B3 2023, Wrapped
B3 has had an amazing 2023. With this year’s launch of our studio space in Carlton Mansions, a creative hub in the heart of central Brixton, we feel that B3 Media has “come home”.
But we also count our blessings and take the same advice we give to our participants: Success is never a given. The emergence of AI as a robust creative tool have shown us that we always need to stay one step ahead and be aware of the landscape in which we operate. We can’t afford to wait for someone to discover us—we also need to continue finding ways to put our work in front of funders, collaborators, and audiences.
Thankfully, as creatives, we’re well-versed in developing new game plans to succeed, and setbacks and rejection only make us more determined to find workarounds. B3 Media is looking ahead to 2024 as the year we continue placing diverse creatives behind the screen, getting them to be the earliest ones in the room, the first to make waves, and the ideators directing their vision their way. We thrive as creatives and practitioners through hard work, learning to listen, and staying open to new challenges.
Finally, thanks to you: Whatever support you have given us this year, whether financial, expertise, social, or solidarity, you help us to continue pushing the boundaries, finding the best talent, and helping them nurture their ideas. We thank all of you for your passion and commitment, and can’t wait to make 2024 our year.
All the best,
Marc Boothe
B3 Media Moves!
2023’s hybrid residencies made use of our new Brixton studio space at the thriving Carlton Mansions.
Working both online and in our studio, our Associate Artists Gopal Dutta (Multidisciplinary Artist), Lara Kobeissi (3D Artist / Animator), Leann O’Kasi (Writer / Actor / Director), RCL Graham (Writer / Director / Producer / Unreal Engine Developer) and Wanda Yu-Ying Hu (Architect / Moving Image Artist) have taken their projects into the next exciting phase of development.
XR Showcase with Epic Games
Epic Games hosted our TalentLab XR 22/23 Associate Artists and B3 Virtual Residency 2023 artists at their London Innovation Lab in June, for an electrifying mix of immersive storytelling pitches and demos that inspired industry attendees and sparked lively discussions.
We thank Epic Games, Magic Beans, Move AI, our funders, Arts Council England, and all the mentors, speakers, and industry supporters who offered our participants invaluable one-to-one support.
Short Cuts: We Demystify How to Get Funding
Twelve B3 artists took part in Short Cuts, our funding development workshop and 1:1 sessions that we ran at our Brixton studio this November.
Here’s how participants responded to the advice we gave them:
“This session has changed my whole approach to how I will apply for funding. It’s like a light has been switched on and revealed a whole element I’ve been missing.”
“B3 Short Cuts Funding Session was extremely helpful. Within the first 20 mins of Session 1, I had identified three mistakes I make when applying for funding.”
“It gave me renewed faith in applying for funds in the future.”
Don’t worry about missing out: If you’re a B3 alum and don’t know where or how to look for funding, we will be running more Short Cuts sessions in 2024.
SXSW: B3 Goes to Austin
This year, B3 Associate Artists Emilie Dubois, RCL Graham, and Gopal Dutta were selected for the inaugural Future Art Connected programme as part of the acclaimed South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas.
The group attended as part of the BFI and British Underground’s (Arts Council and British Council) Future Art and Culture scheme, representing a new cohort of storytellers dedicated to immersive XR. This year, we caught up with “Storyteller from the Future” and B3 Alum Karen Palmer, whose roster of ground-breaking AI-focused work asks viewers to question what they know about the future of human rights and identity.
We look forward to attending next year’s festival with another selection of B3 artists working on XR projects. In January, we will be announcing next year’s cohort, who will receive development support and gain access to the festival where they get an opportunity to make industry contacts, check out the immersive programmes, and listen to SXSW’s amazing talks and series.
Associate Artists 2023
Congratulations to the artists chosen from this year’s TalentLab XR programme. We picked them for their strong ideas, ambition, and dedication to improving their immersive storytelling projects with mentorship and bursary support.
Selected artists include:
Chantelle Parson (2D & 3D Design / Motion Graphics Artist)
Doug Rao (Actor / Writer / Filmmaker)
Dzifa Benson (Poet / Curator / Dramatist / Arts Journalist)
Jeremiah ‘Sugar J’ Brown (Writer / Actor / Poet)
Marcus Joseph (Musician / Spoken-Word Artist)
Rena lizawa (2D / 3D Designer)
Rumbidzai Savanhu (Illustrator / Writer)
Watch this space for some outstanding work from these up-and-coming artists.
B3 Alum Success Stories
We like to say that our programmes don’t have hard edges—we know that creative practitioners need support all throughout their project’s journey, from research, prototying to production. We select Associate Artists and hybrid artists-in-residence to push forward ideas that show ingenuity and promise. This section features just three of our artists who have produced some incredible public-facing work.
Leann O’Kasi’s Just Passing on Channel 4
Writer, actor, and B3 alum Leann O’Kasi wrote and starred in Just Passing, an Iris
Prize-nominated short film that was funded by BFI Film Network. The short, in which a chance encounter tests the characters’ ethics and values to their limits, recently premiered on Channel 4 and is available for streaming. Leann’s short film lays the groundwork for her immersive future VR pilot.
Just Passing was produced by B3 alum RCL Graham.
Marcus Joseph’s Jazz Maze VR at the Glasshouse
“Where dreams are bound to wander”: This October, spoken-word artist Marcus
Joseph brought Jazz Maze VR to the Glasshouse in Gateshead. To bring this
interactive, comic book VR experience about British jazz to life, Marcus collaborated with illustrator and animator Wumzum and game designer BetaJester. Inspired by Marcus’ journey through music, Jazz Maze VR illuminates the power and liberation of jazz via storytelling, music, characters, and design. Viewers got to view the project via a VR headset.
Watch Marcus’ trailer for Jazz Maze VR.
Jazz Maze VR was developed with the assistance of B3 Media and commissioned by Jerwood Jazz Encounters.
Gopal Dutta launches XR workshops in Yorkshire
Gopal Dutta’s Tree Love blends nature with technology in a VR experience that invites spectators to explore the fragile interplay between plants, humans, and machine intelligence. First prototyped in B3’s TalentLab XR, Tree Love continues to reach new audiences with free, inclusive workshops in Yorkshire. Run by Gopal, these workshops help young people gain skills in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in particularly in learning how AI can assist with storytelling and help humans take creative risks.
B3 Media is contributing a batch of Virtual Reality headsets to help Gopal with the next public-facing phase of Tree Love.
B3 Media Selected for Future Connected
B3 has been selected for Lambeth’s Future Connect Programme, which will bring our ongoing arts support of Lambeth’s creative sector well into the new year. Just 0.24% of funding in the UK has gone towards Black founders in the last decade, so we’re glad to be a part of some forward momentum and hope the trend continues upward!
What’s Happening Next
2024 is going to be another packed year of programmes and events.
More professional development workshops
We will be launching more Short Cuts professional development sessions in the New Year, covering everything from navigating creative contracts to protecting your IP and strategies for securing funding.
SXSW in spring 2024
We plan to send another B3 Media cohort to the SXSW conference in March next year. Our selections are already underway, and
TalentLab XR and Origin in spring 2024
With our hybrid (online/in-person) creative development programmes, we aim to continue expanding our network beyond the typical media hub of London, reaching diverse communities across the country.
The 2024 launches of our acclaimed TalentLab XR and Origin programmes will be held in person and online, and we have some exciting new partnerships to share in the New Year, so share this news with all your creative friends, wherever they are in the UK!