Interfaith Voices seeks radio reporters in Russia and South Africa

Interfaith Voices is seeking radio reporters in Russia and South Africa. Details below!
-mia
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Russia and South Africa, not two countries that typically hang out in the same subject line but…

Interfaith Voices (the nationally distributed, award-winning public radio program) is on the hunt for skilled RADIO reporters in both Russia and South Africa to craft a strong, character-driven radio feature about one aspect (your pitch) of the relationship between religion and government.
You can hear past stories here: www.interfaithradio.org/godandgov

Please send your suggestions to JocelynFrankOffice@gmail.com with the subject line "Russia Reporter" or "South Africa reporter."

Thanks!
-Jocelyn
Commissioning Editor
Interfaith Voices
God and Government Series
JocelynFrankOffice@gmail.com

BackStory is looking for backstories

BackStory call for pitches. Go for it!
-mia
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BackStory is now accepting pitches for the following shows (dates in parentheses are dates by which all tape would be due):

Satire (7/24): In honor of Jon Stewart’s departure from the Daily Show, we’re looking at satire throughout the centuries. Why is something funny in one era but not another? How does changing media technology affect satire? When has satire been subversive — and when has it reinforced the status quo? We are definitely not limiting ourselves to political satire on this one, and are open to stories with a big ‘humor’ angle as long as there’s some element of satire in there somewhere. As always, stories from the colonial period are slightly harder to come by, so those would be appreciated.

Fire (8/14): This will be pegged to the ‘fire season’ out west. It will likely shape up to be a more open show (like our Water, Islands, and Speed shows), but we’ll want to look at cultural changes-over-time as well as fantastic stand alone stories. A note: we don’t want to conflate light with fire on this one (so a story about lightbulbs probably wouldn’t work), but if there’s something interesting to say about the handoff from fire to electricity, you might convince us.

Here’s a link to the pitch page of our web site, for info about what makes a good BackStory pitch: http://backstoryradio.org/producers/

BackStory is especially interested in stories that get out of the studio — that is, site-specific and sound-rich stories from around the country. Include what, if any, sources you would use in your story and how you would produce them. Give us an idea about what you imagine your piece would sound like (field tape, scoring, effects, readings, etc.). We’re open to non-narrated features, written essays, and reported pieces. Three to 10 minutes in length is ideal.

Email Associate Producer Kelly Jones at <khjones at virginia dot edu>, with “PITCH:” in your subject line. I’ll do my best to be in touch with you within a week of receiving your pitch.

FC members Get 50% Off Any CreativeLive Class and a Free eBook

Hey folks. I’ve been doing Freelance Cafe for a good long time and have been waiting/hoping for a like-minded group to collaborate with in some way. It’s finally happened! 

CreativeLive offers FREE online classes if you can catch them live (I watched Alex Blumberg’s course a few months back – so good), and then charges what I would consider a pretty reasonable rate to watch individual classes On Demand any time after. They have more than 1000 classes at this point, many of which are relevant to public media. And they’re offering FC members a 50% discount for the next 48 hours. That’s a bit of a tight turn-around, but I’m hoping they’ll offer the same again soon.

You can also get a free copy of their eBook The Essential Guide to Launching a Freelance Career. Click here to download.

Here are a few classes that jumped out at me:

Personal Finance for Freelancers and Artists with Galia Gichon

Power Your Podcast with Storytelling with Alex Blumberg

Launch a Successful Podcast with Kris Gilbertson

Podcasting 101 with John Lee Dumas

Also:

Command the Fees You Deserve with Ilise Benun

Protect and Profit Your Intellectual Property with Rachel Rodgers

Copyright, Trademark, and Intellectual Property for Filmmakers with Rachel Rodgers

There are a bunch more too. Most of the classes run about $150 so you get them for $75 for the next two days. That’s something.

The discount code is FCEXCLUSIVE50OFF.

Go get it!

-Mia

The First Annual Kitchen Sisters Bowling Party & Fundraiser, June 23

Bay Area fundraising event of the year – I can't think of a more worthy cause (or a better line up of amazing folks)! DO THIS if you have the means. -Mia

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Bowling with Grace: The First Annual Kitchen Sisters Bowling Party & Fundraiser

Drinks + Food + Music + Strikes + Bowling Celebrities

Alice Waters, Michael Pollan & Judith Belzer, Armistead Maupin, Amy Tan,
Roman Coppola, Ayelet Waldman

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bowling-with-grace-the-first-annual-kitchen-sisters-bowling-party-fundraiser-tickets-16994586265

Amazing Grace Mulloy is coming to San Francisco for the First Annual Kitchen Sisters Bowling Party & Fundraiser to help up your game and the game of The Kitchen Sisters.

Grace is one rough tough cream puff. She has won most every bowling trophy there is in Santa Maria, California. Grace is a life-long bowler with a lot of tricks up her sleeve and is currently in two leagues. Last week she bowled twice and scored over 175 in both games.

Grace is 91 years old and legally blind. The only things she likes more than bowling are her granddaughter, Brandi (who works with The Kitchen Sisters) and public radio.

Come bowl or just come hang. The drinks and food will flow, all lanes will be ours and all proceeds will go to supporting the next season of James Beard Award-winning Hidden Kitchens stories on NPR, our internship & mentoring program and our new Radiotopia podcast, Fugitive Waves.

Come join Alice, Amy, Armistead, Ayelet, Roman, Judith, Michael, Nikki and Davia for a night of bowling with Grace as she shares her methods and secrets.

Come for the schmooze or come for the shoes.
$150. Includes food, drinks and all the bowling you can stand. ($100 tax-deductible).
Buy a ticket and you'll automatically be entered into our Raffle for a brand new bike from PUBLIC Bikes.
Tickets are limited.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bowling-with-grace-the-first-annual-kitchen-sisters-bowling-party-fundraiser-tickets-16994586265

Athena Film Festival Call for Submissions, deadline Sept 15

The 6th annual Athena Film Festival: A Celebration of Women and Leadership will take place at Barnard College in New York City fromFebruary 18-21, 2016.

Film Submissions will be accepted through September 15.  Submissions are free of charge. You will find our submission overview below, and all the information on how to submit a film here.


We are looking for Documentaries, Features, and Shorts that:

  • Reveal the diverse narratives of women leaders from all walks of life—narratives of ambition, courage, strength and resilience;
  • Showcase women leaders who help us interpret the reality of the modern world—captivating stories of truth, determination, innovation and vision;
  • Highlight the talents of emerging artists—capturing a new generation’s take on what truly makes exemplary women leaders.

Athena List Submissions will be accepted through September 15. Submissions are free of charge. You will find our submission overview below, and all the information on how to submit a screenplay here.

What We Look For:

  • Screenplays must include a strong woman character in a leadership role at the center of the story
  • Screenplays should not objectify or stereotype women
  • Screenplays can be written by a person(s) of any gender
  • Screenplays written by women must still focus on women’s leadership
  • Screenplays must be for a feature length film, 80 to 130 pages.  (NO SHORTS ACCEPTED)

Important: The screenplay needs to be complete and ready for production. Do not submit a first draft.

More info: http://athenafilmfestival.com/submissions/


Latino USA call for pitches

Call for pitches from Latino USA. Go for it!
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Latino USA is looking for pitches for the following show themes:
Baseball: The Latino elements in America’s game.
Know Your Rights: Stories about people not knowing what they’re entitled to or what resources they may have access to; or how rumors or misunderstanding can get in the way of accurate information.
Beauty: Personal beauty rather than art, in the broad sense of the word – beauty inside and out, or newly defined.
Outdoors: Working, playing and living anywhere outside of buildings, from mountaintops to rooftops.
Coming of Age: Young people finding themselves and older people re-inventing themselves.
Parenthood: Broadly defined.
PLEASE NOTE: LUSA’s pitch address has changed.

Please use the submissions form on our website, www.latinousa.org/submit/.

If you’re pitching for the first time, please include a sample or two of your audio work. LUSA’s pitch meetings take place on Friday afternoons, and we try to get back to reporters early the following week.

Thanks!
Leda Hartman
Editor, NPR's Latino USA
ledahart@mindspring.com
@ledahartman
919-542-0008

Kitsplit, a new way to get creative audio and video equipment in NY

Great new resource for NY producers – a peer-to-peer rental service – like AirBNB for camera and audio equipment. Details below!

KitSplit is New York’s first peer to peer rental platform for creative equipment like cameras, microphones, Oculus Rifts, and more.  We bring creators together to find low-cost, reliable, and convenient gear right when you need it.  And we provide an easy way to earn some cash by renting out the gear that you own.


We are thrilled to invite you to become the first members of the KitSplit community. We know you’ll find that KitSplit makes the rental process easier, less expensive, and more secure. And you’ll be happy to know that for our first month there are no fees, meaning that if you list equipment for rent you’ll get 100% of the rental price.  So sign up now!

KitSplit is currently a private beta and is invite only. Email us at contact@kitsplit.com to request your personal invitation code. Mention Freelancer's cafe and include your contact info + a link to your site or portfolio.

We hope that you’ll join us in this community and that you’ll invite other creators and friends to sign up.  We look forward to collaborating with you as you list, earn, find, and create.   

— 

Kristina Budelis | Co-founder, KitSplit 

LIST•EARN•FIND•CREATE
(254) 307-7548 | @kitsplit 


Grants and Fellowships for June and July 2015

Join AIR for the complete list of grants and fellowships. So worth it!
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MJ Bear Fellowship

Opens: June 2015 (deadline tba)

Details: The MJ Bear Fellowships identify and celebrate early-career digital journalists, working independently or for a company or organization, who have demonstrated — through professional experimentation, research or other projects — that they deserve support for their efforts and/or vision.

The fellows are up-and-coming journalists inside or outside the newsroom who are just beginning to make their voices heard in the industry and working to expand the boundaries of digital news.

Journalismfund.eu

Deadline: June 2, 2015

Details: The aim of Journalismfund.eu is to promote quality journalism in Europe by giving journalists the chance to carry out journalistic research projects. Journalismfund.eu will support professional journalists, who have good ideas for cross-border research and for research on European affairs. The stories must be relevant for European target groups. Grant sizes vary but are generally 5,000 euros or less. Funding is provided to cover costs such as travel, translation, access to pay-databases, or simply time to research. Fixed costs such as office costs, investments such as cameras or computers, or production costs are not covered.

Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing

Deadline: June 22, 2015

Details: The Pulliam Fellowship awards $75,000 to an outstanding editorial writer or columnist to help broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world. The annual award can be used to cover the cost of study, research and/or travel in any field. The fellowship results in editorials and other writings, including books.

German-American Fullbright Commission

Deadline: July, 2015

Details: The Berlin Capital Program is an eight-day seminar program for young American journalists. The 15 American journalists selected to participate will learn about the German media through interaction with some of the country's top experts in the field, as well as through visits to a publishing house, a daily newspaper, and other institutions that play a critical role in shaping the German media landscape. Participants will also have the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with their German counterparts. For the Berlin Capital Program, journalists must be a graduating senior or Masters degree student in the field of journalism or communications, OR a young professional journalist with fewer than 5 years of work experience in the field.

Above the Fray Fellowship

Deadline: July 1, 2015

Details: The Above the Fray fellowship is designed to give a promising journalist the opportunity to cover important but under-reported stories from a location abroad. One fellow will be selected each year based on a winning proposal to report from a region lacking significant mainstream media attention. The selected individual will spend three months filing on-air and online stories for NPR.

Fledgling Fund

Deadline: Rolling after July 1, 2015

Details: The Fledgling Fund "helps innovative projects take flight." Fledgling's creative media initiative supports film and other media projects that engage key audiences in efforts to affect positive social change. Fledgling uses a three-pronged approach that includes funding for an innovative film or media project, funding for a strategic outreach campaign, as well as financial support for the community-based organizations that are committed to the issues raised in the film/media. Typically, The Fledgling Fund's grant size ranges from $10,000 – $35,000.

Society of Environmental Journalists Fund for Environmental Journalism

Deadline: Summer Cycle: July 15, 2015

Details: SEJ's Fund for Environmental Journalism accepts applications for grants of up to $3,500 to help underwrite environmental reporting projects and entrepreneurial ventures.

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works Grants

Deadline: July 23, 2015

Details: Art Works support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.Grants generally range from $10,000 to $100,000.

Falling Walls Science Fellowship for Journalists

Deadline: July 31, 2015

Details: "In an effort to keep the public informed on life-changing scientific breakthroughs, we have created the Falling Walls Science Fellowship for Journalists. It is aimed at journalists and bloggers with at least three years of experience, and who hope to advance their knowledge in the area of sciences. The Fellows get the opportunity to attend the Falling Walls Lab, Falling Walls Venture and the Falling Walls Conference in Berlin on 8 and 9 November 2015 in Berlin. Freelance and full-time journalists or bloggers can apply. Professionals in fields such as research, teaching, public relations and advertising are not eligible. The applicants must have a minimum of three years professional journalism/blogging experience in which they have written about the subject of sciences."

PRX STEM story Open call, deadline July 1

STEM Story Project, take 3! Deadline July 1.
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Do you have an idea for a science or math story that you've always wanted to try? Our third annual open call for funding for STEM-related audio story ideas is open today through July 1. Past open calls yielded stories that aired on Here & Now, All Things Considered, Studio 360, our science podcast Transistor, PRX Remix, and numerous public radio stations around the country.

Apply, get all the details, and find an FAQ right here:
https://prx.submittable.com

If you have questions, please write to stem@prx.org as we can keep track of them best that way. We also have a Facebook group for STEM producers:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/117920801734639/

We're looking forward to reading your submissions!

Genevieve


Apply now to lead Localore, Finding America productions, deadline June 26

It's LOCALORE time! Details below. Application deadline June 26.

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AIR is hiring 15 creative media makers with bold notions to build Localore: Finding America and transform public media. We will provide the budget, resources and guidance to create awesome storytelling experiments with public media stations across the United States. Introductory videos from potential station-incubators are online at Finding-America.org.

Who’s eligible: Producers, coders, documentarians, artists, designers, educators, and entrepreneurs are welcome to submit project ideas. AIR actively seeks a diverse pool of applicants to expand the public media system, and will provide relocation subsidies if needed.

Deadlines: Applications are due before midnight on June 26.

Some stations have requested an extension to the May 31 station deadline. If your station needs more time, please contact us.

Details: Visit Finding-America.org.

Contact: Network Manager Adriana Gallardo at Adriana@AIRmedia.org.

Make story. Make change.

Are you in?

"[Localore documentarians are] experimenting in unknown territory, learning what works and what doesn’t work, creating language, and vetting models on behalf of the wider creative community."

— Sundance Institute blog

"Localore’s producers generated just over 28 million impressions over websites, television, radio, and field-event participation. That’s especially impressive when you consider that many of those projects were located in sparsely populated areas."

— Columbia Journalism Review

"In a field where new projects often dry up the moment the money does, [Localore is] a victory."

— Nieman Journalism Lab