A little belated on our blog post for it, but this was a very nice surprise! Epic Fu's Zadi Diaz has been nominated for Best Host at the 2010 Streamy Awards! That's two years in a row for the host category. Last year Epic Fu won the Streamy for Best Hosted Web Series, but we didn't win for Best Host.
Since we put out so few shows in 2009, we didn't actively campaign for a nomination for the Streamys. But there's a lot of momentum, at least in Los Angeles, around the Streamys this year, so it's nice to be a part of it again. For one thing, it's the first time there's a second year of any web video awards ceremony. You have to hand it to the guys who founded the Streamys and the IAWTV, the voting body that selects nominees and winners for the Streamys. It's definitely not easy to sustain a large awards event in this economic environment.
Congratulations to all the nominees, including tons of friends! See you on April 11th!
On March 28, 2009 at the Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles, new media changed. At the first annual Streamy Awards, over 1300 people came out looking their best and took part in an event that moved online video -- or at least a part of it -- into the realm of Hollywood-style entertainment.
There was a red carpet, lots of press coverage, and a ceremony that looked very much like something you might see for the Emmy Awards. There were celebrities, new content creators, and familiar faces from our travels that looked energized, surprised, and in some cases, not entirely sure what to make of the whole thing. In fact, it's taken me a couple of days just to process everything and get a perspective on the evening.
The Streamy Awards are designed to recognize outstanding achievement for shows produced originally for broadband distribution, and we're thrilled that EPIC FU is nominated in two categories, Best Hosted Web Series, and Best Host!
This is the Streamy's inaugural year and they held an open nomination process that received over 100,000 submissions. Three of the top industry blogs that cover online video are behind the Streamy's, GigaOm's NewTeeVee, Tubefilter, and Tilzy.TV. They've done a bang-up job with the site, and the official nominees were announced on March 14.
The International Academy of Web Television is the voting body behind The Streamy Awards, and Zadi and I are extremely honored to be among the inaugural Academy Members. Our fellow members are all very accomplished and influential in their respective fields, and we are all pleased that online video is taking bold steps forward as it gains more and more notoriety in the mainstream.
Kudos to Drew Baldwin, Brady Brim-DeForest, Joshua Cohen, Marc Hustvedt, Liz Shannon Miller, and Jamison Tilsner for their tireless work to put all of this together. Join us at the ceremony and gala on March 28th at the Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles!
