Wanted: local creators to share their passion with the community
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“UPDATE: STORYHIVE Voices intake deadline has been extended to midnight PT on May 11, 2023 to welcome in even more amazing community stories. Make sure to send in your application before then for your chance to receive $10,000 in funding.”
TELUS STORYHIVE Voices is back. Bring your story to life with a $10K grant
Rebecca Stevens. Photo by Rebecca Stevens
If you’re a first-time or emerging content creator in B.C. or Alberta and have always wanted to share your passion or story with your community, now’s your chance. Level up your content creation journey with STORYHIVE Voices 3.0. Intake is open now until May 11, 2023.
The search is on for local online content creators of all backgrounds to be part of TELUS STORYHIVE‘s supportive community, a creative hub to grow your impact, your audience, and develop your skills. Voices welcomes aspiring YouTube, TikTok or Instagram creators, no experience necessary. You could gain access to over 1 million new viewers on TELUS Optik TV!
STORYHIVE is encouraging creators to submit their content ideas. Whether it’s a lifestyle show, a how-to-series, visual podcasts or docuseries, the possibilities are endless. They are offering $10,000 in production funding, customized online training sessions, access to a community of support and distribution of your project on TELUS Optik TV and online channels for up to 100 selected applicants across B.C. and Alberta.
For first-time producer Rebecca Stevens, living life in Medicine Hat with a disability was the catalyst for making Follow Us, a call to action for inclusion and integration, highlighting personal insights from a multi-generational cast in an eight-episode docuseries.
She received the STORYHIVE Voices 2.0 grant, and drew inspiration for her story from her local community, sharing the message that disabilities come in all shapes and sizes.
“It’s about people in the city with disabilities and their day-to-day lives, and the fantastic ways they contribute to our community,” says Stevens, who was diagnosed a few years ago with narcolepsy, a life-long sleep condition, and one she believes is very much an invisible disability.
“When I moved to Medicine Hat from Toronto, the community was so welcoming,” recalls Stevens. “I was having conversations I’d never had before with other people with disabilities, both visible and invisible, and I thought—everyone should be allowed to have these conversations in their community.”
Community is the backbone of TELUS STORYHIVE, and they work tirelessly to support their local creators.
“I view the STORYHIVE community and the community being featured as one in the same,” says Stevens. “Without community, I wouldn’t have a story, and without story, I wouldn’t have a community.”
Shaun Cathcart, STORYHIVE territory manager shares,”One goal with all STORYHIVE programs is to showcase that content creators don’t need to be from big cities to create meaningful content.”
Stevens acknowledges, “STORYHIVE’s focus on each place being as important as the next allowed me to tell this story. There was no need for me to be in Calgary or Edmonton or any other big metropolis.”
The support creators receive is comprehensive and invaluable, not only for their project, but for how they see themselves as artists.
“Working with my program manager, Georgina Chaplin from TELUS, was beyond inspirational. Her passion for the job motivated me to be better for myself,” says Stevens. “I really enjoyed my one-on-ones with her early on. That was somewhere I felt very supported and connected to the process and connected to my story.”
“Through STORYHIVE, I gained confidence to believe in myself and am learning to trust my own ideas. Having the support of Georgina and a good team makes all the difference for bringing those ideas to life.”
Rebecca Stevens. Photo by Rebecca Stevens
The STORYHIVE team assists beyond the projects and provides support in all facets, Stevens says. “A shout out to the STORYHIVE marketing team who granted approval for use of their STORYHIVE logo on my coffee mug, and within less than a day; it’s incredible how fast they moved! I’m a big coffee fan, so my mug is important.” It’s quite possible that they both fuel her inspiration.
Stevens has this advice for future applicants: “Trust yourself, trust STORYHIVE, enjoy the process, and have fun! If someone’s going to take this path for the rest of their life, their STORYHIVE project could be the start of a whole new future for them—a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
“We’re so proud we have been able to grow this program aimed at new and emerging content creators interested in user-generated content styles over the last two years,”
says Cathcart.
“Join us as we celebrate our third TELUS STORYHIVE Voices intake! We’re looking forward to sharing the stories of communities across B.C. and Alberta and can’t wait to hear from the people of Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.”
Your passion. Your community. STORYHIVE Voices 3.0 application portal opens April 4, 2023. Apply at STORYHIVE.com/voices before midnight PT on May 11, 2023.
STORYHIVE is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year. Since 2013, TELUS STORYHIVE has been able to support a community of thousands of local content creators across British Columbia and Alberta, providing over $52 million in funding and creating a safe space for storytellers to hone their skills and bring the projects they care about to life.
