“UNTITLED”
is a trans, autistic Bengali kid,
appointed by her ancestors as
THE NEXT GREAT STORYTELLING CHEF.
she creates magnificent stories
in her magical kitchen,
which she then transforms
into delicious gourmet meals
and gorgeous gift baskets.
every week she travels down a hill
to a nearby small village,
and with the help of her
beloved animal companion
– a golden mare –
she delivers her medicine,
determined to serve her community.
but…
it’s not easy to be a storytelling chef
during times like these,
as genocide and
great global catastrophe rages on,
impacting her village
and every village across the world.
week after week,
month after month,
year after year,
“Untitled” realizes,
slowly yet surely,
that her efforts to serve go nowhere…
and her faith dwindles
with each uneaten meal.
until one day,
an old man catches a whiff
of a curious smell
wafting from her kitchen
and decides to follow the wind –
furrever changing the course of her life
…and the course of her death.
BIG NEWS
After 2.5 years of creating Magical Reality TV for the Revolution as a podcast drama…
IT IS TIME
…to create the first ANIMATED FILM of this series!!!
The podcast will still rage on.
Only now, we are entering a creative portal for our most special episode yet – a FULLY ANIMATED alternate timeline spin-off episode called, “UNTITLED“
TODAY WE ARE RELEASING A CALL OUT FOR OUR CORE COLLABORATORS WHO ARE ANCESTRALLY PURPOSED TO HELP BRING THIS EPISODE TO LIFE.
We are looking for 4 Spirit-Led, Liberation-Focused artists who create magic with their ancestors. Here are the roles we’re looking to fill:
- Illustrator / Animation Artist
- Composer / Sound Designer
- Filmmaker / Episode Director
- Producer / Project Manager
This episode is A SILENT FILM. There is no dialogue aside from a few sparse captions. The story is expressed through visuals, facial/body expression, sound and music.
BIPOC, queer, trans, disabled, neurospicy collaborators and survivors of suicide, addiction, and/or sexual violence are most welcome and will be prioritized.
This is not your average storytelling. The entire project and process is AN ALTAR for ancestors to move, heal and evolve.
THE WEST: an offering of activist artistic energy healing conjured in deep, precise listening to the heart beat of the earth, made specifically for these times, and given back to the earth, our ancestors, and our Selves.
THE EAST: a community conversation and resource-share on uplifting and protecting trans lives and livelihood
THE SOUTH: an apprenticeship on ancestral technologies in the creative process, a study, practise and skill share of ceremonial musical theatre – in craft and in life
THE NORTH: a money moving workshop: we will be making history and funding this project through the creation of the very first ancestral artist grant. This is a movement of divestment from colonial industries/paradigms, a practise in financial sovereignty, and investment in creating a thriving economy for the planetary artist in residence.
THE CENTER: a delicious, fully funded ancestral artist retreat to workshop the artistic and spiritual practices that mean everything to us, share our learnings, and pour a great deal of love into a simple, powerful story that is so dear to my heart, and dear to the world.
A 3 PART PROJECT
PART ONE: gathering and getting to know you
PART TWO: closed group weekend artist retreat with core collaborators
PART THREE: online weekend artist retreat with our wider communities
PART ONE
We gather the core collaborators together.
Those who are ancestrally, enthusiastically purposed for this project can send a Letter of Interest through our portal. If you’re the right match, I’ll contact you for a follow up conversation and get-to-know-you process.
This get-to-know-you process is a chance for us to chat more and learn more about each other before we make the official decision to create together. In this process I’d love to know more about:
- what is currently moving you spiritually, personally and artistically
- your practise, life experiences and current spiritual initiations
- what/how you want to contribute to this project
- what you need to feel well supported in this process
- your preferred rate for artist fees and financial support
During this phase, we’ll secure the funds we need for part two, including covering travel, food, accommodation and artist fees for a support crew. We won’t move forward until all our bases are covered, and everyone has what they need.
PART TWO
Core collaborators gather together for a beautiful and healing weekend artist retreat – we’re not yet sure where, we just know it’ll be close to a lake.
Those who come together should be grounded and well resourced to sit in deep ceremony and conversation on themes brought up by this story: grief, intimacy, loss, friendship, community, suicide, survival, injustice, the realities of genocide and fascism, and great commitment to our most beloved relations, in body and in spirit.
Our time together will be nourishing and abundant – we’ll have time to relax, eat good food, enjoy each other’s company, listen to nature, and focus on the work.
The goal for the end of the workshop is to draft a storyboard for the full episode and create a few foundational images and sound clips.
Note: the full script outline for this episode is already complete.
PART THREE
We gather for an online weekend artist retreat with our friends and wider community.
Here, we’ll present the first draft of our storyboard and share behind-the-scenes learning from our ancestor-guided process. Folks who attend will get a crash course and skill share on ceremonial theatre (applicable across artistic genres) and the ancestral roots of our artistic traditions.
You’ll also get to participate in a collective energy healing ceremony dedicated to trans lives and livelihood. We’ll have some amazing BIPOC trans guest artists present to respond to the work, and together we’ll have a round table discussion on what it means for us to have the resources, relationships, connection and support to want to live wholeheartedly, even at a time like this…especially at a time like this.
We’ll have a Q&A and knowledge share on effective strategies, rituals, technologies and practices as to how to best protect and uplift each other at this time.
BONUS
This series doubles as a money moving workshop for the planetary artist in residence. We’re not just moving money into one project, we are moving money into an entire ECONOMY for a planetary artist in residence, that more and more people can plug into and benefit from.
For the past few years (one may say for the past 41 years, or throughout the past several generations of wisdom keepers) – we have been conducting a massive research project on how to revolutionize the way we exchange money and fund our work, in order to make the biggest divestment moves of our time, and ensure that those of us doing revolutionary healing, artistic and activist work always stay funded.
Those involved in this series will get to be part of making history – as we generate the very first ancestral artist grant. This is for folks who want artist grants without having to “go through the system.” This is for anyone who wishes they had the option of growing up to be a planetary artist in residence, instead of whatever other industry you were funnelled into. This is for anyone who wants to learn more and tap into this movement for spiritual, artistic and financial sovereignty.
Today, we move forward on part one of our process:
gathering our core collaborators.
Collaborators come together under the guidance of Storyteller, Showrunner, and Lead Ceremonialist – Shaunga Tagore.
Photos: Shaunga performs her signature bone closing ceremony – a sacral chakra personal and planetary energy healing performance to help us heal from the greatest ailments of our time, including military violence, genocide and extraction culture. This performance took place at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (TKARONTO) for one thread weaves the world, a fundraiser for a free palestine.
COLLABORATOR REQUIREMENTS
1. GET FAMILIAR
Please familiarize yourself with Magical Reality TV for the Revolution, the larger series and world within which this animated episode takes place. This is Shaunga’s Live Multiverse Memoir in ever-evolving development. You can check out our full catalogue of episodes here. And feel free to browse our website, blog and youtube channel.
2. SPIRITUAL & POLITICAL ALIGNMENT
Each collaborator must be spiritually grounded and confident in their ancestor healing practise. Your spiritual healing is unapologetically interwoven with your belief and commitment to justice. This is a space of cross-cultural ancestral solidarity, and ancestral organizing for liberation. We each are already in practise of removing anti-Blackness, white supremacy and rape culture from our lineages, restoring Indigenous leadership on the planet, prioritizing disability justice and weaving our political commitments in intimacy and in ceremony. Once you are familiar with my body of work, and tune into your spirit: you will know if we are in alignment.
3. CREATIVELY CAPABLE AND WELL PURPOSED
When you listen to the stories on the podcast, you should feel inspired to create offerings that compliment & elevate my work, as well as that reflect your own style and spirit. IE our composer should be able to hear the score & the sound; our illustrator should see the visuals; our director should feel fired up to bring these stories to film; our producer should know how to gather excitement and resources for the specificity of this project.
This type of thing is one of my favourite influences – and I see a similar style in my vision of the animated story we’ll be working on. However, I am very open to being delighted and surprised by your unique artistic expression, and what your ancestors inspire you to offer.
4. MUTUAL RESPECT AND REVERENCE
You should feel a sincere affinity, appreciation and affection for my work and voice as a storyteller.
This is not just “a job” for me, nor should it be for you. This is my personal ceremony, an expression of my vulnerability, grief, courage and endless love. It’s my heartfelt contribution to a revolution dedicated to personal and planetary healing and justice.
This story is what my heart needs to give my ancestors, the planet, my embodied loved ones, and myself – and it should be held by all with such sanctity. I will treat you and all you bring to this project in the same way.
To be a core collaborator, you should genuinely like and respect me as a human.
Nobody is entitled to this sacred space – we come together because we sincerely desire to create something phenomenal, meaningful and most importantly, share a heartfelt experience with each other. We treat each other’s work, company, personal life experiences, boundaries and contributions with due reverence and respect.
In short, I’m offering a story that in simple terms, means everything to me. I hold a space that welcomes you to bring something that means everything to you, too.
THIS APPLICATION IS AN ALTAR
Our application portal is open today! To apply please submit a Letter of Interest, along with some samples or links to your work.
Illustrator / Animation Artist: You are in charge of creating original visual art for this episode. I’m looking for someone who is experienced with illustrating humans and every day landscapes (ie not abstract art) like cartoonists, comic book artists, graphic novel artists, etc.
Along with your Letter of Interest, please share some samples of your illustrations that reflect the style and spirit you would bring to this project. (Note: if you need extra support in a further phase of development, like an animation team, that can be arranged!)
Composer / Sound Designer: You are in charge of creating the original score, music and sound design for the episode. Quite simply, I’m looking for someone who is the music to my writing. You can listen to any previous podcast episode to get an idea of the type of sound design and style of music I like.
Along with your Letter of Interest, please share some sound clips or samples of your work that reflect the style and spirit you would bring to this project. (Note: if you need extra support in a further phase of development, like a team of musicians, that can be arranged!)
Filmmaker / Episode Director: You are in charge of making the film and directing the episode under my guidance as Showrunner and Lead Ceremonialist. Along with your Letter of Interest, please share a reel or clip of your work, and some notes on how you would approach directing this project. (Note: if you need extra support or a bigger team in a further phase of development, that can be arranged!)
PS: I’m most excited to work with someone who I have amazing creative chemistry with ie together we can pull out deep, meaningful, nuanced and exciting conversations through engaging the work. Feel free to listen to this previous podcast episode where we had a good listener write in with an amazing letter – this is the kind of depth of conversation I am excited to have with my episode director.
Producer / Project Manager: You are in charge of gathering the funds and resources needed for the project to thrive. You’ll work with Shaunga’s support. The person in this role gets a crash course and energetic attunement to Shaunga’s research project and the spiritual technology of how an economy for the planetary artist in residence functions. In your Letter of Interest, please tell me about your experience with fundraising, moving money, and how you generate excitement and resources for projects, artists and brands.
LETTER OF INTEREST
You may submit your letter of interest in a style that suits you: attach a PDF, attach a voice note or record a video (attached file or unlisted youtube video link is welcome).
This Application is an Altar.
In your Letter of Interest, please speak to all five of these application questions aka parts of the altar, in your own way.
TOTALITY: Introduce yourself, your name, and a little about yourself.
THE WEST: Tell me about your art, your experience with your craft, and what is important to you about your practise right now. Don’t forget to attach samples where relevant, and feel free to share links that you’d like me to look at.
THE EAST: Tell me about an episode of Magical Reality TV for the Revolution that you really love. Why do you love it? What speaks to you? Why do you want to support and collaborate on this specific project?
THE NORTH: In this previous blog post, “learning about the quantum birth chart and a less ableist term for blind spot” I say: when you know and understand someone’s ancestral task and their ancestral gift, what are you going to do? Are you going to take advantage of that gift? Or are you going to protect it?
What does this question mean to you? How does it speak to you? Where does it land in you?
THE SOUTH: Who is currently in your drivers seat? (Ancestors, intentions, prayers, parts of yourself, etc)
THE CENTER: What is written all over your name right now?
SOME NOTES
There’s no set limit for your Letter of Interest – however be mindful of length.
Share what you need to share at this time, but don’t share more than what you need to share at this time.
I’m happy to receive a full and complete experience of what you want to share with me and how you want to connect.
Those who apply should feel an enthusiastic YES in your bones. The right collaborators are those who have already been collaborating with me on the ancestral plane.
You don’t need to convince me of anything. I’m not evaluating your merit, talent or legitimacy as an artist. This is just a space to get to know you and feel if I get an enthusiastic YES from your contribution.
There are very specific collaborators who are ancestrally guided toward this project. I’m looking for a specific style and spirit. Don’t take it personally if it’s not you.
If you’re interested but not 100% sure – feel free to apply anyway, as there may be other opportunities for us to collaborate in the future.
RECAP
To apply, please send your Letter of Interest, along with relevant links and attachments to:
mercury@shaungatagore.com
Subject Line: Letter of Interest
I offer sincere gratitude to everyone who offers an application. I do not take your effort for granted, and will treat what you share with the utmost of reverence, generosity, respect, confidentiality and privacy.
Only those chosen for a follow up conversation are guaranteed a response. Please take the time you need to ensure your spirit gives you a YES before putting in the effort to apply.
If you know it’s a YES, then please apply ASAP, as the world needs this now.
Don’t rush, and don’t lag behind. Take your time, and don’t waste your time.
And keep tuning in, good listeners!
Until next time…
Be Brave! Be a Giant!
