The third season of SeriesFest culminated today in an awards ceremony recognizing some of the best independent television currently in production.
In the drama category “Up North,” created by Emil Pinnock & Damaine Radcliff, picked up four awards including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Pilot, while also winning the overall Audience Award (voted on by festival attendees). The pilot digs into the brutal reality of the New York prison system, as an innocent teenager gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.
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In comedy, the original series “Giving Up,” created by Kris Lefcoe, was recognized for Best Pilot and Best Director, while Brian Jordan Alvarez’s “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo” won the award for Best Writing. “PPL: Wizard Oz” was the winner of the inaugural Unscripted prize.
In addition, the digital shorts section recognized series that have already premiered online: the Super Deluxe gay marriage comedy “Disengaged” received the top award, while the quirky puppet series “The Creatures of Yes” received an honorable mention.
“This year’s festival has been host to countless meetings with development companies, networks, and producers, and we are excited to see what the future has in store for these remarkable stories.” Randi Kleiner, CEO of SeriesFest said in a statement.
SeriesFest Season 3 ran from June 28-July 2 in Denver, Colorado. Check out the full winners list below.
Best Pilot in a Drama: “Up North”
Best Actor in a Drama: Ian Duff, “Up North”
Best Actress in a Drama: Destini Huston, “Public Housing Unit”
Best Director in a Drama: Emil Pinnock & Damaine Radcliff, “Up North”
Best Writer in a Drama: Daniel Willis and Patrick Wimp, “Public Housing Unit”
Best Pilot in a Comedy: “Giving Up”
Best Actor in a Comedy: Kevin Corrigan, “The Holdouts”
Honorable Mention, Best Actor: Kyle Dunnigan, “Shit Kids”
Best Actress in a Comedy: Alexis Rhee, “According to My Mother”
Best Director in a Comedy: Kris Lefcoe, “Giving Up”
Best Writer in a Comedy: Brian Jordan Alvarez, “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo”
Best Pilot in an Unscripted Series: “PPL: Wizard Oz”
Audience Award: “Up North”
“EL REY NETWORK DIVERSITY IN STORYTELLING” AWARD
“MEN”
DIGITAL SHORT SERIES COMPETITION
Digital Short Series Award: “Disengaged”
Honorable Mention: “The Creatures of Yes”
LATE NIGHT COMPETITION
Late Night Award: “Urbance”
“VISIONARY IN MEDIA” AWARD
Krista Smith
“STORYTELLERS INITIATIVE” AWARD
“You from the Future”
SERIESFEST & SEED&SPARK “NEW VOICE CROWDFUNDING RALLY” AWARD
“The Fob & I”
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