Honors Awarded in Categories Including ‘Independent Drama Pilot,’ ‘Independent Comedy Pilot,’ ‘Independent Unscripted Pilot,’ ‘Colorado Pilots In-Progress,’ ‘Digital Short Series,’ ‘Late Night,’ ‘Pitch-A-Thon,’ and More
May 5, 2025 (DENVER, CO) – SeriesFest announced the winners of their Independent Pilot Competition at an awards presentation on Sunday, May 4th in Denver, Colorado. Juries of industry executives, journalists, creators and experts selected winners from over 50 pilots in categories including “Independent Pilot,” which receives $25K in-kind post production support from Company 3, “Digital Short Series,” “Late Night” and “Pitch-A-Thon.”
SeriesFest and Shondaland also partnered on the sixth cycle of the Women Directing Mentorship, a competition designed to discover aspiring female directors with a unique voice and provide a launchpad for their careers. This year’s winner, Christina YR Lim, will have the opportunity to shadow a director on an episode of a Shondaland original series.
Category winners include:
Independent Pilot – Drama: Lake Boga
Independent Pilot – Comedy: Settle Down
Independent Pilot – Unscripted: Vs. Goliath
Digital Short Series: F*ckUps Anonymous
Late Night: Stars Diner
Pitch-A-Thon: ZHIZHA
The full list of winners can be found below and at SeriesFest.com.
“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.”
At the awards ceremony, SeriesFest also announced the final selections for four festival initiatives: The Inclusive Creator Fund, The Outstanding Series Format Deck presented by Canva Award, the Caz Matthews Fund, and The Rural Intersectionality Fund. To learn more about these initiatives, please visit SeriesFest.com/funds-awards.
The Inclusive Creator Fund, supported by the Anna & John J. Sie Foundation and Global Down Syndrome Foundation, selected R&R as the recipient of this year’s grant funds. The fund was created to support television projects that include talent with intellectual disabilities in front of and behind the camera. R&R follows Robbie and Rachel, codependent twins trying to “make it” in LA. Rachel (a sarcastic, raunchy, gay mess) brings the chaos, and Robbie (a neurotically organized, hopeless romantic with Down syndrome) cleans up the pieces. The series is based on creator JJ Herz's relationship with her brother, Griffin, who has Down syndrome.
The Outstanding Series Format Deck presented by Canva Award was awarded to independent comedy competition pilot, Bliss Talent, which will receive a $5,000 cash prize for their best submission deck created in Canva. "From the very first slide, we were instantly hooked," said Kate Marsden, Canva Global Head of Brand Partnerships and Design School. “The setup and storyline were so engaging. They made fantastic use of a wide array of Canva features and struck that sweet spot between compelling visual storytelling and clarity.”
Caz Matthews, a Colorado-based supporter of SeriesFest and independent creators of television content, awarded two official selections from the independent pilot competitors – We Should Eat and Two Breaths – with each receiving a one-time financial grant of $5,000 from the Caz Matthews Fund. These recipients represent the independent filmmakers with projects fighting to tell stories and build teams that celebrate cultural richness and nuanced mosaic of our global society. This fund was established to help selected projects continue the positive impact they are making on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the television landscape.
New this year, SeriesFest presents The Rural Intersectionality Fund, supported by Sarah Sellman and Julie Mordecai. Sarah is a queer and neurodiverse filmmaker and artist who grew up in rural Colorado, and Julie is a Colorado-based investor and supporter of SeriesFest. This fund was created to foster and uplift the voices of neurodiverse, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and creators telling stories from their lived experience who have important stories to tell that positively impact and image the communities described above, and to further promote the role of intersectionality in the creation of meaningful stories. This year’s selected recipients, ZHIZHA and $HARE, will receive cash funds to support the development of their series.
Pitch-a-thon, presented by Canva, Royal Bank of Canada, and the Working Artists Group, will award the winning pitch – ZHIZHA – with $500 cash.
Now in its 11th season, SeriesFest was created to champion and discover innovative projects in the television industry. This year, the non-profit organization hosted a wide array of programs including scripted, unscripted and late night pilot competitions, exclusive screenings, series premieres, panels, and workshops. As previously announced, comedian Amy Schumer opened the festival with a one-night-only headline performance at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
SeriesFest: Season 11 is presented with generous support from the following sponsors: Canva, Once Upon A Time Productions, Liberty Global, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Denver Film, Caz Matthews, Xfinity, and United Airlines, along with generous support from the SCFD.
WINNERS – INDEPENDENT PILOT – DRAMA
Jury: John Horn (Entertainment Correspondent, NPR 1A), Annie Laks (Senior Vice President of Creative Content, Shondaland) and Jocko Sims (Actor, “Grosse Pointe Garden Society”)
Best Drama Pilot: Lake Boga
Director: Ben Bryan
Executive Producers: Nick Farnell, Anthony Sharpe
Writers: Nick Capper, Ben Bryan
Producers: Ben Bryan, Nick Capper
Cast: Nick Capper, Alicia Jefferies, Shea Mcdonough, Mark Nicholson, Tim O'dwyer, Jamie Benbow
Synopsis: When the meth-addicted daughter of a mysterious businessman named The Baron is declared missing, presumed dead, Nathan, an experienced ex-military assassin is hired for the job of a lifetime: to find and destroy every single meth lab in the state.
Masquerading as a photographer, he stays a couple of nights at the Lake Boga Pub looking for his next target. Whilst there, he arouses the suspicions of the publican Bev and her daughter in-law Jess. Unbeknownst to Nathan, Bev is connected with the bikies and also running the local meth lab.
After Nathan finds the lab and completes the hit, unintentionally killing Jess in the process, he realises Bev’s involved and that his identity has been compromised. With Bev and the Bikies now out for revenge, the cops closing in on him and his employer on his back to complete the job, Nathan finds himself wedged between a rock and hard place.
A true artist in his field of work and never one to walk away from a job, Nathan decides to push himself to the limit and risk everything in a thrilling and explosive game of cat(s) and mouse.
Jury Statement: For establishing a specific sense of place and populating it with characters who feel both authentic and original — and giving audiences an unexpected but not unearned twist ending — the award for Best Drama goes to Lake Boga.
Best Director: Christian Nolan Jones, Red Clay
Jury Statement: For his consistently creative, deeply compassionate, and visually stunning depiction of how trying circumstances not only shape an artist, but also bind a family together, the award for Best Director goes to Christian Jones of Red Clay.
Best Writer: Desean K. Terry and John E. Phillips, Taming, or Life in a Not-So Modern Age
Jury Statement: For taking what can be inaccessible language spoken by characters who may not be instantly relatable and giving a classically patriarchal take a modern and potentially feminist twist, the award for Best Writer goes to Desean K. Terry and John E. Phillips of Taming, or Life in a Not-So Modern Age.
Best Performance: Red Clay with Rutina Wesley, Christopher A’mmanuel, Vanna Pilgrim, Leslie Sawyer, Candice Singleton, Kool Ace, Heaven Epps, Marcus Tabb
Jury Statement: For this year’s performance award, the jury decided to honor the entire ensemble of one pilot. From its most fleeting minor characters to its central leads, all of whom infuse their work with honesty and love, the award for Best Performance goes to the entire cast of Red Clay.
Honorable Mention: $HARE
Jury Statement: For its beautiful imagery, intricate family dynamics, and propulsive cliffhangers, an honorable mention goes to $HARE.
WINNERS – INDEPENDENT PILOT – COMEDY
Jury: Elaine Low (Journalist, The Ankler), Eric C. Smith (Sr Talent Agent, TCA MGMT), and Mayan Lopez (Actor, “Lopez vs. Lopez”)
Best Comedy Pilot: Settle Down
Director: Sam Coyle
Executive Producers: Philip Webb, Brad Danks, Katherine Frost, Lauren Whitelaw
Writer: Alexander Nunez, Izad Etemadi (Story Editor)
Producer: Charles Lubiniecki
Cast: Alexander Nunez, Leighton Williams, Izad Etemadi, Tymika Tafari, Nadine Bhabha
Synopsis: Mason is 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. His marriage to his husband Jarod is a ticking time bomb – if Mason doesn’t figure out a proper work-life balance, he can kiss his relationship goodbye. Can Mason stop getting in his own way and save his relationship? Can he balance work and life before he taints his budding love empire past the point of no return?
Along for the ride are Mason’s friends: there’s Ben, a hopeless romantic hung up on his incompatible boyfriend; the bold and brash Georgia, who’s NSA to a fault; and his work-obsessed assistant Devon. Each episode also introduces us to Mason’s client of the day and their unique search for love.
Jury Statement: Settle Down won us over with its clever writing, tightly woven structure and authentic and relatable story that was still unique to anything we’ve seen on television today. We felt fully invested in its world and honest exploration of modern relationships. This highly produced pilot feels ready to air, with the potential for fleshed-out story arcs for its entire cast of characters.
Best Director: Jasmine J. Johnson, Cuming Out
Jury Statement: Jasmine J. Johnson’s visual storytelling was compelling and playful, and the framing of her subject matter allowed the story to resonate deeply with the viewer even when the pilot’s characters weren’t saying a word.
Best Writer: Alexander Nunez, Settle Down
Jury Statement: Alexander Nunez had us invested in each and every one of his cast of characters, both leading and supporting — no small feat in a 20-minute pilot. Settle Down has a well-thought out structure with plenty of room for more storylines to grow.
Best Performance: Joanna Leeds, BULLDOZER
Jury Statement: Joanna Leeds is a unique voice whose performance was honest and raw — and terribly funny. Her ability to channel heartache and mental health struggles into a character we feel for and delight in is a real feat, and in BULLDOZER she has created a protagonist who makes us both feel and laugh.
Honorable Mention: The Incredible Fiancées of Sèyí Àjàyí
Jury Statement: Abbesi Akhamie brought to life a retro-futuristic world that we found captivating and whimsical. We were drawn into her world and would love to see more of it.
WINNERS – INDEPENDENT PILOT – UNSCRIPTED
Jury: Kristen Baldwin (TV Critic, Entertainment Weekly), Olivia LaRoche (Head of Alternative, Roku Originals) and McKenna Stephens (Senior Director of Development, MFF&CO)
Best Unscripted Pilot: Vs. Goliath
Directors: Sam Eilertsen, Nate Birnbaum
Executive Producers: Jamie Henn, Marielle Olentine
Writers: Sam Eilertsen, Nate Birnbaum
Producers: Pulkit Datta, Maggie Lemere, Nate Birnbaum
Cast: Sharon Lavigne, Shamyra Lavigne-Davey, Darryl Malek-Wiley
Synopsis: A retired schoolteacher, a former oil refinery worker, an Army veteran, and a group of Indigenous activists come together to fight the fossil fuel industry and protect their homelands while imagining a more just and prosperous future for their communities. Together, rooted in their faith, deep commitment, and service to their communities, they stand firm in the shadow of Goliath, refusing to back down.
Jury Statement: The jury is proud to award Best Unscripted to Vs. Goliath. The pilot tells an important and complex story through the lens of an unlikely — and extremely likable — hero. The filmmakers' commitment to activism and authentic storytelling shines through in the submitted episode, and we believe Vs. Goliath has the potential to bring a truly impactful message about environmental justice and community building to a larger audience as a series.
Best Director: Tedra Wilson, DENIM
Jury Statement: The jury is pleased to award Best Director to DENIM. This episode delivers a unique and boundary-pushing vision through three distinct and stunning styles. DENIM's director captured and celebrated the singular spirit of the episode's subjects by blending dazzling visuals with an intimate storytelling style.
WINNERS – DIGITAL SHORT SERIES
Jury: Mark Johnson (Journalist, The Contending), Oz Rodriguez (Author & Director, Saturday Night Live) and Laura Waters (Founder, Princess Pictures)
Best of Digital Short Series: F*ckUps Anonymous
Director: Kat Whalen
Executive Producer: Tyson Bidner, James Price
Writer: Joe Tierney
Producer: Joe Tierney, Nicole Kay Payson
Cast: Sarah Jeffery, Andrew Michael Fama, Lexi Simonsen, Debbie Campbell, Bob Gallagher, Marvin St-Jean, Stephen Grey, Timothy Allen
Synopsis: Having pushed his mother to the point of last resort, rebellious teenager Joe is abducted from his bed and delivered to a therapeutic boarding school with controversial methods. Now in the unenviable position of being the new kid on his first day, he witnesses a vicious public dressing down of a fellow student at the hands of both staff and students. Joe is forced to come to an understanding of both why he's here and what he can expect from the new set of rules that are thrust upon him. Based on writer/producer Joe Tierney's own personal experience.
Jury Statement: F*ckUps Anonymous successfully creates a world that evokes a powerful visceral reaction, drawing the audience in on both an emotional and intellectual level. It delivers an important social message with nuance, supported by well-balanced characters whose backstories are clearly understood. The creators made smart, deliberate choices in character development and maintained a tight, effective script. The narrative paints a vivid and compelling picture, with the potential for deeper complexity and evolution in future developments.
Best Director: Dustie Carter, Heck to Death
Jury Statement: The jury is pleased to award Best Director to Dustie Carter of Heck To Death. We were impressed by the confident direction of Carter, whose bold and deliberate choices immersed us in a world we rarely see. The raw and immediate direction pulled the audience straight into the heart of the experience, without relying on exposition. Every decision brought us into the sweaty mosh pit, making us feel exactly what the story demanded.
Best Writer: Sarah Adelman, BUSTED!
Jury Statement: Comedy is often an underappreciated writing craft, which makes it all the more exciting to award Sarah Adelman of BUSTED! for Best Writer. Crafting a world that is consistently funny is no small feat, and this pilot delivers with sharp, raunchy humor that surprises and engages. It builds genuine empathy around its lead character and left us wanting more.
Best Performance: We Should Eat
Jury Statement: We are proud to award We Should Eat with Best Performance as an Ensemble. The cast delivered solid emotional truth, portraying complex relationships with depth and authenticity. Every character had meaningful moments—no loose ends, no weak links. Their dynamic was rich and compelling, and despite their differences, they felt unmistakably like a real family. We believed them completely—and enjoyed the laughs along the way.
Honorable Mention: Awol
Jury Statement: Due to its bold subject matter and fresh perspective, we are proud to give an Honorable Mention for Best Digital Short Series to Awol. The creative team transports us into a world rarely seen on screen, offering a high school narrative that feels both groundbreaking and necessary. With a fluid camera, a standout lead, and clear potential for growth, this series left a strong impression.
WINNERS – LATE NIGHT
Jury: Mark Johnson (Journalist, The Contending), Oz Rodriguez (Author & Director, Saturday Night Live) and Laura Waters (Founder, Princess Pictures)
Best Late Night Pilot: Stars Diner
Directors: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker
Executive Producer: The American Standard Film Co.
Writers: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Mary Neely, Tyler Walker
Producers: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Mary Neely, Tyler Walker
Cast: Mary Neely, DeMorge Brown, Henri Cash, Cole Hersch, Chris Thayer, Natalie Palamides
Synopsis: Wendy and Milius must continuously save Stars Diner from catastrophe using Wendy's heart of gold and Milius' military bravura. And Willard's.... well, he dies and comes back to life without explanation. Every episode they're faced with bandits, floods, zombies, aliens and worse (health inspectors, unpaid bills). It's an episodic series, similar to early seasons of RICK AND MORTY, where the three main characters are always meeting new people and creatures. Wendy's old party girlfriends might visit or Millius' ex wives crop up to give him hell. But in the end, they use love and friendship to keep their beloved greasy spoon afloat, never forgetting Wendy's catchphrase, "By golly the diner's saved!"
Jury Statement: Stars Diner showcases a truly original voice with bold, distinctive choices. The creators sustained a delightfully wacky tone from start to finish in a way that was both consistent and satisfying. With strong character integrity, excellent world-building, and standout practical effects and production design, it feels tailor-made for late-night TV—entertaining and wholly its own.
WINNERS – PITCH-A-THON
Panel of Experts: Whitney Fuller (Development Executive, Monkeypaw Productions), Jason Hiro Kim (VP, Good Karma Productions), Lisa Ann Walter (Actress/Producer/Writer)
Pitch-A-Thon Winner: ZHIZHA
Creator: Desdemona Chiang
Synopsis: ZHIZHA is a half-hour long workplace comedy about a family business in the death industry trying to stay alive.
LIA and CHLOE WANG are descendants of a long line of paper artisans from China who have been crafting ZHIZHA by hand for generations. And the WANG FAMILY PAPER GOODS SHOP has been operating for nearly 50 years next to a funeral home that specializes in traditional Chinese death rituals. But modernization and growing secular beliefs among the younger generations in western culture have slowly rendered these rituals obsolete, and the Wangs are struggling to stay relevant. When Lia and Chloe’s mother unexpectedly dies of a stroke, the business is suddenly put into the hands of the two sisters, who need to decide if they want to shut it down or keep it going.
The show is a meditation on grief and its impact on family dynamics and a celebration of the artistry and talents of its characters. The show is vibrant, energetic, with surprise bursts of joy, discovery, and creation. There is delight in the mundane, where vulnerability can be found in small and delicate moments. Think THE BEAR meets KIM’S CONVENIENCE. The Asian Comedy version of SIX FEET UNDER.
Jury Statement: The winner we've picked instantly grabbed our attention with a clear, decisive and energetic pitch. Their series took us to a world that was incredibly unique yet deeply personal. A show filled with complicated characters that effortlessly balanced a controversial topic with humor and heart. Our 2025 SeriesFest Pitch-A-Thon winner is Desdemona Chiang for ZHIZHA!
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS
Independent Pilot – Drama: The Rebel Girls
Independent Pilot – Comedy: BULLDOZER
Independent Pilot – Unscripted: Vs. Goliath
Digital Short Series: BUSTED!
Late Night: The Roommates
ABOUT SERIESFEST
SeriesFest, a non-profit organization, champions and empowers artists at the forefront of episodic storytelling by providing year-round opportunities for creators and industry professionals to connect, collaborate, and share stories, which inspire and impact global audiences. Each spring, SeriesFest culminates in a highly-curated and celebrated Denver-based festival and marketplace. Dedicated to showcasing innovative episodic content, the annual festival includes in-competition independent pilot screenings, panels, workshops, live reads, parties and network television premieres. Follow @SeriesFest on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
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