TikTok, the leading destination for short-form mobile video, is announcing a new partnership with world-leading youth arts organisation National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT), as part of the TikTok for Good initiative. Through this collaboration, TikTok is giving a voice and a platform to aspiring performing arts talent, offering them the chance to win one of 120 free highly coveted places on NYT’s nationwide auditions and interviews that take place across the country from November to March 2020. Participants don’t have to have any previous drama experience to apply and the challenge is designed to help young people struggling to find or afford a route into the creative industries.
To kick off the collaboration, NYT is launching a hashtag challenge, #NYTFindYourStage, inviting people to showcase their talent through storytelling, singing, acting and comedy. This type of content is native to the platform and many creators such as @idea.soup, @sonna or @shericebanton have been able to successfully share their talent and grow a global audience through content inherently related to performing arts. The NYT TikTok channel will feature original drama content, acting tips, production highlights and more.
A panel of NYT experts will select 120 candidates from all of the videos submitted to the TikTok hashtag challenge. These candidates will then have the opportunity to win one of the 800 places on the highly competitive NYT 2020 Summer Courses.
If they are successful at these auditions, the winners will also have access to a host of other creative opportunities, following in the footsteps of the charity’s illustrious alumni including Helen Mirren, Daniel Craig, Matt Smith, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Oyelowo, Andrea Riseborough, Orlando Bloom and Catherine Tate.
Elizabeth Kanter, Director of Global Public Policy at TikTok said, ‘We are thrilled to be working with this world-leading youth arts charity and to give our users the opportunity to access these outstanding theatre auditions and masterclasses. This partnership is part of our TikTok for Good programme through which we support local talent and creativity by empowering everyone, independent of their background, to develop their talent and pursue their dreams as performing artists.’
Paul Roseby OBE, CEO and Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre said: ‘I’m looking forward to working with our talent to create platform native topical new micro dramas for TikTok about wellbeing and online safety that will inspire, entertain and educate. Given the damaging decline of arts education in schools, providing young people with access to high-quality arts opportunities is more important than ever. Through this new digital partnership, we want to reach beyond those already enjoying the huge benefits of exposure to theatre at an early age and reach talented creative young people where they’re at, on platforms like TikTok.
TikTok will continue to work closely with the National Youth Theatre, whose charitable remit is to give free and affordable opportunities both on stage and backstage to those aged 14-25 from all corners of the UK. As part of this collaboration, in early 2020 the National Youth Theatre will commission exclusive and original short-form drama for TikTok, starring Britain’s best young theatrical talent and exploring themes related to digital wellbeing and online safety.
The TikTok for Good initiative wants to inspire and encourage individuals to have a positive impact and will continue to develop activities that foster TikTok’s joyful and positive community while creating a home for creativity and expression.
