New grant recipients named for the MVP Project

January 30, 2022 Amber Healy 0 Comments

Nearly a dozen grants have been announced for the seventh round of the MVP Project, providing support to Canadian musicians and filmmakers for the creation of new music videos.

The four-year-old MVP Project, a partnership between RBCxMusic and the Prism Prize, has now supported musicians and producers with 75 grants, helping emerging musicians create 52 new videos already. More are slated to be released this year.

But there’s more: The partnership also is announcing MVP Labs, described as “a mentorship program offering guidance to young filmmakers and artists around the development of music video treatments, budget and production plans that will begin later this year. As the MVP Project remains focused on the growth of the Canadian music video community, this new series will build on the foundation of virtual mentorship opportunities offered throughout the pandemic, which showcased creators including Kid. Studio and Joël, and offered access to valuable production resources to the emerging music video community,” the partnership says.

Since it launched in 2018, the MVP Project has supported and helped create award-winning and nominated videos, including Rich Aucoin’s “Walls,” Sean Leon’s “90 BPM” and TOBi’s “24 (Toronto Remix),” all of which were on the Top 10 shortlist for the 2021 Prism Prize. Another project, a clip of Desiree Dawson’s “Meet You At The Light” from director Alexander Farah received a Vimeo Staff Pick nod.

“I am forever grateful for having received the MVP Project grant support,” says MVP Round 7 recipient Jasmyn. “Throughout my career it has become more apparent that having the time and space to be creative is a privilege. Therefore, when organizations such as MVP invest in artists, they invest in the time and energy it takes to create something special.”

Other Round 7 recipients include:

Recording artist Amanda Sum (Vancouver), Director Mayumi Yoshida (Vancouver), and Producer Sebastien Galina (Vancouver)
Recording artist and Producer Francesca Wexler (Oshawa), Director Sean Cartwright (Ottawa)
Recording artist Ghostly Kisses (Québec City), Director Fred Gervais (Montréal), and Producer Catherine Boily (Montréal)
Recording artist IDMAN (Toronto), Director and Producer Dara Heng (Toronto)
Recording artist Jesse Ryan (Toronto), Director and Producer Chris Strikes (Toronto)
Recording artist Kim Harris (Halifax), Director Meaghan & Marie Wright (Halifax), and Producer Emily Flynn (Halifax)
Recording artist Ouri (Montréal), Director Derek Branscombe (Montréal), and Producers Raphaëlle Savoie, Catherine Marsland and Karine Pronovost aka Le Répertoire (Montréal)
Recording artist Ramona Vee (Toronto), Director and Producer Serville Poblete (Toronto)
Recording artist Ruben Young (Calgary), Director Jimmy Vi (Toronto), and Producer Rey Mendoza (Toronto)
Recording artist TyriqueOrDie (Scarborough), Director Luke Fenton (Toronto), and Producers Hayden Currie and Shane Campbell (Toronto)

“What began as an idea in 2018 has since grown into a platform for bringing emerging creatives’ visions to life, and an integral part of the Canadian music industry,” says Shannon Close, senior director for brand marketing with RBC.

For artists and musicians interested in applying for MVP Project consideration, applications for Round 8 will be accepted starting April 1. More information is available at MVPProject.ca.