(BELMAR, NJ) -- GivingTuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. For the past several years on #GivingTuesday (as it's known online), New Jersey Stage has held a contest on our social media channels.  We ask non-profit organizations to do something simple - this year it was simply to like or share the news that the website had passed 500,000 unique visitors for the year.  Those who participated were put in a group with the winner chosen randomly.  This year’s prize was free advertising throughout 2022 and the winner is the Thomas Edison Film Festival (formerly known as the Thomas Edison Black Maria Film festival).

Since 1981, the Thomas Edison Film Festival has been celebrating and preserving the diversity, invention, and vitality of the short film. The Festival was originally named after Thomas Edison's original West Orange film studio dubbed the "Black Maria" because of its resemblance to the black-box police paddy wagons of the same name. Edison’s films did for the eye what his phonograph did for the ear. He made 75, 20-second long films in the “Black Maria.” The earliest included magic shows, plays, vaudeville shows with dancers and strongmen, cowboys, boxing matches, kisses, and sneezes.

Renamed in 2021, The Thomas Edison Film Festival (TEFF) is an international juried film competition. They have embraced their mission for decades by focusing on short films including those which shine a light on issues and struggles within contemporary society. They advance and exhibit the work of diverse filmmakers from across the US and around the world. These artists often represent an under-served constituency who may not have the opportunity for live public exhibition.

The festival welcomes all genres including narrative, experimental, animation, documentary, and hybrids. They celebrate films which address the environment, race and class, family, sustainability, immigration, the LGBTQ community, social justice, and people with disabilities. Short films are celebrated in their own right - not as a sidebar to feature length films. They bring their extraordinary collection of films to the people by reaching out to audiences in diverse settings including universities, museums, libraries, community-based organizations, cinemas, and schools. The festival visits inner city, rural, and suburban locations as varied as Jersey City, NJ; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; and Gloucestershire, UK. Custom curated film programs are showcased in all these unique venues throughout each year. You can follow the festival on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

"Ever since the pandemic first hit, it has been a struggle for everybody in the arts," said Gary Wien, publisher of New Jersey Stage. "With all of the costs associated with keeping arts organizations going through this period, advertising and promotion can sometimes be pushed aside.  We believe promotion is important and run our #GivingTuesday contest each year with the hope of helping an organization continue their promotion throughout the year. After all, if people do not know about an organization's events and services, it doesn't do them much good."

As this year's winner, Thomas Edison Film Festival receives free banner advertising throughout 2022 in all four ad sizes run by New Jersey Stage - 300x250, 300x600, 970x250, and 600x776.  It is a package valued at $1200. Be sure to follow New Jersey Stage on Facebook and Twitter @NewJerseyStage to be learn about events like our annual #GivingTuesday contest. 

"If your organization is looking for a good way to promote your events and services check out NewJerseyStage.com," added Wien.  "Our goal is to have advertising rates that are affordable for any arts organizations. We offer event listings in our online calender starting at $10 to get a complete show listing (including date and venue address, complete description, link to ticket area, photo, and video) which appears throughout our site and picked up by the search engines.  Banner ads (300x250, 300x600, and 970x250) are available for $50 per month.  A larger ad (600x776) is available for $75 per month. And all four ad sizes are available for just $100 per month.  All banner ad purchases come with event listings as a bonus."

Click here for advertising rates and information.  New Jersey Stage accepts payment by check, credit cards, or PayPal with discounted rates for pre-payment of multiple months.