We all have a story to tell, and today there are endless ways to get that story out. But sometimes, we need that extra push to put ourselves out there.
From February 9th to 10th, CJRU challenges you to record your story, and send it to us in 24 hours. We’ll provide the studios, the equipment and even the music. You’ll make us a 3-6 minute radio story or podcast, and have a chance to win thousands of dollars worth of prizes, and have your piece played on the radio. Whether you’re a first-timer or a radio professional, whether you live in Toronto or New Delhi, we invite you to sign-up as a team or by yourself.
The Prizes
1st place – RX 7 Standard & Neutron Standard from iZotope + 5 hours of studio time from Epilogue + your piece will be aired ($950 cash value)
2nd place – RX 7 Standard from iZotope + your piece will be aired ($399 cash value)
3rd place – RX 7 Elements from iZotope + your piece will be aired ($129 cash value)
Honorary mentions (x2) – Your piece will be aired
The Hashtag
#RadioChallenge
The Sponsors
Thank you to our amazing sponsors iZotope, Epilogue and Epidemic for providing the prizes, studio time, and music library for the challenge.
The Judges
Annalise Nielsen
Annalise Nielsen is a freelance podcast producer working with businesses and individual podcast producers to reach their target audience and create high-quality audio content. Before starting freelance work, she spent a number of years as the Senior Editorial and Technical Podcast Producer at Entertainment One’s Podcast Network. She was one of the initial employees of the podcast network and was responsible for transitioning the network to a new hosting service and improving their business practices. In this position, Annalise fielded podcast pitches, produced content, and worked with independent producers to increase their audience reach. Before working for Entertainment One’s Podcast Network, she completed an MFA in Documentary Media from Ryerson University, where she produced a six-part podcast series called Unconditional about the experiences of women whose children are incarcerated. Her work has been featured by CBC, NPR, RadioPublic, and the Hot Docs Podcast Festival. Annalise’s favourite podcast is Wooden Overcoats.
Paula Letang
Paula Letang is an MC, event planner and host of the radio show All About The Funk on CJRU 1280 AM. She is also the Director of Toronto’s annual Toronto Funk & Soul Festival. As an award winning singer, songwriter, producer Paula has had three songs chart in the UK Top 30 Soul Charts. She is a strong supporter of independent artists and of community radio and has been an active member of community radio for over 20 years.
Dr. Miranda Campbell
Dr. Miranda Campbell is an Assistant Professor in the School of Creative Industries at Ryerson University. Her research focuses on creative employment, youth culture, and emerging and small-scale forms of creative practice. Her book, Out of the Basement: Youth Cultural Production in Practice and in Policy, was shortlisted for the 2014 Donner Prize for the Best Public Policy Book by a Canadian. Her podcast, Every Day We’re Hustling, profiles young people’s stories about making a living from creative work. She is the chair of the Board of Directors of Whippersnapper Gallery and a former coordinator of Rock Camp for Girls Montreal.
Noah Sniderman
Noah Sniderman is the volunteer coordinator at CJRU 1280AM, and the producer of OCWI’s Innovating Employment podcast, and WDBX’s The Dopist podcast. He also hosts and produces Sliced Bread, a radio show about sandwiches in Toronto. He has a BA from Ryerson University’s School of Creative Industries, and is often seen around campus with his better half, Frida the dog.
The Questions
What is a team?
You may submit a 3-6 minute piece by yourself, with a partner or even a team, it’s totally up to you! Just make sure to sign-up only once, and list all the members of your team in that entry.
Can I use music in my piece?
Epidemic has made their music library available to participants during the course of the challenge. All registered teams will receive an email prior to the challenge with login information for the Epidemic music library. Outside of their library, you may only use music that a team member has composed and recorded themselves.
How can I access studio time or equipment?
CJRU (55 Gould Street) and Epilogue Studios (1969 Davenport Road) will be available for booking on February 9th, from 11am to 6pm. All registered teams will receive an email prior to the challenge with booking links, and time slots will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. As far as equipment, CJRU will be making Zoom H1 recorders available to participants on a first-come, first-serve basis. They must be returned by 7pm on Monday, February 11th.
Can I use pre-recorded audio?
Your submission will be judged by it’s relevance to secret themes that will be unveiled at the start of the challenge (10am on February 9th). If you happen to have pre-recorded audio that fits that theme, we ask you to save it for a project in the future! To get the full experience, we’d like all participants to wrangle their creativity in the 24 hours of the challenge, and come up with something brand new.
