Several Canadian organisations have announced 11 Black-owned content creation firms selected for a major accelerator programme aimed at promoting racial diversity in the immersive filming industry.
The OYA Black Arts Coalition (OBAC), Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab), and Dark Slope recently revealed the names of founders selected for the Scale Up Immersive accelerator funded by the Canadian Government’s Black Entrepreneurship Program (BEP) Ecosystem Fund.
The government’s Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) has provided funding for the programme.
Company founders and firms selected for the cohort include,
- Adrian Bobb, Exocentric Studios
- Chukky Ibe, TRAD
- Debbie Deer, Debbie Deer Productions
- Kai Little-White, BP Media
- Karen McDonald, Upright Media Republic
- Ladan Mohamed Siad, Fugitive Work
- Natasha Vasell, Diva Girl Productions
- Neil ‘Logik’ Donaldson & Rasquiz Johnson, Reason With Logic,
- Roya DelSol
- Yvano Antonio
- Zach Jama
The news comes after the three launched a strategic partnership and later, support a further 10 founders of Black-owned enterprises each year, totalling 30 entities over the next three years, it said.
Hon Helena Jaczek, Minister for the FedDev Ontario, said at the time she was proud to support the OYA Black Arts Coalition for its first cohort for the Scale Up programme, which would provide support, advice, mentorship, and funding for Black Canadians in the immersive filmmaking industry.
She continued, stating,
“Through this and other Black Entrepreneurship Program investments, the Government of Canada continues to support the innovative work of Black entrepreneurs and drive strong, diverse and inclusive economic growth in our communities”
The programme’s first cohort launched on 2 February and will run up to 30 April this year, and will offer professionals a three-month lab complete with mentorship, networking, and workshops, among others, to prototype fresh use cases for immersive films.
The accelerator will also feature Dark Slope’s latest media technologies to facilitate each prototype, and the programme hopes to foster greater knowledge of the immersive media and storytelling industry.
According to Dark Slope, the XR studio runs on Epic Game’s Unreal Engine and includes top-rated technologies for designing games, entertainment, and experiences featured across popular media channels such as Nickelodeon and Peacock.
Nataly De Monte, Director of the CFC Media Lab, explained how the first cohort for the programme would “make history happen” and reshape narratives on the Canadian immersive media industry for many years.
She concluded,
“I’m personally inspired by these talented creators who, regardless of their experience in XR content, want to embrace the future of storytelling and their own creative expansion in the era of web3 and spatial computing”
Ngardy Conteh George, Co-Founder of the OYA Black Arts Coalition, said that Canadians would experience the “impressive and diverse” skills of the programme entrants, adding,
“The legacy of this program will be to expand the creative landscape for a new generation of Black expertise in immersive storytelling, technology, artistry and more”
Accelerators Gain Steam Across the Industry
The developments for the Toronto-based organisation come amid several major initiatives launched to upskill and mentor emerging professionals in the virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) industries, many of who rely on external funding and support to realise the full potential of their immersive creations.
The Ithra Creative Solutions programme, launched by the Saudi Arabian Government, selected a cohort of five finalists to receive similar training, support, and access to technologies to develop their creative projects.
The five selected entrants to the programme showcased their creations to audiences at London’s County Hall in March, which featured veteran industry experts, advisors, and firms, among others.
The Virtual and Augmented Reality Association, one of the world’s largest advocate groups for immersive technologies, previously launched its programme via a partnership with UPWorlds and XR Bootcamp, who will lead the academy to educate the next generation of content creators.
Meta Platforms Inc has hosted an accelerator worth $10 million USD to build its Horizons suite of XR applications, including World, Venues, Workrooms, and many others.
