Dodge College is thrilled to announce that we are the hosts of the first annual iWeb Series Festival!

Taking place February 4-5, the iWeb Series Festival will showcase some of today's most cutting-edge video content, produced and distributed entirely through the web.

With the rise of video-sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, and falling technological hurdles in the form of home-PC digital editing and professional-quality consumer videocameras, a novel form of storytelling expression has arisen around these sites.  Web series are traditionally (if I can even use such a word for a genre that's been around for merely a decade) rather short snippets of serialized content, telling a single story over the course of several episodes, often of varying length and release schedule.  Usually, such 'amateur' filmmaking is very creative, as the artists are freed from the more restrictive studio or network regulations, although often marked by poor production values.  However, this is changing, and it's changing fast.

Numerous reports indicate that the average American is consuming much, much more video content online than ever before, with Netflix alone reportedly tieing up 20% of the internet's traffic every day;  with such explosive interest in short-format content, mobile consumption, and nontraditional storytelling formats, the burgeoning field of web series is finally starting to get the kind of artistry, recognition, and – significantly – funding that it deserves.

So, it is in recognition of these trends, and the impact they WILL have on the careers of all of our soon-to-be media professional, that we welcomed the iWeb Series Festival here to showcase some of the most exciting work being produced today.

From their website:

The 1st Annual iWebSeries International Web Series Festival celebrates web series and is dedicated to bringing fans, actors, directors and more together to screen and network over two intense days in the heart of Orange County. In addition to quality web series and sunshine, the festival gives content creators the exposure they deserve and cements iWebSeries as the premier international web series festival.

The series is currently still accepting submissions, so visit their website, or submit through withoutabox.

Most importantly (for you students), the festival offers discounted student rates!  It's only $15 to attend the whole weekend – a small investment to see and learn from some of the hottest media creators today!