Mar 29 2009
The Streamy Awards: Web video gets its very own Emmy ceremony
Last night marked the ceremony for the first annual Streamy Awards, a ceremony designed to throw some recognition at the hotter-by-the-minute trend of web television. Personally, I’m ecstatic that web video is becoming ever more popular, I’m pleased that someone is trying to award people for excellence in this medium and I absolutely love that I got to see people like Joss Whedon, Felicia Day and Jane Espenson make acceptance speeches on a stage in front of a crowd of people. These things are all cool and worth recognizing. However, the more I looked at how the Streamys were implemented and the structure they chose to take, the more unsettled I was.
One of the wonderful things about web video is that it’s able to succeed doing things that film and television don’t. It’s innovative. It’s bends the rules. So why, in this the first ever awards to recognize web television did the International Academy of Web Television decide to follow the blueprint of the horribly flawed Emmy awards at almost every turn? Here are a few of the things I’m talking about:
Who the heck is the International Academy of Web Television?
This is one of those issues with any media awards show, the murky details around who is privileged enough to get to select the nominees and winners. According their website, the IAWT is:
…an independent organization whose membership is comprised of leaders in the field of web television, web video and the digital entertainment industry
And that…
Academy membership is by invitation only.
Well that’s just clear as mud. Who are these leaders and who chose them as such? One of the stellar things about web video and digital entertainment is that any schlub with a webcam can make a show in the comfort of their own home. The world of a web entertainment is ruled by a true form of democracy: if you make good stuff and are smart about getting it out there, you’re popular. So why, in choosing to recognize people in this medium, would you construct an elite group of unnamed “leaders” to decide whose the best?
Why the restriction of the made category of “web television”?
Why have the Streamys and the self-proclaimed International Academy of “Web Television” decided to focus specifically on “episodic” web videos? Why are standalone videos being left out, to find their International Academy? Why can’t there be one big happy family of web video. All web video goes to the same place and gets distributed in the same way. Why does a video that is split up into three parts (the minimum number of episodes to be recognized by the Streamys, which I’m sure has nothing to do with that being how many parts Dr. Horrible had), no matter the length, qualify for the Streamys, but a single video that might be the same length as an entire web series not? I’m cool with having series and standalone in separate categories rather than competing against each other, but I don’t get the exclusion of standalone videos whole hog. Even the Emmys recognize made for TV movies. It’s about the medium, not how many pieces something is chopped into.
Money makes a difference
Ease of access and distribution means that someone with a video camera in their cell phone can create a web show, as can someone with access to the backlot of a Hollywood studio. But should those products really be judged alongside each other on all fronts. Given the independent nature of a large swath of web video, it would be prudent for the technical awards and even the various Best Series awards to be separated into different categories by budget, similar to what the IFC Independent Film awards do. The results of this less than level playing field can be seen when you look at the list of Streamy winners (which you’ll hopefully be able to view on their website soon, for some reason they haven’t bothered to updated it yet). Well-funded productions like Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy racked up several awards and even The Guild, which started out as a very homegrown project is now being funded by Microsoft. I’m more than happy to see all of these shows get their due, but it sure would be nice if the Streamys threw some love at some startup web video and not forcing them all to go head-to-head with productions that have far more resources.
The Streamy Craft Awards? WTF?
The Streamy Craft Awards were held on Thursday night, recognizing technical awards like Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Visual Effects, Animation and Original Music, in addition to Best Ad Integration and Best Artistic Concept. Meanwhile, the Writing, Directing, Acting and Best Series awards were all given out last night at the main ceremony. Why were these separate? Was this simply a logistical issue in that there were too many categories to cover in one evening. The Emmys and the Oscars both have separate ceremonies where they hand out less high-profile awards, but their also under time constraints for their broadcast, the Streamys aren’t, given that they merely aired the show through a live stream on their website. In my opinion, Jed Whedon totally should have been able to receive his award for Best Music in a Web Series on the same evening that he and his fellow Whedons received the award for Best Writing in a Comedy Web Series. Separating them out seems to indicate that, somehow, the technical aspects of creating a web series aren’t related to a show being “The Best.” Now, it’s true that the Streamys ran a little long last night. I didn’t get a chance to watch the entire thing, but from what I saw, I think this was due to the absence of an orchestra playing people off, some glitches in the broadcasting of video clips and the presenters going improvising quite a bit when it was their time in the spotlight. So I’m sure the people sitting in the auditorium last night were probably pretty happy that they didn’t have to sit for the reveal of another eight awards, but if they managed their show a little better, that wouldn’t have to add much more to their running time. I’m always annoyed that I don’t get to see several of the Emmy awards that aren’t presented during the main ceremony, it’s a shame that the Streamys are following their example here.
I’m glad the Streamys exist and I’m anxious to see what the future of web video will bring, but the reason that so many interesting voices are choosing to make a home on the web is because it’s different than film and TV. So please, let’s try to recognize web in its own way and not try to copy every other media awards show out there.
