Call for Projects

CPH:LAB IS CLOSED FOR SUBMISSIONS!

We look forward to welcoming the creators of ambitious and innovative projects in early development to the 2024-2025 edition.

The deadline for submissions was on June 21, 2024. The results will be announced to the applicants in August 2024.

CPH:LAB is CPH:DOX’s talent development programme that encourages creative risk taking, celebrates raw talent, facilitates collaboration across borders and business sectors and supports visionaries to push the existing boundaries of documentary storytelling.

The lab is conceived as an incubator for projects by  artists keen to explore new forms of expression in factual storytelling and to advance new visions of what a documentary can be in a digital age. It offers a space for experimentation and collaboration in creative, cross-disciplinary partnerships across film, the creative arts, science, technology and social entrepreneurship.‍

For this edition of the LAB we are particularly eager to hear from emerging storytellers who would like to develop new work addressing the digital natives with quality factual storytelling experiences.

Over the course of a six-month incubator you will develop the project with the help of a group of international mentors and tutors, as well as the other LAB participants.

The training programme runs as a combination of onsite and online workshops and mentoring sessions spanning from September 2024 to March 2025. Up to nine teams will develop their project to the stage where they are able to present it along with an early-stage prototype at CPH:DOX in March 2025 to a specially-invited group of industry leaders before taking it to other international markets and residencies with whom we have strategic partnerships. You can read more about previous selected projects here.

WHO IS CPH:LAB FOR

Every year the lab supports the development of up to 9 projects and up to 2 participants per project. CPH:LAB is for filmmakers, artists and creative technologists primarily from Europe although it is also open to a limited number of participants from non-European countries.

TUTORS AND MENTORS

Participants are guided by the Head of Studies Mark Atkin, who is assisted by a wide variety of acknowledged international mentors besides the CPH:DOX team.

Mark Atkin is one of Europe’s utmost capacities within innovative storytelling. As a curator and consultant at Crossover Labs, he has been responsible for leading cross disciplinary training since 2008 and spearheaded the development of processes which bring together creative professionals from diverse disciplines including film and TV production, animation, games, theatre, VR, AR and interactive design to form new interdisciplinary collaborations and generate ideas for projects.

Besides designing the curriculum of CPH:LAB, Mark also curates the INTER:ACTIVE Exhibition of immersive documentaries at CPH:DOX as well as the annual INTER:ACTIVE SYMPOSIUM.

Mark is assisted by international mentors who change from year to year based on the selection of projects. Read more about our previous years’ mentors here.

PROGRAMME

CPH:LAB takes place as a mix of in person workshop in October 2024 in Copenhagen combined with online mentoring for several months from November to February 2025. The programme will be concluded with the CPH:LAB projects’ public presentation at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen in March 2025. Workshop sessions are conducted in English.

The CPH:LAB workshop sessions are:

CPH:LAB Part I / Orientation-Preparation Meeting / September 11 / Online / 3 hours

CPH:LAB Part II / Rapid Development / October 11-17  / Residential in Copenhagen / 7 full days (incl.arrival/departure)

CPH:LAB Part III / Individual Mentoring & Peer-to-Peer Sessions  / November– February 2025 / Online / approx. 1 session every 2-3 weeks

CPH:LAB Part IV / Public Presentation & Individual Meetings / Festival Days March 2025 / Residential in Copenhagen / 3 full intensive days + arrival/departure

PARTICIPATION & TUITION FEE

If selected, a core creative team of up to two participants per project must attend all sessions of CPH:LAB 2024-2025 and be able to commit to the full process.

The CPH:LAB has a tuition fee of 3750 DKK (approx. 500 EUR per participant, incl. VAT 25%), which covers access to all working sessions and documents, group and individual mentoring sessions and follow up activities. CPH:LAB covers accommodation and meals during the two residential workshops in Copenhagen as well as local transport to activities within the programme for up to two participants per project. Travel expenses, such as flight tickets, visa costs or insurance should be covered by the participants.

We encourage all participants to apply for financial support with their national/regional funding bodies. You can also get some ideas of European funding HERE.

The CPH:LAB team is ready to offer a limited number of scholarships to  qualifying team members from the selected projects who do not have the possibility to pay the tuition fee. The scholarships will be based on an application that the relevant participant should submit.

Following the specifications of Creative Europe Media, citizens with the following nationality will be prioritised for a scholarship, discounting the tuition fee by 100%: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta,Slovenia, Slovakia and the following third countries, subject to the conditions being fulfilled for their participation in the MEDIA strand: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, and Ukraine. Moreover, countries from the DAC list will be prioritized for a scholarship, discounting the tuition fee by 100%.

If a project requires the presence of more than two team members, participation can be applied for and will be at individual negotiation, if granted.

If the participation of an additional participant is agreed with the CPH:LAB organisers, the extra participant will have to cover the tuition fee of 3750 DKK (approx. 500 EUR per participant, incl. VAT 25%), plus the cost of the meals and accommodation for the two residential workshops in Copenhagen as well as travel expenses, such as flight tickets, visa costs or insurance. Moreover, the additional participant will not be considered for the CPH:LAB scholarships.

CONTACT

Contact Maïwenn Blunat CPH:LAB project manager at lab@cphdox.dk