SeriesFest Unveils Virtual Events Celebrating Episodic Storytelling
SeriesFest is going virtual with the Colorado-based event set to take place online this summer in response to the ongoing health crisis.
The event is slated for June 18 through June 24, and participants and virtual attendees can expect a lineup of panels, screenings and competitions. Ahead of the anticipated festival, the non-profit organization is holding a series of watch parties, workshops, pitch-a-thons, and writers room collaborations beginning April 15 to help gear up for the main event .
The organization, which is dedicated to supporting underserved voices in episodic storytelling, is reassuring the creative community by making this shift to digital in 2020. An annual event, the six-day SeriesFest schedule will include must-stream, virtual events.
“We are facing unprecedented times as the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world as we know it. Those impacted by the virus have been on our minds and in our hearts as we determined how to navigate this challenging time.” said SeriesFest co-founders Randi Kleiner and Kaily Smith in a joint statement.
(Credit: SeriesFest)
“As an organization, we are collectively embracing the mandate to stay at home to ensure the health and well-being of our families, employees, industry and audiences. While many things have changed in these last few weeks, , the one thing that remains the same is the need for our passionate community to stay connected through empathy and storytelling,” they continued. “By pivoting to a virtual experience, we are confident we will remain a trusted destination for meaningful conversations and provide a much needed forum for creatives to share, engage and celebrate their experiences and innovative stories.”
“Our staff, Board of Directors and partners are fully dedicated to providing a platform for creating impactful conversations and developing valuable connections as we adapt to an increasingly digital ecosystem.”
The next (non-virtual) SeriesFest will take place in June 2021 with plans to return to the usual format.
Among the virtual lineup for SeriesFest this April and May are plenty of watch parties including Q&As for One Tree Hill with James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti (April 15), New Amsterdam with Ryan Eggold (April 29) and Disjointed with Betsy Sodaro (April TBA).
On April 16, SeriesFest launches a series of roundtable conversations hosted by SeriesFest alumni in which indie episodic storytelling is the focus. Between two to five creators will be included in the hour-long segments that are going to be available to stream on YouTube. Topics for the segments will range from Female Filmmakers, Sparking Creativity, The Art of the Pitch and Creating The Season One Arc to International Independent Content, Benefits and Challenges of Online Release. The first conversation will be hosted by Up North‘s Emil Pinnock and Ian Robertson.
The virtual writers room will launch in May in which SeriesFest and UnReal Media will invite select writers to participate in three-day workshops and month-long follow-up with the hope of producing a pitch-ready script. This will be supported by the video conferencing system, Zoom.
(Credit: Michael Tackett/ © The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection)
SeriesFest will also launch its virtual SXSW Episodic Pitch-a-thon beginning April 28 with six creators/creative teams having five minutes to pitch in front of a digital audience via YouTube. Among the pitch selections are Under The Influence, Beached, Wild Combination, The Bisley Boy, Pussy Talk and Southfield Supernovas 4228. All of these events taking place prior to the festival are free, learn more about participating at www.seriesfest.com.
The virtual festival slated for June will include pilot competitions, innovation talks, signature panels as well as network watch parties and Q&As. Don’t miss out on the events, keep up with ticket and pass information, programming schedules and more as news is announced at SeriesFest’s webpage.
