‘EastSiders’ Web Series is Movin’ On Up With Nomination From International Press Academy

It seems the International Press Academy has recognized the power of digital video at long last. Nominations for their prestigious Satellite Award this year included a fascinating (to us anyway) new category: Original Short-Format Video. While “Eastsiders” started out on YouTube and quickly became a LogoTV.com exclusive show, the category has scooped up nominees from Vimeo, Yahoo and a host of other media broadcasters we give a damn about. Other entries in the category include “High Maintenance,” “Burning Love,” “Ask A Slave,” “Little Horribles,” “Blue,” “#Just Saying, #SamoKazem,” and “Ghost Girls.” But considering the intelligent and modern themes of “EastSiders,” a show that deals with the ins and outs of a gay couple living in Silverlake (ooh so trendy right now), it’s a sure bet that the show has a better-than-average chance of taking home the prize.

Show creator Kit Williamson, needless to say, was floored by the nomination. “I think it’s amazing that the International Press Academy has added a category recognizing web series this year. It’s a huge step forward for digital content creators and I’m honored to be a part of the inaugural class of digital nominees,” he told NMR. “‘EastSiders’ started out as a labor of love — I just wanted to make a show I’d want to watch, with gay characters I could relate to — and when I put the first episode on YouTube last December, I never expected the show to attract the attention of Logo, much less to be recognized by the International Press Academy. It’s especially exciting to be nominated alongside such an amazing lineup of shows.” You only have to be polite if you don’t win, Kit.

Check out “EastSiders” here. I thought about “accidentally” linking a music video from the similarly-named hip-hop group Eastsiddaz, but that wouldn’t be very professional I suppose. Aww, f**k it.