ClexaCon, which just wrapped up ClexaCon London on Nov 3 and 4, 2018, after the huge success of ClexaCon Vegas in April 2018, is partnering with YouTube Space NY, Dash Productions & Tello Films to host the “Make it Queer: LGBTQ Web Series Workshop.” The workshop will be dedicated to LGBTQ+ women (and allies) YouTube Creators.

The hands-on style workshops taught by industry professionals are focused on the pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution phases of web series creation. Event attendees can also participate in speed pitching sessions where creators will get the chance to pitch their concepts to a series of industry members for feedback, exposure, and the potential for development opportunities.

Make It Queer: LGBTQ Web Series Workshop is the place to connect and get inspired by other LGBTQ+ women (and allies) creators whether it be through the happy hour/networking mixer or the many invaluable sessions that provide advice from experts on growing an audience. One of the core missions of ClexaCon, which was created and run by Holly Winebarger, Ashley Arnold, and Danielle Jablonski, is to encourage more LGBTQ women to become content creators and to help those already creating content. This workshop is a key component of that mission.

“Part of what we are trying to do with ClexaCon generally is helping LGBTQ women who want to make content, or who are already making content, come together and support them in their work,” said Danielle Jablonski, one of the founders of ClexaCon, the largest multi-fandom event for LGBTQ women and allies. “We formed a partnership with YouTube Space LA originally and the person in charge out there really believed in what we are doing, which is supporting more LGBTQ creators.

We worked with them and with Tello Films to create an event out there, and through open applications we had about 40 different content creators come out for two days of workshops and networks. It was a huge success, so we wanted to bring that to the East Coast. We started working with YouTube Space NY to do the one-day event here in December.”

"We generally found as a community that we need to have diverse voices creating content because we need to hear from those different voices..."

Like ClexaCon, which got its start from online discussions about educating people on the importance of positive LGBT representation in the media and later expanded to the ClexaCon convention locations in Las Vegas and London, the workshop is hoping to expand.

“We definitely hope to be able to do this with YouTube in different spaces,” said Jablonski. “They have spaces around the world, but for now we are hoping to work with them in some different spaces. From our last event some people who have met at that event had then gone and are working on projects as well, so it’s really great networking in that sense.

We generally found as a community that we need to have diverse voices creating content because we need to hear from those different voices and to be able to have people tell authentic stories in our own communities,” Jablonski explained. “LGBTQ women are definitely underrepresented regarding content creators in the industry right now, so we want to encourage more people and support people already in the industry to bring our stories to life.”The Make It Queer: LGBTQ Web Series Workshop will take place on Friday, December 7th, 2018, at YouTube Space NY. There are no barriers to this workshop, it is free, it will be catered, and it is for LGBTQ women who want to create content. Space is limited, but for those interested in applying for a spot at the workshop visit ClexaCon’s website https://clexa-con.com/webseriesworkshop/ by the November 9th deadline (11:59 pm EST).