VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 2, 2015) - On April 6, TELUS is launching the music video edition of STORYHIVE, its community-powered funding program in support of emerging content creators in British Columbia and Alberta. This year, the program is expanding to include musicians and filmmakers through music video production grants and content distribution opportunities.
"Funding is a huge struggle in the arts and can be a major roadblock for emerging talent," said Prem Gill, Director of Content, TELUS. "Giving back in the communities where we live and work is critically important to us at TELUS and we're proud to be able to support even more talented content creators by helping them kick-start meaningful, lasting careers."
Since launching in 2013, STORYHIVE has supported emerging local talents through its beta, short film and web series editions. The music video edition will have two stages:
- Stage one: The top 10 finalists in each province will be awarded a $10,000 grant to create their music video.
- Stage two: The top 20 finalists will then showcase their finished videos and compete for the chance to win one $30,000 grant per province to produce another music video and a documentary.
One stage two winner from B.C. and another from Alberta will be announced on August 17, 2015. In addition to the grant, they will also receive content distribution through TELUS Optik TV On Demand and mentorship and training from industry professionals. As an added bonus, all STORYHIVE music video applicants will have the chance for their music to be featured in future TELUS commercials even if they do not move on in the competition.
Those interested in applying to the music video funding program have until April 26 to submit their music video idea and production plan. To learn more about STORYHIVE or to apply, visit storyhive.com.
Today TELUS also announced the winners of STORYHIVE's Web Series Edition, which ran from October 14, 2014 until March 26, 2015. The four winning teams: Coded (Vancouver), Night Owl High (Vancouver), Hug-O-Gram (Calgary) and Straight to Video: The B-movie Odyssey (Edmonton) were selected by popular vote and a jury, and will each receive a $50,000 production grant to produce their full web series. This is an additional $200,000 being invested in local talent and content creation in B.C. and Alberta. The winners will also receive distribution through Optik TV On Demand for their final work, and training and mentorship provided to them through the National Screen Institute.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX:T)(NYSE:TU) is Canada's fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $12 billion of annual revenue and 13.7 million customer connections, including 8.1 million wireless subscribers, 3.2 million wireline network access lines, 1.5 million Internet subscribers and 916,000 TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video, and is Canada's largest healthcare IT provider.
In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $396 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered and more than 6 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Created in 2005 by Executive Chairman Darren Entwistle, TELUS' 11 community boards across Canada have led the company's support of grassroots charities and will have contributed $47 million in support of 3,700 local charities organizations by the end of 2014, enriching the lives of more than two million Canadian children and youth. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.
For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.