FAQ
Re: the Application
I want to redo my video. Can I edit and re-submit my Application?
NO. Google forms will NOT allow you to edit your video or responses. ONCE THE APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED, NO EDITS CAN BE MADE TO IT. Winners will have the opportunity to edit their submission or reshoot their video. However, if before you hit Submit, you exit out of your browser, Google does NOT save your responses, so you can edit them at any time BEFORE you hit Submit. Don't hit Submit until your answers are final. Please look over your work carefully.
Does unpublished include my poem/song/story on my website? Can I still submit?
Yes. We will accept your piece if the material has ONLY been up on your personal website (including Patreon account) or social media accounts, PROVIDED that you take it down BEFORE you submit your Application, and keep it down until the Winners and Honorees are announced (see the "Apply" tab on this website). Unpublished or un-produced work means that it's not under any kind of agreement with another entity, commercial or otherwise, and not on any other website or social media account.
I have a poem/song/story I'm submitting to more than one competition, is that ok?
No, unfortunately we do not accept simultaneous submissions. Your work must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by another entity.
I'm writing a novel/play/musical, can I submit an excerpt of it?
Yes, however you would need to select to only be considered as an Honoree (for a $150 microgrant) in the Application so that your piece is only under the ES Non-Exclusive License. Please remember though to have your submission make sense in and of itself that has a natural beginning and end, i.e. don't end in the middle of a sentence or a lyric or a scene. In our effort to curate broadcasts we want to offer audiences complete, cohesive pieces in the form of 5 minute performances.
Can I perform more than one piece as long as my whole video is under 5 minutes?
No. Perform only one piece within one Creative Category in under 5 minutes.
I'm part of a band and also do solo work. Can I be part of more than one Application?
No. We want to be able to support as many emerging, local to the Greater DC Metro area artists as we can, and therefore require that individuals only be part of one submission, whether as the lead Applicant, or as a member of a group. Only one submission, in one Creative Category and in one Sub-Genre is permitted per Applicant.
If I don’t win a microgrant, can I still get my video broadcast?
Possibly! Creatives’ video submissions will be reviewed for both $500 and $150 microgrants and general broadcast opportunity. Microgrant Winners and Honorees may be offered the opportunity to share their work via a virtual event, and we hope to hold multiple virtual events in order to showcase the work of other great submissions. The timing and details of any broadcasts are still being worked out. Applicants who are invited to share their work in a virtual event may have the opportunity to have their videos re-shot more professionally. For the initial video submissions with your Application please send us what you think is your best work and best effort at recording both Audio and Video.
General
Why a video submission and not just microgrant funding?
Emergent Seed is committed to becoming a self-sustaining social enterprise that supports artists in multiple ways and not just through microgrants. Emergent Seed intends to hold broadcasts and other events that not only build an audience for Applicants but also provides them with an opportunity to receive royalties. We believe increasing visibility for creatives and their work is hopefully even more valuable in the long term than a cash microgrant. As a community, we need to provide financial support, experiment with new mediums, and develop opportunities for artists to showcase their work, now, and for the foreseeable future.
Why "emerging" artists?
Initially, our focus is to serve emerging artists, including current students and recent grads, who may be excluded from other funding opportunities given their lack of professional experience, difficulty in proving lost income, or their student status. For this round, we generally consider emerging artists as those who are not currently signed on a record deal (Composers) or have not previously published a book, though self-published is okay (Writers). We recognize that the word "emerging" itself is not defined by age alone. If you have another explanation for why you consider yourself "emerging", there is a place for you to explain this in the Application. Please refer to the "Resources" tab on this website for other funding opportunities and information.
Why aren’t you considering other creative categories – for example Dance or Painting?
We at Emergent Seed only have expertise in certain genres, and in order to move quickly, we felt we had to limit ourselves to the Categories we felt comfortable reviewing immediately. The 4 Creative Categories currently open to submissions offer a wide range of creative opportunities. For example, those in the visual arts might still be able to apply if they can be a Storyteller about their visual art.
Why are you limiting your review to 60 submissions in each Creative Category for this round?
In order to work quickly and review, announce and award microgrants to Winners and Honorees in an expedient time frame, we need to limit the number of videos we review in each round. The simple math of the aggregate hours required to view the video submissions leaves us with no choice but for at least this round of Applications to limit how many submissions we can realistically commit to reviewing in a reasonably quick time frame, give out grants, and then hold a subsequent round. We are committing to review up to 240 Videos this round, and intend to open not just another round after the winners of this round are announced, but to raise money to hold more rounds thereafter.
What happens if you receive more than 60 submissions in a Category this round?
If significantly more than 60 videos in any one the 4 Creative Categories are submitted, and we determine we can’t handle the overflow, we will use a randomizer to blindly select 60 videos to review this round. We intend to have subsequent rounds of funding. We hope we can raise additional funding to support more artists. See "after the Application period closes" on the Apply page.
How many grants are you giving out this round?
In our first round we selected 10 Winners and awarded a total of $5,000 in microgrants. Our intent is to award at least one Winner in each of the 4 Creative Categories each round, and hopefully more per Category, depending on the quality of the submissions we receive. In Round 2 we have added a $150 microgrant option to recognize Honorees in an effort to give out even more micogrants. We are also planning subsequent rounds and intend to raise money to be able to have as many more rounds as the fundraising allows.
Where does your funding come from?
The initial funding for the first two planned rounds was privately raised from people in the Greater DC Metro area who want to support the local creatives who have no physical venues to have their original work performed during this period when people can’t gather in person. Emergent Seed plans to pursue multiple ways to raise additional funds to become an ongoing social enterprise to be able to keep giving out grants, putting on virtual events and broadcasts, and supporting both winners and others through creating and expanding audiences for them.
This is a great idea! How can I support Emergent Seed?
We appreciate you! Right now, the best thing you can do is to get the word out: encourage creatives to apply, follow us on social media, and tune in for our broadcast events. Once we see the submissions, we hope to announce opportunities for you to support emerging creatives, including through donations.
Can I donate to Emergent Seed?
Yes and we are working on how best to accept donations. At this time, financial contributions to Emergent Seed would be Gifts to Emergent Seed, but not tax deductible for the giver, i.e., like how crowdsourced funding works. We want to move fast, and a new charity needs many months to get government approval. So we are going ahead now and will be exploring multiple ways for people to give.