SeriesFest, the television event in Denver, drew dozens of independent creators over the last few days and has now handed out some awards for its pilot competition.
Some 45 pilots from around the world were in competition at the tenth iteration of the festival.
Check back later this week to hear from a number of the creators about their plans to breakthrough with their own independent projects.
Winners included Shazia Javed’s Potluck Ladies and Jesse Toledano’s Broken Toilets, while Anna Camp-starring Neo-Dome, from Mark and Matt Pfeffer scooped the audience award.
Potluck Ladies won the drama awards. It follows Sumaira, Azra, and Ruby, who live in “The Wives Condos” in the suburbs of Toronto with their children, while their husbands work in other countries. They initially meet at potluck lunches, a weekly guilt-free escape from the loneliness of immigrant life. At first glance, they seem to be living perfect lives, but when their carefully crafted facades crumble, they must learn to be vulnerable and seek each other’s support.
Written and directed by Javed, the pilot stars Natasha Krishnan, Elisa Moolecherry and Kavita Musty.
On the comedy side, Toledano wrote and directed Broken Toilets, which stars Luzer Twersky and Dede Lovelace. It tells the story of Yossi Klein, a young Hassidic man, tasked to take care of his father-in-law’s buildings in a low-income, mostly black outer borough of NYC. But Yossi has a secret – he loves hip hop. During the everyday mundane, often absurd tasks that come along with property management, he meets two tenants – young aspiring hip hop artists, DiAndra “Dee” Jones and Kevin Randolph. Together they form the most unlikely of musical trios and set off to make a demo record, all the while Yossi navigates what it means to be a Hassidic Jew in the modern world.
Elsewhere, Breakthrough, a documentary series that explores how athletes face identity crises and depression, won the unscripted awards, The Haunting of Trisha Lozada won the Pitch-A-Thon, the Neo-Dome ensemble won the best performance and the audience award for independent pilot competition for drama. The Boy Who Was Afraid of Everything won the audience award for comedy.
“Our Independent Pilot Competition embodies the very essence of SeriesFest and aligns with our core mission – to champion independent artists,” said Randi Kleiner, CEO and Co-Founder of SeriesFest. “With ten seasons under our belt, we’ve been able to establish a platform for showcasing up-and-coming creators, providing them with an outlet to amplify their voices and share their projects with industry executives, established on-screen talent and below-the-line creatives. This year’s winners represent the future of television and we could not be more excited to celebrate their success.”