IAWTV Screening Reaches Beyond Two Coasts

In a constant effort to promote Streamy-nominated content to the public and members of the voting body of the International Academy of Web Televison, the IAWTV hosted bi-coastal Streamy Awards finalist screenings on March 11th, 2010. The events took place in New York and Los Angeles (the LA screening was also streamed live via Stickam

) and included clips from nominees in the 11 overall Streamy Awards categories and a presentation of various new media professionals and creators.

Held at NYU’s Cantor Film Center and supported by NYU Tisch School of The Arts, The Writers Guild of America East, The Producers Guild New Media Council and The New York Television Festival, the New York screening included a discussion with MyDamnChannel Founder and CEO Rob Barnett. Barnett discussed his experiences in successfully bringing popular entertainment properties to the web, including Wainy Days and You Suck at Photoshop, and how and why he distributes shows like Easy to Assemble. He revealed that in addition to being very choosey about the content he develops, he takes a very hands off approach in the creative process. Barnett chooses to let the creators of the shows do what they do best: create.

The Los Angeles screening was presented to IAWTV and Screen Actors Guild members as a part of the the Screen Actors Guild LifeRaft Live Stream series, a professional development program that provides insight into the business of acting through seminars. A panel discussion with Streamy nominated producers and creators – all of which were part of SAG signatory shows – followed the screening. Drew Baldwin, Co-Founder of Tubefilter, moderated the panel, which included Aaliyah Williams and Anastasia Ali (producers, Buppies), Ernest Vecchione (creator, Sex Ed), Sandeep Parikh, (creator/writer/director, The Legend of Neil), and Jonathan Stern (producer, Wainy Days). Panelists shared their insights across a wide array of experiences; from how funding and distribution effect production, to the importance of social media tools such as Twitter; and fielded questions from the audience in attendance and online viewers (the Stickam live stream view count exceeded 73,000 views!).

The IAWTV and the Streamy Awards are still very much growing organizations. The success of these types of events is vital to continuing to expand their exposure and engagement beyond the two coasts. But most importantly, they’re great opportunities to expose more people to great web shows, and they provide the kind of face-to-face dialogues and interaction that can be lost when you create and watch content that mostly lives online.