WE'RE HIRING: Videographer role

THIS OPPORTUNITY IS NOW CLOSED

Videographer Brief

Paid commission: £2,000

Deadline for proposals: 11:59pm Monday 19th July 2021

Delivery timeframe: August – October 2021

Please send any queries to phoebe@nottmcityoflit.org

About The Project

In August 2021 Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature is running a project for young people aged 14 – 21 at the National Justice Museum in Nottingham, in partnership with English PEN as part of their year-long centenary programme, Common Currency.

Summer of Freedom Reads is a series of summer reading and creative writing workshops for young people inspired by protest and freedom of expression. Bringing together renowned, emerging, and new writers, readers, and activists, the programme will present timely debates and discussions, as well as taking a deep dive into some of the most famous (and infamous) books to have sparked public outrage across time. We will incorporate talks with writers, creative practitioners and artists known for their passion for youth empowerment to discuss a number of themes including free speech, censorship, protest, democracy, language and ideas.

Key dates for the project – It will be essential that you can attend the 3 workshops, which are taking place on 8, 15, & 22 August from 11.30 – 4.30pm.

About Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature

­­­Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature (NUCoL) is one of only 6 UNESCO designated creative cities in England. Our vision is for a city where everyone is reading and writing their way to a better life. Our mission is to build a better world with words. We believe in the power of literature as a reflection of humanity and a way for everyone to better understand each other and the world we live in.

Since 2015, we have:

• Embraced young people as co-creators and empowered them to collaborate with commissioned artists to discover, create and share the creative joy and life-changing power of reading and writing.
• Commissioned new work, promoted our literary heritage and created new partnerships with schools, libraries, and community groups.
• Shared our ideas and skills with our international partners to generate new thinking, debate, and exchange for the benefit of Nottingham’s writers and creative communities.
• Worked with city partners to develop new ideas, increase creative opportunities and ambitions, thereby embedding NUCoL in the local cultural ecology and thought leadership.

Many thousands of young people have already had the opportunity to grow in confidence, learn life-enhancing skills and discover their unique voices and skills through our work. Recent programmes include:

• 14 YOUNG CITY OF LITERATURE AMBASSADORS (50% young people of colour) played a crucial role to co-create and co-produce projects that help foster a culture of reading and writing for pleasure in secondary schools;
• BIG CITY READS; empowered 3,000 young people to boost their engagement with libraries and participation in reading;
• MYVOICE supported 60 of the most vulnerable young people at risk of serious violence to overcome their insecurities and negative thought barriers to literature, libraries, cultural venues through artist-mentoring, spoken word and writing workshops.
• INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE LEARNING SYMPOSIUM saw 120 professionals in a cross-sector space in which they explored ideas and shared practice and creatively engaged with 60 young people. We brought together curators, educators, artists, teachers and young producers to engage with local heritage, share experiences of creative heritage learning programmes and youth-engagement initiatives

About English PEN

English PEN is one of the world's oldest human rights organisations, championing the freedom to write and read. We are the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers’ association with 145 centres in more than 100 countries. With the support of our members – a community of readers, writers and activists – we protect freedom of expression whenever it is under attack, support writers facing persecution around the world, and celebrate contemporary international writing with literary prizes, grants, events, and our online magazine PEN Transmissions.

English PEN's work is made possible through core funding from Arts Council England and the TS Eliot Foundation alongside the support of members, project partners and Silver PEN partners.

This year English PEN marks its centenary with Common Currency, a year-long programme which brings together writers, readers and activists for an ambitious collaboration with partner organisations for events, residencies, campaigns and conversations across the UK and Ireland.

#CommonCurrency

https://www.englishpen.org/

The National Justice Museum inspires people of all ages to become active citizens through fun and engaging activities, exhibitions and educational programmes relating to law and justice. They provide unique curriculum-linked learning for children and young people in real courtroom settings and in the community.

More about Summer of Freedom Reads

Nottingham has a rich and rebellious literary history. The city has made a remarkable contribution to literature, underpinned by the city’s tradition of civil resistance, political defiance and social justice. There’s a contrarian common thread running through its heritage from Byron to Lawrence through Sillitoe to Sleaford Mods and the thriving, multi-faceted literary scene.

Held in the historic National Justice Museum, the Summer of Freedom Reads workshops will look specifically at themes of protest, free speech, and democracy, as well as taking a deep dive into some of the most famous (and infamous) books to have sparked public outrage across time. Participants will discuss censorship and how it has differed over time and place, and engage in a #PENWrites letter writing workshop.

PENWrites is English PEN’s international letter-writing campaign in solidarity with writers in prison and at risk around the world. For decades, PEN has supported writers who are unjustly persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression, and PEN members have long supported fellow writers by sending letters of support.

Summer of Freedom Reads will:

• Empower young people through dynamic, exciting literary workshops focusing on timely themes of freedom of speech, identity, and protest. The workshops will be carefully planned to really inspire joy and creativity among participants.
• Support future generations of writers by targeting a young diverse audience and prioritising those from lower income backgrounds.
• Promote Nottingham’s literary heritage through a linked exhibition at the National Justice Museum

The impact and success we hope to achieve for participants include:

• Increased engagement with writers and enjoyment in reading, learning and creative activities
• Increased confidence, wellbeing and aspiration
• Increased perception and profile of programme themes: free expression, protest, democracy and the role of literature
• New connections and encounters with NUCoL, English PEN and the National Justice Museum and libraries and other UNESCO Cities of Literature

Who are we looking for?

The videographer will need to have:

• The skills and equipment to create high quality documentary film
• A strong collaborative attitude to our work, in order to work well with NUCoL staff and young people
• The ability to edit and turn around the film (approximately 1 month)
• A friendly and approachable nature to ensure the young people feel welcome at the National Justice Museum and enjoy their experience
• An understanding of health and safety, equal opportunities, and safeguarding procedures relating to working with young and vulnerable people – we will provide a briefing on our working practices and policies.

If you are experienced in filming projects, then we would love to hear from you. We are looking to document the process, as well as get some interviews with those involved in the project and short clips we can use for social media.

We encourage and welcome expressions of interest to broaden the diversity of the writers and artists we work with. We particularly welcome applications from people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds; LGBT+ people; disabled people and people who are currently facing challenging circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We also particularly welcome expressions of interest from people living in the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire area.

Objectives and Outputs

To capture and evaluate the Summer of Freedom Reads taking place at the National Justice Museum, and young people’s responses to the project. You will:

• Work with NUCoL to agree on the type of shots, footage and interviews they will be capturing.
• Attend and film 3 workshops at the National Justice Museum
• Film and edit three 4-minute films documenting the project.
  • To include motion graphics, soundtrack music, and subtitles
• Create a package to be transferred to NUCoL including all raw footage, interviews, and social media clips.

Each film will comprise standalone case studies about the Summer of Freedom Reads in Nottingham and the impact of the workshops on participants. We expect that these videos will illustrate how our approach is creating opportunities for young people and highlight effective approaches to creative engagement. We want these videos to inform and inspire audiences by focusing on the impact and outcomes and demonstrating the power of reading and creative writing. Our aim is not to deliver a self-congratulatory or unsubtle corporate message.

Video Brief

Each video will include:

• Interviews with 3 or 4 participants
• Footage of the workshop and facilitator in action.
• Quotes from the guest speaker
• Contextual cutaways of the National Justice Museum and information about their Radical History exhibition
• Motion graphic bookends at the beginning and end

Application Process

To apply, simply send us a proposal (no longer than 4 pages) outlining why you would be a good fit for this commission. Please include any links to previous works and two referees.

Send this to phoebe@nottmcityoflit.org with the subject line ‘Project Filmmaker Application’. We must receive your application by 11:59pm Monday 19 July 2021.

If you have a question about the application process don’t hesitate to get in touch via Facebook, Twitter, or email.