My view on the Streamy Awards 2010: Drama nominations

I previously posted a few things on the comedy nominations on my site, but will continue with the drama nominations here. Unlike the comedy nominations, I find no really argument with these nominations. All of the series in this category truly deserve this chance. True, three of the five do have corporate ties. Sony is linked to Angel of Death and The Bannen Way, just as MTV and Verizon are linked to Valemont. But let's say, Compulsions had been sponsored by Canon or Toshiba. Would that suddenly make the creative passion and hard work from cast and crew not worthy of acknowledgment? I think not. Sponsorship does help in getting noticed. It is hard for the independents to forge and maintain a fan base, especially with dramas. The more eyes drawn by sponsored series toward The Streamys may help bring the much needed acknowledgment. Only time will tell. First up in the Drama category is, Angel of Death.

Angel of Death: "Comic book legend Ed Brubaker (Criminal) tells the story of Eve (Zoe Bell) a stoic assassin with a kick ass body and moves to match. Her life takes a turn when a hit goes south a teen dies and six inches of cold steel wind up in her cranium". - Description from the YouTube page.

This series main star is Zoe Bell, known for her stunt work on a lot of TV shows, Xena to name but one. Angel of Death is violent, filled with well choreographed fight scenes and gruesome bloody outcomes. From the first episode, it hooks you in for the ride, as a good dramatic series should. Each episode lasts roughly 6-8 minutes. The effects and camera work are perfection, as is the timing. I love how this story unfolds. The series runs at a fast pace, but doesn't lose you in the rush. The scene transitions are in a style of comicbook panels, which gives this a unique appeal on top of the intense fight scenes. Congrats to the writer (Ed Brubaker), to the Director (Paul Etheredge) and the cast (Zoe Bell, Lucy Lawless, Doug Jones, Ted Raimi, Jake Abel, Vail Bloom) for making this series a very entertaining and nominated one.

The Bannen Way: "Neal Bannen is a womanizing, con man and small-time thief who wants to start his life over. All he has to do is pull off one more job to pay off his debts." -Description from Crackle.com

This series is full of amazing talent. It has as the same feel as Angel of Death, but with a completely different style and look. The style is smooth, and the look is tight. Sure, Sony is sponsoring, but this is a labor of love and took connections and hitting the streets to pull it all together. Written & Directed by Jesse Warren. Co-written & starring Mark Gantt. These two have created a very good series. At this time, the only episodes available to watch at Crackle.com are the trailer, and the first and second episodes. The full season is available for rent or sale on Amazon. I didn't get a chance to finish watching the episodes, but will definitely be buying it soon. I would seriously suggest grabbing this one, for it is definitely an entertaining ride. As mentioned before, the remaining cast are well-known and amazing: Vanessa Marcil, Gabriel Tigerman, Michael Ironside, Robert Forster, Michael Lerner, Ski Cutty Carr, Autumn Reeser, Brianne Davis, Brittany Ishibashi, Brynn Thayer, Gary Grossman, Wallace Langham.

Valemont: It starts off as a missing person's mystery, and quickly leads to an investigative pursuit. What is uncovered is far beyond what one expects. Hosted by MTV and sponsored by Verizon. I also assume there were several side promotions via Verizon as well. While this series is good, the season has 35 episodes lasting 2minutes 21seconds, which means the micro-episodes are like quick bursts of storyline. Some are confusing, which promotes the mystery factor of this series. In my own personal opinion, and not necessarily that of this website, I'm not really into this series. While the writing is good, and the acting is equally as good; it just doesn't grab me. Maybe due to the fact I missed to start of the season, and am able to watch them all back to back. I am not sure, but it is nominated, so people do like it. For a mystery series, I'd prefer a less commercialized one such as TheVetala.

Compulsions: A suspenseful series that gives a look into the duality of human nature. How someone you think you know may have a secret… compulsion. Unlike the first three series, this one delves into a dark world. Not saying assassins are not dark, just that this one goes darker. From the opening scene, you know you are in for a rough journey. What I really find amazing about this series is the main actor, Craig Frank. I mostly have seen him in a few other web series like The Crew, Lost & Found, Craig & The WereWolf and just recently A Good Knights Quest. In those comedy series, He does an amazing job. So to see him in such a solid, intense and dark role… It proved to me that he is a great actor. One more thing that makes this series stand out from the others is that it isn't sponsored by a major company and still looks as fresh and polished. Not saying anything against the others, all series with in this category are worthy of their nominations. The writing, directing, acting, cast and crew all did an amazing job.

Oz Girl: It is totally different from the other nominations, for this is a pure drama. No assassins, gangsters or supernatural beast enter the series. Pure and simple, it follows the life of a girl from Australia as she moves from the country to the city to live with her cousin. From there it follows her as she tries to find her place in her new city. The series is shot, written and acted extremely well. It is a mock-umentary. I am not going to compare this to The Hills, because this series is by far more intelligent and has a much smoother flow. Plus, the accents are cool.

OzGirl recently won the Streamy for Best Foreign Web Series during the craft awards portion of the show. The main Streamy Awards show streams live on April 11th.

Normally my reviews are a little more in-depth, but with the nominations I decided to cut them down. Hope they were informative, and you found the nominations interesting. I am curious, if you have a favorite dramatic web series that you love? Please post in the comments what they are and what makes them your favorite. Thank you.