Location Scouting @ Eaton House!

CALLING ALL ARTISTS, ACTIVISTS, SOCIAL CHANGE AGENTS, AND ALL OTHERS MAKING IMPACT WITH YOUR WORK- If you have never been to Eaton House DC, YOU MUST GO! Seriously. This place is HOT and it’s designed just for you.

In short, Eaton House is a one-stop shop for folks who need space and resources to actualize their visions through meaningful work. This place has it all- from a podcast studio and various nooks for great coffee and food to hotel rooms, office space, event space, topped off with a dope rooftop space that is perfect for just about any event.

This place seems like it would be a super cool home for DC Web Fest 7. The folks there are very warm and welcoming. The interior is adorned with unique and eloquent art and design. There is even a theater room- perfect for a web fest , right? Yeah, this place has it all but let the photos below tell it!

Love & Peace.

Photo credits: Diana Eaton

First Location Scout: Decades & Rewind

Seems like we were just doing this all yesterday. How time FLIES! But it's fun to be back on the grind of seeking the PERFECT crib for our beloved baby- DC Web Fest, Edition 7! We've grown so much over the past several years, we've got to make sure we find a venue that has everything we need to set the party off right with the best of indie digital content, while wooing our attendees with all sorts of goodies. 

Otessa (the leading lady of the web fest) linked up with friend Marcus Dowling to visit Decades, a remarkable nightclub in the heart of DC's DuPont neighborhood. The venue is SO lively! Multiple floors with multiple screens. The decor is out of this world and how can I not mention the bangin' food that Rewind (by Decades) offers. OMG it is sooooo good. You gotta try it!

Anyhow, looking at photos is far more fun than reading, so check out some snapshots from the trip to Decades!

Peace & Love.

Photo credit: Otessa Ghadar

Otessa and other greats at Blerdcon!

So, imagine this- a bunch of people convening to nerd out, exchange ideas, showcase work, and disperse knowledge- the 2018 Blerdcon! 

Creatives from all over gathered for the LOVE of art and creativity. We're super proud to announce that Otessa Ghadar did what she does best at the event- spoke all about creating on the digital landscape. The opportunity to share knowledge and teach with passion is always an honor. It's even cooler when you're amongst other women creators who are full of amazing stories and experiences. 

There are only three days left until the community voting round for the Beacon Grant Program ends. This grant is designed to make DC a hub for women entrepreneurs and creators. Simply put, there is a need for more content/products/services BY WOMEN, FOR WOMEN! The DC web fest has celebrated many female creators, from filmmakers to podcasters. We're pumped about possibly winning this grant, as it will allow is to REALLY scale up our content, provide more resources for women creators and entrepreneurs, while continually educating and entertaining  through the digital media landscape. Help us make this happen!

Peace & Love.

Est. 2013...Our baby is growing up!

Its official, we're back it again, seeking a home for DC Web Fest 7! It was nice having a few months off from planning, but it's pretty exciting to get back into the groove of it all! 

Ayyyy our baby (DC Web Fest) is growing up so fast, what is a parent to do?!? It all happened so suddenly. Otessa Ghadar conceived the idea upon realizing the area's urgent need for a platform to showcase and promote the best of indie digital content. Upon carrying the new baby and enduring some labor pains that accompany the launch of a new venture, DC WEB FEST WAS BORN! Perfectly healthy, bringing joy, entertainment, and inspiration through digital content to people all around the world. Nothing makes a parent prouder than to see their baby making a difference, right?!?

To celebrate DC Web Fest's 7th birthday, we need to pick the PERFECT venue at the PERFECT location so our guests can have a PROFOUND experience. Much research to do, many places to consider. Stay tuned as the planning for DC Web Fest, Edition 7 unfolds! 

Love & Peace. 

DC Web Fest EDITION 7!

Cam Willams (left) & Romeo Carbarga (right) of the DC Web Fest Team. 

Here we are, August 1st. It is so amazing how time FLIES. It seems like just yesterday the DC Web Fest team was in the development stage for DC Web Fest 6. This exact time last year, the team was researching and location scouting to find a home for DC Web Fest 6. Then came the web development part, the sponsorship hunt, recruiting top-notch industry professionals to serve on the advisory board, etc. to build up to the amazing experience we all had on April 6 & 7. Its crazy that we're about to jump back into it all over again :) Exciting it is. 

How can we scale up this year? How can we provide our attendees with a remarkable experience that they'll never forget? How can we scale up our content? WHERE IS THE HOME FOR DC WEB FEST EDITION 7?? All things we have to consider and figure out over the next several months. Nonetheless, one thing we are sure about is we're SCALING IT UP and doing it BIG! Stay tuned folks! 

Love & Peace.  

Eighth Grade Press Screening- Thanks to The Wing!

All photo credit: Orla Conway 

The Wing DC, a co-working space for women who demonstrate excellence in their work, graciously invited their members to an exclusive screening of "Eight Grade" at E St. Cinema. Many thanks to the Wing for the awesome opportunity to screen this brilliant film! Also, may thanks to our friends Orla Conway and her beautiful mother, Peggy Pridemore (the locations guru for all movies that are shot in the mid-atlantic), who attended the screening on our behalf.

They had nothing but positive comments about the movie! Check out Orla's quotes: 

"Really fun, the panel afterwards was cool. It's definitely another white teen coming of age story but this one was VERY believable. The awkwardness was played so well that it had the audience verbally cringing and calling out with exclamations of advice lol." 

"I think we've ALL felt similarly to the protagonist when we were 13."

"They cover school shooting preparation drills and sexual assault in a very relatable way that most young women experience."

Our friend Hena Ghaznavi did not attend but she said this:
"Yeah Bo Burnam is a YouTube comedian I really like and he wrote and directed the film, so I knew it'd have some poignant moments."

I think that's all you need to know to GET OUT AND GO SEE THE MOVIE TOMORROW! Visit https://tickets.eighthgrade.movie/ for showtimes and tickets.

Meanwhile, enjoy the below photos from the screening at E St. Cinema (click the photo to scroll to the next).

HardDCcore & Wailing Wednesdays

Day 2 of shooting- Mosh pit scene. Photo credit: Cam Williams

So, as you all know, this is our first blog in a LONG time! We've been away for a while but we're super proud to announce we've been working on some new projects. 

After DC Web Fest 6 successfully wrapped, we immediately started working on the trailer to what we hope will evolve into a series. 2020 Productions teamed up with Astray Productions to make HardDCcore, a film about a group of high school kids who discover themselves in the midst of the emergence of the punk rock scene in DC in the early 80s. We shot the trailer in two days, in two northern virgina locations. We had an AMAZING cast and crew. DC Stunt Coalition came out to coordinate our mosh pit scene. It was so fun.

We're super excited about this new beginning! HardDCcore is just beginning and we are eager to tell the whole world. Today we're kicking off WAILING WEDNESDAY! Staying true to the theme of HardDCcore, we'd love to connect with amazing guitarists to promote their work on our social accounts and website! If you have skills, all you have to do is DM us a clip of you wailing, shredding, or whatever and we will choose one artist to feature each week. 

Do you follow HardDCcore on IG? If not, you're late, so get to it! Also, www.harddccore.com will be going live in the VERY near future, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, enjoy the below video- a major source of inspiration for the HardDCcore project. Bad Brains played a big part in the emergence of the punk rock scene in DC. 

Later.

ATTENTION FANS!! This is RARE exclusive footage I share with you Bad Brains fans! REMEMBER TO VOTE Bad Brains for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame but, Hurry! The VOTE ENDS first week of December 2016 & fan votes make up 1/3 of the tally.

DC Web Fest 6 recap: International & Alum highlight

So, it's been about a week and a half since DC Web Fest 6 and the momentum is still WAY up there! Today we would like to give an extra shout out to all of our international phenoms who stand as excellent creative ambassadors for their countries.

To our winning creators from all around the world, we URGE you to keep up the good work! Keep creating, keep changing, and keep inspiring. You have every reason to be proud.

Also, we definitely want to shout out our official selection and winning alums from American University and Kenyon College. These universities are certainly turning out some amazing creators who are making their mark in this world. We're proud of you and we're sure your schools are as well! 

These are all folks you absolutely want to keep up with, so follow them all on their social accounts to check out their future projects! 

Nemausus (France)    Supa Supa (France)

Restoration (Australia)    Alice in Paris (France)

Wishlist (Germany)    PSUSY (New Zealand)

We All Wanted to Kill The President (Spain)    Serial Cleaner (Poland)   

 If You Care (Saudi/American University)    Rock Bottom (Australia)    Heartstopper (UK) 

Close of Business (American University) 

The Hollow (Kenyon College)     Introverted Girl (American University)

2018 DC Web Fest Winners

2018 Winners

In addition to taking home top honors, this year's DC Web Fest Winners will be receiving some pretty epic perks thanks to our amazing sponsors and partners. 

Web Series winners will be automatically entered into the top rankings for the Web Series World Cup. The WSWC is partnered with Cannes Series and MIPTV tracking winners in over 17 of our partner web series culminating in an overall winner. 

Winners of our Blog and Screenwriting Categories will receive the world's best selling scriptwriting software, Final Draft.

For our Podcast Category, Podcast Village is offering two hours of studio time or equivalent mentoring consultation at their state of their art location in Georgetown. 

And finally, for all our LOCAL HERO Winners, our fantastic sponsors at Make Offices Glover Park are offering 6 MONTHS of free creative coworking space at their Glover Park location!

Thanks so much to all our sponsors and partners and congratulations to our official 2018 DC Web Fest Selection and Winners. 

WEB SERIES GOLD

Nemausus (France)

Supa Supa (France)

Restoration (Australia)

WEB SERIES SILVER

Alice in Paris (France)

KYNNSTLAH (US)

Beast (US)

WEB SERIES BRONZE

Other People's Children (US)

Wishlist (German)

WEB SERIES SPECIAL JURY

PSUSY (New Zealand)

We All Wanted to Kill The President (Spain)

Mona Lisa Cowboy (US)

DOOMSDAY (US)

GAME GOLD

What Remains of Edith Finch

GAME SILVER

Serial Cleaner

GAME SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

Doki Doki Literature Club

VR/AR GOLD

The Crew

VR/AR SILVER

Lion 360

VR/AR SPECIAL JURY

The Killing Pits of Ponar

PODCAST GOLD

DC Diary

PODCAST SILVER

Good Grief

Dealing with my Grief

PODCAST SPECIAL JURY

Anansi Storytime

PODCAST LOCAL HERO

Garbled Twistory

DIGITAL SHORTS GOLD

If You Care

DIGITAL SHORTS SILVER

Introverted Girl

DIGITAL SHORTS SPECIAL JURY

Rock Bottom

BLOG & SCRIPT GOLD

PoPVille

BLOG & SCRIPT SILVER

Morning After Zine

BLOG & SCRIPT SPECIAL JURY

Heartstopper

LOCAL HERO AWARDS

Close of Business (Script)

Garbled Twistory (Podcast)

Introverted Girl (Digital Short)

The Story Unfolds (VR)

She's Got Grit (Web Series)

DC Web Fest Day 1 & 2 Info!

Friday:

• Arrive no later than 12:00pm for briefing and lunch
• 12pm-5pm events at the AT&T Forum for Technology, Entertainment & Policy (601 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, 5th floor). See attached document regarding parking options. Nearest metro: Union Station (red line)
• Malika Saada Saar, our keynote speaker, will be delivering her address at 1 pm. Do not miss one of the most important humanitarian lawyers of our age. 
• 6pm-9pm events at Embassy of Australia, Washington, D.C (1601 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036). Please arrive at the embassy no later than 5:45pm as screenings will start promptly at 6pm and Embassy Security will not let you in!
• Australian wine and cuisine served! We hear there may be kangaroo ...
• Shofurr shuttle service will transport 50 riders from AT&T Forum for Technology, Entertainment & Policy to the Australian Embassy for the Friday evening event, then finally shuttle will depart from the embassy at 9:30pm to take 50 riders back to the official hotel (Hyatt Place)

Saturday:

• Arrive no later than 12:00 pm for briefing and lunch
• 12pm-5pm events at AT&T Forum for Technology, Entertainment & Policy (601 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, 5th floor). See attached document regarding parking options. Nearest metro: Union Station (red line)
• 6pm-10pm events at MakeOffice at Glover Park (2201 Wisconsin Ave Suite #200, Washington, DC 20007) A Conversation with FCC Commissioner Clyburn will start no later than 6:10 - do not be late for your net neutrality advocate! 
• VIA will take riders from Official hotel (Hyatt Place) to the AT&T Forum for Technology, Entertainment & Policy, then to Make Offices at Glover Park. If you are a new rider, just download the app & use code DCWEBFEST! Already a Via rider? Use DCWEBFEST18 for 20% off! All rides at capped between $3.20 - $4.50
• Some mapping apps will drop you off a 5-minute walk from MakeOffices Glover Park. Our suggestion is to use the address for the sweetgreen across the street: 2200 Wisconsin Ave NW. Cross the street, and the MakeOffices entrance will be right in front of you! (with a raffle to boot!)