Erin BroadleyWhen world renowned beatboxer Rahzel tells you to do something, you fucking do it. On March 29 after the 10 finalists were announced for this year's coveted 2010 Streamy Awards Audience Choice honor, the “Godfather of Noyze” and web TV enthusiast spit some beats and released this video encouraging people to vote for their faves.
Rahzel is not the only big name showing love for the Streamys and web TV, however. Today it was announced that funny guy Paul Scheer is confirmed to host this year's invite-only awards ceremony honoring the best in web television, and taking place Sunday April 11 at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
“The Streamy Awards' global audience is going to enjoy tuning in to watch Paul Scheer make history as the first host of the ceremony,” said Brady Brim-DeForest, executive producer of the Streamy Awards. “Paul's natural stand-up talent and personal success in web TV make him a natural fit for the show and appealing to web series fans who will tune in to see their favorite web series stars.”
Tubefilter co-founder and Streamy Awards producer Marc Hustvedt posted this about the news:
The rising actor comedian is well known [to] comedy fans as one of the stars of sketch comedy show Human Giant which ran on MTV, alongside Aziz Ansari and Rob Huebel. He now stars in the hit FX comedy The League, which was just renewed for a second season, and on HBO's new web-inspired Funny or Die Presents in a regular 'Designated Driver' segment.
Scheer will headline the live internet TV broadcast of the ceremony from the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, airing at 5:30 PM (PT) at Streamys.org, Mashable.com and Ustream.
“Ever since I was a child I dreamed of hosting the Streamy Awards,” Sheer mused. “Oh, and by the way, when I was a child I had a time machine that let me see into the future.”
Like Scheer, I also spent many childhood afternoons playing in a time machine, except mine was just a big cardboard box decorated with Sharpies and those memories are hazy considering the hours spent inhaling marker fumes really messed with my space-time continuum. That said, if the future is online video and web television then the Streamy Awards are the new Emmys and bound to become an increasingly important barometer within the entertainment industry as online continues to rise in popularity, outpacing cable in both user experience and global reach.
Reporter Alexia Tsotsis described the massive turnout at last year's inaugural Streamys ceremony as a “mix of Hollywood types and hardcore online video geeks, with a smattering of Weblebrities” and “indicative of the precedence online video has taken since the creation of YouTube in 2005. Now that the L.A. Times prints an online video ranking in addition to its traditional box office tip sheet, it's about time the world realized that online video is here to stay and recognized its top players accordingly.”
Virgina Heffernan of NYTimes.com echoed the same sentiment about the progressive awards show: “Web video is far-enough along that it wasn't just kids aping the ways of real TV stars. It was actual stars — Lisa Kudrow, Neil Patrick Harris, Illeana Douglas, Joss Whedon — looking very, very psyched to cross the line and be somewhere where people consider themselves on the right side of history.”
Sure, “real TV” established star power is a bonus at any event, but the Streamys' true strength and longevity will continue to rest on its ability to recognize and honor the fan favorites, those working behind the scenes, and the talented newbies with a lot of heart.
As Hustvedt told L.A. Weekly, the best thing about the Streamys is that “it's entirely possible with a lot of effort and a great concept and a ton of heart you could be up on the stage winning an award.”
Credit: Streamys.org
Check out the 2010 Streamy Award nominees here and stay tuned for more L.A. Weekly coverage of the event.
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