The New York Television Festival, one of the few places where independent television (see: Web series, mostly, though that's shifting somewhat with this year's crop) gets feted at any sort of level, concluded over the weekend, and the big winners included a show about young people living in Brooklyn, a show about faded celebrities in Los Angeles, a show about young people living in Brooklyn, and a show about a former polygamist wife forced to bring down an evil empire. So, you know, the sorts of things you can see on TV every week.
We kid, of course, because we love those crazy kids making independent TV, and we'll hopefully have further thoughts for you on many of the shows that we best liked out of the selection in the weeks to come. But for now, here are the winners, along with trailers for the big picks. (Want to see more trailers? They're available at the NYTVF YouTube page.) We'll start with the biggest pick of all, which our own Todd VanDerwerff helped vote on, thereby making it the most important award ever given.
NYTVF Critics Award: Redesigning Your Life With Lainey Chase from Eric Cyphers (Los Angeles, CA)
Bing Audience Award: I Hate Being Single from Rob Michael Hugel (Brooklyn, NY)
Comedy: Duder from Matt Kirsch (Brooklyn, NY) (Kirsch works for our sister publication, The Onion, so clearly, this award was justified. Congratulations, Matt!)
Drama: Finding Hope from Diane Namm (Malibu, CA)
Animation: Cafe Bloodbath from Matt Cook and Carlo Johnson (Brooklyn, NY)
Dramedy: 15 Minutes from Bobby Salomon (Los Angeles, CA)
Family: Ruby Skye P.I. from Jill Golick (Toronto, Ontario)
Web Series: Vice, Inc. from Sean Skelton (Brooklyn, NY)
Nonscripted: Dinner Party Crashers from Bo Vongsakoun (Denver, CO)
Actress Comedy: Jackie Debatin in Redesigning Your Life With Lainey Chase
Actress Drama or Dramedy: Rene Ashton in MILF Money
Actor Comedy: (tie) Chris O'Neill and Paul Valenti in The Chris and Paul Show
Actor Drama or Dramedy: Al Thompson in Odessa
Nonscripted Character or Host: Christophe for Heavy Metal Nanny (Los Angeles, CA)
Director: Mark Gray and Scotty Weil for Meter Men (Los Angeles, CA)
Writer: Joseph Saroufim and Debbie Singer for OB/GY Anne (Santa Monica, CA)
FX “There Is No Box” Comedy Award: Josh Jennings For Congress from Nathan Gotsch (Los Angeles, CA)
IFC “Out of the Box” Award: St. James St. James Presents: Delirium Cinema from Ross Patterson (Los Angeles, CA)
MTV “Voice and Vision” Animation Awards for Writing and Animation: Pound Dogs from Mike Salva (Nashville, TN)
Syfy Digital Studio “Imagine Greater” Award: Odessa from Al Thompson (New York, NY)