The 7th IAWTV Awards is back in 2022. We put 5 questions to Awards Director and Executive Producer Tina Cesa Ward, who is producing her third awards show with Executive Producer Sandra J. Payne, on what the IAWTV Awards means to the world of web series. 

What was the goal of the IAWTV Awards in the beginning? 

The IAWTV Awards was formed by a group of dedicated and determined web series creators, along with those working in the web series space. It was a new medium that very few people had heard of, but there were some really groundbreaking shows being produced -- especially in terms of audience and creators. The IAWTV Awards wanted to recognize and honor that tenacious work, often being made for rent money. But what it also did was build a community of creators that supported one another. To this day, the IAWTV Awards continues to celebrate new voices creating content for underserved audiences with shows that mainstream considers niche.

More than a decade later, what is the value of the IAWTV Awards today?

Web series, which the industry now commonly calls digital series, or in our case, short form digital series, has certainly changed quickly over the past 15 years. It took a few years for the industry to catch on, but when it did, everyone jumped into the game. But there is always one big hurdle that all short form digital series production has to overcome and that’s visibility. If someone wants to find the newest and coolest short form series, they won’t know where to look. That’s a huge problem. And because of that, it has become our number one goal along with recognizing excellence of work--we want to give all the nominees the spotlight to help them build an audience and potentially get noticed from studios and networks.

Have there been past winners or nominated series that have really benefited from the IAWTV Awards?

There have been a few series that have gone on to get their short form series developed into long form series by top networks and production companies. Currently, there is past winner developing his show at HBO. And Flatbush Misdemeanors, nominated in 2017, is now a Showtime series. The producers reached out to us when they closed the deal to tell us how instrumental the IAWTV Awards were in getting into Showtime.  

The IAWTV Awards, short for International Academy of Web Television Awards, has “international” in its name. How important is the international component?

It’s huge. The last two awards shows have seen international domination. Canada has always been a strong leader in short form series production, but recently there’s a surge of great content from Australia, Singapore, and India, as well as other Asian nations, along with many European countries. It’s exciting for us to receive so many international submissions and to also see so many of them walk away with top awards. And this year, we’re intending to expand our international reach and bring in even more submissions from all around the world. Our intention is to be the only short form digital series awards show that strongly recognizes and celebrates short form from anywhere around the globe.

After a short break, why was it important to bring the IAWTV Awards back now?

There are a couple of the reasons for the break, one of them being COVID as so many series creators have had to put a pause on productions. The other was out of our control as Sandra and I had taken a break from the awards for a couple of years to get back to our own projects. But our love for the short form series community and these awards pulled us back in. I credit my short form series Anyone But Me with opening many doors to continue my work as a writer and director and work as an executive in the TV industry. I know first-hand what a successful series can do for the career of all involved, and it’s important for me to see that continue. The short form series is at its best when it’s serving the underserved audience. And the IAWTV Awards will continue to champion that thought so that we can have as much diversity in storytelling as we can.