MELBOURNE WRITERS FESTIVAL - 2020

An iconic Melbourne event in its 34th year, Melbourne Writers Festival faced a unique challenge with the increasing social distancing restrictions on 2020. Should they cancel this world-class literary festival for the first time in history, or find a way to bring it to life online?

MWF approached Five Peas to evolve their plans into the very first MWF Digital - the same festival readers and arts enthusiasts across Australia know and love, and streamed directly into their lounge room.

Our newly launched The Online Studio was the answer.

Across 9 days in August (7th - 16th), we switched and streamed over 40 pre-recorded and 3 live sessions and workshops to a global audience, including the MWF Gala event on August 12 hosted by Jamila Rizvi. The live sessions were streamed directly to YouTube, and available on-demand.

The pivot to a digital space also allowed MWF to be more inclusive than ever before, with audiences not limited by the size of the venue. Former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard’s discussion of Women in Leadership was attended by an audience of over 3000 - something that the MWF team would not have been able to accommodate in their usual live format.

We also provided MWF full feature clips of each session, allowing registered ticket holders the opportunity to view the session up to three hours from its original air time - giving fans the ultimate flexibility.

When the COVID19 pandemic hit, Melbourne Writers Festival had to move quickly from a large-scale, live festival to an online event - something we had never done before. Five Peas came highly recommended. Luke and Craig were generous with their advice and expertise, produced beautiful video content for the MWF Digital festival, and made a difficult situation into an enjoyable, professional and exciting project. We loved working with them, and COVID19 aside, would do it again any time!

- Rebecca MacFarling, CEO, Melbourne Writers Festival