Category Archives: Freelance Cafe West

Freelance Cafe West

Smithsonian Institution Remix Competition, deadline Nov 8

Leave a comment
Well, this is fun!

http://blog.soundcloud.com/2013/10/02/smithsonian-remix/

The Smithsonian Institution has begun posting collections of sounds from their archives, and they are unlike anything else you’ll hear on the web, like recordings of frogs and insects from the Encyclopedia of Life to astrophysical observatory sounds.

Now the Smithsonian is calling on you to sample, chop and remix selected recordings from their entire collection of sounds, including recordings of frogs and insects from Encyclopedia of Life, Astrophysical Observatory sounds, Smithsonian Jazz masterworks, and Smithsonian Folkways.

The rules are simple. Submissions may be any length, but must incorporate at least two Smithsonian tracks.

The winners will be selected by Smithsonian’s panel of judges: John Edward Hasse, Curator of American Music at the National Museum of American History, DJ Molly Ruland from OneLoveMassive, and sound effects expert, Shaun Farley.

Instructions and prizes are detailed below. Deadline for submission is November 8. Find official info here.

Happy creating!

Instructions:

1. Browse through the Smithsonian Remix collections
2. Download the tracks that capture your imagination

3. Remix those sounds with your own original sounds*
4. Upload your finished creation to SoundCloud
5. In the description of your sound, please clearly attribute any source material that you used**
6. Join the Smithsonian Remix group

7. Click the “Add to group” button on your sound and submit it to the Smithsonian Remix group
8. Listen, like, comment on and share your fellow contestants’ sounds

*Please make sure you have all the proper copyright permissions for any source material you use and comply with SoundCloud Terms of Use.
**All Smithsonian Remix sounds have been made available under an “Attribution – NonCommercial” Creative Commons license. You can find more details about this license here.

Prizes:
First Place (1):

A 5-year SoundCloud Pro Unlimited subscription
Two VIP tickets to Smithsonian Remix Live November 15
Voices of the Satellites CD from Smithsonian Folkways
One year membership to Smithsonian Associates

Runners Up (3):
Two VIP tickets to Smithsonian Remix Live November 15
A 1-year SoundCloud Pro Unlimited subscription

In addition, the first prize winning submission may be featured on SMITHSONIANAT8.com, and samples of approved submissions may be spun live at the SMITHSONIAN at 8 event November 15, 2013.

If a prize becomes unavailable for any reason, the Smithsonian reserves the right to substitute a prize of like or equal value. Winners may not request prize substitution. One prize per person.

Freelance Cafe West

Obamacare “how-to” Nov 19, SF Public Library

Leave a comment
Very useful event for you Bay Area freelancers. Details below. -Mia

+++++++++++++

Are you a freelance worker? Please join us for a "how-to" clinic on the Affordable Care Act with hands-on help from experts Tuesday, Nov. 19 at the San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street in San Francisco. We will meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Latino/Hispanic Room A.

Outlining the options for the independently employed, answering our many questions and walking us through the enrollment process will be Ken Jacobs of the UC Berkeley Labor Center. A representative of the Kaiser Foundation will also be on hand.
Take BART or Muni Metro, or drive and park on the street or in one of two nearby parking garages.  

The clinic is a joint project of the Pacific Media Workers Guild freelance unit and the Translators and Interpreters Guild. All self-employed and contract workers are welcome. Please spread the word! 
Freelance Cafe West

Exciting fellowship opportunity in Russia for journalists at beginning of their careers

Leave a comment
Interesting opportunity for young Rusofiles (Is that a word?) Details below.

The US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange (SEE – part of the Eurasia Foundation) is offering six one-month fellowships to young journalists – 3 from the US and 3 from Russia – to take place between January and April 2014.

The “emerging professional” fellows will be part of an ambitious project to link two cities – one in Russia and one in the US – through a multi-media online platform. The fellows – who need to have at least 3 years of reporting experience and to speak both English and Russian – will be hosted by media organizations in the receiving country and will be mentored by members of SEE’s Collaborative Media Working Group (of which I was one of the co-chairs this year).

This is a unique opportunity to be part of an exciting pilot while, at the same time, acquiring valuable journalism experience.

Time is of the essence – the deadline for applying is 9 AM Monday November 4 EST.

For further details about the project and the requirements for applicants have a look at the SEE website (under the "Collaborative Media" group): http://usrussiasocialexpertise.org/#

Also feel free to ping me with any questions

Maria
maria@latitudenews.com

Freelance Cafe West

Proximity Magazine — submissions call

Leave a comment
I always have mixed feelings about posting an opportunity with no pay, but I figure you can decide for yourself if you want to submit or not. Can't hurt to know about an up and coming outlet. -Mia

+++++++++++++

I wanted to put something on your literary radar… I've been working with three other editors to create Proximity Magazine, a quarterly collection of true stories exploring place, space, and connections in the modern age. We'll publish our first issue in early 2014.

I wanted to ask if you might pass along our submission call (below) to your network of writers, photography friends, and other storytellers — and I'd be especially thrilled if you would consider submitting something of your own.
The theme of our first issue is "Morning" — we’re looking for true stories that capture "morning" in its literal, metaphorical, symbolic, or even spiritual sense. Essays, photography, sound portraits, video — all forms are welcome.

The submission form, additional details, and FAQs are on our website: www.proximitymagazine.org

Any questions, comments, etc, just let me know. And thank you for considering this!

All best,

Carrie

p.s. I also want to shamelessly plug our Facebook page. 🙂

********** Proximity: Call for Submissions, Issue No. 1 **********

Editors: Carrie Kilman, Towles Kintz, Traci Macnamara, Maggie Messitt

Proximity Magazine: A quarterly collection of true stories exploring place, space, and connections in the modern age.

Proximity is seeking new essays and other true stories that relate to its inaugural issue’s theme: MORNING. We’re looking for works that capture morning in its literal, metaphorical, symbolic, or even spiritual sense. Essays, photography, sound portraits, video — all forms are welcome.

We are looking for engaging nonfiction that is narrative-driven, connected to the theme, and relevant to Proximity’s mission (www.proximitymagazine.org/about).

Guidelines:
 Submitted work must be previously unpublished and submitted to Proximity for publication in one of the following categories: long-form (6,000 words maximum), mid-range (2,000 words maximum), flash (300 words maximum), or photo essay/sound portrait/multimedia. Multiple submissions are welcome. See the Proximity website for frequently asked questions (www.proximitymagazine.org/FAQs).

Submit Online: http://proximitymagazine.org/issue-one-submissions/

Deadline: November 30th, 2013.

Freelance Cafe West

State of the Re:Union seeks interns

Leave a comment
Get a foot in the door with SOTRU, rolling deadline until Nov 1. -Mia

State of the Re:Union (SOTRU) is a nationally-aired radio show distributed by PRX and and NPR and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. For each hour-long episode, SOTRU travels to a different American city or town to tell the most extraordinary stories of community that are unfolding on the ground in that place. Our mission is to bring American life into focus, examining the things that divide us as well those that bind us together. 

Each season, SOTRU welcomes a group of interns to assist with production. Duties include transcribing interviews, story research, pre-interviewing, and multimedia production.  Interns are invited to listen in on editorial calls with our host, editor and radio producers as we shape each episode, story by story.

To be considered for this internship, you should have a strong creative background, solid writing skills and be able to take direction. Self-starters who value attention to detail have particularly enjoyed interning with us. Audio and video editing skills are a big plus. Our staff works remotely, and you can too; people anywhere in the U.S. can apply. This internship is unpaid, and we generally ask for about 10 hours a week, sometimes more during busy weeks.

Internships for our winter/spring 2014 season will run from Nov. 1, 2013 until April 30th, 2014.

In addition, we’ll be selecting one intern to help work on our upcoming collaboration with the multimedia platform Cowbird and the interactive documentary Hollow, focusing on rural America. If you’d like to be considered for that internship, please indicate so in your cover letter. 

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until Nov. 1st. 

To apply, send your resume and cover letter to: internships@stateofthereunion.com

Freelance Cafe West

Pulse of the Planet seeks Sonorous Science Stories

Leave a comment
Call for raw interviews and sound from Pulse of the Planet. Details below. -Mia
Pulse of the Planet is looking for science stories – ideally with a sound hook. You'd be submitting raw sound files – interviews & sound, not produced programs. Typically, 45 minutes of interview should be enough, together with 5 – 10 minutes of sounds. Of course the two can blend. Stereo preferred, when possible.
 
We'll pay $300 for raw sound files & a log of what you'd be sending us. 
Highly recommend listening to a few Pulse of the Planet programs (pulseplanet.com) if you're not familiar with the series. Briefly, it's been on the air for 25 years, 5000+ programs; a pioneering short-format program for its use of sound & story, broadcast on over 250 public and commercial stations. 
If I'm not familiar with your work, include a link demonstrating your ability to conduct field interviews and record ambient sound. Producer Guidelines sent on request. 
Many Thanks; 
Jim Metzner, Producer 
Pulse of the Planet 
Freelance Cafe West

Latino USA looking for stories about outdoor adventure

Leave a comment
Fun call for stories from Latino USA. -mia

Latino USA is looking for stories about outdoor adventure involving Latinos.


Some examples of these stories are: a profile of a mountain climber who photographs other climbers who have been injured and are returning to climbing as they recover; and a profile of a traditional hunter in New Mexico whose family goes back 9 generations and who has a remarkable talent for calling elk. The stories don’t necessarily have to be profiles.


We’re looking for stories 4-6 minutes long, with lots of scenes and ambi. The payment is $125 a minute plus travel expenses if they’re approved in advance.


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

 

Freelance Cafe West

Evolve magazine looking for audio submissions!

Leave a comment
Forwarded from the good people at AIR.

—
Evolve ( http://www.pursueyourevolution.com ) is a year-old, fully digital tablet and smartphone magazine, utilizing all manner of storytelling tools, from video, to the written word, photography, and audio. We are currently looking to commission audio stories for our 2014 publication schedule (see AIR's pitch page for compensation info).

Evolve celebrates life in motion. We believe challenges are to be chased and embraced, and that collecting experience is more important than collecting stuff. We believe that physical well-being is paramount, and that we are interconnected in ways far too complicated to comprehend, but far too important to ignore. We believe in the value of living outside our comfort zones.

We are looking for stories that would fit into three broad categories: Travel/Adventure, Food/Nutrition, and Sport. We're interested in both journalistic treatments and personal narratives.

If you have a story pitch you'd like us to consider, please email patrick@againfaster.com.

—

Patrick Cummings
Editor-in-Chief, Evolve Magazine

Freelance Cafe West

Pitch to Making Contact!

2 Comments

Hi Freelancers,

 

Making Contact is an award-winning, 29-minute weekly magazine/documentary-style public affairs program heard on 140 radio stations in the USA, Canada, South Africa, and Australia.  Amplifying voices and perspectives rarely heard in mainstream media, Making Contact focuses on the human realities of politics and the connections between local and global events, emphasizing positive and creative ways to solve problems.

 

We are seeking pitches on these themes

 

Coal

“Turn it down!”- Noise pollution

Charter Cities and Special Economic Zones

2013: A Year for Criminal Justice Refor?m

 

Please scroll down for more detail on each theme. Please reply to pitches@radioproject.org.

 

Coal

 

We’re looking for reporters on, or near, the Navajo Nation, who can help us produce 2 sound rich segments about how each stage of the coal power production process impacts people.  The complete program will trace the impacts of energy production backwards, from the light-switch to the coal mine.                    

 

1. We want to hear from people working at, and living beside, the Navajo Power Station, about how the plant affects their lives. Follow the coal into the power plant and introduce us to the people along the way.

2. In this segment, we want to hear from miners and people living on lands beside the Peabody Mine on the Navajo Nation. What has it been like working in the mines? How has it affected their health, their families, their communities, and traditions? How have people still living on the land been affected? How have they remained on the land, despite pressure to leave, and what are their ideas for an alternative future?

 

“Turn it down!”- Noise pollution

 

What effects does noise pollution have on people? We want to hear stories from people living with consistently loud and intrusive noise. There should be good, clear evidence that shows how noise pollution is responsible for impacts people are experiencing on their health and/or well being. It could be communities living on the edge of an airport, whose lives are disrupted by the sound of jet engines; or children whose concentration at home is negatively impacted because they live in an actively noisy neighborhood. This 8 minute segment would fit into a program that looks at the wider effects of noise on people and animals. Your segment could also examine how people are coping with intrusive noise, and if they are organizing to try and stop, or mitigate the effects of it.

 

Charter Cities and Special Economic Zones—“Sure, You Can do that Here!”

 

The proposal to build a ‘charter city’ in Honduras, exempt from major, environmental, and other laws on the surrounding nation, appears to have been defeated for now. But the idea of creating such zones continues to gain strength, under many different names.  We are looking for on-the ground reports from Free Trade Zones, Special Economic Zones, proposed Charter Cities and elsewhere.  We’d like to know what its like to live and/or work in one of these areas, and how their development has affected the surrounding region and country. We’d also like to hear stories of resistance; of communities working to stop such zones from being created—or perhaps fighting to regain their rights from the inside of one that already exists.

 

 

2013: A Year for Criminal Justice Reform?

 

We are planning a show looking back at some major developments this year, which put the criminal justice system under a microscope, and appear to have led to some changes.

 

This show will likely look at:

-the successful ‘phone justice’ movement-giving more affordable access to phones in prisons.

-growing discontent with solitary confinement, and prisoner hunger strikes in California and Gitmo

-Attorney general Eric Holder’s talk of drug sentencing reform.

 

We have the phone justice segment taken care of, but maybe you have been gathering tape on one of the other two topics—or another theme you think fits within the frame of how the US’ criminal justice policies are changing.

 

 

Specifications

 

This call for pitches is for segments of about 8 minutes, but we also occasionally take longer pieces (12 or 26 minutes). For shorter pieces we generally pay $350 per story. As with any pitches you send us, please check out our show and read our guidelines before you pitch.http://www.radioproject.org/production/submission-guidelines/

 

Consider the following. Does the story:

 

  • Link grassroots issues and human realities to national or international trends?

  • Give listeners a historical, political, or social context of major national and international events?

  • Shed light on social and economic inequities?

  • Explore any alternatives or solutions?

 

Send pitches to pitches@radioproject.org. Please be detailed but succinct, and include a description of your idea, narrative/story arc, interview subjects, scenes, and sounds/ambi. If you’re pitching to us for the first time, please include a brief bio and relevant audio clips.

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Nancy Lopez, Andrew Stelzer & George Lavender

Making Contact producers

Freelance Cafe West

Audio Smut – Call for submissions

Leave a comment
Make risqué radio with the folks at Audio Smut. Latest theme list is below. -Mia

Hi RADIO LOVERS

We would like to present you with Audio Smut's latest theme list.  Please get back to us with your brilliant ideas!

All the info you need is below.
Thanks!
Kaitlin (and Mitra)

SEASON TWO of Audio Smut is upon us!

We are inviting you to share your ideas and stories with us.  In addition to stories, we also like radio drama, sound art, music and any artwork fitting the themes below.  

Get your pitches in ASAP!

BEFORE YOU PITCH

Please be familiar with our style an approach before you pitch.  We seek first person narratives from a diverse range of voices.

We welcome raw tape, great sexy sounds or any story ideas you have.

Working with Audio Smut is an involved editorial process. But, we welcome different levels of involvement in story production to suit everyone’s time and needs.

We welcome submissions from artists across disciplines. If you have a piece of writing, a performance idea or an installation related to any of these topics, feel free to pitch.  We love collaboration.

MONEY

There is currently no financial compensation involved in working with Audio Smut. This is a labor of pure love—we all donate our work to the cause of sexy radio. But we are applying for grants. When we get the dough you will be the first to know! That is a promise.

DEADLINE

All pitches should be submitted by DECEMBER 1, 2013

SEND all pitches to audio.smut.radio@gmail.com

THEME LIST

Coming of Age

This episode is centered around the traditions and rites of passage that surround entering into adulthood.  What did becoming a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’ mean to you at the time and what does it mean now.

Getting your first period, having a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Quinceaneras, Purity Balls, getting your driver’s license and losing your virginity are just some examples.  

Dream story: Trans person’s perspective and reflection on their gendered coming of age ceremony.  For example, a trans man’s perspective on his Bat Mitzvah.

Fu*k Love

Romeo and Juliet was a fucking joke.  What kind of love story ends with two dead people?  The worst kind, that’s what. Romantic love is relatively new cultural obsession. How did we start using this extremely volatile element as a basis for determining who we start families with? Romantic love was not always the deciding factor for whether a relationship was worth a damn. We want to find stories that explore this history. We are also interested in stories that deal with interesting arrangements, heartbreak so severe that there is no recovery, failures (and successes) of marriage. Dream story: an arranged marriage that works out great.

The Talk

For this episode we are looking stories about ‘the talk.’  You know, the one that your parents had or attempted to have with you about sex.  We would like three very detailed and exceptional accounts of this talk.  Ideally, you would interview your parents about that very talk, and get their side of the story. After that, we’d like to hear about your first sexual experience—was it before or after the talk?  This could have been while you were playing house when you were six, or your first BJ at 16. Through this we’re looking to initiate discussion about the age of consent and parental approaches to sex education.

Sex In the Institution

An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order governing the behaviour of a set of individuals within a given community. When your life is controlled by an institution, sex is rarely included in that, but goddamnit, isn’t sex a constitutional right?  We are looking for first hand stories of people fucking within the constraints of a system: Prisons, elderly homes, psych wards, boarding schools and hospitals.

Miscommunication

Have you ever/do you know someone who has been very confused about what is happening in a romantic or intimate situation?  We are looking for a story/multiple stories of high stakes situations where there is a disconnect with a person’s perception versus what is actually happening.  For example, you are dating someone and you are under the impression that this is some serious-ass-love.  You later realize that this situation is nothing more than a casual hook up to your partner.  You are destroyed.  Or, you are driving yourself completely insane trying to figure out what is going on between you and another person.  Please tell us your stories.

Enabling

Enable – enˈābəl verb, give (someone or something) the authority or means to do something.

In what ways do we affect our lovers, friends and the other significant people in our lives’ behavior.  Is it for the better or worse?  No matter the case, we want to investigate it.  Is your love so great and your dynamic so intense that nothing in the world matters?  Does anything matter when you have love?  This episode is meant to be a celebration of powerful bonds and completely non-judgemental, no matter what the issue at hand is.

We are looking for stories about (dis)functional dynamics, power dynamics, symbiosis (a la hippos and birds), drug addicts and any other destructive (or not) behavior that is enabled by partners.  Dream story: a hoarding couple.

Love Letters

We want to explore the idea of analogue love; how communication is different when you’re not using text, Facebook or email.  We want to hear your love letters.  Letters old and new.  Letters between strangers and the most intimate of partners.  Long distance or not.  Read us your letters and tell us how letters how this old school form of communication affected your relationship.  

No

How do you say it?  What does it actually sound like, when you are saying ‘No?’  Your ‘no’ might not sound as convincing as you think.  We are interested in the subtleties of consent; situations where you didn’t say ‘no’, but you didn’t really say ‘yes’ either.  We are interested stories of not feeling like you had an option, or felt it would be easier to just do it.  Conversely, we are interested in gaining insight from the other side of the perspective. So, a situation that you perceived as consensual but later you find out that your partner did not see it as such.  What went wrong you fool?  It’s not that complicated, or is it?

DEADLINE

All pitches should be submitted by NOVEMBER 1, 2013

SEND all pitches to audio.smut.radio@gmail.com

WE <3 YOU!