Digital Originals Grant Winners

Austin PBS is excited to announce the winners of the Digital Originals Grant. This grant is one of the many ways we’re able to support creators and storytellers on their journeys to make quality local content that’s accessible to our entire community. We had over 200 incredible submissions this year with a wide range of subject matters based around Central Texas, but had to choose only two winners to receive funding to create new digital series that will be coming soon. Read more about each grant winner below:

David Douglass is a content creator based in Austin focused on highlighting the best restaurants in Texas. He uses humor and culinary knowledge to create videos that tell the stories of both Michelin-starred operations and smaller hole-in-the-wall restaurants. His work is seen by millions of people each year on Instagram and TikTok.

Evelyn Ngugi is a screenwriter and content creator dedicated to infusing important stories with humor. Whether it’s the workplace comedy web series This Coulda Been An Email or educational content like PBS Digital Studios’ Say It Loud, she strives to engage and entertain her vibrant community of Internet cousins who know her as Evelyn From The Internets - the YouTube channel she’s maintained for almost 15 years.

Our judges certainly had their work cut out for them. A very special thank you to Courtney Cook, Rakeda Ervin, Joe Hanson, Estefania de Leon, Tamar Price, Andrew Vela, and Minh Vu for taking time out of their packed schedules to review each submission and carefully select our winners. Our judges come from a wide range of backgrounds in programming, writing, producing, educating, and more, offering unique perspectives and opinions on what Central Texans may find most compelling.

Finally, thank you to all of our applicants for making this such a competitive and inspiring process. Stay tuned for more information about these two upcoming series!