Db x Looking Sideways Fund: the finalists

Meet our five shortlisted finalists and their ideas

Me and Sage Kotsenburg mid-podcast, Hossegor, June 2022. Photo: Aaron Schwartz

A couple of years ago, I had the idea of trying to find a practical way to help new creatives and storytellers get into the industry.

Regular listeners to my podcast Looking Sideways will have heard me talking about this idea on and off over the last couple of years. So it’s been amazing to partner with my friends at Db to launch the Db x Looking Sideways Fund this summer.

The response has been amazing. Earlier this autumn, we whittled our initial 300 entries down to a longlist of 12.

Now the Db team, their incredible group of ambassadors, and myself and Owen have chosen our five shortlisted finalists. Read on to see their ideas, and for more information about what happens next:

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The finalists

1. Pete Elliot

Idea:

In September I would love to visit Tajikistan for 2 weeks to document an NGO named 'Women Rockin' Pamirs (WRIP) that boldy aims at bringing Tajik ladies to the mountains, enabling them to professionalize their interest for mountain jobs. Up to recently, guiding jobs were a male-dominated profession in Tajikistan. The tourism industry is still in its infancy and so far, hardly any women have managed to get their foot in the door, especially in the more remote parts of the country. The organisation Women Rockin' Pamirs tries to break that barrier by training up female guides in the Pamir region. In this traditional Ismaili society it's a hard-fought effort, with social pressure from family and community members.

I want to go behind the scenes, getting an insight into how they live, their family lives and observing first hand what obstacles they face. This would include doing some interviews and getting an insight into their day to day struggles.

Then I would look to follow a few trainees on a guided hike from Sarez Lake to The Wakhan led by Mountain Guide and established outdoor author Jan Bakker, through some of the most incredible scenery the Pamirs has to offer. I would absolutely love to share this amazing story of women breaking down barriers in Tajikistan with the world.

Judge’s feedback:

“I’m a fan of female-focussed human interest stories. Filmed against the backdrop of the Pamir Mountains, in one of the poorest yet culturally rich countries in Central Asia, Pete has a chance to tell some truly evocative and vibrant stories”. - Timothy Myers

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2. Jen Wang

Idea:

I want to create an interview series (written and recorded clips) exploring neurodivergence in action sports. This year I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism, and I know it fueled my obsession with action sports. There's always been comments about how athletes are "wired differently" but very rarely is neurodivergence actually named.

I work in neuroscience as well and so I want to use my resources as a scientist to investigate whether there is a link and also have athletes open up about how they know that their brains work differently (regardless of whether they have been formally diagnosed or not). Living with ADHD and autism is difficult, and there are a lot of stereotypes so I hope this series can break some of them and show people how they can thrive even if the world doesn't always accept their way of thinking.

Judge’s feedback:

“Really interesting subject matter, and the candidate has real access and insight”. - Sam Moody

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3. Timo Wielink

Idea:

Hi, My name is Timo and I am a photographer based in Amsterdam. In recent years I have traveled to Puerto Rico and the Bahamas to document and support the recovery of hurricanes hitting the islands. I am applying to fulfill my dream project of being able to document the story of a group of locals on the island that is living and has lived through a constant battle with these natural disasters and the increasing fear of getting worse due to global warming.

My goal is to create a mini-documentary of these locals that have inspiring stories about the strength and courage they show living in a place that is getting destroyed and rebuild year by year.

By interviewing these people I want to create a profile for every individual and create a photo series to be used in a small documentary/video that shows the risks of hurricanes (and therefore global warming).

I grew up in a place where natural disasters were not even a thing, I could never have imagined that after being in Puerto Rico there are people living with a constant battle against human nature. I want to highlight the strength and enormous amount of happiness these people have in them in my work.

I have worked with many organizations over the years to support the relief of disasters on the islands and have started my own company to build low-cost communication systems for people affected by disasters. For that reason, I also have never been able to capture these stories without the commercial or promotional reasoning and thereby not fully the emotion and risks these people have to live through. This opportunity sounded too good to be true and I am happy to discuss more and share the amazing stories.

Judge’s feedback:

“A great message, and I can see the visuals. And I feel like this could be a bigger story, which the budget will help them deliver”. - Olav

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4. Simon Eisenbach

Idea:

I want to tell the story of Jean-Claude Bataneni. A Congolese surgeon that runs a hospital in remote DR Congo which is the only hospital for 277,000 people and has no running water. Jean-Claude could be working in any country as a doctor/surgeon, but he chose to move back to his home town and help grow the community where he grew up.

Judge’s feedback:

“This sounds as if it will document how all it takes is one person to make a significant impact. The strength of the human spirit impacting a community is always a story worth telling”. - Christa Funk

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5. Antoine Couturier

Idea:

A surfer on the east coast of Scotland gets sick after swimming at his local beach. He and others in his community discover that sewage pollution is at the root of it all. To protect their natural playgrounds and backyards, surfers, kayakers and activists alike go looking for answers - and action from those responsible.

We are looking for funding to finish filming, producing and editing this documentary in full, and then promote it to get it seen by as many people as possible. The more people see it, the more chance there is of action being made!

This film has been in production for over a year now using any money we make from other work to fund it. There is still a lot to film to really bring this project to life, and we need help as funds are getting tight, and the project will suffer without additional support.

For this, we will need to travel, rent some equipment from time to time, and pay some of the bills! …. and we would like to enter as many film festivals as we can.

Judge’s feedback:

“A really relevant global topic, and I think governments and companies need to be held to account. I was also impressed with how far into the project they are, and get the impression they’ll use the funding and mentorship wisely”. - Owen Tozer

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Pack Heavy, Chase Light panel discussion, Hossegor, June 2022. Photo: Owen

What happens next?

Next, we’re going to arrange short calls with our five finalists so we can find out more about the project and the people behind the ideas.

Here are some of the things we’ll be interested in finding out:

- Why do you want to make this?

- Where did the idea come from?

- What are the main challenges you face in bringing this idea to life?

- How do you see us helping?

- Are you clear on this idea will be distributed, and on what channel or platform?

- Who is the main audience for this? Why will they care?

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After that, we’ll pick two winners, agree funding, announce them and their ideas, match them with mentors, help them create a plan, and get things moving. From then on, its an ongoing project we’ll be documenting IRL and on our social channels until release.

So that’s where we are. If you didn’t make it through - thanks so much for entering! If you have any questions, please let me know below: