It was a drizzly Melbourne afternoon on Saturday but that didn’t stop plenty of people heading down to Kindred studios in Yarraville for the big announcement.

The room was abuzz with uncertainty and excitement from both series creators and fans, and a dedicated communications team were busy live tweeting the event across the globe.

Melbourne WebFest’s judges had the demanding task of selecting 30 official selections from a total of 170 entries from 20 countries. Some of the judges had experience from the inaugural festival last year, and were in agreement that in terms of quality, “we’ve come a long way in a short time”.

11 countries are represented in this year’s Official Selection. 

A new feature in the 2014 program is the addition of 20 “Second Look” series. While the Second Look series are not nominated for any awards, they will be screened during the festival outside of the Official Selection.

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Melbourne WebFest will take place 18 -20 July. The main public events, including the opening ceremony, Official Selection screenings and awards show will be held at Deakin Edge at Federation Square. The festival also runs a day of professional development at Kindred Studios for all creators whose work is screened at the festival (with a very limited number of tickets available for general public for this particular part of the program).

The awards show will be hosted by Melbourne’s edgiest comedy trio, Aunty Donna. Their web series Aunty Donna’s Rumpus Room was an Official Selection at the inaugural festival last year and is currently available through ABC iview. The group promises “a zany performance” on the night, which will be something of a dress rehearsal before they are off to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Tickets for the festival are available now via EventBrite.

Congratulations, again to all the creators, cast and crews whose work has been selected for Melbourne WebFest 2014!

 

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NON-FICTION

AsapSCIENCE(CAN) Created by Mitchell Moffit & Gregory Brown

Often Awesome the series(USA) Created by Andy Coon & Blake Faucette

Stories of Bike (AUS) Created by Cam Elkins

Talent Freaks(USA) Created by Andy Coon

 

DRAMA

#SamoKazem (#JustSaying) (SRB) Created by Fond B92

Blood Brothers(USA) Created by Jamie Nieto

LIBRES (SPA) Created by Alex Rodrigo

The Family Closet(FRA) Created by Nicola Centonze

The Horizon Series(AUS) Created by Boaz Stark & Adam Jones

White Lines(AUS) Created by Jesse Richardson

 

SCI-FI/FANTASY

Aeternus (CAN) Created by Rachel Langer & Derek Langer

Polaris(CAN) Created by Emma Peterson

Project-M(CAN) Created by Mario J Ramos, Julien D. Jolin & Eric Piccoli

Southeast of Reason(CRO) Created by Ratimir Rakuljic

Wastelander Panda(AUS) Created by Victoria Cocks

 

SUSPENSE/THRILLER

Asset(CAN) Created by Charles Barangan & Matthew Carvery

Manigances(CAN) Created by Ghislain O’Prêtre

Shadow Bound(USA) Created by Nathan Shelton

The Wakefield Variation (ITA) Created by Gianluca Olmastroni & Alessandro De Nicola

 

COMEDY

BLEAK: The Web Series(AUS) Created by Kate McLennan & Kate McCartney

Caper(USA) Created by Amy Berg & Mike Sizemore

Convos With My 2-Year-Old(CAN) Created by Matthew Clarke

Doobie Nights (AUS) Created by Jim Vlahopoulos & Sam Warren

Laydies and Genitalmen(CZE) Created by Zdenek Holy

Lowlife(AUS/USA) Created by Luke Eve and Adam Grosetti

Noirhouse(AUS) Created by Sky Machine

Sin Vida Propia(SPA) Created by Ana Ramón Rubio

Teatro x WIFI (Drama on WIFI)(ARG) Created by Damian Valgiusti, Alejandro Chaluat, Patricio Costa, Agustin Kazah, Paula Magnani & Lucila Presa

The Justice Lease(AUS) Created by Jeremy Brull & Paul Michael Ayre

Wimpole Street (UK) Created by Caitlin Shannon

 

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Acting Dead(Comedy, USA) Created by Brian Beacock

Bulk Billing(Comedy, AUS) Created by Jonathan Schuster

Chris & Josh Season 2(Comedy, AUD) Created by Matthew Smolen

Destroy the Alpha Gammas(Comedy, USA) Created by Leah McKendrick

El Gran Día de los Feos (The Great Day of the Ugly Ones)(Sci-Fi/Fantasy, SPA) Created by Nabil Chabaan

Esther´s Style(Comedy, ARG) Created by Pedro Levati

Flat3(Comedy, NZL) Created by Ally Xue

FUTURE DUCK! (Comedy, UK) Created by Paul Cope & Henry Dalton

Greenstick(Drama, AUS) Created by Sam Hamilton

Horror Hotel(Sci-Fi/Fantasy, USA) Created by Ricky Hess

Hunter n Hornet(Comedy, AUS) Created by Sonny Vrebac

It’s A Dole Life(Comedy, AUS) Created by Gerard Dewhurst & Sean Flynn

Kid’s Town (Drama, CAN) Created by Tomas Street

Love Bytes(Comedy, AUS) Created by Tonnette Stanford

MALICE: The Web Series(Sci-Fi/Fantasy, USA) Created by Philip Cook

McCracken: Truckstop(Comedy, AUS) Created by Tim Roberts & Wayne Bradley

Meet The LadyBugs(Comedy, USA) Created by Dorothy Wallace

The Adventures of Suzy Boon (Comedy, NZL) Created by Roberto Nascimento

The True Heroines(Drama, CAN) Created by Paula Giroday, Jovanna Huguet, Fiona Vroom, Joel Sturrock & Nicholas Carella

Unsinkable: The Race To Recovery(Non-Fiction, AUS) Created by Lachlan McKinnon & John Linke