TORONTO, May 9, 2019 — RBC and the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (The Canadian Academy) announced today the nine grant recipients for Round 2 of the MVP Project — an initiative that aims to promote and assist emerging Canadian recording artists, producers and filmmakers in creating music video content. The nine recipients were selected from 380 submissions by a jury of industry professionals.
“The talent pool of emerging recording artists and filmmakers in Canada is incredible, and the MVP Project was created to support and promote these artists as they pursue their passion,” said Matt McGlynn, Vice-President of Brand Marketing, RBC. “We are immensely proud to support this second round of MVP Project recipients so they can turn their visions into reality.”
"Music videos are just as important as the music itself, and without a visual representation of an auditory work how can we come to understand it on multiple levels?” said MVP Round 1 recipient and recording artist Jeremy Dutcher. “The kind of support being offered through MVP is essential for musicians to thrive, and we look forward to bringing the video for my song Mehcinut to life with this funding."
The top four most popular submission categories were Pop (19.8%), Indie Rock
(18.3%), Hip-Hop (10.7%) and Electronic / Dance Music (7.7%). The Round 2 recipient list includes rising talent from the Canadian music video scene and represents a wide range of musical genres and filmmaking styles, including stop-motion animation, dance, and short-form narrative.
Recipients include:
Recording artist, Amaal, Director, Kat Webber and Producer, Matt Power (Toronto)
Recording artist, Harrison, Director, Jon Riera and Producer, Connor Illsley (Toronto)
Recording artist, Tanika Charles, Director, Nayani Thiyagarajah (aka V. T. Nayani) and Producer, Simone Ince (Toronto)
Recording artists, Hansom Eli, Director, Yann Lo Bono and Producer, Alexy Guérer (Montreal)
Recording artist, Shay Lia, Director, CARAZ, and Producer, France-Aimy Tremblay (Montreal)
Recording artist, Maky Lavender, Director, Alexandre Pelletier and Producer, Anthony Martino Maurice (Montreal)
Recording artists, Said The Whale, Director, Johnny Jansen and Producer, Josh Huculiak (Vancouver)
Recording artist, Dylan Menzie and Director/Producer, Aidan Searle (Charlottetown)
Recording artist, Desiire and Director/Producer, Ayo Tsalithaba (Scarborough)
“There were so many great treatments submitted in Round 2”, said Louis Calabro, Prism Prize Founder and Vice President, Programming, The Academy. “We are thrilled to provide an opportunity for these artists to work collaboratively in the creative sandbox that is music video production.”
"I am grateful to the MVP Project for providing critical financial support which gives artists from different disciplines the opportunity to collaborate and create original content,” said Director V. T. Nayani, who will helm Tanika Charles’ Look At Us Now. “This funding gives us the chance to match our vision with a budget that honours and elevates it, and create the work we’ve long dreamt of creating.”
The jury for the MVP Project rotates each round. Round 2 was decided by six regional juries made up of 30 music and film industry professionals.
"Being a juror for this round of MVP submissions was equal parts inspiring and motivating,” said juror Talya Macedo. “We're truly living in the era of multi-talented creators and unshakeable disruptors. The music video still matters and I'm so excited to see the visions of all nine recipients come to life."
The MVP project is part of the RBC Emerging Artists Project, which helps Canadian artists bridge the gap from emerging to established, and supports organizations that provide the best opportunities to advance artists’ careers. Since 2015, over 11,000 artists have been supported through these programs.
