PLEASE NOTE: This proposal was created for a class so some of the numbers for the 2010 festival are made-up, as it was written before the this year’s festival took place. Also, not all of the artistic advisory panel have actually accepted that post. I used bios of people in the festival. In general, the entirety of this proposal should be looked at as an EXAMPLE only.
GRANT PROPOSAL: 2ND Annual RE/Mixed Media Festival: An Exhibition of Controversial Art, Film and Media.
1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The second annual RE/Mixed Media Festival will take place in 2011 on May 28-30 (Saturday-Monday), over Memorial Day Weekend in DUMBO, Brooklyn in New York City. The festival is a three-day exhibition of film, video, art, music, fashion, and performance by artists who utilize creative appropriation and sampling in their work, to the extent allowable by fair use – Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
Due to the emergence of digital technologies, artists and consumers have access to media-creating tools previously only available to professionals. The result has been not only an explosion of user-generated media, but an explosion of creativity as well. Filmmakers and artists began applying remixing and mashup techniques, creating new works of art using elements from other sources. This flowering of creativity has brought with it a fair amount of controversy over the limits of creative appropriation, and questions about what constitutes fair use. The RE/Mixed Media Festival does not attempt to answer these questions, but to continue the conversation by presenting a wide range of art and artists who utilize remix to create new and unique works of art.
In 2010, the first RE/Mixed Media Festival was presented at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO, and attracted over 1,000 visitors who participated and engaged in over 11 hours of performance, a “Roots of Remix” exhibit, and a silent art auction of remixed visual art. The festival received in-kind support from such nonprofit organizations as: Public Knowledge, Creative Commons, Open Video Alliance, Participatory Culture Foundation, and the Organization for Transformative works, and was funded entirely by private donations. In 2011, the festival will be held over three days (May 28-30) of Memorial Day weekend and utilize 3-5 venues in DUMBO, allowing us to expand the number and scope of presentations.
RE/Mixed Media 2011 will operate with one full-time and five part-time staffers. In addition, we will create a volunteer artistic advisory board composed of NYC-based artists who have interest and expertise in remixed art and media. The board will be responsible for recommending and approving festival artists. As in 2010, the festival will utilize 25 volunteers to assist during the festival.
2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In September of 2009, four Brooklyn artists formed the League of Independents (LOFI) – a loose coalition whose mission it is to work towards providing a home, a real brick-and-mortar space, to emerging artists who are being creative with new technology. The first RE/Mixed Media Festival was conceived as an inaugural event that addresses an issue that this new breed of artist faces with increasing regularity – that of the legally protected right of fair use in the appropriation of existing materials for the creation of new works of art. For centuries, from Shakespeare to Pop Art to Public Enemy, artists have relied upon utilizing cultural icons and artifacts in their work in order to create new works that critique, comment, and build upon what has gone before. Digital technologies have made this type of creative appropriation easier, and as a result we have seen an explosion of creative work that is created by “remixing” older works into something new. This has caused a tremendous backlash, mainly by the motion picture and recording industries who, perceiving a threat to their business, have retaliated by not only by bringing copyright-infringement suits against artists, but by lobbying for stronger copyright laws as well.
A number of organizations such as Public Knowledge, Open Video Alliance and Students for a Free Culture hold yearly conferences to discuss fair use, copyright reform and government policy, but so far none have held an exhibition – geared towards average citizens – that demonstrates what fair use actually means by exhibiting the kinds of art it touches. It is our belief that in order to truly bring these issues into the public sphere, we need to bring them to the public in a way that will provide not just an intellectual connection, but an emotional, affective one as well. The festival aims to examine these issues through art, to continue the conversation not as arbitrators and public advocates, but as artists, as producers, and as consumers.
On Sunday, May 30th 2010 LOFI held the first annual RE/Mixed Media Festival at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO, Brooklyn. It was an 11-hour event which featured over 40 artists representing a myriad of artistic disciplines – film, video, live music, DJs, sound art, fashion, game culture, photography and painting. The free event, which was also streamed live on the Internet, drew over 1,000 visitors and received attention from local, national and foreign press. Ten video artists were selected through film festival-style submissions via the Internet whose works were judged by a panel of experts, and one artist one a $500 Grand Prize at the end of the night. The festival raised over $2,000 prior to the event through private contributions, and collaborative support from Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, Open Video Alliance, and The Organization for Transformative Works, all of whom had representatives manning sponsor tables throughout the event.
3. PROJECT DETAIL
Goals and Objectives:
There are two major goals for the “RE/Mixed Media Festival 2011″ project and specific objectives within each of the goals.
Goal #1: To raise public awareness of constitutional and legal issues surrounding creative appropriation and remixed art.
- Objective #1.1 – To expand the scope of the festival in order to maximize the public exposure to remixed art and performance.
- Objective #1.2 – To increase the amount of press the festival and its artists receive on a local, national and international scale.
- Objective #1.3 – Increase the number of non-profits who collaborate with us on the project, leveraging their resources and networks to widen the reach of publicity for the festival.
Goal #2: To strengthen the community of artists who use remix and creative appropriation in their work.
- Objective #2.1 – To create an artistic advisory board comprised of local artists who can leverage their artistic affiliations and networks in order to bring these types of artists together for the 2011 festival.
- Objective #2.2 – Raise awareness and funding to support of the long-term mission of LOFI, i.e. to create a brick-and-mortar community space in Brooklyn for these independent artists to create, display, and discuss their work.
Methods:
The primary methods for achieving the goals and objectives of the Project will be:
- Creation of a comprehensive project team to address every aspect of the festival’s production
- Formation of partnerships with additional local venues and galleries to allow space for more artists and performances.
- Creation of partnerships with additional nonprofit organizations to expand the reach and effectiveness of the festival.
- The development of a strong volunteer force with varying skill sets to assist in all aspects of planning and production.
- Expanded publicity and promotion through outreach to local journalists, TV and radio stations, and paid advertising.
- The establishment of a dedicated space for festival offices, which will also serve as a meeting place and gallery/screening room for artists.
4. AVAILABLE RESOURCES
- Galapagos Art Space, the title sponsor of the event, will provide their venue free-of-charge for the event, provided a nominal minimum is made in bar receipts.
- Public Knowledge, a Washington DC based nonprofit advocacy group, has agreed to promote our event with a half-page ad in their program for their yearly “World’s Fair Use Day” event.
- Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, Open Video Alliance, and the Organization for Transformative Works have all agreed to leverage their promotional networks to spread the word about the festival.
5. NEEDED RESOURCES
Personnel
- One full-time Festival Director at 100% salary
- One part-time Film Curator at 50% salary
- One part-time Media Director at 50% salary
- One part-time Administrator at 50% salary
- One part-time Festival Coordinator at 50% salary
- One part-time Talent Director at 50% salary
Facilities
- Office/meeting space for festival staff and artists.
- 3-5 100+ seat theatrical venues and gallery spaces in Brooklyn for the presentation of the festival.
Equipment/Supplies/Communication
- Equipment for festival office
- Chairs and desks
- Telephone and telephone service
- Internet connection
- Computer and Printer
- Filing Cabinet
- Equipment for festival
- Video camera for live streaming
- DVD Players/Monitors for video installation
Budget: October-May, 2011
| Personnel: | ||
| Festival Director | Full time – 8 months | $8,000 |
| Film Curator | Part time – 8 months | $4,000 |
| Media Director | Part time – 8 months | $4,000 |
| Administrator | Part time – 8 months | $4,000 |
| Festival Coordinator | Part time – 8 months | $4,000 |
| Talent Director | Part time – 8 months | $4,000 |
| Total: | $28,000 | |
Office Rent: $8,800
Office Supplies $500
Equipment: $5,000
Artist Transportation: $2,500
Artists’ honorarium $5,000
Publicity and Promotion: $5,000
Memberships/General Business $2,000
Photography and videotaping $1,000
Festival Supplies (badges, etc.) $500
Festival Prize $500
Total (October-May): $58,800
6. EVALUATION PLAN
The evaluation plan aims to determine whether popular awareness of creative appropriation and/or copyright reform issues was raised as a result of the work of the festival.
Qualitative Evaluation:
- Taped on-site interviews with festival-goers with questions designed to determine whether/how the festival raised their awareness of issues surrounding creative appropriation or copyright reform.
- Written evaluation forms through which we can accomplish the same goal listed above, but allowing questions to be answered anonymously.
Quantitative Evaluation
- Increase in press coverage – print, broadcast and Internet – from year one to year two will be measured.
- Increase in festival attendance will be measured.
- Increase in collaborating parties will be measured:
- Artists
- Venues
- Local businesses
- Volunteers
- Other nonprofit organizations
APPENDIX 1 – Time Line
October – December 2010
- Initial planning meetings of festival staff
- Acquisition of festival office space
- Formation of and first 3 monthly meetings of Artistic Advisory Board
- Initial talks with potential venues
- Initial contact with potential sponsors
- Launch of 2011 festival website
January – February 2011
- Launch fundraising campaign to individual donors
- Artistic Advisory Board finalizes talent and programming choices
- Call for submissions for prize-eligible film/video artists
- Phase 1 media push – features editors
- Venues confirmed
- Meetings with collaborating nonprofit organizations
March – May 2011
- All talent & programming confirmed
- Selection/notification of prize-eligible film/video artists
- Sponsorship details finalized
- Phase 2 fundraising push
- Phase 2 media campaign – listings editors and blogs
- Advertising campaign(s)
- Volunteer recruitment/organization
- Creation of promotional materials
- Logistics planning
APPENDIX 2 – Tom Tenney (Festival Director) Bio
Tom Tenney, founder of the RE/Mixed Media Festival, is a producer, director, performer, filmmaker, writer, and a Social Media Producer at VH1. He was a resident producer at Surf Reality’s House of Urban Savages from 1998-2003, and created its flagship show, Grindhouse-A-Go-Go! As a performer, he’s been seen in Robert Wilson’s production of Hamletmachine, the opera Salome at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and on underground stages all over the country. Tom is a graduate of Ringling Brothers’ Clown College, and the former booker for the Chicago Improv comedy club. He is the founder of Toxic Pop, a weekly newsletter and online community for NYC performance and is currently an MA student in the Media Studies program at The New School.
APPENDIX 3 – Artistic Advisory Board members
The following candidates have accepted seats on the Artistic Advisory Board for the 2011 Festival:
- Josephine Dorado: Josephine Dorado is a New York-based media artist, producer who explores the extension of the performance environment with technology and the process of cultural exchange through creative interplay in virtual spaces. She initiated the Kidz Connect program, which connects youth internationally via creative collaboration and theatrical performance in virtual worlds, and received a MacArthur Foundation award to co-found Fractor.org, which matches news with opportunities for activism. She was a Fulbright scholarship recipient and an artist-in-residence at the Waag Society in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and continues her involvement with Fulbright as a member of the Board of Directors. Performances include interdisciplinary productions for the ISEA and Romaeuropa Festivals as well as speaking engagements at SIGGRAPH, Queen’s University in Belfast, and London Knowledge Lab. Josephine currently teaches at the New School and is the live events producer for This Spartan Life. Josephine’s experience ranging from theater for at-risk children to technology and design brings perspectives on theater-inspired collaborative methodologies as well as the issues of working within a virtual and mixed reality context.
- Elizabeth Stark is a leader in the global free culture movement. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Yale Information Society Project, a Lecturer in Computer Science at Yale University, and a Knight Media Policy Fellow at the New America Foundation. Elizabeth is a co-founder of the Open Video Alliance, and producer of the Open Video Conference, whose inaugural event garnered nearly 9000 participants in person and across the web. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Stark founded the Harvard Free Culture Group and served on the board of directors of Students for Free Culture. While at Harvard, she was Editor-at-Large of the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, and worked with the Harvard Advocates for Human Rights to make better use of new media to promote human rights. Elizabeth spent years researching for the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, and has taught courses ranging from Cyberlaw to Intellectual Property to Technology & Politics to Electronic Music. Elizabeth regularly gives talks around the world on free culture, and has collaborated with myriad organizations on promoting shared knowledge and the open web. She is currently authoring a book examining the value of the abundance versus the scarcity of culture in the digital age. Elizabeth has lived and worked in Berlin, Singapore, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro, and speaks French, German, and Portuguese.
- Elisa Kreisinger is a video remix artist subverting the carefully constructed world of corporate content to work off her massive consumption of pop-culture and reverse the psycho-social toll it takes on her sense of self. She works with numerous sources, most recently HBO’s “Sex and the City” and Bravo’s “Real Housewives of NYC”. Her remix work has been featured in galleries and festivals nationwide in addition to events at UCLA, USC, NYU, and MIT. She co-edits the blog PoliticalRemixVideo.com, a well-curated safe haven for remixes that critique socio-cultural institutions. She is currently experimenting with remixed narratives and transmedia activism inspired by her experiences working on the set of Martin Scorcese’s “Shutter Island“, and informed by her volunteer work with Project New Media Literacies. She has spent the last five years teaching youth media literacy and practice and facilitating new media trainings for non-profit organizations at Cambridge Community TV, the best public access station in the country.
- Perry Bard is an artist living in New York. She works individually and collaboratively on interdisciplinary projects for public space. She has worked with community groups to address issues of media representation engineering site-specific public video installations for the Staten Island Ferry Terminal Building in New York and for Market Square in Middlesbrough UK. Public interventions about the war in Iraq include a mobile truckside billboard traveling the streets of New York, magazine ads and coffee cup sleeves featuring artifacts missing from the Baghdad Museum. Her current web and public space project Man With A Movie Camera: The Global Remake invites participation in a mashup of a 1929 film belonging to world cultural history. The work has been presented in 30 venues to date. It won Honorary Mention in the Digital Communities category at Ars Electronica ’08, was presented at Transmediale ’09, File ’09, Media Forum at Moscow International Film Festival ’09, at the Montreal Biennial ’09, has been installed in museums and galleries worldwide -at Shang Elements Museum Beijing, Ueno Town Art Museum Tokyo, Pera Museum Istanbul amongst others, and screened on public LED displays in Manchester, Leeds, Norwich and Sheffield UK, Federation Square Melbourne Australia, e4c Seattle U.S.A.
APPENDIX 4 – Additional funding sources
While the first RE/Mixed Media Festival (2010) was a free event, in the second year we aim to offer reasonably priced badges, allowing attendees access to festival performances at the following price-points:
- One-day badge: $10.00
- Two-day badge: $15.00
- Three-day badge: $25.00
The idea is to incrementally raise the price of the festival badges as the event gains popularity. We aim to eliminate the need for grant funding by 2015, relying solely on sponsorship, individual donations, festival registration and merchandise sales.
| 2011 Additional Funding Sources:
|
|
| Individual Donations | $5,000 |
| Corporate Sponsorship | $10, 000 |
| Festival Registration | $15,000 (based on 1,000 attendees at an average badge price of $15.00) |
| Merchandise Sales (t-shirts, posters, DVDs) | $2,000 |
| Total: | $32,000 |
