Hot Docs is pleased to have the support of Amazon Music Canada as a sponsor of its second year-round
Podcast Development Lab, presented in partnership with Inspirit Foundation. An extension of the annual Hot Docs Podcast Festival, currently streaming online worldwide, the Lab serves emerging BIPOC creators based in Canada by pairing them with seasoned audio creators and mentors to develop their story ideas and navigate pathways to success in the podcast industry.
The second iteration of the Podcast Development Lab will provide an increased level of support and resources to selected fellows. Year two of the program will grow its capacity from five to eight projects, all while raising grant resources and adding new mentors. Upon completion, participating creators will have the opportunity to pitch and receive feedback from Amazon Music creative executives and other decision-makers in the industry.
With seed funding generously provided by Inspirit Foundation, the Hot Docs Podcast Development Lab launched in July 2021 as part of the annual Hot Docs Podcast Festival, which includes other career development programs like the Hot Docs Podcast Career Accelerator, the Opening Act program, and Creators Forum. The initial run of the Lab wrapped on January 25, 2022, the opening night of the Podcast Festival’s sixth edition, with an industry showcase of the completed projects that counted industry leaders from CBC, Amazon/Wondery and Radiotopia in attendance. The program’s first year was co-facilitated by Aliya Pabani and Stephanie McArthur and featured media heavyweights Hannah Sung, Pacinthe Mattar, Dan Misener, Neena Pathak, and Megan Tan as mentors.
The 2021 Hot Docs Podcast Development Lab projects include:
20 Red Flags: Gold and Lies in the Jungle
Creator: Nicole Doucette and Lucas Kavanagh
A small Canadian company convinced everyone they found the world’s biggest gold mine: but a man jumped out of a helicopter, and everything fell apart.
Exceptionalisn’t
Creator: Melissa Haughton
A journey into why averageness should be the new Black excellence. How we redefine ideas of who is allowed to fail, and why doing half as much can be twice as good.
Camp Canadiana (formerly
Made Up Words)
Creator: Isabelle Ruiz De La Orden
Camp Canadiana invites you into the complex world of Canadian summer camps. As camps work to reconcile their complicated histories, the story of summer camps in Canada will be retold, re-examined, and offered anew.
Money No Get Enemy
Creator: Oshamimi Mayaki and Alexandra Sproule
From the middle ages, caravans crossed the desert and ships crossed the seas bringing money, lots of it, to exchange for West Africa’s riches. This is the story of that money, in all its forms, and what happened to all that wealth. These stories will transform your understanding of where money comes from and how it works.
S is for Seva (formerly
Stories My Grandma Never Told Me)
Creator: Serena Parmer
We used to go to our parents with questions about all the “cultural stuff”. Now we’re the parents! A new mom’s search for the hyphenated history of Sikh-Canadians, one of the earliest racialized communities in Canada. How do we pass history forward?
Application for the 2022 Hot Docs Podcast Development Lab will open in the Spring.