Cinetopia
Cinetopia produce film focussed events and activities in Edinburgh and beyond, catering primarily for film industry professionals with an emphasis on freelancers, emerging professionals, students, and film enthusiasts who are seeking deeper engagement with the sector. Their Resident Entrepreneur project on the focussed on the development of Cinetopia Connect, a new virtual film community hub.
Cinetopia Connect used data from Cinetopia’s community to make tailored connections in the same way as many dating apps, by asking users for their preferences and using this information to link each person to the right match, material, and opportunities. Their aim is to build a data-driven, tangible tool that will help their community connect more effectively with each other.
Find out more cinetopiashow.com/
Social Convention
Social Convention started life as a production company before pivoting into a digital platform, developing formats and technologies for live online events and social experiences. They run digital open studios (LABS) where artists are given digital space and support in which to experiment, make new work and directly engage audiences outside of venues and the never-ending scroll of social media.
Through its RE project Social Convention developed marketing tools for their broadcast platform, creating a digital equivalent to conventional platforms for audience discovery, typically driven by festivals and venues. They aimed to produce an artist friendly platform that lowers creative technical barriers and increases audience reach.
Find out more at socialconvention.org/
The Flock
The Flock is an ethically driven women’s magazine site that launched in June 2020. Established as an advertising-free platform, The Flock offers the user experience of a traditional magazine while removing the detrimental influence traditional advertising so often has on both editorial integrity and reader wellbeing. Without advertising and with only one staff member, the platform has been able to reach more than 20,000 women per month in its first six months.
The Flock used their Resident Entrepreneur funding to explore innovative reader-funded models that ensure sustainability and allows them to pay contributors at a fair rate for their work, while eschewing traditional advertising models.
Find out more at flockmag.com.
Prewired
Prewired is a programming club for young people under the age of 19, based at CodeBase in Edinburgh. Prior to Covid-19, Prewired operated on a face-to-face basis with close interaction between young people and volunteers. However, the pandemic challenged Prewired to recreate that experience online.
Through their RE project, the Prewired team developed Prewired++, a vibrant and inclusive online community that encourages creativity, autonomy, mutual respect, and teamwork. By moving online, Prewired++ aimed to reach young people who may not have previously accessed their services, providing a space for them to be confident in what they love doing, whether it’s learning to code, illustrating websites, or making music for games.
Find out more at www.prewired.org/
ArtThou
ArtThou is an art platform where collectors, new art buyers and corporates can access some of the most sought-after contemporary artists. The team aimed to develop new ways to build sustainable income streams for artists and put the new wave of Scottish visual artists on the map through their platform. Through their Resident Entrepreneur project, they developed their network of creatives and build the first version of their client facing web app.
The ArtThou app aims to enable businesses to search for and lease artworks to display in their workspaces from up-and-coming artists who match with their business values. This model will allow them to provide artists with much needed regular income based on artworks leased.
Find out more at www.artthou.co.uk.
lonely carp
Callie Rose Petal is an award-winning trans* activist and recording artist, releasing material under the moniker ‘lonely carp’.
In her work, Callie proudly centres her artistic voice as a trans* woman with a disability, sharing this intersection of experience that has prevented a medical transition and using it as a springboard for criticising transmedicalist ideology and dismantling the patriarchal norms that perpetuate transphobia.
Callie’s RE project focussed on the research and development of a listening platform that provides a novel modality of absorbing music as a listener, creating music as an artist, and supporting artist’s work. Using Callie’s own music/sound design and animations from collaborator Nisan Yetkin, this data-driven experience will be an innovative take on a visual album that she hopes to scale up, allowing artists to produce their own musical work in the same way.
Find out more at patreon.com/lonelycarp
Looper
Looper is a cloud-based AI-powered 3D modelling software, developed to accelerate architectural design towards net zero. Co-founded by Yiqiang Zhao and Sashwat Ganguly, Looper helps architects quickly find the cheapest way to fit their projects energy efficiency protocols at an early design stage.
Through their Resident Entrepreneur project, the Looper team developed their web-based 3D software and optimise performance via rigorous testing with several architect collaborators in the UK. After acquiring feedback and carrying out fine-tuning, Looper developed the public beta of their product.
Find our more at www.looper.design/
Bliind Desiign
A new design service for emerging networked performances.
Bliind Desiign provide technical support for emerging networked or “Live-to-Digital” performances, developing open-source software to aid in the delivery of a bespoke design service for live music and theatre.
Through his Resident Entrepreneur project, Bliind Desiign founder Louis McHugh focussed on the innovation and design aspects of his service, creating a set of open-source software tools that can help others realise their creative ambitions. Louis’s RE project also considered how the digital economy can intersect with live performance to create new, more sustainable revenue streams.
Chara AI
Chara AI is a Scotland based Artificial Intelligence company founded in 2020. They focus on interpreting stories and ideas when in development, to help creative businesses meet the demands of video streaming platforms.
Chara AI uses machine learning techniques to answer a difficult question – how do we evaluate a creative work without bias? Their Resident Entrepreneur project explored the specific needs of video platforms and the thousands of writers that supply stories for film and TV production. They hope to combine human expertise with an Artificial Intelligence system to create Screen Score, an innovative product that could help bring diverse new talent to the screen.
Find out more at https://chara.ai/
