On the Red Carpet at The Streamy Awards

If you’ve visited Tilzy.TV at all in the past few weeks, you’re probably aware that on March 28 the internet took over Los Angeles for the first annual Streamy Awards, a celebration of excellence in web video.

I was lucky enough to be in attendance and spent some time before the show speaking with web video creators as they walked down the red carpet. (Yes, there was a red carpet.)

The Streamys is the only awards show I’ve ever been to, but, even without the aid of a benchmark, I think it’s safe to assume it’s the coolest awards show in Hollywood. In the true spirit of the Internet, The Streamys embrace all the best parts of an awards show: the dressed-up people, the photographers

, the awards statues and leave behind the stuff we could do without: exorbitant submission fees, drawn-out acceptance speeches, and Bjork wearing a goose.

Everyone seemed happy to be there, even those who didn’t win awards or those who weren’t nominated at all. There was an energy in the Wadsworth Theater, the kind that can only be produced by 1300 people in a room together who realize that something big is happening and they’re all part of it.

As far as I could tell, the 2009 Streamy Awards were a smashing success. And it delights me to imagine both William Shatner and Epic Fu‘s Zadi Diaz sitting in their respective living rooms gazing at their mantlepieces, each admiring their Streamy Award.

Photos by Reed Kavner.