Hello All,

At Shutterstock, we meet and connect with individual contributors a number of ways: daily, through email exchanges and phone calls; through contributor visits, tours and research at our HQ in New York; through forums and social media; through events; and also by visiting cities around the world and meeting contributors personally for 1:1 or small group conversations.

It's often the case that contributors tell us stories of why they're artists and what drives their passion and creativity.  Those stories are very interesting, humbling, educational and inspiring.  With that in mind, we created the "Shutterstock Stories" $75k artistic grant program to uncover and celebrate those stories.

There will be a total of seven creative grants as part of this new program: five $5,000 grants and two $25,000 grants, including one grant winner who will be selected by the public.

Please see today's announcement below and the first teaser video of contributor and excellent illustrator Anja Kaiser HERE.


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Entries Are Now Open for the Shutterstock Stories Artistic Grant Program!

Last week, we announced our new artistic-grant program, Shutterstock Stories, and starting today, submissions are now open! A total of $75,000 in grants will be awarded to the winners of the program, which is open to all current Shutterstock contributors in good standing.

It�s all in celebration of our 10th anniversary � the perfect occasion to showcase the inspiring stories of the artists who have made the success of our first decade possible.

Submissions are open from today at 12:00pm EDT until 11:59pm EDT on August 14, so over the next several weeks, we�ll be on a mission to uncover the most extraordinary, emotional, humbling, exciting, and downright entertaining stories of Shutterstock contributors. There will be a total of seven creative grants: five $5,000 winners and two $25,000 winners, including one who will be selected by you, the public.

If you have a story to tell, get your thinking caps on and get ready to share it. You can watch a few of them in the video above for initial inspiration, then check out the story of contributor Anja Kaiser for more, and keep reading for full submission details.

Please read and get more details here:
http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/celebrating-a-decade-of-creativity-announcing-the-shutterstock-stories-artistic-grant-program

Thank you!

Best Regards,

Scott
VP of Content
Shutterstock

Hey guys,

I just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that the $75k Contributor Stories program is still open and receiving submissions until August 30th.   We're offering seven total grants: two individual grants of $25k and five $5k grants.   It's a great way to let customers know who you are as an artist, what inspires you, what defines your work, and more. 

Here's a great new submission from Victoria Cartwright:


From our blog:

We�ve been really amazed at some of the submissions that have been coming in from our contributors for the Shutterstock Stories artistic grant program. So amazed, in fact, that we�ve decided to extend the deadline to give more artists a chance to tell their story � and potentially win $25,000 in the process.

The deadline for entries for our 10th-anniversary grant program is now Friday, August 30 at 11:59pm EDT. So if you have a story to tell about your art or your work with Shutterstock and thought you didn�t have enough time to tell it, now�s your chance to share. For additional inspiration, here�s another great submission, this time from illustrator/animator Victoria Cartwright. Check it out, and read on for more details and videos.

http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/theres-still-time-to-submit-your-shutterstock-story-for-a-chance-at-25k

Best,

Scott
VP of Content
Shutterstock

Quote from: scottbraut on August 14, 2013, 10:07

� Last Edit: Today at 10:15 by scottbraut �

Was wondering why the entire text above contained a hyperlink to become a new contributor.  The first draft before your revision removed any doubt that our videos will be used as advertisements to attract new contributors for SS.

for 25k $ or 5k $ doesn't seem that bad...

Hi SCott,

Thanks for explaining, but I can only film myself and tell a story. I cant really edit videos. Looking at the level of competition in terms of visuals, I stand no chance, and however great my story might be, if its not visually pleasing, I am sure I wont be a winner.

The videos are judged on technical and artistic merit, according to the rules, which rules out a lot of people who cant do video editing or shoot artistic videos.

Hi Mike,

Elliot and Victoria's videos were submitted as you see them -- using content they created -- except for the branding; Anja's video was created specifically as an example video to educate people about the grant program, but Anja's comments and bio were unscripted.  We're accepting text submissions in the circumstance that contributors aren't proficient in video, but we're also hoping that contributors take advantage of storytelling vehicles, and video is a great medium for storytelling.

Entries are being judged on creativity, storytelling as well as technical and artistic quality (rules are here). If the judges feel a story -- text or video -- is among the best because it's powerful, compelling, engaging, etc.., then the team will do a final pass with the finalist(s) before their video is released to the public, knowing that most contributors aren't professional videographers, animators or video editors.  Submissions are expected to come in ready for judging, however.

For people who aren't proficient in video, there are a number of tools out there, ranging from professional software to DLSRs that shoot video to iMovie to mobile apps.  Despite the acceptance of text entries, it's a great opportunity for contributors unfamiliar with video to give it a try. 

Vimeo video school might also be a good place to start: https://vimeo.com/videoschool

Best Regards,


Scott

Thats great, but the professional footage shooter is going to win this by a mile. SS wont pick a great story with a crappy video. Even if the story is the most compelling.,

Are you saying my gripping and dramatic puppet show isn't going to win?

Quote from: cthoman on August 15, 2013, 13:38

Quote from: Ron on August 15, 2013, 13:07

Thats great, but the professional footage shooter is going to win this by a mile. SS wont pick a great story with a crappy video. Even if the story is the most compelling.,

Are you saying my gripping and dramatic puppet show isn't going to win?

I think he's whining because that's easier to do than trying to make a compelling video.  The puppet show just might have a chance though.

And you call me a troll? Its you who is constantly after me. I thought trolling was beneath you? Why dont you behave like an adult and let me be the clown? Why do you care so much about what I have to say? Go take pictures of post-its or something.

I understand Ron's point of view. I took the time to participated even if I knew not much about video (I'm a photographer).

But... I learned a lot during that time and I will probably submit stock videos in the future.

For instance, I learned to always do a WB correction before shooting. Always double check the exposure. With photography, I could get away by correcting the WB with RAW files. You can't do that properly with video. It's like trying to correct JPG files. Also, I learned that the audio quality is equally important as the image quality.

This has been a great learning experience overall and I'm looking forward to view all the other video entries.

Michael

Good feedback, Michael.  I am wanting to broaden my base by adding video.  Any tips like this are helpful.