2010 Streamy Awards Voting Deadline Draws Near, Public Submissions Close January, 15th (UPDATE - Deadline Extended to January 18th)

The second annual Streamy Awards season is in full gear and kicked off last month with the launch of new Streamys.org website, never-before-seen footage from the 2009 event and the call for entries for the 2010 awards. Now with only days left for the Streamy Awards Submission deadline you still have time to vote for your favorite web series. Votes can be cast until this Friday, January 15 using the Public Submissions Form. Content creators and individuals directly associated with online episodic programs have until Friday, January 22 to submit via the Certified Submissions Form.

UPDATE 1/16/10: The deadline for Public Submissions has just been extended to 11:59PM PST on Monday, January 18. Certified Submissions will still close after 11:59PM PST on Friday, January 22, 2010.

Last year’s Streamy Awards received over 100,000 unique public submissions from over 89 countries and hundreds of thousands of votes for 10 Audience Choice Award Finalists. Big winners were Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and The Guild, and both Joss Whedon and Felicia Day, who provided heartfelt acceptance speeches that both inspired the audience and legitimized the art and craft of the independent web series producer.

Day called herself, "a square peg and I’ve been trying to fit into a round Hollywood hole for a very long time." She thanked all the Hollywood establishment for beating her down and forcing her to pick up a pen and write her own web series. Whedon referred to himself as “the establishment guy" noting that while the television industry is in a funky state, web television is on the rise and web series producers are the pioneers, "of what’s going to be not just the new media, but the media."

See more videos from the 1st Annual Streamy Awards here.

Nominees and winners will be honored at the second-annual awards program to be held on Sunday, April 11, 2010 in Los Angeles. Submissions will be accepted via the Streamys web site at www.streamys.org beginning today through January 22, 2010. This year's Streamy Awards features 12 new categories.

"to include different types of online series, recognize more talent and technical areas of excellence, and highlight viewer experiences unique to the medium."

The new categories include awards for Live Production, Foreign Series, Vlogging, Interactive Experience, Branded Entertainment, and Mobile Experience. After the close of public voting and content creator submissions, nominees across the 36 categories will be honored by the International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV), a member-run non-profit organization comprised of leaders and stakeholders within the growing web television industry, and the official presenting body behind the Streamy Awards. The Streamy Awards are co-hosted by Tubefilter and NewTeeVee.

With the growth of the independent producer community and new channels of distribution in the last few years, the groundbreaking success of the 1st Annual Streamy Awards shined a light on the community of web television innovators in this emerging entertainment art form. Web television is finally recognized as a legitimate entertainment platform.

"The 2010 Streamys is about advancing open entertainment and its benefits to both consumers and creators by showcasing the staggering creative expression online. Our goal is to propel the new entertainment ecosystem by empowering a growing group of creators while helping everyone else find content that they love."

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Dr. Horrible Hijacks the Emmys, Declares "Television is Dead"

In what was a long, drawn out and over-produced spectacle of Hollywood award shows, the 61st annual prime-time Emmys, had an interesting web television moment when Dr. Horrible hijacked the show. Neil Patrick Harris, adding to his hosting duties reprised his role as the evil character from Joss Whedon's acclaimed web series musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

In the middle of the broadcast Dr. Horrible interrupted the program and mockingly declared, 

"Do not adjust your set America. Your so-called Emmys have been hijacked by Dr. Horrible. I have hacked into your broadcast to declare that television is dead. No more corporate entertainment. No more self-congratulatory award shows with athletic and luminous hosts. The future of home entertainment is the Internet."

His arch nemesis Captain Hammer played by Nathan Fillion, also appeared along with cameos from co-stars Felicia Day and Simon Helberg. The hit web television also won a Creative Arts Emmy in the Outstanding Special Class – Short-Form Live-Action Entertainment Programs category earlier in the week. 

In his acceptance speech creator Joss Whedon said, 

"This is our small proof not only that things can be done differently in this business, but that the greatest expression of rebellion is joy.”

On a related note, earlier in the evening Julia Louis-Dreyfus joked that viewers were witnessing “the last official year of network broadcast television." While that may be sometime in the future you can bet that they'll be back next year.

Realted: 

• Wait, Aren’t The Emmys Supposed To Be For TV Shows? | Columnists | Mediaite
  
• » Dr Horrible Wins An Emmy!: Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
  
• drhorrible (drhorrible) on Twitter
  
• Hulu - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - Watch the full episode now.
  

The Streamy Awards: Web Television Comes of Age

History was made Saturday night with the first annual Streamy Awards show held at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles. A sold-out crowd of over 1300 guests gathered for the gala event to honor the best web series and talent from 2008.

The big winners of the night were Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and The Guild and both Joss Whedon and Felicia Day provided moving acceptance speeches that inspired the audience and legitimized the art and craft of the independent web series producer.

Day called herself, "a square peg and I’ve been trying to fit into a round Hollywood hole for a very long time" and thanked all the Hollywood establishment for beating her down and forcing her to pick up a pen and write her own web series. Whedon referred to himself as “the establishment guy" noting that while the television industry is in a funky state, web television is on the rise and web series producers are the pioneers "of what’s going to be not just the new media, but the media."

Tubefilter's Marc Hustvedt noted that,"For the thousands of people who tuned in to the live stream of the show, they may not have realized they were a part of history, watching the first ever professionally produced awards show live streamed to the internet. Viewers from all over the world watched, without any distribution restrictions, and shared the play-by-play with constant flow of tweets and updates."

Original episodic web television has grown up in a short time and is now recognized as a respected and legitimate art form. The Streamy Awards has set a new precedent and Jamison Tilsner said it best in post today that the Streamy Award winners celebrated the arrival of open entertainment, "The list of artists below represents the unique, outstanding, commercially viable entertainment industry that’s thriving on a totally open medium with limitless possibilities. The Streamy Awards Ceremony highlighted the new power dynamic in the entertainment industry within which creators, studios, agents, guilds and advertisers have begun to operate."

Congratulations to all the award winners, nominees, the organizers Tubefilter, Tilzy.tv, NewTeeVee and all the sponsors!

Here's the official list compliments of Tubefilter News:

The Official Winners of the 1st Annual Streamy Awards - March 28, 2009

Overall Series Best Comedy Web Series The Guild Best Dramatic Web Series Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy Best Hosted Web Series EPIC FU Best Reality or Documentary Web Series The Shatner Project Best News or Politics Web Series Alive in Baghdad Audience Choice Award for Best Web Series Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Directing Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (Joss Whedon) Best Directing for a Dramatic Web Series Pink (Blake Calhoun) Writing Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon Best Writing for a Dramatic Web Series Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy (Jane Espenson, Seamus Kevin Fahey, Ronald D. Moore)

Acting Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series Neil Patrick Harris — (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series Felicia Day — (The Guild) Best Male Actor in a Dramatic Web Series Alessandro Juliani — (Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy) Best Female Actor in a Dramatic Web Series Rosario Dawson — (Gemini Division) Best Ensemble Cast in a Web Series The Guild Best Guest Star in a Web Series Paul Rudd — (Wainy Days) Best Web Series Host Alex Albrecht — (Project Lore) Craft Awards Best Editing (*) Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog— (Lisa Lassek) Best Cinematography (*) Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog — (Ryan Green) Best Art Direction (*) Tiki Bar TV — (Kim Bailey) Best Visual Effects (*) Backyard FX — (Erik Beck) Best Animation in a Web Series The Meth Minute 39 — (Dan Meth) Best Original Music (*) Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog — (Jed Whedon) Best Ad Integration in a Web Series Back on Topps — (Skype) Best Artistic Concept in a Web Series (*) You Suck at Photoshop * indicates awards presented at the Craft Awards reception on March 26, 2009.

Back stage coverage of 1st Annual Streamy Awards | 12seconds.tv (beta):

streamyawards on 12seconds.tv

Photo credits:
Felicia Day by TheBuiBrothers.com
Neil Patrick Harris by WireImage.com

Stay tuned for more StreamyAwards coverage in the coming days.