Canadian Author Loridee De Villa’s “The Infinite Worlds of Ella Jane” Narrative Podcast Premieres
The YA fantasy story won the Accelerator Writing Contest from Shaw Rocket Fund, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and Shaftesbury
LOS ANGELES AND TORONTO – March 17, 2025 – Shaw Rocket Fund, the largest private investor dedicated to Canadian children’s media, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, the fan-driven studio and IP business from WEBTOON Entertainment Inc., and Shaftesbury, the award-winning production company behind the global hit TV series “Murdoch Mysteries”, “Hudson & Rex” and “Life with Derek,” today released a new podcast, “The Infinite Worlds of Ella Jane,” available on all major podcast platforms.
Written by Canadian author Loridee De Villa, the story follows Ella Jane (EJ) Flores, a Filipino-Canadian teen who is thrown into the deep end of a pool at a house party and wakes up in another dimension where she must pose as her doppelganger, a revered military general who has gone missing. While trying to find a way out, EJ finds herself caught in the midst of a political uproar in the Empire of Estonia. “The Infinite Worlds of Ella Jane” tackles dealing with loss and burgeoning young adulthood for an emotional experience that audiences will not only relate to, but revel in. The podcast, distributed globally by Emerald Audio, a female-driven podcast network that specializes in immersive, scripted audio experiences, will feature nine episodes which debut weekly on Tuesdays.
This YA fantasy story was the winner of the 2020 Shaw Rocket Fund Accelerator Writing Contest from Shaw Rocket Fund and Wattpad, a leading webnovel platform and storytelling community from WEBTOON Entertainment Inc., which asked young writers to create inclusive stories for Canadian teens. De Villa received a mentorship program through Shaftesbury, culminating in the production of a narrative podcast based on her winning story “The Infinite Worlds of Ella Jane.” De Villa also authored the Watty award-winning webnovel “How to Be the Best Third Wheel", her debut novel which has accumulated over two million reads on Wattpad.
Executive Producers on the project include Aron Levitz and Sera Tabb for Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, and Jennifer McCann for Shaftesbury, as well as Daphne Ballon (“Life with Derek”), and Jiro Okada (“PAW Patrol”). This is the first narrative podcast project from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios.
Shaftesbury is the producer of over 114 hours of award-winning kids and family programming, including Kids Emmy Award®-winning series “Dark Oracle”, and the long-running hit series “Life with Derek” alongside family movies featuring some of Canada’s best and brightest stars including Tatiana Maslany, Elliot Page and Sandra Oh. Shaftesbury's current primetime slate includes 18 seasons of the international hit series “Murdoch Mysteries” and seven seasons of “Hudson & Rex,” both of which are available in over 120 countries worldwide. Most recently, production was completed on the one-hour crime drama “Underbelly” (starring Stephen Amell, Hamza Haq, Tamara Podemski and Emmy® and Academy Award®-nominee Minnie Driver) and “Irish Blood,” an Irish-Canadian co-production starring Alicia Silverstone.
Wattpad WEBTOON Studios is bringing some of the biggest names and titles in webcomics and webnovels to film and TV screens all over the world with some of the most exciting names in entertainment. Upcoming projects include the 1.7 billion-read sensation “Lore Olympus” with The Jim Henson Company; “Death of a Pop Star” with Oscar winner Diablo Cody and Oscar-nominated producer Mason Novick; “HAWK” with MCU screenwriter Christopher Yost based on the popular sci-fi Wattpad webnovel; T.L. Bodine’s supernatural thriller “The Hound,” adapted by screenwriter Angela LaManna (Max's "Raised by Wolves", Netflix's “The Haunting of Bly Manor”); “Freaking Romance” with Skybound Entertainment and much more.
Emerald Audio, the podcast’s distribution, sales and marketing partner, is a U.S.-based leader in premium scripted podcasting, known for creating listening experiences that resonate with GenZ and Millennial women. They’ve received recognition most notably for their hit show “The Royals of Malibu,” now in its third season, and the 2023 celebrity-filled series “Bad Influencer,” both hitting #1 on the Fiction Charts at their time of release. Emerald is an imprint of Diversion Audio, known for the Webby-Award winning podcast “I Am Kobe” and a slate of other compelling narrative podcasts.
The Infinite Worlds of Ella Jane is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major streaming platforms.