VCU news

By Meredith Carrington
Institute for Contemporary Art

The Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University presents the second annual RESONATE Podcast Festival Nov. 3-4. For the second year in a row, RESONATE Podcast Festival has invited established and aspiring podcasters to pitch their best ideas for a chance to receive funding to produce a pilot episode of their show. Submissions must feature sound-rich, creative nonfiction storytelling.

Three finalists have been selected to present a live pitch at the RESONATE Podcast Festival Pitch Party in front of a panel of judges and a live audience, hosted by RESONATE founder Chioke I’Anson. The winner will receive $10,000 to produce a pilot episode and a first look agreement from sponsor VPM, Virginia’s home for public media.

2023 FINALISTS:

EMILY REEVES: “Violence Week” documents the events in East Lansing, Michigan, where an outburst of violence at a local high school — and the discovery of a gun — leads to a community reckoning over school safety, racial equity and the role of police in schools. Listen to the trailer for “Violence Week” here.

IVY LE: “Capitalize” is a comedy documentary in which host Ivy Le tries in earnest to get rich. Ivy Le is a Vietnamese American comedian, writer and actress based in Austin, Texas. She hosts the only queer comedy mic in Austin, co-produces Austin Sketch Fest and performs at comedy festivals all over the country like Laugh After Dark, Tower City Comedy Fest and Lysistrata. Listen to the trailer for “Capitalize” here.

MAYA KROTH: “The Foil: A father. A daughter. A search for alien life” is an eight-part podcast series that blends field tape, interviews, intimate family conversations and creative sound design to explore the mystery of the “Roswell Foil,” a substance of mysterious origin once given to the host's father. Join host Maya Koth and her father, Jerry, as they search for an earthly explanation for the foil and explore the possibility of alien life. Listen to the trailer for “The Foil” here.

RESONATE Podcast Festival is presented by the VPM + ICA Community Media Center in partnership with the Association of Independents in Radio, LWC Studios and Room Tone, and is sponsored by VPM, Hindenburg, Molly Dodge, TulipAI, Blue Dot Sessions, Steve Lack Audio, Radiotopia, Focusrite, Bitchin Boucha and Common House. The Pitch Party! is sponsored by VPM. Event scholarships are available through the generosity of the VCU Foundation.