Five hundred artists will be commissioned to make fresh and innovative short films, audio and interactive works in a new talent development scheme being launched by BBC Arts and Arts Council England.
New Creatives will give artists aged 16-30 the chance to develop their technical and creative skills and have work commissioned for BBC platforms. The programme will particularly focus on giving opportunities to young artists from backgrounds that are currently underrepresented in the arts and broadcasting. Commissioned artists will be encouraged to push creative boundaries, reach new audiences and reflect their experiences of living in Britain today.
A New Creatives Network of five creative media production organisations across England are being tasked to find, nurture and showcase emerging talent. Each centre will act as a regional development hub to support talent and work with other partners across the wider area to support diversity and social mobility in the arts and broadcasting.
The New Creatives hubs include Tyneside Cinema covering the North, Rural Media covering the Midlands, the Institute of Contemporary Arts covering London, Screen South covering the South East and Calling the Shots covering the South West.
Jonty Claypole, Director of Arts, BBC says: “The BBC has a long tradition of providing a platform to new talent and as part of this commitment we are partnering with Arts Council England for New Creatives. The scheme will offer fantastic opportunities, not only for the artists themselves but also for our audiences, who will be able to enjoy ground-breaking cultural content from an exciting array of the best emerging artistic talent today. New Creatives, along with Now & Next in Scotland, Two Minute Masterpiece in Northern Ireland, and a soon to be announced scheme in Wales, are all part of BBC Introducing Arts – a new way of offering commissioning opportunities to artists. I am really looking forward to seeing what they create for the first broadcasts this summer.”
Simon Mellor, Deputy Chief Executive Arts & Culture, Arts Council England, says: “New Creatives is designed to build strong partnerships between arts and cultural organisations that we support across the country and their regional BBC counterparts. I am confident that these partnerships will unearth some really exciting, new voices and help develop a cohort of artists skilled in creating new types of content for radio, TV and online. New Creatives is a fantastic next stage in our long standing partnership with the BBC.”
Each New Creative hub has published the first call out inviting artists to apply for the first round of commissions.
The deadline for applications is midnight, Sunday 10 March 2019
