Category Archives: Pitches

calls for pitches

Pitches

PRX’s STEM Story Project Returns

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Funding available for STEM-related radio stories. Initial details below and more to come!
-mia
Hi producers!

In case you haven't heard yet, PRX is excited to announce a second round of our STEM Story Project.

We are holding another open call for radio stories inspired by STEM topics. Last year, we funded 16 story proposals and helped get them on major stations and national programs. We also helped find placement for them on reputable blogs and digital platforms.

Read about it and get our FAQ here:
http://blog.prx.org/2014/04/prxs-stem-story-project-2-0/

To find out more and ask questions, sign up for the webinar on April 30th at 2pm ET:
https://cc.readytalk.com/r/qwxyni95j7xt&eom

Applications will open May 5, 2014. The DEADLINE for applications is May 27, 2014 at 11:59PM ET.  Stay tuned to blog.prx.org or #PRXSTEM on Twitter for the application link.

Thank you!

The PRX STEM Team

Pitches, Print

call for NYC-related pitches from Gothamist

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Gothamist is looking for pitches about life in NYC. Thanks to Will Coley for the heads up!

http://gothamist.com/2014/04/23/freelance_writing.php

Gothamist is expanding and deepening our coverage of New York City, and we're paying.

We want original, compelling, heartbreaking, funny, enraging, enlightening work, written clearly and with an eye towards stories that cut through the dull hum of the internet—stories that help the reader better understand New York City and the people living in it. It should not have been published anywhere else in print or online. Here are some recent examples.

A well-sourced, 1,500-word indictment of governmental incompetence is just as welcome as a 500-word profile of the rat-slaying building super who listens to Van Halen while on the hunt. We want the gems buried at the bottom of Kafka-esque municipal board meetings and the life-affirming acts of kindness often obscured by the relentless crush of humanity; the joys of working for a dog-walking marijuana delivery service and the hazards of donning a Santa suit at Saks Fifth Avenue.

You should be as excited writing or pitching your story as we are reading it. The only thing we don't want (at the moment) is fiction. Pay depends on experience, quality, and length. Please go here to share a submission or pitch. (Due to the high volume of pitches we receive, we regret that we are unable to reply to every submission.)

Pitches

Snap Judgment’s Upcoming Themes

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Call for pitches (and what makes a good story) from Snap Judgment. They get it. Now go for it. -Mia

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 Lots of freelancers have been asking us what makes
a story right for Snap Judgment, and I think I can boil it down to
three criteria:

1)    Is the story not just a story, but a tale?  In other words,
does it have characters with wants and needs and hopes and fears,
scenes that play out in a chronological order in which said
characters make important decisions and discover new things, and some
kind of central tension that gets resolved in an unexpected way over
the course of a narrative arc?  If so, then it is a tale, and we are
interested.

2)    Is the story cinematic?  In other words, will it provide us
with scenes rich enough in detail that the listener can see events
playing out in their mind's eye?  Because we're not interested in
narratives in which things happen on an abstract level.   We want the
listener to be transported to a specific time and place.

3)    Is there something new about it? Every Snap Judgment story
needs to have an unexpected wrinkle, a new element, that makes the
listener stop what they're doing and pay attention.  Sometimes the
new thing is just the fact that you've discovered a great talker, but
nine times out of ten it's a unique premise or plot element. If we
feel like we've heard this one before (maybe not this precise story,
but something super similar) we'll probably pass.

Another litmus test, that perhaps sums up all three of the above
points, is: would your pitch make a good fictional story that just
happens to be true?  Sometimes people think Snap Stories are made up
– we take that as a compliment.

Okay, now the themes:

***Any Really Good Story***

I always say this but no one believes me.  If your story kicks ass we
will build a freakin' theme around it, people!

***Stages of Life***

In theory, we want to have one story for each "stage" in
chronological order.  Birth.  First kiss. Graduation.  Career.
Marriage.  Kids.  Mid-life crisis.  Retirement.  Anything, really.
The only things we've got covered are a honeymoon from hell and a
dispute over how one couple will spend their afterlife.  (So if you
have a good death story, we'll happily happy to produce it, but not
necessarily for this theme).

***Honor Among Thieves***

Stories of bad people nevertheless sticking to a code.  Or good
people doing a bad thing for a good reason.  Debts getting paid.
Snitches getting stitches.  Because there's the law, and then there's
justice.

***Bloodlines***

Tales of inheritances gone wrong, genetic curses, or bizarre family
legacies.  Whether they grew up knowing about it or only discovered
it late, we want to meet someone who had to confront and (possibly)
clean up the family mess.  The same goes for ethnicity, tribe, etc. –
pick your own unit of bloodline.

***Boomerang***

Stories in which something comes back around.  What does that mean?
Well, stories in which people end up having to do something twice,
but in a different way.  Stories in which an event from long ago is
revisited at an unexpected moment.  Stories about karma taking it's
sweet ass time, because the book says you may be through with the
past, but the past, it ain't through with you.

***The Prophecy***

Stories about prophets (and prophecies) both true and false.  This
does not necessarily have to involve religion.  Any story involving a
specific prediction will do.

***Themes That Are Imminent, So We're Only Interested In Pre-Existing
Content***

Mother's Day
Living Legends

Please send all your pitches to pitches@snapjudgment.org.

Pitches

call for pitches from Civil Eats, online news mag

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Call for pitches from Civil Eats, an online news mag about sustainable agriculture and food systems. Details here and below.
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Civil Eats, an independent daily news source for critical thought about the American food system, invites you to send story pitches in the following categories:

– News or feature articles about farming, food production, food policy, sustainability in the food system, food safety, the plight of young farmers, animal welfare, food and technology, food movement organizing, etc.

– In-depth profiles of individuals or groups working to effectively change the food system for the better.

– Book reviews, interviews, photo essays, or op-eds about food and farming (with an emphasis on sustainability and/or food politics).

Payment: $100-$250 depending on the scope and the amount of reporting and research required.

Contact us here.

Pitches

Latino USA call for pitches

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From the fine folks at Latino USA:

Latino USA has the following show themes coming up in the next few months, and we’d welcome your pitches:

 

Space: Outer space, personal space, mental and physical space.

 

A Latino History of the US: Oral histories, memories of migration to the US, stories about immigrant communities and places that used to be occupied by Spain or Mexico.

 

Family: Stories that go beyond the traditional notion of the nuclear or extended family, to also include communities, and the people you end up living with and adopting as your own.

 

Why Not Me?: Everything from being left out to taking a chance (auditioning, trying out, buying a lottery ticket).

 

Push It: From drugs to births to limits.

 

Pretending: From fraud and lies to make-believe and play.

 

Move It: People and things.

 

Please send your pitches directly to: pitches@futuromediagroup.org.

Pitch meetings take place on Fridays, and we try to respond to your pitch by early the following week.

If you’re pitching for the first time, please tell us a little about yourself and include a couple of samples of your audio work.

Latino USA pays $125 per broadcast minute and $25 for a photo for the website.

Pitches

The Litography Project Kickstarter + Call for pitches

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New project out of KALW wants your pitches. Details below. Also support their Kickstarter campaign HERE.


The Litography Project is an online map of San Francisco, launching in summer 2014, that plots the city’s literary past, present and future.

We are looking for stories that explore literary culture in San Francisco. We are seeking a variety of stories that will be plotted as points on a map with potential photographs and/or images produced by a designer, depending on the story concept and subject.

Some example topics and structures include:

  • Conversations or short audio tours with authors who live in or have been inspired by San Francisco

  • Profiles of current literary series or events

  • Soundscapes of literary places throughout the city

  • Historical features of specific places or events that shaped San Francisco literature

Pitches should be less than one page in length and include possible interview sources and what you think the piece might sound like (structure, sound, style). Please attach links to any previous work.

If your pitch is accepted, please be prepared to submit a script before any audio. Compensation is $300 fee paid upon submission of the final script and audio files. The Litography Project will create all final mixes. We will need you to provide your actualities, narration and ambient sound along with a rough mix.

You retain all the rights to your work and are free to post or pitch it to other outlets. However we respectfully ask that you wait until it’s been released on The Litography Project website to do so.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Compensation: $300

Contact: thelitographyproject@gmail.com

We are also seeking other kinds of multimedia content as well – if you are interested in submitting writing, photography or illustrations, please get in contact!

Pitches

Cowbird and SOTRU team up for a new Saga – Small Towns

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Great radio program + great online storytelling community = great opportunity for freelancers. Details below.

Cowbird just launched what we call a "Saga" today, a call for stories on a specific issue.  The current saga is about small towns: what makes people stay, leave or return to them.  We're partnering with State of the Re:Union on this one, and the best stories have a shot at being on the show.
So if you have a small town story, we want to hear it!  The site is super easy to use, pretty, and, bonus points, it's free.  It's a great platform for radio makers — you can upload audio that plays alongside a beautiful (floating) picture, you can add text.  And, best of all, you can embed that story basically anywhere, as easily as, say, a YouTube video.  It's like the functionality of Soundcloud … but pretty.  
Details below.  We can't wait to hear your stories!

New Saga : Small Towns
Dear Cowbirders,
Small town America is vanishing.
A hundred years ago, 72% of us lived in small towns. Today? Just 16%. Behind those statistics are thousands of stories. We’re partnering with State of the Re:Union and Hollow to create a narrative tapestry of the rise and fall of rural America, through the eyes of the people who live(d) there, left, or stayed.
If you’ve ever lived in a small town, we want to know: what’s the one thing that made you leave, stay, or return? We’re launching a new saga, Small Towns, to try to answer these questions.
Tell your Small Town story on Cowbird. Start your story with, “The one thing that made me [leave/stay/return]…” Keep your story short (50-250 words), add pictures and/or audio. Before you hit publish, remember two things: add a location, and add your story to the “Small Towns” saga. The best stories will have a shot at ending up on NPR.
Happy storytelling, no matter where you live.
Spring is in the air.
Cowbird

Cowbird. A witness to life.

Audio/Radio, Gigs, Pitches

New health and science show at WHYY Looking for Stories

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New outlet for health and science stories from WHYY in Philadelphia:
WHYY's new radio show "The Pulse" is looking for story pitches. We cover health and science. Got an idea? Email us at mscott@whyy.org and mpinto@whyy.org If you want to check out the show to get a better sense of our sound, www.whyy.org/thepulse

Stories don’t have to be produced / centered in this region (Pa, NJ, DE) but should at least have some local ties.

Events, Pitches

TransX Transmission Art Symposium call for presos, deadline Feb 28

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Call for papers and performances from the TransX Transmission Art Symposium. Deadline Feb 28.
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New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is pleased to announce the 2014 edition of the TransX Transmission Art Symposium
with Keynote speakers Anja Kanngieser and Jessica Thompson
May 22 – 25, 2014

We are now inviting proposals for papers, presentations and performances
For More Information http://naisa.ca/opportunities/calls-for-submissions/trans-x-call-for-submissions/
To Submit: https://naisa.ca/trans-x-submission-form/

The proceedings from the 2013 TransX Transmission Art Symposium are here: http://naisa.ca/symposia/trans-x/transx-2013-proceedings/
To listen to the presentations from the 2013 TransX Transmission Art Symposium go to:http://naisa.ca/media-archive/audio-archives/

NAISA is now inviting submissions for papers and performances:

Rooted in the earliest experiments with radio, Transmission Art has continued to flourish into the 21st Century with experiments using wireless communications technology over the past 100 years, including the exploration of a variety of mobile-based platforms and lesser-known forms of transmission, such as VLF. The terrain of transmission art is dynamic and fluid, always open to redefinition.

The TransX Transmission Art Symposium, part of the Deep Wireless Festival of Radio & Transmission Art, will focus on Transmission Art, with particular interest in contributions that summarize, examine or reframe traditions and histories of transmission art practices, technology, education and pedagogy. Additionally, we are very interested in presentations that go beyond the local contingent to give a sense of how new technologies of international transmission activity might be experienced. Proposed presentations and performances that combine the themes of Transmission Art and “Undo/Redo” are also especially welcome.

All symposium contributions will be webcast live, and text proceedings will be published after the symposium on the NAISA web-site. Please go to http://naisa.ca/opportunities/calls-for-submissions/trans-x-call-for-submissions/ for specific guidelines on paper and performance submissions.

We look forward to seeing you, your colleagues, collaborators and students in Toronto in May!

Important Information
28 Feb Deadline for receipt of proposals @ 11:59 PM EST
21 March Notification of acceptance
15 April Attendance confirmation
22 April Symposium registration and submission of final materials.
22 May Symposium opening reception and performances
22–25 May Symposium sessions
23–24 May Deep Wireless Festival performances

Fees
Symposium registration fees (General): $70
Symposium registration fees (Student): $40
(both rates include admission to all performances)

Questions and requests for further information can be directed to:
Nadene Thériault-Copeland – transx@naisa.ca

Review Committee:
Steve Bates, Independent artist
Anna Friz, post-doctoral fellow, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Heidi Grundmann, Kunstradio
Galen Joseph-Hunter, Executive Director Wave Farm
Katie Kehoe, artist
Dan Lander, artist
David Ogborn, McMaster University
Tetsuo Kogawa, Radioartist, Media Critic, Director of Goethe Archive Tokyo
Jim Ruxton, Director of Programs, Subtle Technologies Festival
Don Sinclair, York University
Debashis Sinha, Sound Artist
Jessica Thompson, University of Waterloo
Helen Thorington, Co-Director of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc
Gregory Whitehead, radio artist / co-editor of Wireless Imagination
Elisabeth Zimmermann, Kunstradio
___________________________________________________________
NAISA Inquiries & general information:

Nadene Thériault-Copeland
Executive Director
New Adventures in Sound Art
Address: Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St #252, Toronto, ON M6G 4C7
Tel 416 652 5115
www.naisa.ca

NAISA current/upcoming events:

TransX Transmission Art Symposium
Call for Papers & Performances
Deadline February 28, 2014

For More Information http://naisa.ca/opportunities/calls-for-submissions/trans-x-call-for-submissions/
To Submit: https://naisa.ca/trans-x-submission-form/

Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium
Call for Papers & Performances
Deadline February 24, 2014

For More Information http://naisa.ca/opportunities/calls-for-submissions/ties-call-for-submissions/
To Submit: http://naisa.ca/ties-submission-form/

Currently @ the NAISA Space "Flash Orchestra" by Eric Powell http://naisa.ca/naisa-events/arts-birthday/installations/

Follow us on:
Facebook www.facebook.com/NAISASoundArt
Twitter www.twitter.com/NAISASoundArt
You Tube www.youtube.com/user/NAISAtube
Soundcloud www.soundcloud/NAISA
NAISA Radio www.naisa.ca/webcast

Gigs, Pitches

Snap Judgment Call for Pitches

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The latest call for pitches from Snap Judgement. Pitch (thoughtfully) away!
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Below please find San Judgment's latest theme list.  Snap rocks first-person, dramatic, true stories. They must have a beginning, middle, and end with a  strong dramatic tension and a narrative arc.  No news hooks. No profiles. No sound art.  Submit brief story ideas to pitches@snapjudgment.org. Remember, if you have a great story that doesn’t fit into one of these themes, please send it along anyway!  Good stories are the most important ingredient here at Snap. 

To find out more about our pitch process, check out http://snapjudgment.org/pitches

Elevator: Stories about people and fortunes that rise and fall–amazing strokes of luck, changes in fortune, mid-life crises, or encounters with disaster. These stories can follow a long arc, taking place over many years, or could transpire within the course of an actual elevator ride, as long as they hinge around a dramatic, personal, rise or fall.

Passing: Stories about people who are trying to blend in, to be incognito, who are trying to pass off as something. These can be stories of someone trying pass as a particular race, gender, religion or class, or the stories of imposters or wannabes.

Mercenary: Stories about people who do your dirty work…for a price. Again, feel free to think big or small here. We have several stories of literal guns for hire, but it would great to find stories of people hired to do more unexpected dirty work–breaking up for friends, covering for affairs or paid scapegoats.

Prophets: Stories from people who claim to see the future and the people who do / don't believe them. Be careful here; we want to steer clear of stories told by people who are mentally ill and unfit to be on air. Rather, we'd like stories of prophetical coincidences, cult near misses, brushes with fortune telling, creepy child foretelling.

Schooled: Stories that center around learning and lessons. Please try to avoid stories about personal growth that do not have a lot at stake, or an interesting plot. We’d love stories that take place in unique school environments, stories of terrible teachers, school plays gone wrong, drivers ed disasters….

Washed Up: Stories about people and things who are washed up on shore or washed up in life. What happens when life veers horribly of course, or our best laid plans suddenly crumble beneath us.