Ned Donovan

Biography: Ned is a multi-hyphenate artist based out of New York City working in Theatre, Podcasting, Television, and Film. Originally from Portland, Maine, Ned has always had a passion in performing and creating unique, exciting projects across a wide variety of mediums. Ned holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Ithaca College and it was in that field that he began his career in NYC performing in theatrical productions around the country and becoming a member of the Actors' Equity Association. As his career on stage developed, he started producing his own work. His production company, Charging Moose Media, has created award-winning projects ranging from albums, to podcasts, to music videos, to episodic web series. ​Outside of the entertainment industry Ned has worked in many different industries including tech startups, finance, cryptocurrency, food & dining, real estate, legal administration, graphic/web design, social media management, and even at one time held a New York City taxi license. His breadth of experience throughout his career led him to a passion for identifying holes in markets and creating solutions to better his communities and uplift indie artists. ​He is the CEO and co-founder of Audition Cat, an upcoming app of career management tools for actors. Alongside veteran actor Tony Aidan Vo, Ned is looking to help actors gain better insight into their work and help them manage their professional careers more efficiently.​ Ned's web series, The Hunted: Encore won more than 70 awards at over 50 festivals worldwide and ranked #4 US, #27 Worldwide in the 2018 Web Series World Cup. Recognizing the lack of pipeline and organized recognition in the Fiction Podcast space, Ned partnered with the New Jersey Web Festival to launch the world's first film festival experience for Fiction Podcasts and Actual Play content. He has since worked with 15 festivals worldwide to bring these programs to their festivals. Working alongside the WSWC, Ned launched the Audio Fiction World Cup, an industry-first circuit of festivals dedicated to these emerging artforms. No matter the context, Ned's work is about growth, discovery, and being open to opportunity when it comes calling. Job interviewers often ask "Where do you see yourself in five years?", but if you had asked that of Ned throughout his career he never could have predicted the successes he would find where he least expected them.