2020 New Jersey WebFest Expands To Include Fiction Podcasts

The New Jersey Web Festival (NJ WebFest) announces the expansion of its festival to include fiction podcasts, which will join web series, music videos, pilots, and trailers to be celebrated by NJ WebFest.

"In our inaugural year our message was #MakeHistoryWithUs. We quickly became one of the highest rated film festivals on FilmFreeway.com," said NJ WebFest founder and director Neem Basha. "Each year we have strived to open doors for web content creators to have their work recognized and celebrated by the creative community. This year I'm delighted to open our doors even wider to an amazing community of artists who are making some of the most exciting fiction content on the web. The Venn diagram between web series creators and fiction podcast creators is, in essence, a circle. And so it made perfect sense to bring these vibrant, passionate, and supportive communities together. In the memory of Michael Ajakwe Jr. and his rallying cry of 'Don't Wait, Create!' we decided to create a space to jointly celebrate both these creative movements."

In honor of NJ WebFest's creator-first focus and ideals, the Festival is creating the New Jersey WebFest Fiction Podcast Planning Committee. The committee features two NJ WebFest alums and Fiction Podcast creators, Adam Berley (Sheriff Death, 2018 NJWF Best Writing in a Comedy Winner) and Ned Donovan (Encounter Party!, 2 time NJWF award winner for The Hunted: Encore), in partnership with Hug House Productions's (VALENCE, Scoring Magic) team of long-time vocal advocates of fiction podcasting: Anne Baird, Katie Youmans, and Wil Williams.

"Our mission since the inception of Hug House has been to educate people about the wonderful medium of podcasts. When Neem reached out to us about a collaboration, we knew that this was something we needed to make happen," said Hug House co-founder and COO Anne Baird. "Our hope is that, by opening up this space for fiction podcasters and web series creators to meet and collaborate, we can increase visibility for the ever-growing fiction podcasting community and create new opportunities for both groups of artists."

Creators of fiction podcasts who are interested in submitting their work can learn more at newjerseywebfest.com/fiction-podcasts. All shows accepted will be showcased at the festival, be eligible for exclusive Fiction Podcast Awards determined by independent industry judges, attend industry panels, and have the opportunity to network with other fiction podcast creators and with the Web Series community that NJ WebFest continues to support and celebrate.

In 2018, the NJWebFest made history by bringing the first Web Series Festival to New Jersey. In 2019, the festival opened its doors to music videos and trailers, and joined the Web Series World Cup to further solidify its standing in the international web festival community. In 2020, the festival continues to grow with this new, amazing group of artists joining our community.