CES Report: 2nd Annual IAWTV Awards Honors the Best Online Video

The people at the International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) have learned much in a year. While the inaugural awards show at International CES 2012 was a brisk but flavor-free ceremony, last night, at a theater in the Venetian Hotel, the second annual IAWTV put the spotlight on the personalities behind the best online video and created a much more enjoyable program. The main change was omitting custom-made videos that introduced each category and simply letting on-stage presenters fill the time.

With the pool of online video talent growing (the academy received over 470 nominees), it was a pleasure to see that the awards were more spread out this time, with no shows dominating as in 2012. Only one show, "Squaresville," took three awards. Shows that took two awards included "The League of S.T.E.A.M.," "What's Trending with Shira Lazar," "Daily Grace," "Red vs. Blue," "My Gimpy Life," "H+: The Digital Series," "The Booth at the End, Season 2," "The Flog," and "Continuum." The above photo shows Teal Sherer who won best female performance (comedy) for "My Gimpy Life."

"I want to thank dinosaurs, because, why not?" said Chris Hardwick receiving an award for his YouTube channel Nerdist.

The full list of IAWTV Awards 2013 winners:

Best Comedy Web Series: "Squaresville"

Best Drama Web Series: "Leap Year"

Best Hosted Taped Web Series: "Daily Grace"

Best Hosted Live Web Series: What's Trending with Shira Lazar

Best Animated Web Series: Red vs. Blue

Best Documentary Web Series: "Prodigies"

Best Variety Web Series: "Rhett & Link"

Best News Web Series: "The Philip DeFranco Show"

Best Educational Web Series: "Engineer Your Space"

Best Online Channel: Nerdist Channel

Best Live Event: "Bill Maher: CrazyStupidPolitics"

Best Writing (Comedy): Matt Enlow, "Squaresville"

Best Writing (Drama): Christopher Kubasik, "The Booth at the End, Season 2"

Best Writing (Non-Fiction): Felicia Day, "The Flog"

Best Directing (Comedy): Sean Becker, "My Gimpy Life"

Best Directing (Drama): Tina Cesa Ward, "Anyone But Me"

Best Directing (Non-Fiction): Sean Becker, "The Flog"

Best Female Performance (Comedy): Teal Sherer, "My Gimpy Life"

Best Female Performance (Drama): Julia Stiles, "Blue"

Best Male Performance (Comedy): Jeff Lewis, "The Jeff Lewis 5-Minute Comedy Hour"

Best Male Performance (Drama): Xander Berkeley, "The Booth at the End, Season 2"

Best Ensemble Performance: "Squaresville"

Best Host (Taped): Grace Helbig, "Daily Grace"

Best Host (Live): Shira Lazar, "What's Trending with Shira Lazar"

Best Cinematography: Brett Pawlak, "H+: The Digital Series"

Best Design: Eric Whitney, "Continuum"

Best Costume Design: "The League of S.T.E.A.M."

Best Makeup/Special Effects: "The League of S.T.E.A.M."

Best Visual Effects: "H+: The Digital Series"

Best Editing: Blake Calhoun, "Continuum"

Best Original Music: Rob Gokee, "Cost of Capital"

Best Supplemental Content: "Red vs. Blue"

Best Interactive/Social Media Experience: "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries"

"The Guild" and Shira Lazar Clean Up at Inaugural IAWTV Awards

Ceremony plays it safe and sticks to its running time, although the whole night is a walk on the mild side.

13 Jan 2012