Australian-made dramas, comedies, sci-fi series and reality TV were amongst the winners at LAWebfest this year.
For the third in our ‘great stuff online’ series, we shine a spotlight on the talented Australians who were recognised at the Los Angeles Web Series Festival (aka LAWebfest) from April 22-24. An outstanding 10 different series won prizes across a range of categories and genres, from editing, to directing, to VFX ad sound design.
Here’s a look at the Australian productions awarded at the festival.
DRAMA
A three-part online series from the creators of The Tunnel and Event Zero, this sci-fi story follows the Security Officer of a derelict ship (played by Mark Coles Smith), who is tasked with investigating an isolated space station they happen upon. What he finds is a murdered crew and a group of asylum seekers hiding a secret that could put not just them, but humanity itself, in danger.
OUTSTANDING EDITING
Endo Tedeschi, Antonio Mestres, “Airlock” (Ryde, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Mark Coles Smith, “Airlock” (Ryde, AUSTRALIA)
Australia’s most successful lesbian multiplatform drama, Starting From Now amassed over 20 million views across its first three seasons. The series secured Screen Australia and Screen NSW funding for Seasons 4 and 5, which were then acquired and screened on SBS2 as television half-hours.
OUTSTANDING WRITING
Julie Kalceff, “Starting From Now: Season 3” (Marrickville, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE CAST
Rosie Lourde, Sarah de Possesse, Heather Mitchell, Frankie Savige, Lauren Orrell, Bianca Bradey, Kylie Watson, Clementine Mills, Peter McAllum, “Starting From Now: Season 3” (Marrickville, AUSTRALIA)
The follow-up to the popular Wastelander Panda online series from 2012 has Isaac, one of the last remaining pandas in the Wasteland, banished with his family for his part in an inexcusable crime – a wrong he must now put right if his family is ever to be reinstated into the Tribe of Legion.
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL/VISUAL EFFECTS
Jeremy Kelly-Baker, “Wastelander Panda: Exile” (Glenunga, AUSTRALIA)
A series created and written by Tony Avard that aims to shed light and educate people about the issues of HIV and sexual assault, through the stories of four friends finding their way through life in their 20s.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Tony Avard, “Follies of Youth” (Seaford, AUSTRALIA)
An Australian/Scandinavian co-production, this five-part web series was shot in WA and follows James (Ethan Tomas) as he returns after a decade-long absence, determined to piece his life back together with his former girlfriend. But this dream is disrupted when her brother tells James a secret.
OUTSTANDING EDITING
Sofie Steenberger, Rebecca Jorgensen, “Greenfield” (North Perth, AUSTRALIA)
COMEDY
This series about an awkward sexual encounter between two friends, was created by a group of freshly minted film school graduates and selected for Screen Australia and ABC’s Fresh Blood Pilot Season. It was previously featured on our ‘great stuff online’ series.
OUTSTANDING EDITING
Anil Griffin, “BedHead” (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jody Kennedy, “BedHead” (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING
Benjamin Matthew, “BedHead” (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Paul Ayre, “BedHead” (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
LAWEBFEST-RIO WEBFEST (BRAZIL) GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
BedHead (Comedy/Reece Jones, creator; Benjamin Mathews, Claire Phillips, Tom Keele, Reece Jones, & Jon Dalgaard, creators & producers/Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
Written and directed by Joshua Lundberg, this stars Georgia Woodward as Charlotte, a 20-something-year-old who finds herself with a lease she can’t afford to keep up when her partner packs up and leaves. The solution? Three new housemates. Also starring David Halgren, Sonny Joe, Grace Avery and Lauren Rowe.
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR
Nick Dale/ Ep.1, “A Shared House” (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING WRITING
Joshua Lundberg, “A Shared House” (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
When two funeral directors inherit a small TV station, they try to make their ratings plummet so a major corporation will lose interest in turning it into a home shopping channel. Their plan? To find the worst onscreen talent to create the worst shows. Directed by Nir Shelter, who also did the award-winning sound design (see below) and co-wrote the series with fellow creator/producer and star Tai Scrivener.
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR
Brett Heath / EP.7, “VTV” (Rose Bay, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL/VISUAL EFFECTS
Lyle Carroll, “VTV” (Rose Bay, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN
Nir Shelter, “VTV” (Rose Bay, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
“VTV” (Nir Shelter, Tai Scrivener – creators & producers, (Rose Bay, AUSTRALIA)
LAWEBFEST-KWEBFEST (KOREA) GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
VTV (Comedy/Nir Shelter, Tai Scrivener, creators & producers/Rose Bay, AUSTRALIA)
A group of scientists are out to get the cold, hard facts about common movie tropes such as whether anyone WOULD actually hear you if you screamed in space, and why all directors have beards. Created by Swingtime, originally it began life as a trailer but has since been developed into a series.
OUTSTANDING SERIES PREMISE
“The Film Lab” Phil MacDonald – creator/Nicholas Hansen, Stuart Subotic – creators & producers) (Darlinghurst, AUSTRALIA)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING
Nicholas Hansen, “The Film Lab” (Darlinghurst, AUSTRALIA)
Featured in the last edition of ‘great stuff online’, this series follows four housemates exploring those so-called “best years of your life” in your 20s (don’t worry, although it’s all downhill from there, it apparently picks up again in your 60s). Co-created and written by Ash Mortimer and Mar Borboa.
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE CAST
“The Happiness Curve” Mindy Fyfe, Laura Vine, Tass Labra, Ajay Banks, Eileen Chase, Mitch Ralston, Dom Weintraub, Seon Williams, Simon Gilberg, Evan Raif, (Sandringham, AUSTRALIA)
STUDENT SERIES
Created by students from La Trobe University, this series is comprised of a number of biographical short docs about ‘ordinary’ Melbournians, which together seek to show how extraordinary and layered the city truly is.
OUTSTANDING STUDENT SERIES
“Magnify Melbourne” [Reality/Documentary] (Steinar Ellingsen, La Trobe University Students – creators & producers) (Melbourne, AUSTRALIA)
REALITY
When Tim Domer won Big Brother in 2013, he promised fellow contestant and best friend Ben Zabel he would take him to the home of his childhood idol Elvis Presley. But the holiday to Graceland became something else following Ben’s public struggle with depression – a search for happiness, and if it’s that simple.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING
Nick McInerney, “The Graceland Happiness Project” (Melbourne, AUSTRALIA)
*Supported by Screen Australia
**Season 4 supported by Screen Australia
