Cape Town - Popular video-sharing platform TikTok has announced the launch of the Rising Voices incubator project aimed at upskilling black South African content creators.
Rising Voices is an incubator-based initiative that is expected to run for six weeks and focuses on supporting local black creators through digital skills development and content amplification.
The project aims to do this by upskilling creators, offering grants, and providing the community with opportunities to make a career of content creation.
DJ Zinhle and digital creator, Mihlali Ndamase will be joining this call-to-action.
This exciting initiative has been endorsed by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the South African Department of Arts and Culture.
“South Africa is a market brimming with creative talent from black creators and we are committed to providing the best local support to help amplify the voices of this community. Through this initiative, we will empower these creators to thrive on TikTok and beyond, as we aim to provide them with career-building resources and programs,” said TikTok Content Operations Manager, Africa, Boniswa Sidwaba.
NFVF expressed excitement at the initiative and says it will add value to the film and video industry in South Africa.
“Projects like this one provide black content creators with vast opportunities to further develop their digital skills while learning from some of the industry’s leading content experts. We look forward to seeing the incredible content and content creators that will emerge from this programme, and we are confident it will add tremendous value to the film and video industry in South Africa.”
Rising Voices promises to train, educate as well as support 100 black creators on how to use the platform and create high-quality content. To sweeten the deal, it will also include career-building resources and necessary digital skills training from prominent industry experts.
Selected creators will be put through an intensive boot camp to learn how to create content on TikTok and master their craft, personal branding, monetising their account, and the importance of content catering to a diverse audience.
Once the incubation program is complete, the selection committee will choose 20 of the incubator creators to receive a grant.
The creators that are selected for the grant will then have to create a series of paid content and will be given a one-on-one mentor session to analyse their content plan.
Applications for the Rising Voices project are open until 9 April 2021, via an in-app form.
To qualify, candidates must be black creators based in South Africa, over 18 years old, have approximately 10 000 followers and have posted at least 12 videos in the last 60 days.
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