Literary Inspired Webseries Awards: My Issues

As I mentioned in my last post, I have some issues with the LIW Awards. My first issue is that it’s a popularity contest. There are shows with plenty of fans that only watch that one show and will vote for it in every category. This seems to be what happened last year, when Nothing Much To Do swept the awards. Don’t get me wrong, I loved NMTD, and was glad to see it praised, but the amount of awards it won (I think it was 8/10 categories) was a bit ridiculous.

I’m not sure how to adjust for this. My thought is to limit who can vote the second time through. Right now, everyone nominates who they want, and the most common choices get voted between in a second vote. I would say limit nominations from any one show to one per category, but before they can vote, they have to check off all the shows they’ve seen. Seen could be defined as only in it’s entirety or at least in part, I’m not sure which is more fair. From there, you could be ineligible to vote if you haven’t seen over a certain percent of the shows (60% perhaps?). Better yet, you could make it so they can only vote in categories that they’ve seen 3 or more of the shows in (assuming there are 4 or 5 nominees in each category). I think this is fair because it eliminates those who only watch one or two shows, but still takes popularity into consideration. However, this could seem exclusionary.

Secondly, the awards themselves do not reflect the community. It follows the standard awards show format, but our community puts value on nontraditional aspects. Why not have an award for the most organic-feeling show, or the most LGBTQIA+ inclusive show, or the most racially/ethnically diverse show? Why not give an award to the show that used the most creative fundraising techniques? The show that did it best on no budget at all? The possibilities are endless. Last summer, my best friend, Claire, and I made this video, where we discussed these issues in more dept.

Now, I know why it was kept so limited. There is a grand total of ONE PERSON running the LIW Awards. More than 10 categories is too much to ask of one person. So why not ask a friend to help? An unbelievable number of people would be willing to, as evidenced by the outpouring of support and help offered anyone asks for help on a webseries or webseries-related project. Or we could have another set of awards run by someone else that reflects these values. I don't know how well this would go over in the fandom, considering that the Literary Inspired Webseries Care Center (formerly the LBD Care Center) runs the current award and has a huge following. It may feel like infringing on their territory.

Bringing back the topic of fundraising, is it really fair to put shows that can afford to pay their actors up against shows that are just made in the free time of a group of friends? I’m not super sure about this. On one hand, it makes shows with no funding all the more impressive when they’re comparable, but the shows that can afford proper lighting and sound equipment etc. will always have the upper hand.

What do you think? Remember, voting for these awards closes tomorrow, so if you want to vote, do it now. My suggestions are in my last post.

Literary Inspired Webseries Awards: My Picks

So voting for the LIW Awards closes in a little over a week. While I have several issues with this process (to be shared in a later blog post), I thought I'd share who I'm voting for and why.

There are 47 shows eligible for the awards, that is, aired at least one episode in 2015. I have seen 41 of these shows at least in part, most of them in entirety, so I feel I'm likely one of the more informed voters. There are only 10 awards given.

Best Literary Inspired Webseries:
My Vote: From Mansfield With Love. This show felt completely organic and was just unbelievably well done. I loved it so much. I've already rewatched it. It's that good.
Also Deserving: The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy and Carmilla. I didn't vote for them because they feel too professional, and it deviates from the authenticity I love about LIW.

Best Ensemble Cast:
My Vote: The Writing Majors. Every character was endearing and frustrating in their own way and it was beautiful.
Also Deserving: The March Family Letters. The interactions between siblings was wonderful and realistic. Amy was unbelievably annoying, as she should be. Also, LIMES.

Best Transmedia Experience:
My Vote: Green Gables Fables. Mostly for Phillippa's twitter. Because I adore her. Also Anne's Instagram.
Also Deserving: Northbound, because their interactions made me actually follow most character's twitters. And Carmilla, because of the twitter story leading up to season two, which was absolutely hilarious and stressful.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:
My Vote: Holly Truslove as Frankie Price in From Mansfield With Love. Sorry, not sorry for repeatedly choosing this show but she was amazing.
Also Deserving: Nope. No one else even compares.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:
My Vote: To be honest, none of the leading men really blew my mind. I'm going to have to go with Jeremy Stewart as Henry Tinley in Northbound because he was just so friggen cute with Catherine!

Best Chemistry on Screen:
My Vote: Adam Bowes and Steven Christie as George Gleeson and George Bates in Call Me Katie. Just wow. Amazing. I can't express how much love I feel for this relationship. I squeal over them. I didn't even know I knew how to squeal.
Also Deserving: Jessica Alan and Alajandra Simmons as Meg March and Joan Brooke in The March Family Letters. JOAN LITERALLY STOLE MEG'S HEART. Also Jeremy Stewart and Alice Hale as Henry Tinley and Catherine Morland in Northbound, because as previously mentioned, they were so friggen cute.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
My Vote: Kaitlyn Alexander as S. LaFontaine in Carmilla. Before you get all "that's a girl's name, this is a boy's category," they're non-binary and prefer to be in the actor column. So there. But seriously, how could you not love the mad scientist best friend?
Also Deserving: Matt O'Connor as Wilson Kirsh in Carmilla. How he made me love the most clueless frat guy, I will never know. Also, Phosido Dintwe was so convincing as Kitso Harper in Lovely Little Losers that I literally forgot he was acting.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
My Vote: Annie Briggs as Lola Perry in Carmilla. She (SPOILERS) literally played a possessed person during season two, with both consciousnesses having varying degrees of control depending on the episode. It was subtle enough that you suspected, but still weren't sure. 
Also Deserving: Jessica Stansfield as Margaret Winter in Lovely Little Losers. I'm still mad she wasn't a lead role. Why would you let such an opportunity go to waste? I'm also a big fan of Elise Cantu's portrayal of Cara Graves in Classic Alice.

Best Script:
My Vote: The Misselthwaite Archives. Mostly for the Brit Marklan episode. And the Spring Newsletter. I couldn't stop laughing. This show had the best one-liners.
Also Deserving: I'm going to go ahead and say From Mansfield With Love again. This show is one of the stand-outs of the year.

Best Set and Costume Design:
My Vote: The Misselthwaite Archives. Each character had a unique style and it was reflected in their clothes and rooms. Also, their set for the glade was breathtaking. As was the cinematography. There really should be a category for that... Misselthwaite would win hands-down.
Also Deserving: I'm not going to say The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy... mostly because they were sponsored by Modcloth and that gave them their costumes. Carmilla's set was beautiful, and the costumes of Perry and Carmilla really gave insight as to their mental state, so I suppose it'd be my next choice.

I would seriously recommend checking out these shows and the others nominated. A full list can be found here, and feel free to vote here. But remember, voting closes February 26th, so be quick about it.

One Decade Later, I Finally Read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

*SPOILER WARNING*: I will spoil The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in this post. If you haven’t read it (or seen the movie) and want to, I suggest doing so before reading on.

Last Friday, I had a free night for the first time in about a month. No plans. As a rule, I don’t do homework on Friday nights unless I’m booked solid on Saturday and Sunday. I had plans for the weekend, but nothing during the day other than grocery shopping. I decided to take the opportunity to read. Maybe not my best decision; my resume needs serious work, my DPI application is only halfway done, and I’ve saved nearly 20 jobs I meant to apply to. But, you know, it’s the end of the week, and I wanted to do something enjoyable.

I started The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on the flight back from London, where I took an interim class this January. I got about halfway in, but with the chaos of unpacking, repacking, unpacking again, and then school, I hadn’t picked it back up.

I had heard a lot about the book before starting. I had heard it featured violence and sexual assault. This is probably why I had avoided reading it for so long- the book is over a decade old, and it’s been on my self for at least 7 years. But I don’t like to think about those sort of things. It’s not a part of my world, and I avoid it.

I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about the book. The end, when Lisbeth sees Mikael on a date and throws away her gift, all but broke my heart. On the other hand, the age gap between the two of them made me highly uncomfortable. I can’t condone relationships with such a power imbalance, as I’ve tried to explain to my 17 year old sister who is dating a 22 year old, but my warnings always seem to fall on deaf ears. It was amazing the way they cracked the case; I’m familiar enough with the genre to expect twists and turns and information to come up at the last minute, but the specifics were a surprise. I expected Harriet to be alive, but I could never have expected that Martin had a torture chamber in his basement!

While the sexual violence (and gratuitous sex scenes, but that’s another story) made me highly uncomfortable, I saw their necessity. However, I almost felt that they were too condensed. While I was relieved for Lisbeth’s repeat assaults to be over so quickly, it almost would have been more satisfying for her to take back control at the end. After saving Mikael from Martin with a golf club, empowered by her own rashness, and then taking Bjurman down, would have been a killer ending. Instead, it was towards the middle, and then Bjurman completely dropped out of the narrative.

Overall, the book is worth a read; it wasn’t a bestseller for nothing. It’s compelling and fast-paced, has an unlikely heroine, filled with twists, and good triumphs over evil at the end, though it’s close. But if, like me, you’re a bit squeamish about sexual violence, then definitely go in prepared.

What the Frilly Hell Are You On About?

Alright, it is apparent that the only people looking at this blog are those is my Social Media Marketing class (mostly since I haven't really told anyone else about it). My guess is that none of you are in the Literary Inspired Webseries community, and have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. So let's just take it from the beginning, shall we?

Once upon a time, Hank Green and Bernie Su created the masterpiece that is The Lizzie Bennett Diaries. It was an adaption of Pride and Prejudice, where Elizabeth Bennett, the headstrong girl with four sisters, became Lizzie, the sarcastic Mass Communications grad student living at home with her parents and two sisters. She and her best friend, Charlotte Lu (adapted from Charlotte Lucas), start a vlog.

Lizzie took the internet by storm. The first episode has over 2.3 million views. Fans were truly invested in the lives of the characters. The wait for Darcy Day (the day where William Darcy- adapted from Fitzwilliam Darcy- would finally show his face on camera) was agonizing.

Just a month before The Lizzie Bennett Diaries aired it's last episode, The Autobiography of Jane Eyre released it's first. Jane became a recently graduated nursing student who decided she would rather be a live-in tutor. Fans had a collective realization. We could do this too. Fans became the creators. Since then, dozens of adaptions have sprung up. Most follow the vlog-style format, but some deviate. Some imagine authors, rather than characters, into the modern world.

I have followed the vast majority of these shows. 10 months ago, I started making monthly calendars of what is being uploaded when. Here's the February calendar, for example:

All but two of these shows adapt literature in some way. There are also another three adaptions that don't upload regularly. As you can see, there's quite a saturated market for such a niche target.

I believe that this platform has unbelievable potential. Right now, the only stories that are getting adapted are those in the public domain. That way, no one gets sued.

Can you imagine if publishing houses did a later push of some of their more classic stories before they became public domain, using this tactic? They would have exclusive rights to the story, which means that no one else could adapt it. If it was done well, fans would not only eat up the show, but they'd want to go back and read the book that inspired it too. This platform breathes new life into works that many in our generation see as old and inaccessible.

That's why this is so important to me. This phenomena has made the old new again, and I can't wait to see where it takes us.