YouTube (NSDQ: GOOG) is to invest €500,000 (£441,000) in a scheme to support UK digital talent.
The YouTube NextUp fund will allow up to 25 people to win a €20,000 grant to develop their content on the video-sharing website, as well as a place on a “creator camp” that will give training in production techniques.
To apply, creators must be YouTube partners – content producers who earn revenue through their accounts. YouTube said they could include singers, dancers, actors, producers, musicians or makeup artists who create their own video content.
Speaking to YouTube partners at a launch event held in partnership with the British Film Institute, the BFI’s audiovisual manager, Clare Geddie, said its aim was to promote UK talent to the world and support developing film-makers.
“Channels like YouTube offer new tools and ways to get your content seen, and using online channels should be a key part of your personal and organisational strategy,” Geddie added.
YouTube claimed that its UK partners have seen a 45 percent increase in uploads since 2010, and that 154 percent of revenues from partner channels have been given back to creators.
The number of partners earning more than $10,000 a year has increased seven-fold in a year, according to the company.
YouTube is ramping up its spending on original content in a bid to take on the rise of internet TV; it was reported last week that the site is in talks with Hollywood studios and programme-makers.
This article originally appeared in MediaGuardian.
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