For many, life has changed substantially over the past 12 months due to the pandemic. Lockdowns and social distancing requirements, while necessary for public health, have created obstacles and uncertainty for businesses and professionals.

Creatives especially have faced unprecedented challenges when it comes to creating new and inspiring content, all the while dealing with the constraints and isolation related to COVID-19. Being able to overcome these challenges by tapping into one’s power of creative resiliency has therefore become crucial.

In the past, here at iStock, we have helped to foster the next generation of creative talent and support contributors by holding events which aimed to inspire and educate. Obviously, the pandemic has prevented us from holding these events physically, so we have pivoted to virtual channels, offering video education programmes and webinars around the world.

Creative resiliency

With that in mind, and as part of our on-going support of creatives, we launched our latest Creative Bursary, ‘One Minute Films: Resiliency.’ Designed to support emerging filmmakers and videographers worldwide, the Creative Bursary will award 10 grants totalling US$20,000 to provide encouragement and much sought-after financial support at a time when it is greatly needed.

We want to challenge these filmmakers and videographers, including students and those who are honing their practice independently around the globe, to use their talents to create a one-minute short film depicting the concept of Creative Resiliency, and made up entirely with footage from the iStock film library. iStock is a leader in affordable visual communications for the creative, entrepreneurial, student and SMB communities, and, as such, we have thousands of high-quality video clips across all genres for the filmmakers to choose from and interpret the brief of Creative Resiliency.

Applicants are required to submit a storyboard sketch of their proposed one-minute film, along with a short essay describing their intent and inspiration.

From these submissions, iStock will select ten semi-finalists who will each receive a one-year iStock Premium subscription. They will be judged on their final cut of their film to win cash prizes in the following amounts: first place will receive $7,000; second place will receive $5,000; and eight runners up will receive $1,000 each.

Here are the steps and tips any creatives who are considering applying for the grant should bear in mind:

1. Create a free account on iStockphoto.com
2. Browse the footage library and collect clips that resonate with you in a board, so that you have them all saved in one place
3. Review your board from time to time to see if a narrative or theme emerges that speaks to the topic of resiliency
4. Sketch out your storyboard and submit it along with your board of clips in the application
5. If you are selected as a finalist, you will be given a subscription so you can add additional or different clips to your final cut
6. Think about how you can create an uplifting narrative from the footage you find, it could be abstract, funny or literal. Be creative!

Funding otherwise unseen stories

This latest grant is part of iStock’s wider grants programme led by parent company Getty Images. Since the inception of the Getty Images Grants programme in 2004, we have donated over $1.7 million to photojournalists and creatives worldwide, furthering our commitment to the craft of photography and bringing attention to important stories that, without funding, may otherwise remain unseen.

Previous grants have included Creatives in Quarantine, a bursary to support creatives during the pandemic and enable them to continue to produce inspiring work, as well as the Getty Images Inclusion Scholarships, which aim to support emerging editorial talent within minority groups and offer aspiring photojournalists the means to pursue education that will enable careers within the industry.

The Creative Bursary will close on 3^rd May 2021, just before midnight EST (5am BST). The ten semi-finalists will then be chosen to move forward and must complete their one-minute film for judging by 21^st May 2021, and the final awards will be announced in June.

While the current times are still challenging for many, we hope this grant will motivate young professionals and spark creativity. I cannot wait to see what innovative ideas and inspiring proposals today’s talented creatives will submit to the Creative Bursary.