With lockdown and isolation, pubs and venues closed, we’ve all been watching more TV. Maybe you’ve had enough time to watch the whole of what network TV, Netflix and other streaming platforms have to offer. It’s time to start watching all that you can find online!
This year, much more emphasis is being placed on the video awards, with the Comedy Shorts and Best Web Series Awards taking a more prominent spot. In the absence of live events, the Best Show Award is being put on hiatus for 2020 and the Best Web Series Award will be moving up to take its place as the public voted award of the year.
In the US, Broad City started as a web series, catching the eye of Comedy Central who went on to produce the internationally acclaimed hit series, giving a bigger platform for Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson to share their work and activism.
Before Insecure, Issa Rae garnered attention for her work with the web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. She keeps using YouTube as a platform for her work and the work of other creatives of colour, in her channel with over 470K subscribers.
Drunk History is a long running web series that teaches you about history…in a fun way. The History of the Birth Control Pill with Alison Rich and how the Suffragettes learnt Jiu Jitsu with Kirby Howell-Baptiste are two that never left my brain.
These web series helped amplify voices and tell stories that might otherwise have been overlooked by networks.
Last year’s Best Web Series Award winner was Laura Seixas for Dreaming Whilst Black, with Big Deal Films. Currently in commissioning talks with the BBC.
The independent online production allows for more freedom in telling the stories you want to tell, not having to worry about reservations from network sponsors and regulators, with crowdfunding successes showing the audience for these productions exists.
Following the American trend, we want to be in the forefront in helping shine a light on the people producing great work on the web and build a bridge between the online realm and the broadcast industry.
From today, nominate your favourite comedy web series for the Funny Women Awards Best Web Series Award 2020. Find rules and regulations, and fill in the form here.