SeriesFest & Canva Announce New Creative Partnership

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There was a time, where festivals were nothing more than a destination for fans of television and film. Wherein one would enjoy new creations and hear the creators of those stories discuss what inspired them to get out there and bring it to life. But in this age of interactivity, just heading to a festival and taking in some shows is no longer enough. For the festival has become a true bastion for creativity, where up and comers can network and find inspiration… and even learn if the festival goes so chooses to offer classes that expand one’s mind, as SeriesFest will going forward. 

For the premier television festival in the land, recently announced that they have partnered with the creative entity Canva, in an effort to provide creatives with incredible resources to help them bring their story to life… and to help them learn. Since classes that feature some of Hollywood’s best and brightest will be available as part of this initiative, giving rise to a powerful partnership. One that takes what SeriesFest has to offer to a whole new level. For now, it is more than just a celebration of television, but an immersion of it, and well, to help you truly understand how amazing this partnership is going to be, here are all the details on this magnificent union, courtesy of SeriesFest and Canva.

‘SeriesFest, the non-profit organization that champions and empowers artists at the forefront of episodic storytelling, announces a new partnership with Canva focused on helping aspiring and emerging creators prepare for a career in television by providing insights and resources necessary to make headway in the industry. Through a series of virtual and in-person workshops, creators will receive the advice of vanguards in entertainment alongside live creative tutorials, helping to take their careers in television to the next level. The first ever line-up includes three workshops from celebrated industry vets including Grammy and Tony-winning Actor/Writer/Producer Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting, The Little Mermaid, Hamilton), Showrunner/Writer/Producer/Actor Rafael Casal (Loki, Co-Creator: Blindspotting) , Sue Ann Pien (As We See It), Littleton Road Productions’ Patrick MacManus (Dr. Death, The Girl from Plainville), and Kelly Funke (President, Littleton Road Productions). Applications for the SeriesFest Vanguard program presented by Canva are now open and available via https://seriesfest.com/vanguards.

"The Vanguard program is designed to highlight groundbreaking visionaries in the television industry bringing their invaluable insights directly to emerging creatives,” said Randi Kleiner, SeriesFest CEO and co-founder. “We are so proud to partner with Canva on the inaugural program, along with bringing several other new and exciting opportunities to the SeriesFest community."

In addition to the Vanguard Workshop, Canva is partnering with SeriesFest to launch the Outstanding Series Format Deck Award, in a new competition rewarding a $5,000 cash prize to the best deck submission created in Canva. Required for all SeriesFest competition categories, the Series Format Deck is an integral part to the pitch process and sale of a series. An effective Series Format Deck introduces a project in a visually exciting and emotionally powerful way. It captures the reader’s imagination, allowing them to see the full scope of the series and embrace the characters. In celebration of the unsung craft of creating a series format deck or series bible, SeriesFest’s partnership with Canva acknowledges the creativity and skill necessary to build the perfect series format deck.

Free three month trials of Canva Pro will be given to those creators who apply to select SeriesFest programs, including students, executives, and industry professionals, in an effort to help them on their creative journeys and visually bring their projects to life. Canva will be bringing its platform to SeriesFest Season 10 with a unique onsite activation, live event(s) and special award presentation.

Helping to prepare the next generation of storytellers, SeriesFest’s Collegiate Fellows program presented by Canva invites undergraduate students from across the country to apply to attend SeriesFest: Season 10 as a Collegiate Fellow and get a behind-the-scenes view of the TV and episodic industry via curated workshops and discussions, and access to premieres and panels.

Submissions are currently open for SeriesFest: Season 10, the award-winning international festival running May 1-5, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. Creators can submit for the upcoming festival through January 11, 2024.

To register for the Vanguard Workshop, click here: https://seriesfest.com/vanguards. For more information on Canva’s entertainment offerings, click here: https://www.canva.com/entertainment/
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ABOUT SERIESFEST

SeriesFest, a non-profit organization, champions and empowers artists at the forefront of episodic storytelling by providing year-round opportunities for creators and industry professionals to connect, collaborate, and share stories, which inspire and impact global audiences. Each June, SeriesFest culminates in a highly-curated and celebrated Denver-based festival and marketplace. Dedicated to showcasing innovative episodic content, the annual festival includes in-competition independent pilot screenings, panels, workshops, live reads, parties and network television premieres. Follow @SeriesFest on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

ABOUT CANVA
Launched in 2013, Canva is a free online visual communications and collaboration platform with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design. Featuring a simple drag-and-drop user interface and a vast range of templates ranging from presentations, documents, websites, social media graphics, posters, apparel to videos, plus a huge library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, video footage, and audio clips, anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful.'

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