Application

Special Call for Projects:
Two Exceptional Grants in Response to COVID-19

The cancellation of on-site American festivals questions promotion and distribution models for immersive works (XR). In this context, investing more on the distribution of XR works on platforms and their online promotion is a way to adapt and to continue sharing high quality French immersive experiences.

In response to COVID-19, French Immersion launches two exceptional grants to support French producers and broadcasters. The purpose of these grants is to support the online distribution of French immersive works to the American public:

• A grant for the production of promotional videos (5 grants of $2,000) to be broadcasted on VR platforms (Oculus, Steam…) and / or on social networks;

• A grant to promote an immersive experience on social networks or on content platforms (10 grants of $1,000) to cover costs such as paid-posts, influencers.

The applications may concern works and experiences of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), 360° videos.
Particular attention will be paid to the originality of the online promotion and distribution strategy.

Application Deadline: September 7, 2020.
To find out more on the grants and submit an application:

Grant for the production of promotional videos:
https://forms.gle/wQdTtLWa9jtwU8x49

Grant for promotion on social networks or on content platforms:
https://forms.gle/NoZy6rAHGDCstvo96

French Immersion also launched FR // XR, an initiative that aims at analyzing major COVID-19 induced changes on the XR market. It will gather views from content creators, buyers and distributors, as well as paving the way towards a new business model for the immersive industry.

General Timeline

Grants will be given along the year, according to Festivals’ selections and institutions calendar.

If your project has been selected by a U.S. festival, you may request and apply for the French Immersion grant within 10 days following the selection announcement date.

All inquiries must be addressed to emma.buttin@frenchculture.org. Inquiries must include a presentation of your project and information about the festival as well as the beneficiary(ies) who are requesting the French Immersion grant (name and active role in the project).

The application will be examined by the French Immersion committee consisting of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and FACE Foundation, and our partner, the CNC, UniFrance and the Institut Français. The committee is in charge of assessing the eligibility of the application and defining priorities if need be. See Eligibility & Guidelines. There is no need to simultaneously contact our partners with a request for a travel grant.

For a project selected at a US festival, French Immersion can allow up to 2 travel grant per project. In the event that several companies participating in the same project wish to issue an application, please centralize your applications to the greatest extent possible. You will receive an email response from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy; if your request has been accepted, you will receive an agreement for signature from the FACE Foundation. You will then have to send us the invoice of your travel and/or hotel costs. The payment will be transferred at the end of the event.
In case of an event happening in NYC, when the support provided by French Immersion is an Air France flight ticket, the flight ticket will be booked through the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

Contact

Emma Buttin
Cultural Services of the French Embassy
emma.buttin@frenchculture.org