Creator Call Out Now Open for the City of Calgary!

Story City is excited to announce the Creator Callout for Expressions of Interest (EOI) is now open for the City of Calgary, in partnership with the City of Calgary Downtown Strategy Team and Common Ground Arts Society.

We are commissioning 3 local writers, 1-2 visual artists/illustrators, 1-2 musician/composers, and a voiceover actor to join our production team to create 4 new choose your adventure, or outdoor escape room style stories for the Calgary Downtown Core.

This opportunity is open to any writers, artists, musicians and voiceover actors in Calgary and the greater Calgary area (easily able to visit the downtown core at various stages of the project) and is paid project for selected creators. See the EOI documents and the brief below for more information. If you are short-listed, you will also be invited to attend a free-to-you professional development day (valued at $200) on artistic collaboration and interactive storytelling.

Download an application form below by clicking on the appropriate link:

• Writers
• Visual Artists, Musicians/Composers & Actors

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Applications are due by 5pm Friday 22nd of December 2023 – AS PER POPULAR REQUEST CONSIDERING THE HOLIDAYS – Due date extended to midnight – 11:59pm Friday 22nd of Dec 2023.

A Brief Note: We were made aware the info at storycity email wasn’t working for a couple of days this week. The issue has now been fixed, so if you got a bounce back for your email please do send it again.

The Brief

Story City, with the support of the City of Calgary, will commission the creation of FOUR fictional, interactive Choose Your Adventure or outdoor-escape-room-style experiences, meant to be experienced within Calgary’s downtown core. The stories will be available through the free Story City app for 2 years.

Story City takes the traditional, passive, story experience and invites the public to step into the adventure, delivering it to smart phones and mobile devices. Through the Story City locative app, users are guided on a trail to unravel and explore a story of their own choosing. These stories, created for both locals and tourists, combines fiction, historical fact and personal choice to illuminate the area in a new and exciting way.

Story City will commission 3 local writers, 1-2 visual artists/illustrators, 1-2 musician/composers, and a voiceover actor to collaborate on each story and deliver something truly unique to the streets of Calgary’s downtown.

Previous Story City adventures have included treasure hunts, Sherlock Holmes style mysteries, zombie apocalypses, ghost stories, pirate tales and alternate realities. Remember, whether it is running from a horde of the undead, or stopping an alien invasion, or going in search of lost treasures, your stories must make the user the central character in the action and provide them with a diversity of choices or puzzles to move the story forward.

This project is brought to you by:

This project was made possible by the City of Calgary Downtown Strategy, which supports the revitalisation of Calgary’s Downtown Core, and is produced in partnership with Common Ground Arts.

If you are not based in Calgary don’t despair! We’re also currently seeking expressions of interest for the City of Edmonton. Or, you can sign up to our Creator newsletter and you will be the first to hear about EOIs for other cities across the world.