Creators, Community & Can Do Attitudes
“LAWEBFEST sprung from my belief that
shows being made for the web have
entertainment and monetary value
and should be celebrated, studied
and shared. I come from the world
of traditional tv, theater and film.
I still work in those mediums. But
no narrative medium excites me more
today than the entertainment revolution
unfolding before my very eyes on the
Internet.” Michael Ajakwe Jr., a
veteran Emmy-winning tv producer
and NAACP Award-winning playwright
produced the festival with his
dedicated team.
The event generated a lot of enthusiasm
for those creating content in this
relatively new medium. The festival
brought together a community of people
who are venturing into new avenues
for creative expression on the web,
expanding their career opportunities,
and in some cases generating revenues
or finding financial support directly
from their audiences or in the form
of corporate sponsors. These creators
weren't waiting to be discovered, they'd
already had direct and instant feedback
from their audiences online. What they
appreciated, however, was the opportunity
to know that they were among others who
were using this new medium and get the
support and acknowledgment from the
larger entertainment & media communities.
“The Web is the Way” is the motto for
The Los Angeles Web Series Festival.
It is the industry (and world's) first
all-web series festival honoring serialized
shows created specifically for the internet.
Now in its second year, the 3-day festival
ran March 25-27 at Stage 52. More than 50
web series were accepted out of over 200
submissions. The entries hailed from
19 different states and 8 foreign countries.
Along with the screenings, a full schedule
of panel sessions included: Using a Web
Series to Jump Start Your Acting, Writing,
or Producing Career; The Web Series as a
Legitimate Entertainment Genre; Diversity
on the Web: How Internet Shows Are Doing
What TV, Film, & Theater Have Never
Succeeded in Doing; Adaptation: Your
Web Series As Valuable Source Material
For Other Media; and Interactive Narrative
Storytelling: New Ways of Telling Old
Stories. More information can be found
at: www.lawebfest.com and
www.facebook.com/lawebfest.
Speakers included web series creators,
actors and crew, as well as professionals
from SAG New Media, WGA West, Epic Level
Entertainment, Black Women's Entertainment,
Mingle Media TV, Web Series Network and
Total Recall Captioning. Honorees at the
event were trailblazers on the web and in
support of the web series with the
Groundbreaker Award to Hayden Black,
Social Media Award to Kevin Ross; Maverick
Award to Scott Rice, and Envisioneer Awards
to Jean Michel Albert & the City of Marseille,
France.
The 2011 LAWebFest Awards Ceremony was hosted
& MC'd by Michael Ajakwe Jr. and Trisha Mann
with a special musical performance by Scott
Allen & 3rd Scenario at Locals Sports Bar &
Grill. Winners included Outstanding Achievement
in Comedy, Sketch Comedy, Reality,
Horror/Suspense/Fantasy, Dramedy, Drama,
Travel/Talk/Lifestyle, Interactive
Storytelling, Mockumentary and in
Animation/Puppetry. The awards were
handed out were well past midnight to
a packed house. At the end of the night,
Jean Michael Albert and Stephane Rizzo
from the Marseille Web Fest announced nine
winning shows invited to screen in Marseille,
October 14-16 along with an all expense paid
trip for the show creators.
“The fact is that this trend of making
shows for and by the people has jumped
out of LA and New York and infected other
parts of the country like Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, Chicago, Arizona; and has
even mutated out of the United States and
is running the streets of far-off lands
like Australia, New Zealand, the U.K.,
India, Italy, and France says it all.
Hell, the French are so into the web series
this October the city of Marseille will host
Europe's first web series festival.
The experiment is not only a success,
it's a pandemic (the good kind).”
added Festival Founder/Creator Michael Ajakwe Jr.
Whether you want to discover new entertainment,
or be inspired to pick up a camera and a crew
and tell your own story, this is an exciting
new and legitimate art form. It is fueled
by artists who are taking control of their
own destiny and audiences who are embracing
content that is narrow cast to their interests
and humor. This new art intimately and often
instantaneously, connects artists and audiences,
proving that for many, now and in the future,
“the web is the way”.
Just some of the web series that screened
at LAWebFest2011 that you can check out
online:
Script Cops (comedy)
http://www.vimeo.com/7015951
Goodnight Burbank (comedy)
www.goodnightburbank.com
Who... (comedy)
www.ajakwetv.com
My Bitchy Witchy Paris Vacation (dramedy)
www.bitchywitchythefilm.com
Often Awesome: The Series (reality/indie)
www.oftenawesome.com
Slanted (comedy)
www.youtube.com/theslantedshow
Shadow44 (drama)
www.shadow44.com
Green T with Tamara (talk show & lifestyle)
www.greentwithtamara.tv
Flyguys Present the F Word (mockumentary)
www.issarae.com/thefword
Baby Daddy Memoirs
www.valdeanent.com
Vegan 101 (comedy)
www.youtube.com/joannemrose1
Mind's Eye: The Fantasy Web Series (fantasy)
www.mindseyeseries.com
Growing Up Guide Pup (reality/indie)
www.youtube.com/user/GuideDogManiac
Jesus is My Co-Pilot (comedy)
www.aaroncelious.com/Dwayne-Perkins.html
For A Green Card (comedy)
www.foragreencard.blip.tv
The Celibate Nympho Chronicles (comedy)
www.celibatenymphochronicles.com
The PuNanny Diaries (comedy)
www.punannydiaries.com
Ruby Skye PI (narrative comedy)
www.rubyskyepi.com
POP: Puppets of Porn (puppetry)
www.puppetsofporn.com
8:13 (horror)
www.813series.com
The Big Dick Mike Show (comedy)
www.thebigdickmikeshow.com
About Abby (drama)
www.aboutabby.tv
Suck and Moan (dramedy)
www.suckandmoan.com
Apt. 1B (suspense)
www.disgracedtv.com
The Jim (comedy)
www.thejim.tv
Party Girl Plus One (comedy)
www.partygirlplusone.com
Breaking Point (drama)
www.facebook.com/pages/BreakingPoint/101068503294850
The Best Sketch Comedy Show (sketch)
www.juniorvarsitytv.com
