Belmar Content Creator John Walsh Wins COVID-19 Video Contest

BELMAR, NJ – Belmar resident John Walsh was recently named the winner of the “Your State, Your Voice” video contest, a statewide multimedia competition from the Murphy Administration aimed at encouraging residents to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Walsh, a digital comedy content creator, found out about the contest through a press conference from Gov. Phil Murphy, plus multiple family and friends telling him that he should enter the contest. His submission, “Jersey Summer,” beat out 28 other videos to win the contest.

“With a bachelor's degree in Film and Media from The University of the Arts, and my recent video successes through my own social media channel @itsJohnWalsh, I thought this would be a perfect way to lend my voice and vision to help get people vaccinated,” Walsh said.

The contest only gave entrants seven days to submit their videos so it was a lot of work to come up with a video that not only embraced the seriousness of COVID-19 and getting vaccinated while also being entertaining and funny.

“That took a few days, and the timeline of the contest was only one week. I wanted to create a video that was informational and would also make people laugh. COVID is such a serious topic; I wanted to make this commercial light-hearted and fun while at the same time inspire people to get the shot. So that's why we say, ‘I’m getting the shot… so I can take shots,” Walsh said.

While his winning video is light-hearted and funny, the importance of the whole situation is something that isn’t lost on Walsh.

“This contest afforded me the opportunity to create a commercial that will be used to promote vaccinations in the state of N.J; not many people can say that,” Walsh said.

“I hope through the audience I already have and have gained through this contest that this video will encourage some who may have been hesitant or for whatever reason have not got vaccinated to now roll up their sleeves.”