This is a reminder that applications for Brown Institute Magic Grants are due TODAY (3/7) by midnight Pacific time!
As many of you might know, one of our current team of grantees has released a VR documentary on the famine in South Sudan. It’s an immersive video that we produced with FRONTLINE. The full video is out now — watch it at http://on.fb.me/1QvQkF4. This is just one example of the projects we fund. Successful Magic Grants are varied, but they all represent authentic collaborations between a story and some kind of novel technology.
New kinds of interfaces for personal drones. An open data platform to support coverage of the Panamanian government. A toolkit that helps science reporters quickly contextualize new research studies. A detailed study of how digital information is shared in Cuba via El Paquete. A collaboration with the drag community in Bushwick and the reimagining of a social media platform that allows for richer notions of identity. A platform to apply machine learning to collections of declassified documents for understanding patterns in official secrecy. Geotagged social media and a new form of police scanner. Novel interfaces for massively collaborative creative work and a story that could draw on the contributions of thousands of people. This is the kind of work we’ve funded.
At the Brown Institute, we look for innovative ideas with the potential to change the ways in which stories are produced, delivered, presented or consumed. David and Helen Gurley Brown believed that magic happens when innovative technology is combined with great content, and creative people are given the opportunity to explore their ideas and vision of the future.
Magic Grants can support small teams for up to a year, with an overall budget of $150K for teams that are based at Columbia and $300K if the teams involve both Columbia and Stanford. On our web site you will find specific details about the Magic Grant program and how to apply.
http://brown.columbia.edu/propose
If you have any last-minute questions, please contact Mark Hansen (markh@columbia.edu), Michael Krisch (mkrisch@columbia.edu) at Columbia, or Kelly Yilmaz (yilmaz@stanford.edu) at Stanford.
Good luck!Magic Grants Due TODAY 3/7!