Melbourne WebFest Announces Fifth Anniversary Program and Official Selection
Melbourne WebFest is Australia’s only international web series festival, and this year we are celebrating our fifth anniversary from 29 June – 2 July at the State Library of Victoria. Over four days, the festival will honour innovative creators, screening 50 of the best web series from 17 different countries across comedy, drama, animation and non-fiction genres. A selection of series from Melbourne and student creators will also be showcased.
In addition to screenings, 2017 will see events for professional networking and development, industry panels and a live pitching competition.
Melbourne WebFest is continuing our partnership with ABC iview to present our second live pitching competition for web series, ‘Pitch iview’ on 2 July. This will be a fast-paced and interactive event that will earn the winning pitch creator $5,000 towards script development. The cash prize is intended to cover a trip to Marseille WebFest to attend their annual screenwriting residency. The event will be MC’d by Maria Angelico (Footballer Wants A Wife, Movement).
The Industry Development Day, hosted by La Trobe University will include masterclasses and workshops on supercharging your web series, screenwriting, digital engagement and resilience for creators and artists.
The festival will kick off on 29 June screening the popular ‘Spotlight on Melbourne’ selection and a new student category at Loop Project Space & Bar to showcase local and emerging talent.
Opening Night will commence on 30 June at the State Library’s Experimedia venue featuring a keynote presentation from LA-based filmmaker Christopher Leone (Parallels,The Lost Room) and the premiere of Melbourne WebFest Presents. The event will be Auslan interpreted.
Festival Director, Steinar Ellingsen said the selection process has been the most competitive to date.
“Our panel has worked hard to strike a balance between funded and independently produced projects. Some incredibly difficult decisions have been made, but the result is an official selection of exceptional quality, featuring the most ambitious projects we’ve screened to date.”
“We also have an incredibly strong Spotlight showcase, and the exciting addition of a student category,” he added.
The Awards Night Gala will be hosted by comedian Greta Lee Jackson (Skitbox, Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am).
Melbourne WebFest is supported by the City of Melbourne, La Trobe University, Film Victoria and ABC iview.
Full program details and the official selection can be found here. Tickets are available now via Eventbrite.
See you at the festival!