquisition of all rights in view of production has been concluded or is currently being negotiated. In the latter case the cost must be indicated in the budget, which in any case as specified above in point f, cannot exceed the total of 30,000 euros.
j. Signed agreement between the producer and the director.
The acceptance of all conditions of the International Call makes the application eligible.
For further information see:
http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/collegecinema/