Mona unveils 3D world-building event Mona Shorts Fest

Mona has created a metaverse and 3D world-building platform, and now it’s launching a shorts film festival on the blockchain, Mona Shorts Fest.

This festival will break new ground with the Web3 aspect, and it will take place from September 26 to September 29

Mona aims to discover emerging 3D creators and animation talent while championing established metaverse studios. The festival provides filmmakers with an opportunity to create and showcase their two-minute to five-minute digital short films within Monaverse, Mona’s virtual building canvas.

Mona Shorts Fest celebrates exceptional storytelling in genres such as sci-fi, anime, comedy, experimental, and more. The festival sets the stage for a new era of cinematic excellence, with submissions closing on September 20.

The inaugural Mona Shorts Fest boasts a lineup of independent jury members, representing seven critical voices across film, VFX, art, gaming, and culture. These multi-disciplinary, award-winning leaders will play a pivotal role in recognizing outstanding entries and shaping the future of the festival.

“We’re thrilled to have secured a phenomenal and award-winning set of jury members across adjacent fields who are genuinely interested in pushing the medium forward,” said Justin Melillo, CEO of Mona, in a statement.

Mona expects high-quality entries from a wide range of established and emerging talent, including premier artist studios, agencies, freelance content creators, animators, artists, builders, production workers, and creators looking to build highly impactful intellectual property (IP).

Mona’s film program serves as a virtual space that opens new perspectives and support for indie films and beyond, giving filmmakers an exciting path to explore and receive recognition for their work. Mona offers a canvas for budding storytellers who care about creating beautiful worlds and settings, providing creators with the ability to access resources from any Mona Space and leverage Mona’s expansive library.

“Mona is setting the standard for utilizing the metaverse as a vehicle for immersive storytelling and creating metaverse-native IP. Through Mona Shorts Fest, we celebrate exceptional storytelling and provide a virtual film studio for filmmakers to unleash their vision,” said Melillo. “By empowering creators to build impactful worlds, our goal at Mona is to pave the way for storytelling in the metaverse, and we’re excited to be part of this revolutionary journey.”

For newcomers to the festival, Mona is offering an optional MSF workshop series featuring six weekly workshops with leaders from the industry network. The workshops will provide valuable tools, challenges, and strategies to bring story ideas to life in Mona and effectively market them. The goal is to enable complete newcomers to the arena to submit a Mona Short and participate in the festival.

The Mona Shorts Fest will culminate in a week-long festival and celebration in-world for metaverse-curious voyeurs, taking place from August 28 to September 1. The festival will feature a showcase of the films at a red carpet world premiere, panels with the featured creators and industry leaders, parties, performances, interactive experiences, and more.

Mona wants to be synonymous with creative expression, exploration, and entertainment. Its ambition is to serve as the experience layer of the internet.

Mona believes the surface has only been scratched when it comes to world-building use cases. The platform anticipates the emergence of many realms and individuals and brands using Monaverse for additional mediums beyond its current niches. Mona sees the most exciting opportunities at the edges of genres with tribal fan bases.

Mona was founded in 2021 with backing from Protocol Labs.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz