The OYA Scale Up Initiative was an intensive entrepreneurship program. With funding provided by the government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario this program was designed to support 150 Black-owned businesses over the course of 3 years.
The program consisted of 3 distinct program modules:
A 6-month Business Affairs Boot Camp. 10+ carefully selected mid-career producers per year participate. They were provided with opportunities to enhance their producing skills and expand their industry knowledge through Intensive Bootcamp Workshops and Coffee Chat Sessions.
Year-long Masterclasses with industry experts offered to at least 30 Black producers each year. These masterclasses covered a range of topics including tools for growth, skill building, finances, and networking opportunities.
A 5-month Immersive lab designed for creatives who are eager to venture into the immersive media landscape. Through three years of dedicated programming, we’ve witnessed remarkable transformations and seen 12 XR prototypes from ideation to completion.
Thank you to everyone involved in 3 years of successful programming!
OYA Black Arts Coalition joined forces with the Canadian Film Centre to launch
Scale Up Immersive in partnership with Dark Slope.
We established a unique accelerator program designed for founders of Black-owned media production companies.
This program was designed for creatives who are eager to venture into the immersive media landscape. We've been fortunate to receive support from a seasoned team of lab mentors who brought their expertise in various domains including storytelling, XR experiences, and virtual production.
Success Stories
Debbie Deer year 1 scale up immersive alum
“This program has paved the way for me to create a mentorship program for IBPOC artist supporting 8 emerging XR fellows with Single Thread Theatre” - Debbie Deer
Tristan Barrock year 2 Business bootcamp alum
“This program provided my wife and I the tools to structure our business. We learned the value of collaboration and internal planning. It also allowed us to get into other programs that have furthered our career.” - Tristan Barrock
Thank you for
3 amazing years!
Thank you to our team, staff, mentors, facilitators, guest speakers, and funders. We are so proud of the vibrant network of creatives that we have cultivated within the Scale Up Initiative! While programming may have come to an end, we acknowledge that this marks only the beginning of our remarkable journeys.
To learn more about the Scale Up Initiative programs or for partnership opportunities please reach out.
Our program partners
Business Bootcamp
Masterclass
Immersive
