“FIRST-IN” STATIONS
GUIDELINES FOR OUTSIDE COLLABORATORS AND STATIONS
EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 1, 2015
First-In stations will upload their media to Vimeo from April 21 to April 30, 2015, for inclusion on
Finding America’s station runway in advance of the May 1 public launch. AIR will provide sign-in
credentials and further technical information by April 20, 2015.
I. OVERVIEW
Finding America is a new chapter in AIR’s Localore production. Beginning in spring 2015, AIR
will begin assembling a new team of independent and station-based collaborators to continue
the movement toward a public media that serves more Americans. Fifteen new teams, in
markets large and small, will build on the work begun in 2008 with Makers Quest 2.0 (MQ2)
projects such as Mapping Main Street and The Corner, and continued in 2013 with the creation
of 10 Localore productions, including Curious City at WBEZ, Austin Music Map at KUT,
iSeeChange at KVNF, and Twin Cities Public Television’s Rewire unit. AIR will hire a team of
ambitious “outside collaborators” — independent radio, television, multiplatform producers,
designers, programmers, data journalists — and identify “inside collaborators” — incubator
station-based producers who will anchor the work in the local community; scouts who will lead
us to the corners where public media doesn’t reach, where we will set up our six- to nine-month
experiments.
These collaborating producers will use traditional broadcast platforms and digital tools native to
the street — their local community of operation — to create new “full spectrum” models that
other stations can emulate and, ultimately, establish or strengthen local “innovation units”
intended to continue to operate in the local community after the conclusion of AIR’s initial phase
of production.
AIR will work with the teams collectively to capture and document a rich spectrum of American
experience, and invite other stations and producers to contribute sound and image to a metasite
as we pursue our quest to cultivate the rich diversity of America in new and inspiring ways.
Finding America is a production of the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR), with support
from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Wyncote Foundation, the Ford Foundation,
the National Endowment for the Arts, and AIR’s network of producers from across the U.S. and
30 countries.
II. PROCESS FOR STATIONS AND PRODUCERS
A. Applying
Station and Inside Collaborators: Beginning on May 1, 2015, and continuing through May 31,
2015, AIR seeks applications from dynamic producers working inside a local radio or television
station who are vested by the station’s GM and programming or news chiefs to anchor our
production and, ultimately, continue to lead the innovation instigated by the Finding America
production. The Inside Collaborator is not envisioned as a full-time position but is, rather, an
individual who brings passion and commitment — who recognizes new ways the station can
operate outside the building, on the streets of the local community, and who is well experienced
in navigating station culture. As part of their applications, potential Inside and Station
Collaborators will be required to produce and load onto AIR’s Station Runway a brief media
production, no more than three minutes long (video or audio). The Runway will display all
station-produced media throughout the competition phase (May 1–June 26, 2015). The station’s
Runway media is intended to attract the right Outside Collaborator. It will, ideally, communicate
the unique creative culture of the station, the neighborhoods or corners of the community ripe
for experimentation, and the aspirational vision of the “Inside Collaborator” and the station
leadership. Station applicants will be able to return to the form in advance of the June 26
deadline to add the names of up to three Outside Collaborators they’d prefer to work with. AIR
will evaluate all submitted media and have right of prior approval before including submissions
on the Station Runway.
Outside Collaborators will view the Runway media, looking to identify stations where the
vision, culture, personnel, and community inspire them and match their skills.
Outside Collaborators: Those interested in working for AIR to lead Localore projects will be
asked to submit proposals via an online process beginning June 1, 2015, and ending June 26,
2015. RFP and instructions will be made available May 1st. Applicants will be able to edit their
proposals until the submission deadline of June 26 at midnight ET, including returning to list up
to three preferred station incubators. We seek individuals with unique skills and experience who
will act as a catalyst to enhance a local station’s capacity to take public media out into the
streets of their community. Our hope is to attract individuals with skill sets that will complement
the skills of those working inside the station — designers, artists, programmers, data scientists,
entrepreneurs, educators — as well as broadcast journalists and storymakers. Study the
Finding America Station Runway that opens on May 1 to identify your best station-incubator
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match. We’ll provide a means for you to get in touch with the Finding America contact at the
station. We’ll be looking for your original ideas that demonstrate your understanding of the
potential to reimagine what public media is in that particular location. Applicants are encouraged
to visit the Runway periodically, since we expect new stations will add media until the May 31
deadline for submission. We begin accepting Outside Collaborator applications on June 1,
following the station application period.
Note: We will not accept proposals from Outside Collaborators seeking to fund an existing
project/going concern. Also, AIR membership is not requisite and does not factor into the
evaluation process.
B. Matching Outside and Inside Collaborators
Throughout this process, Inside-station Collaborators and Outside Collaborators are
encouraged to connect with one another directly in order to discuss possible project proposals.
The goal is to best match collaborators whose skills are complementary, and whose work is
embedded at a station where management is committed to experimentation. We expect (and
hope) that those who have prior working relationships will begin conversations before throwing
their respective hats into the Finding America competition.
Having an existing relationship is not, however, required. AIR’s Selection Committee is
prepared, too, to recommend matches as needed. This eight-member committee, appointed by
AIR, is composed of public media professionals with deep experience in independent production
and/or station operations and others from across the industry. We have sought out a broadly
representative group to ensure a fair and transparent process — see our How We Choose page
for more information on those involved. Members of this Selection Committee will be
responsible for developing and refining the criteria for winning projects, and will participate in all
aspects of the evaluation and selection process.
Station collaborators will be asked via the initial Runway application process whether they have
producers (up to three) they’d like to have incubate projects with them. Likewise, Outside
Collaborators will be asked in their initial proposal if they have a station incubator they’d prefer.
The requests coming from the “Inside” and “Outside” Collaborators will be taken strongly into
consideration by the Committee. The Committee will make final recommendations for matching
lead producers and incubators. It will ultimately be up to each respective collaborator and
station to choose to accept or decline AIR’s recommendation for their Finding America
assignment.
The Outside Collaborator hired by AIR may or may not currently reside in the same city as their
incubator station. AIR will provide, on a case-by-case basis, financial support for selected
producers to relocate during the term of the project.
C. Selecting final projects
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The Selection Committee will evaluate all the preliminary proposals submitted by Outside
Collaborators and, by July 13, 2015, will notify up to 35 Inside and Outside Collaborators of their
selection. The pairs will be those the Committee believes have a) skills that are most
complementary, b) the most promising ideas, c) values that match the AIR’s Finding America
goals, and d) a demonstrated capacity by the Outside Collaborator to lead and execute a project
at the local station. AIR may ask for references for either of the Collaborators.
Finalist pairs will be asked to work together to submit a more finely tuned proposal and budget
by August 8, 2015. The Committee will convene to deliberate and evaluate the final proposals
and choose 15 to execute their productions beginning November 1, 2015. Producers will have
six to nine months to complete their projects.
III. BACKGROUND
Lyndon Johnson’s founding vision of public broadcasting as a “It will be free, and it will be
independent — and it will belong to all of our people.” Can we do more to realize what he
envisioned back in 1967?
Finding America builds on a rich legacy of talent and success, and is expected to expand the
national incubator AIR has established across public media. Beginning in 2008 with the launch
of Public Radio Makers Quest 2.0 (MQ2), followed by Localore 1.0 in 2011, AIR has produced
— in collaboration with stations and indie producers — 18 demonstration projects. In addition to
effectively tapping our most intrepid talent and attracting the most forward-moving stations, what
remains the same through each iteration is the call to all collaborators to “go outside.” We are
intent on instigating public media to use the many tools now at our disposal to stretch the
boundaries of traditional approaches of craft, to push beyond the limitations of legacy mindset,
and to physically go outside into the streets of the community where public media doesn’t
typically reach. While each of the phases of this seven year initiative is iterative, building on
previous lessons, the goal remains the same: to plant new seeds in local communities across
American to realize a public broadcasting that engages and serves more citizens.
The local productions created by our teams will have potential to spread to others across the
public media system. This is another key design of Finding America. Through AIR’s New
Enterprise Fund for Storymakers, three of our Localore lead producers have lifted out of their
local station incubator to develop national networks built around their models: Jennifer Brandel’s
Curious City (now Curious Nation), Julia Kumari Drapkin’s iSeeChange, and Anayansi DiazCortes’ Sonic Trace. In addition, eight of the 10 2013 Localore projects are still fueling
innovation at their incubator stations.
What do we mean by Finding America? The implication is that there is still much to be
covered by public media. We propose an opportunity to bring the public media experience to
ordinary people, many of whom are not the typical public broadcasting audience. We envision
stations and collaborators making media that can fulfill the goal to document the full range of the
American experience. We believe that in these times of disparity and cultural division, local
public media has an important new role to play, storymakers a new calling, and together an
opportunity to enlighten the local narrative. We expect our production teams to take us into
microcosms of local communities that surprise, inspire, and delight us. Our hope and intention is
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that, collectively, we’ll reveal in new ways the daily practices, rituals, and rhythms that bind
those living in the neighborhoods where we’ll conduct our experiments, and use these insights
to make media that serves these communities. Our 15 teams, guided by passionate public
service ideals, will illuminate a profoundly diverse nation, and stretch our understanding of what
America is. At the conclusion of these local productions, as we display and communicate what
our teams have produced, we expect those viewing or listening will see themselves and connect
with others in meaningful ways.
We recommend that in advance of submitting their proposals, all applicants review previous
local productions, which, collectively, brought together hundreds of individuals working in new
and inspiring ways. AIR’s own lead producers and station incubators — recognizing the
limitations of their own expertise — turned to urban installation artists, photographers,
economists, architects, poets, and digital media developers as collaborators. They successfully
tapped local networks — restaurants, musician/performer communities, libraries, businesses,
churches, community centers — to create new movement in their local communities. Our work
is not finished.
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Spend time on our portal to our 2013 productions: http://Localore.net
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Read Spreading the Zing: Reimagining Public Media through MQ2 and What’s Outside?
Public Media 2014 (note page 12: Designing for Participation). These two reports capture
the lessons taken from previous AIR productions.
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Read MQ2 producer Jenny Asarnow’s Transom Manifesto deconstructing the elements of
The Corner, which documented the historical and rapidly changing African-American
neighborhood in Seattle’s Central District.
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Jennifer Brandel’s piece The Curious Formation of a New Kind of Nation gives you a high
bar to reach for … where strong vision and brilliant execution may take you.
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AIR’s Localore is putting down roots and trying to build a more networked public media from
the Nieman Journalism Lab gives deeper insight into the design of the production.
AIR’s goal is to give our best talent a shot at an ambitious project. We will work to influence the
creative capacity at local stations. Our hope is our work, and the hundreds of collaborators we’ll
assemble across the country, will define and make visible a new, 21st-century public media. We
seek to inspire and instigate others across the system to expand, over time, public media’s
service to citizens and role in American culture.
IV. AIR’S ROLE
AIR will, as Executive Producer, assemble, coordinate, and provide administrative and financial
resources and oversight for Finding America’s national network of producers and stations. The
Executive Producer will have primary oversight over all aspects of the project, including
negotiating the terms for each local project and overall fiscal responsibility. The Outside
Collaborators will work as independent contractors for AIR to execute the local projects in
partnership with the local staff. AIR will provide contractor full-time compensation, pay relocation
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expenses as needed, and provide funds for field producers contributing to the work. Localore’s
Network Manager will have an ongoing relationship with each Outside Collaborator and her/his
Inside Collaborator to help support and troubleshoot; facilitate connections across the spectrum
between producers, projects, and the larger public media ecosystem; and to generally oversee
and track progress. AIR’s Curating Producer will shepherd and shape content contributed to a
Finding America documentary metasite. AIR will be an active and ongoing participant
throughout, acting as a sounding board, promoter, mediator, and resource for expertise for each
project.
AIR will negotiate with each Outside Collaborator and incubator station terms of understanding
to clarify the roles and the rights of each of the principals involved. While each incubating station
will maintain editorial oversight for their Localore project, AIR will, as needed, provide editorial
and technical guidance and support.
In November 2015, AIR will bring together the all the selected Collaborator teams for a “Public
Media Lab.” We will enlist experts to enhance producers’ understanding of the work they are set
to undertake and generally stimulate new thinking, laying fertile ground for the projects as they
launch.
AIR’s Curating Producer and communications staff will work throughout the project to highlight
and make widely visible the progress of the work and our collaborating teams via AIRmedia.org
and various social channels. At the conclusion of the term, AIR will publish a report that includes
details of the productions and the lessons learned.
V. OUTSIDE COLLABORATOR / STATION INCUBATOR EVALUATION CRITERIA
Those whom AIR ultimately hires to execute the work will be evaluated using a variety of
criteria, including, but not limited to, the following:
Feasibility of the idea
● Has the applicant considered the need and unique characteristics of a particular local
community?
● Is the proposal doable in the time frame stipulated?
● Can the applicant make herself or himself exclusively available for up to nine months it will
take to complete the project?
● What unique skills do the applicants bring, and do they have a demonstrated capacity to
execute what they’ve proposed?
● What outside expertise will be required? Technical elements do not have to be figured out at
the time of application, but applicants should demonstrate knowledge of what it is they’re
attempting, and a viable plan for realizing it.
Originality
● How new and original (and powerful) is the idea proposed? Is this the first time he or she will
be making an attempt to execute this idea?
● Is this taking an existing concept and advancing it to the next level?
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●
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What new communities or neighborhoods will the applicant and his/her Inside Collaborator
tap into, and how will he or she seek to engage citizens in ways that are entirely new for
public media?
How will the applicant blend broadcast, digital, and “street” media in a new way?
Does the proposal involve partners from other fields or organizations in a way that will build
exciting new capacity?
Record of distinction
● In what ways has the applicant made his or her mark on the world?
● How does he/she stand out from peers?
The potential to expand the reach of public media
● Would the proposed work expand public media's reach to new listeners or invite current
listeners to engage with public media in new ways?
● Does this project demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of how a particular station
might best reach out to a previously disconnected local community?
● Will the work be resonant to both local and national audiences?
● Does the project have the potential to cultivate significant broadcast or online audiences?
Sustainability
● Is this a project with a high degree of promise to continue at the station?
● Is this a project that has potential to be replicated elsewhere?
● Has the station incubator made a realistic and adequate commitment to the project with inkind resources and with its backing of the Inside Collaborator?
● What is the financial commitment the station has made to AIR to administer the work? Is it
sufficient to demonstrate the commitment of the station and its management to the success
of the project? [See FAQ re: Finding America station incubators’ financial contribution.]
Proposing a realistic budget (to be included in finalists’ proposals)
● Is this project achievable with the submitted budget? While AIR’s Outside Collaborator will
have responsibility for the project budget, close consultation with Inside Collaborator is
requisite and will be taken into consideration during the evaluation process.
● Budgets must include a detailed in-kind commitment from the incubator station.
● Financial contributions to the project by the incubator station will be disbursed to AIR as an
administrative fee and should not be calculated in the project budget.
IV. OUTSIDE COLLABORATOR PROPOSAL COMPONENTS AND PROCEDURES
All proposals must be submitted online. Proposals that are mailed, emailed, or faxed in
will not be accepted.
A. Our proposals in the preliminary round must include the following:
An Online Proposal, filled out in its entirety. The online form asks for a brief biography and a
description of the experience you bring to the work. We’ll want descriptions of ideas you’d like to
propose, targeted at three different station(s) you’ve seen on the Station Runway. You may
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propose the same idea for each, or describe something different for each location. We’ll want to
know, too, the status of your relationship with that station. The Selection Committee will look for:
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Demonstration of your unique skills that will make for successful execution of the
collaboration. Applicants should explain their expertise, credits, and accomplishments in
each of their production-related areas of professional practice — audio works, television,
film, and multiple platform or other storymaking environments.
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Where the work will take place, and why there? Applicants will be asked to describe, as
specifically as they can, the ways their particular skills will help us realize the goals of the
project in up to three communities they’ve identified via the Station Runway. Applicants have
the option to leave it open to the Selection Committee to recommend station matches.
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The big idea(s) you bring. Outline the compelling ideas and aspirations you have for each
of the concepts you propose. How will you help us “find America”? You will have the option
of proposing up to three stations where you wish to execute the project. We’ll want to see
that your descriptions reflect an understanding of AIR’s goals and aspirations (as outlined in
our FAQ). How do you propose to take a public media station “outside”? That is, how will the
project make a footprint for public media in the community, outside the station? How will you
and your collaborators move beyond typical approaches to craft a blending digital media and
traditional broadcast? How will the project help influence and shift mindsets, and create a
new sense of possibility for how public media can serve more broadly? Please address how
your ideas have the potential to resonate with or support the vision and goals of an
incubator station.
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A clear sense of whom the work is intended to reach and how this work would benefit
them or enhance their understanding and experience of the world around them. This
is a public media project. The individuals selected for funding will be able to articulate why
this work matters, what difference it will make and to whom. How will it move someone
“receiving” (or in some cases “interacting with”) the work to new thought, to a new action, to
a deeper understanding, to a new experience, or to a new way of relating to his or her online
or at-home community? While technology is an important component of this endeavor, it is
not the driver.
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A plan for how the collaboration team will go about determining the broadcast and
digital/social media components. The discovery or research phase of the project is going
to be key to determining how you will design and execute the production. How will you figure
out the best approaches to blending digital/social, broadcast, and street platforms?
B. Finalist proposals (by invitation only, and prepared by Outside Collaborator and an
Inside Collaborator authorized by General Manager of the incubator station) must
include:
A. Project Narrative, consisting of no more than 1,500 words to address all of the criteria for
funding described earlier in these guidelines, including:
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•
The idea the Outside and Inside Collaborators have agreed to pursue, including a
description of the specific goals and intended outcomes for the project, how it will be
designed and executed, the ways in which it will take the station outside — literally and in
terms of the current practices and mindset of the station.
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Specific names and roles of the prospective members of the collaborative team. The
proposal should indicate who at the station is committed to the project team in terms of the
amount of time they will devote to it and what their role will be. Are there collaborators from
outside the station? To what degree have they been identified or committed? What are their
qualifications? What “unknown” factors are yet to be determined? What does your discovery
process consist of?
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The potential of the applicant and her/his team to use blended media to help a public
media station create a new relationship with its local community. One of the goals of
Localore is to use a range of platforms and technologies to expand the reach of public radio
in new ways. We’re eager to surface new and creative uses of existing technology (versus
building or inventing a new tool or platform). The proposal should address specifically how
the project will strike the right balance. How will you figure out the most effective use of
technology — old school, new school, or emerging — to support or strengthen human
connection?
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Details of “Full Spectrum” — broadcast, digital/social, and street media components.
The proposal should include a plan for implementation of the project, including anticipated
broadcast formats and usage, what digital media tools or platforms will be utilized, and how
you will research and determine the plan for site-based activity.
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Up to three examples of work that demonstrate skills of both Inside and Outside
Collaborators (submitted via the website only). Links to websites, blogs, and multimedia
are accepted, as are file attachments to the online/submitted proposal. Files should be
limited to four minutes each. The purpose of these examples is to show the Collaborators’
expertise, originality, and interests.
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A detailed project budget, including the in-kind and cash commitment the incubator
station will make to the project. AIR will hire each Outside Collaborator and provide
additional support for each local project, including funds for those needing to relocate from
another city. In addition to the fee for the Outside Collaborator for the term of the project,
AIR will cover costs associated with, for example, fees for community contributors, field
producers, materials, marketing, etc. The budget should include line-item amounts for each
and identify how each line amount was calculated. The funding is not intended to subsidize
or support station personnel or contributions. Stations’ operating costs should not be
included in the budget, but rather calculated as part of the in-kind contribution of the station
to the project.
The station in-kind contribution should demonstrate a careful calculation for what it will take
for the station to incubate the producer and carry out the work. This should include
space/overhead, cost of promotion, commitment of staff collaborators, administration, etc.
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The station cash contribution is on a sliding-scale basis and will be payable to AIR as a
project fee and negotiated should a station be selected. It should not be calculated in the
project budget submitted to AIR. We will not stipulate what the contribution will be, but the
Committee will look to this amount as an indication of the degree of commitment the station
and its management have to the project’s overall success.
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Project timeline. Include in the proposal a six- to nine-month timeline of major project
activities. The funding for the selected projects begins on November 1, 2015, and ends no
later than July 30, 2016.
V. STATION RUNWAY PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS
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Up to three minutes of media (video or audio). It’s important to review the “Making Your
Runway Media” document to ensure that the formatting is suitable for loading to the website,
and to make certain that you are hitting the recommended themes, including showing the
distinctive neighborhoods or communities ripe for exploration by public media, and an
indication of the strategic vision of the station as articulated by the Inside Collaborator.
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A Vimeo account: This is where you will load your media. If you don’t have a Vimeo
account, you can sign up for free. Note that it will take longer for your media to process —
perhaps several hours — with a free versus a paid account. Give yourself plenty of time.
Also, YouTube or other media-sharing platforms will not work — your media will not display
on our Runway.
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Information to inform prospective Outside Collaborators. Basic profile information about
the station includes locality, call letters, and related websites.
VI. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Outside Collaborator applicants submitting a proposal must be a U.S. Citizen or a Resident
Alien and be at least 18 years of age as of December 31, 2014. Resident Aliens who are invited
to submit a final proposal will be required to include with their proposal documentation of their
residency status.
The proposed project must include digital/social media element(s), public media broadcast
component(s), and “street” activity or interaction with citizens in the community.
The final projects selected for Finding America are made up of an Outside Collaborator working
on full-time contract for AIR for the duration of the project, an Inside Collaborator committed to
anchoring the project at the incubator station (though not necessarily working full time on it),
additional collaborators as needed to execute the experiment, a local public radio or television
station incubator, and a targeted, specific group within the community.
All CPB-qualified radio and television stations are eligible to apply to be a station incubator.
Applications from non-CPB-qualified stations will be considered on a case-by-case basis,
provided they demonstrate a strong record of public service to their community.
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VII. DEADLINES and KEY DATES FOR APPLICANTS
May 31, 2015 @ midnight ET: Inside-station Collaborator applications/Runway media due
June 1, 2015: Applications open for Outside Collaborators
June 26, 2015 @ midnight ET: Outside Collaborator applications due
July 13, 2015: Finalists-collaborators notified; final proposals solicited
August 8, 2015 @ midnight ET: Final proposals due
August 31, 2015: Selected teams notified
November 1, 2015: Productions begin to launch
July 31, 2016: All local productions conclude
VIII. CONTACT
Check out the FAQ to see if your question is there.
Contact Finding America’s Network Manager, Adriana Gallardo:
AIR HQ: 617-825-4400
Email: [email protected]
IX. OTHER INFORMATION AND CONDITIONS
Neither CPB nor AIR, the producer of Localore, is responsible for any violation of copyright,
trademark, patent, trade secret, or other rights that may result from disclosure made in response
to these guidelines.
Solicitation of applications by CPB and AIR does not constitute an agreement by CPB and AIR
to extend funding to any party for the project under consideration. CPB and AIR may, in their
sole discretion, elect not to pursue this project in any manner.
By submitting a proposal, each applicant grants to CPB and AIR the right to duplicate, use,
disclose, and distribute all of the materials submitted for purposes of evaluation, review, and
research. In addition, each applicant guarantees that the applicant has full and complete rights
to all of the information and materials included in the proposal. Each applicant also guarantees
that all such materials are not defamatory and do not infringe upon or violate the privacy rights,
copyrights, or other proprietary rights of any third party.
Conditions of Agreement
If a proposal is selected, the Outside Collaborator applicant and station incubator General
Manager/CEO will be required to sign a binding agreement. Until both parties have signed an
agreement, no express or implied commitment has been made to provide financial support.
Applicants are not authorized to commence work until the agreement is fully executed. If
applicants opt to commence work, they do so at their own risk. No oral or written statement
other than the signed, written agreement will govern or modify the relationship.
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