Unisurvival - Beat the bullies
Andrew Dubber invited me to be one of a team of academics writing for UniSurvival which delivers common-sense advice to students about everything from time management to drugs to how to drop out. Worth a read as well is Tim Wall’s piece on why how you think is more important than what you think.
I’m well-chuffed to be writing for it and I’ll avoid cross posting in future but this is my first piece which was about bullying:
The daughter of a friend of mine had a bad time at her school. She was misunderstood by the teachers and bullied by a small group of fellow students. The former she dealt with by producing excellent work and getting good results - an ‘I’ll show ‘em’ attitude - the latter proved a bit more complex to deal with and left her upset and withdrawn.
The solution was to move away from the problem, to another school. Now, a couple of years down the line she’s moving on again, to start her Uni life. But all she can think of is what if it happens again? What if the Uni bully finds me out and puts me through three years of hell?
Bullying isn’t just something that happens to kids of course. Adults in the workplace can be as vicitimised as schoolchildren in the playground. So what about the university campus? My immediate reaction on talking to my friend’s daughter was to reassure her that Uni life is simply a world away from school.
Staying on topic
I’ve been feeling guilty about those of you who subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog. You may be reading this because you find I’ve got something useful to say about the Creative Industries. In fact the amount of subscribers went up a notch after I discussed 4ip which is great but now you poor souls get everything I write sent to your RSS reader - even the pictures of giant courgettes.
So now I’ve created a feed that only contains items from the Creative Industries category. The link is over in the sidebar on the right hand side. If you find it useful then please add it to your reader. If you still want to read everything I write then carry on using the main feed. Of course you may hate that creative crap and just love the stuff about running and gardening. Well I haven’t listed it on the sidebar but there’s even one for you as well. Any more niche than that then you can go do what I did and create your own feed.
If you haven’t got a clue what on earth I’m on about then you need to learn how to use RSS feeds - they’ll change the way you use the web. Go read Andrew Dubber’s straightforward guide to RSS.
Channel 4 - 4ip
Yesterday saw the pre-launch of Channel 4’s 4ip fund in Birmingham. I’m telling you this as although I managed to bring a notepad I completely failed to bring a pen and therefore need to write this down before it empties out of my head. Before we begin, two key things you need to bear in mind and written large on the 4ip homepage:
INTERACTIVE MEDIA, NOT TV
NETWORKS NOT BROADCASTERS
With that in mind, here’s a FAQ:
What’s 4ip?
Channel four investment fund to create interactive media projects with a public service benefit. The background for it is in the Next on 4 strategy stuff. £50million in total.
Why?
Ofcom are consulting about Public Service Broadcasting at the moment (phase one just closed actually). Part of that is about thinking about how broadcasters can fulfill their public service remit in ways other than showing TV programmes. It’s pretty clear 4ip is Channel 4’s attempt to develop a solution before one gets imposed. If it works then they’ll no doubt be asking for a slice of the licence fee in future.
So they are investing in ideas? Companies?
Both. Unlike the TV commissioning model where the IP remains with the producer there is potential here for Channel 4 to take an equity stake in the company itself. Andrew Dubber thought the issue around IP ownership was vague but I read it as simply too complex to go into at an event like this - real answer is that it will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
How much will they invest?
£20k upwards to £1.5m. They hinted that there will be a small number of £1m+ projects, a decent amount of £200k-£600k projects and plenty at the £20k mark. You’ll need to find 50% of the funds for your project from elsewhere - this isn’t a free ride. See note from Jason at Screen WM below.
Interactive Media? Public Service benefit? Seems a bit vague.
I know, it’s great isn’t it - the door’s open to a whole range of ideas given that the criteria is so broad. However, don’t misinterpret ‘public service’ as non-commercial. This is investment funding and the investors are looking for a return. As wide open as this is there should be an emphasis on where the market has failed. An example given around a project for female computer gamers made this clear. Plus, market failure is a criteria used for public sector funding support and that’s what this is - public sector funding. Specifically cited were social media, web, computer gaming. ‘E-drama’ or brand extensions of existing TV programmes (they fund the latter seperately) is the last thing they want.
The reason for a Birmingham pre-launch?
Birmingham, because the regional development agency has put £5million into a West Midlands pot, matched by Channel 4’s £5million. ‘Pre’-launch, because the formal application procedure isn’t set up yet and won’t be till autumn. They’re recruiting a Birmingham-based commissioning editor as we speak. Screen West Midlands are managing all of this so make sure you become best friends with them. There’s a regional test to ensure there’s a benefit to the West Midlands (spending 70% of the budget there or 50% of the talent is based there).
What about other regions?
I’m a Brummie, what do I care about other regions? Oh okay, apparently Yorkshire and Scotland are also in on the act. The West Midlands got there first though - remember that. Stuart Cosgrove was the Channel 4 rep at the pre-launch and let’s not forget that he’s the Nations and Regions guy at channel 4. He specifically said that there’s a balance to be redressed in developing regional media economies in this way. He cited the North West and of course, London, as already having had their fair share. I’m actually unsure if that means that this is not a national fund. I suspect that the other partners mentioned (Arts Council England, Media Trust, others I’ve forgotten) may allow non-West Mids/Yorkshire/Scottish projects to be funded.
So I should spend the summer musing on new ideas?
Yes and no. If you’ve got an idea even half-formed get it known about now. There’s £10million to be invested in a little over two years, that will take some spending. As I said, for the West Midlands, you need to be talking to Screen West Midlands right now about your idea so that come day one, you’re at the front of the aplication queue. Talk to Jason Hall: jason.hall [at] screenwm.co.uk. Try not to be put off by what looks like a tortuous application process - this is a lot of public money we’re talking about.
Where can I learn more?
The 4ip blog gives really strong hints about what they’re after. Go subscribe now. If you look at some of the videos they’ve posted you’ll learn what’s in the heads of the people who will decide if your idea is green-lighted.