YouTube Space LA is bringing VR Creator Lab back with a focus on VR180.
Last year, YouTube Space LA kicked off VR Creator Lab — a 3-month learning and production intensive program for VR creators. VR Creator Lab included advanced education, mentorship, access to tools, and a stipend of $30-$40K for production costs.
Now VR Creator Lab is back again this year, opening up applications for a 4-month learning and production intensive for VR creators looking to explore YouTube’s new VR180 format.
2017’s YouTube VR Creator Lab cohort at graduation.
So whether you’re excited about the potential of VR or just looking to take your VR video creation to the next level, then this program is perfect for you. Participants will receive advanced education from leading VR instructors and filmmakers, mentoring, and $30K – $40K in funding toward the production of your dream projects.
Developed in partnership with YouTube, Daydream, and VRScout, the VR Creator Lab begins with a three day “boot camp” June 4-6, 2018 at YouTube Space LA in Playa Vista, CA. The days will be chock full of workshops, coaching, pre-production, and social activities.
Following the boot camp, and over the next three months, channels and filmmakers will produce at least five original and experimental VR180 videos and one behind-the-scenes video. These videos can be a multi-part series or five standalone videos. They can be shot in a sound stage or on location. YouTube will provide the funding, cameras and audio gear, stages (if applicable), and mentorship to expand your understanding of the entire preproduction, production, and postproduction workflows.
The VR Creator Lab cohort will gather at YouTube Space LA, or via video chat, twice per month from June to September, 2018 to meet with mentors and review works-in-progress.
Key Dates
- April 30, 2018 – Application window closes, 8am Pacific Time
- Week of May 7 – Finalists notified and 2nd round interviews scheduled
- Week of May 14 – Lab participants are accepted and notified
- June 4-6 – Boot Camp at YouTube Space LA
- June 25 – Cohort gathering 1
- July 9 – Cohort gathering 2
- July 23 – Cohort gathering 3 + video 1 publication deadline
- August 6 – Cohort gathering 4
- August 20 – Cohort gathering 5
- September 3 – Cohort gathering 6
- October 1 – All videos’ publication deadline
- October TBD – Optional screening event
Qualifications
Participants must meet 1 of these 2 criteria:
- Own a YouTube channel with at least 10,000 subscribers with no current copyright or Terms of Service strikes on your qualifying channel(s) .
- Be an independent filmmaker (ie. not tied to a larger production company or agency with more than 15 employees) who has preferably had previous work screened at a film or interactive media festival .
Other Requirements
- Participants must be fluent in English and reside in the Americas.
- All individual participants must be at least 18 years old.
- The channel or production team is not a consumer brand.
- Access to high speed bandwidth for video conferencing.
Visit YouTube VR Creator Lab for more information and apply.
