Five boundary-pushing digital media projects that between them will make history and street art accessible, develop young story-tellers, and entertain children, have been selected for funding from NZ On Air's Ignite Digital Media Fund.
This was the second Ignite funding round, attracting 63 applications. The fund supports innovative and creative online content targeted to special interest audiences that are rarely well-served by mainstream media.
A project based in Nelson, HEART (Heritage Education Augmented Reality Tours), will develop a tablet and smart phone app to bring to life historic photos from the Nelson Provincial Museum. Users will be guided to the photo locations, and through their device, can compare the views of past and present, and access audio, video and text stories about the locations. It is likely to be a useful pilot for other regions.
Street art will be the subject of, If These Walls Could Talk. This mini-documentary webseries will explore the creative process of street artists from concept to execution, including how they navigate issues such as identity, sense of place and contemporary culture. The series will be optimised for mobile devices, allowing interactivity between the virtual space and real spaces (the street).
Art and culture will be further supported by the inclusion of a stream of multimedia content to be integrated into the fresh journalism site The Pantograph Punch.
Children are the focus of two further projects. Little Legends is an app for primary and intermediate age children to build and share stories. Youngsters generate their own stories, mentored online by top New Zealand writers, which are then brought to life with illustration and animation. The best stories will appear as interstitials on Sticky TV and FOUR.
A webseries aimed at tween girls has also been supported - the first children's webseries to be supported by the Digital Media Fund. Nia's Extra Ordinary Lifeengages children in the story of an 11 year old girl living in a sleepy seaside town who finds adventure in a fantasy world, and learns valuable life lessons along the way.
"We want the Digital Media Fund to encourage innovation and creativity in content in a way that is rarely possible through mainstream media. We only had limited funds available and the volume and strong quality of applications we received made the selection very tough," said Jane Wrightson, CEO of NZ On Air.
"Content on many platforms made by New Zealanders, for New Zealand audiences, about our own country and society is crucial from a cultural perspective. We hope these projects will be welcomed by the intended audiences," said Ms Wrightson.
A further funding announcement will be made before Christmas on the outcome of the call for applications for the Kickstart Digital Media Fund.
Funding details
HEART - Heritage Education Augmented Reality Tours, tablet and smart phone app, Kiwi AR, $45,000
If These Walls Could Talk, mini-documentary webseries, Trustme Ltd, $42,523
Little Legends, app development, Luke Nola & Friends, $44,080
Nia's Extra Ordinary Life, 12 x 3.5 min webisodes, Brown Sugar Apple Grunt Productions, $45,000
The Pantograph Punch, multimedia content stream, The Pantograph Punch Trust, $30,715