SeriesFest, the annual television festival in Denver, has unveiled the winners of its independent pilot competition.
Lake Boga won best drama pilot, Settle Down won best comedy pilot, Vs. Goliath won best unscripted pilot and F*ckUps Anonymous picked up the award for best short series.
“We can think of no better way to close out another successful edition of the festival than to celebrate and give back to the independent storytellers who continue to push the boundaries of the medium,” said SeriesFest Co-Founders Randi Kleiner and Kaily Smith. “SeriesFest has a long history of being a discovery platform for the independent television community, and we are thrilled to be able to further this year’s creatives’ work through the opportunities these awards and resources provide.”
Lake Boga, which was directed by Ben Bryan and exec produced by Nick Farnell and Anthony Sharpe, follows Nathan, an experienced ex-military assassin, who is hired for the job of a lifetime: to find and destroy every single meth lab in the state, after the meth-addicted daughter of a mysterious businessman named The Baron is declared missing, presumed dead. It stars Nick Capper, who wrote it with Bryan, Alicia Jefferies, Shea Mcdonough, Mark Nicholson, Tim O’dwyer and Jamie Benbow.
In the drama section, Red Clay’s Christian Nolan Jones won best director, the cast of Red Clay, including Rutina Wesley, Christopher A’mmanuel, Vanna Pilgrim, Leslie Sawyer, Candice Singleton, Kool Ace, Heaven Epps and Marcus Tabb won best performance and Desean K. Terry and John E. Phillips picked up best writers for Taming, or Life in a Not-So Modern Age, while $hare got an honorable mention.
Settle Down, which is directed by Sam Coyle and written by Alexander Nunez and Izad Etemadi, follows Mason, a matchmaker and the creator and host of Settle Down, a wildly popular podcast for which listeners can get answers to questions on all things love. At his matchmaking business, Mason helps special cases from all walks of life connect with their perfect partner. Business is booming… but his personal life is a disaster.
Nunez also won best writer, while Cuming Out’s Jasmine J. Johnson won best director in the comedy field and Bulldozer’s Joanna Leeds won best performance. There was an honorable mention for The Incredible Fiancées of Sèyí Àjàyí.
Vs. Goliath (SeriesFest)
Vs. Goliath, which was directed by Sam Eilertsen and Nate Birnbaum, follows a retired schoolteacher, a former oil refinery worker, an Army veteran, and a group of Indigenous activists, who come together to fight the fossil fuel industry and protect their homelands while imagining a more just and prosperous future for their communities.
Denim’s Tedra won the best director in the unscripted area.
F*ckUps Anonymous, which was written by Joe Tierney and directed by Kat Whalen, follows rebellious teenager Joe, who is abducted from his bed and delivered to a therapeutic boarding school with controversial methods after pushing his mother to the point of last resort. It stars Sarah Jeffery, Andrew Michael Fama, Lexi Simonsen, Debbie Campbell, Bob Gallagher, Marvin St-Jean, Stephen Grey and Timothy Allen.
Elsewhere, in the best Digital Short Series arena, Heck to Death’s Dustie Carter won best director, Busted!’s Sarah Adelman won best writer and the cast of We Should Eat won best performance. There was an honorable mention for Awol.
In its late-night pilot category, Stars Diner won the award for its Fidel Ruiz-Healy and Tyler Walker-directed pilot. The project follows Wendy and Milius, who must continuously save Stars Diner from catastrophe using Wendy’s heart of gold and Milius’ military bravura. It stars Mary Neely, DeMorge Brown, Henri Cash, Cole Hersch, Chris Thayer and Natalie Palamides.
Zhizha won the pitch-a-thon. It is a half-hour long workplace comedy about a family business in the death industry trying to stay alive.
Elsewhere, there were a number of audience awards. The Rebel Girls won best independent drama pilot, Bulldozer won best independent comedy pilot, Vs. Goliath won its second award in unscripted, Busted! Won best digital short series and The Roomates won the late-night pilot award.
