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San Francisco’s inaugural Web festival welcomes Issa Rae, Bernie Su, and other top creators

The Bay turns its attention to the world of webseries this weekend.

 

Rae Votta

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Posted on Jun 5, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 4:00 pm CDT

San Francisco will celebrate the webseries this weekend with the inaugural SF Web Fest.

“SF Web Fest is a unique festival because our goal is to guide series to the next level,” explained event creator Laura Wainer in a press release. “Participants will learn about the future of on-line video, how to monetize their creative content, be face to face with distribution and acquisition companies and engage with the real movers and shakers in the industry.”

Webseries have evolved over the years from something shot simply on a DIY budget to mega-productions that have spawned mainstream success and deals. The genre stretches from humble beginnings to superstardom, and the SF Web Fest aims to bridge the gap between digital technology and storytelling by hosting a gathering in the heart of Silicon Valley. They aim to achieve this over a mixture of panels and screening presentations of the best and brightest of webseries content.

“Web series are the direct evolution of independent creatives gaining greater access to technology,” said Jordan McArthur, producer and cowriter of the webseries The Digressions. “I can’t think of a better city to host a web series festival than the country’s nexus of creative spirit and cutting edge tech.”

Special guests include Issa Rae, creator of The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, who is currently developing a show for HBO, as well as Endemol Beyond’s Will Keenan, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries mastermind Bernie Su, and VideoCreators.Tv founder Tim Schmoyer.

SF Web Fest runs June 5-7 at New People Cinema in San Francisco.

Photo via SF Web Fest/Facebook | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III 

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*First Published: Jun 5, 2015, 6:08 pm CDT