The broadcast series “Jane the Virgin,” “Mr. Robot” and “UnREAL” and the streaming series “Transparent” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” have received the Gotham Independent Film Awards’ first Breakthrough Series awards, the Independent Feature Project announced on Tuesday.
Two categories that encompass traditional television and streaming were created for the formerly film-only awards this year because, said the IFP, “the spirit and vision of the best of ‘independent film’ is also realized in content created for a variety of platforms in a variety of lengths and formats.”
In the short-form category, the nominees were Cartoon Hangover’s “Bee and PuppyCat,” seriesofimpossibilities.com’s “The Impossibilities,” Blackgirldangerous.com’s “Qraftish,” ShugsandFats.TV’s “Shugs and Fats” and Open TV’s “You’re So Talented.”
The nominees were chosen by two separate juries of writers, critics and programmers from a field consisting of series that premiered between Sept. 1, 2014 and Aug. 30, 2015.
The new awards will be handed out along with a number of film categories at the Gotham Awards on Nov. 30 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
The nominees:
Breakthrough Series – Long Form
“Jane the Virgin,” Jennie Snyder Urman, Creator (The CW)
“Mr. Robot,” Sam Esmail, Creator (USA Network)
“Transparent,” Jill Soloway, Creator (Amazon)
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Creators (Netflix)
“UnREAL,” Marti Noxon, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Creators (Lifetime)
Breakthrough Series – Short Form
“Bee and PuppyCat,” Natasha Alllegri, Creator (Cartoon Hangover)
“The Impossibilities,” Anna Kerrigan, Creator (seriesofimpossibilities.com)
“Qraftish,” Christal, Creator (Blackgirldangerous.com)
“Shugs and Fats,” Nadia Manzoor and Radhka Vaz, Creator (ShugsandFats.TV)
“You’re So Talented,” Sam Bailey, Creator (Open TV)