Are you an investigative journalist with the ambition to transform one of your stories into a podcast? Sublab is looking for new journalistic stories with an investigative angle. Interested? Submit your idea for a podcast by September 1, 2023.

WHY JOURNALISM?

Investigative journalism focuses on truth-finding regardless of who is involved in the story. Something that is urgently needed for a democratic society, as it enables us with the necessary tools to make personal decisions about the world we live in. A lack of resources makes it difficult for investigative journalists to fulfil their role as watchdogs, so new funding models can make all the difference.

We developed the podcast Wie praat, die slaapt in which investigative journalist Marian Husken takes listeners into the world of crown witness deals. This podcast came in at number 1 on the Dutch rankings and can be listened to on all podcast apps. With this in mind, Sublab has decided to develop a series of narrative-driven podcasts with a focus on investigative journalism.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

We are looking for journalists who are working on an investigative project with a strong story. We welcome pitches from both emerging and established journalists and the context can be either Dutch or international. It is important that this research can be developed into a narrative-driven podcast and that you already have access to multiple and varied sources.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

1. You are an investigative journalist with an idea for a new podcast series.
2. By September 1, you will send a two-pager to morris@submarine.nl, in which you briefly describe the story, your journalistic experience, motivation and access to sources.
3. During the month of September, we will invite the journalists with the best ideas to discuss their plans. Prior to the interview with Sublab’s Creative Producer and project lead, you will prepare a short pitch.
4. Afterwards, you will receive feedback on your plan and the Sublab team will let you know if your story has been selected for the development track.

THE WINNING STORY…

The winning story will get access to a budget of 15,000 euros that you use to develop and realize a podcast with the Sublab team. This project will kick off at the start of October.

ABOUT SUBMARINE CHANNEL AND SUBLAB

Over the past twenty years we have grown from a Dutch institution to a leading global player. Submarine Channel is often compared to leading producers in the field of interactive storytelling and transmedia including German/French Arte, National Film Board of Canada, German broadcaster Bayerische Rundfunk, and American POV. Our strong position in this international field also allows us to work with the best creators, establish international co-productions, and reach a global audience with national and international partners.

Submarine Channel also emphatically fulfils a societal role. Many of our productions are socially engaged and of high artistic and narrative quality. Some examples include the Emmy-Award-winning production Last Hijack Interactive about piracy off the coast of Somalia, the multi-award-winning interactive production Refugee Republic about a refugee camp in northern Iraq and the Emmy-nominated production Collapsus about energy transition.

Since 2021, emphasis has been placed even more strongly on the development of digital and transmedia stories. This process takes place within Sublab.

For more information about Sublab and Submarine, please visit our websites below:

https://sublab.nl/

https://submarine.nl/

What if behind Mona Lisa’s peaceful and soothing smile there’s a hidden diva drama? What if the force of inertia locking museum guards to their chairs was actually the weight of a secret mission? Mona is a new virtual reality series in development that takes you into the parallel world of the world’s most famous muses – a world you could never have never guessed existed…

Mona is one of four projects that is selected (out of 35 submission) for the Cinemart/VR Days pitch program of the upcoming Rotterdam Film Festival (25 January – 4 February, 2017).

Read more about Mona.

Submarine Channel will be supporting Amos Mulders next film, Word! as part of the talent development project De Ontmoeting. This Dutch initiative aims to connect upcoming directors with the film industry. Amos is an exceptional animator, editor and vfx artist whose short films and music videos have a certain surreal, almost dadaist quality that drew us in. Check out Off The Ground – a short animated documentary based on a NUFORC hotline call recording from 1977. Great stuff.

Amos’ new film, Word!, will be a visual essay about language. In a time of increased polarisation, when everyone in the media and on the internet seems to be shouting their opinions, Word! will advocate nuance and promote understanding. All four films selected as part of this program will premiere in September 2017.

Remember the Really Big Button That Doesn’t Do Anything? This mid 1990s Internet phenomenon served as a funny social commentary on our online behavior, Back in the early days of the internet, ‘click bate’ used to be nothing more than a fancy button. How things have changed.

Clickclickclick.click reveals, in a comedic way, the most commonly used browser events that monitor our online behaviour today. You’d be surprised at the conclusions that the narrator is able to draw about you, based solely on how and where you ‘click.’ This new project by Moniker and VPRO Medialab is part of the IDFA Doc Lab Elastic Reality expo in Amsterdam (through November 27).

We’re very happy to announce that Poppy is supported by The Grant Program for Non-Fiction Transmedia, a scheme by which Creative Industries Fund NL in association with the Dutch Cultural Media Fund and the Netherlands Film Fund is endeavouring to stimulate new forms of documentary-making and storytelling.

POPPY – Uncovering the New Drug Wars is one of two Submarine projects selected for the IDFA Forum. In Poppy, you will follow the trails of heroin from the remote mountain valleys of Afghanistan to the streets of Europe and beyond to find out how terrorism, armed conflict and drug trafficking are inseparably linked. Using photography, text and video, POPPY illustrates the dark flip-side of globalization. Read more about Poppy.

Also selected for the Forum is Submarine‘s feature documentary Bellingcat about citizen investigators.

As of today, the internationally renowned transmedia producer and virtual reality filmmaker Michel Reilhac will join Submarine in the position of Head of Submarine Channel. Reilhac shares a common interest with Submarine in exploring new forms of storytelling in VR, games and other non-linear digital media. Reilhac’s network and experience will enable filmmakers to find a platform for fresh and daring stories that deserve an audience.

Reilhac was Head of Film Acquisitions at Arte France for many years and executive director of Arte France Cinema, where he co-produced an average of 30 films per year, including Antichrist and Melancholia by Lars von Trier. In 2013, he was elected Man of the Year in Film by the trade magazine “Le Film Français.” He will continue to organize workshops on transmedia storytelling at events such as the Cannes Film Festival, Sunny Side of the Doc, The Pixel Lab, Dixit, Femis, etc.

On Friday November 4, Reilhac will represent Submarine Channel at the VR Days Europe in Amsterdam, where he will moderate the Expert Session Amazing VR Production Stories.

This is the first poster for our virtual reality short Ashes to Ashes, made especially for the world premiere this Saturday, November 5, at the VR Days in Amsterdam. Photo: Niels de Roos, Poster: Christiaan de Rooij.

Date: November 5 | Location: Vondel CS, Amsterdam | Starts at 9 PM | Invitation only.

What started out last year as an experiment at the Dutch VR Days grew into a full blown VR production. Ashes to Ashes will have its world premiere at the same event where it all started: at the VR Days.

Ashes to Ashes is a surreal, tragicomedy in virtual reality about how a dysfunctional family handles the dying wish of their grandfather. Seen through the ‘eyes’ of the deceased –the urn containing the ashes– this short VR film gives a unique point of view on a bizarre set of family relationships that are ready to blow up. We witness how each family member drops their pretences to reveal the full extent of their dishonesty. Ultimately, Ashes to Ashes is about choosing your own reality, your imagination, your world.

Ashes to Ashes will be presented at international festivals and events before launching online in 2017.

For Submarine‘s new #animation studio we are looking for a Python Developer who can help us expand our internal asset management system and help us with pipeline related scripts. Check the job description for more info.