Fundación Telefónica

The "Ibero-American Production Incentives" program promotes the creation of new projects.  They work as donations that Fundación Telefónica awards to allow new art and Alife projects to be created.  This program is the only one of its kind in the art and technology field, as it focuses on rewarding ideas and supporting their development. The "Finished Projects" category of VIDA, however, only rewards existing projects that are no more than two years old when entered in the competition.

We reward projects related to art and Alife.  The prize will be used to finance the production of a specific project or to support research that results in the production of a project. It is important to present the resulting work of art or a prototype one year after receiving the prize.

The amount assigned to the project varies depending on several factors.  It is mainly related to the amount requested in the budget (which must be clearly and accurately specified).  The jury will study the feasibility of the project as specified in the budget. 

In many cases, we have even funded 100% of the budget requested. When the total of the budget is high (more than 10,000 euros), we recommend applicants include in the application form confirmation that other institutions will also back the project. In some cases, we believed that some good ideas required further research, and therefore, we assigned a small amount to help the applicant develop the project. This means that a project to which a small amount has been assigned to improve the proposal could be presented in a more developed phase the following year to apply for a new incentive. The jury will evaluate whether the proposal deserves further support to produce the final project.

The budget does not usually include transport and food expenses.  The participant's fees must be reflected in the time spent on the project, as reasonable amounts. 

The most important factor is the clarity of the idea or the proposal; it is important to explain what you hope to achieve and the aims of the project. We are not looking for detailed theoretical explanations but good ideas with support that links them to Alife.  If you have any questions, we recommend referring to the pieces that won previous editions or sending an email to vida@telefonica.es.

Ideally, you should submit previous pieces related to the proposal.  On many occasions, proposals are a consequence of the evolution of previous pieces created by the artist or team. We are interested in reviewing this material in order to more accurately understand the proposed piece.  Ideally, the material should be presented online, including up to two links. Diagrams explaining the project must be included. No more than 5 diagrams or schemas should be submitted.   Material sent by postal mail must be sent on electronic media and contain as much visual description as possible.  Any audiovisual material related to previous pieces submitted should not exceed 15 minutes in total.  Printed material must include a maximum of 2 publications and the pages to review must be flagged.

The number of people that take part in a project is not limited.  What we do expect is that a main applicant exists, i.e., one person takes responsibility for the proposal, who for Fundación Telefónica will also be the beneficiary and the person in charge of fulfilling the requirements of the "Ibero-American Production Incentives" program once the prize has been awarded.   The group must be based in one of the Latin American countries, Spain or Portugal.

The is no reason why a winning piece from the "Ibero-American Production Incentives" program cannot be entered in the "Finished Projects" category of the VIDA Prizes, provided that it meets the requirements specified in the annual competition terms and conditions.

The "Ibero-American Production Incentives" category aims to advance the production of new pieces or experiments in the art and Alife field. We do not finance publications (neither online nor offline), or trips, attendance to conferences or theoretical research grants. Neither do we finance creation of videos or audiovisual productions.

The winners of "Ibero-American Production Incentives" prizes must send a video (DVD or VHS) with audio voice-over narration one year after being selected and a 500-1000 word document describing the project that has been developed. The video must show the production results, the artistic concept achieved and the technology used to create the project. 

As the winning pieces could be exhibited along with the first prize-winners of the competition, the video must be submitted in professional quality format (DVCam, Betacam, ¾" U-Matic, MiniDV or DVD). 

If more time is needed to develop the project, this must be specified in the application form (in end date). Even if the project is not complete, after one year, a preview of the project in the form of a video and written document must be sent to Fundación Telefónica.

Provided that you live in one of the countries that benefit from the "Ibero-American Production Incentives" program you can enter it.

In the case of groups, nationality is not important as long as the project is being carried out in one of the countries that benefits from the "Ibero-American Production Incentives" program and the impact/benefit of the project is clearly specified.

If you were born in Spain, Portugal or any Latin American country, you can enter a project in the "Ibero-American Production Incentives" category, regardless of where you are living at the time of applying for the grant. However, the jury favours projects that are going to be created in Spain, Portugal or any Latin American country, as it believes that these countries encounter more difficulties when creating works of art with Alife technologies.

It expects that it is expressly specified in any online/offline publication, public presentation or activity that the project has been supported by the "Ibero-American Production Incentives" program of Fundación Telefónica VIDA International Competition.

Yes,  provided that the previous project has been successfully completed.

Yes, you may present the project as many times as you wish.

Only one project can be entered per participant per year.

The only way to apply for the "Ibero-American Production Incentives" category is by completing the form available on the VIDA website. You can send support material by postal mail or include up to two web links containing information about the project and a previous piece in the application form.