The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts and Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film have a new partnership with Seed&Spark, a crowdfunding platform that delivers education, tools and resources that create access for all storytellers to get their work made and seen.

“I am very excited for this partnership with Seed&Spark,” said Megan Elliott, the founding director of the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts. “Their mission is to ensure that creators can build a better future for themselves by retaining ownership and building career equity with each new project. This resource will help our creative students realize their projects faster and begin to build their careers.”

Meghan Ross, the head of creator success at Seed&Spark, said students will benefit from the partnership.

“As a platform supporting creators of all kinds, Seed&Spark is excited to partner with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts,” she said. “We, too, believe in empowering creatives to make an impact through their work. And we’re proud to offer tools and education to support sustainable careers for independent artists, including one-on-one counseling with our top-notch crowdfunding specialists and our flagship Crowdfunding to Build Independence workshop.”

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film Director Christina Kirk said the partnership will benefit students in both the School and the Center.

“Their expertise will be critical to our emerging media arts students to help them realize their projects,” Kirk said. “But students in theatre will also benefit from their expertise. They connect people through stories that matter and will help students in both the Center and the School build audiences and raise funds needed for their projects.”

As part of the partnership, Carson School and Carson Center students will be eligible for a 30-minute consultation with one of Seed&Spark’s crowdfunding specialists to help them strategize their crowdfunding campaigns and start building their audiences.

“Seed&Spark understand our industry and all of the emerging forms of distribution—from film to streaming to web distribution to microshows such as those on Instagram and Tik-Tok,” Elliott said. “They know how to help students leverage these various platforms to get noticed. They also are the only platform dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in entertainment at every level, which was very important to us.”

An upcoming event is scheduled to celebrate the new partnership, as part of the Carson Center’s IGNITE series. IGNITE is a colloquium for all Carson Center students, which involves guest lectures, workshops and seminars around creative and professional development.

On April 9 at 12:30 p.m., Seed&Spark’s Film and Community Manager Bri Castellini will present a workshop titled “Crowdfunding to Build Independence.” The workshop is open to the public and accessible online.

This workshop lays out the steps toward a successful crowdfunding campaign, as well as a career-long action plan most likely to create a lasting, flourishing, direct relationship with an audience.

Kirk is excited about the possibilities for students through this partnership.

“I am excited about our students having all of these valuable resources available to them,” she said. “And I’m excited about the stories they will tell on a variety of platforms to connect with audiences.”