http://www.webseriestoday.com/2010/04/what-is-streamys-llc.html

I also happen to know Brady (from school days), and had the honor and privilege of seeing him again last Wednesday at the craft awards as a nominee. I really enjoyed the smaller event, actually. It was humbling, to-the-point, and gracefully executed (despite our own party crasher). So when Sunday rolled around, I was taken completely by surprise.

While I haven’t gotten to see him in a long time (and I don’t know the other members of the production team, probably as well as you seem to) – thing is, I respect him enough, even as an acquaintance, that I think you SHOULDN’T need to make excuses for him, or the others, nor should you feel the need to shield them. They’re adults, and can handle it. They already made their apology as of this writing. To say that the community should ‘give them a break’ weakens the accountability that they decided to shoulder for themselves by promising the prestige of the awards so many people looked up to.

I’m a cinematographer. So if my work were to get criticized, I take it, even if it were to be hateful. And I wouldn’t have expected other people to step out in front of me to make excuses when I first got started, telling everybody to “Give him a break, it’s his first time”. I wouldn’t have wanted that. I don’t think Brady needs it either. (at least, I hope not.)

We all “built something from nothing”. Especially the people making the kind of shows the event was there to honor. I think there’d be a reason to call out the witch hunters if the hunt lasted longer, but hell, it’s only been two days.

I respect Brady a great deal, and will continue to even if Sunday lives on in history beyond this week (which I hope it doesn’t). He has pioneered a well intentioned thing, and is probably taking some of the most enormous flak of his life. But I’m afraid I can’t help but see the inevitability of the angry mob on this one. There were a lot of people looking forward to that night (and people who came from far away), spent a lot of money and invited a lot of their peers to watch their community that they stood so proudly for get slapped in the face. There’s a lot of pent-up emotion bound to come out. Even the really scathing, nasty stuff.

Thanks for your candor — when I get responses like yours, it does make me go back and double-check the word choice I’ve used.

I found things that I said poorly, so I’ll try to rectify:

I certainly didn’t mean to imply that you’re not independent, nor that things come easy for you just because you’re a recognizable actress. I know your production is not connected to a big media company. And I know the pressure and work necessary to tackle a project like that yourself. I certainly recognize your work as an artist just trying to make something interesting.

I do mean, however, that you, as a “known” or “recognizable” or “working actress” have access to people, resources, and publicity that most do not. I guess, by “independent,” I should have said “up and coming” — because that seems to be the source of a lot of the “over-the-top” anger of the night. And when I said you were “swooping in,” I meant that you were taking advantage of opportunities available to you online — that you can have ownership and control over your own work — that others don’t have. Nothing wrong with that — it’s just a fact of the business. I’d do it if I was in your position.

Again, thanks for your comment — no disrespect meant — just a shift in the world of online media that everyone in it must recognize.

I concur with your call for people to watch your shows Easy to Assemble and Sparhusen. Both are funny and awkward and well, Swedish.

Thanks for your comment. After sifting through your blog, I agree with you — the IAWTV could use with some additional transparency and the whole thing could be a little less west-coast centric — but then again, most of the video and film industry is out here and online video is, in many ways, symbiotic to those industries.

I also agree that people should have the right to fume and express their anger. I give a thumbs-up to the freedom of speech. I actually believe that, thanks to the Web, we physically can’t deny anyone’s right to free speech anymore (at least not in this country).

That said, I guess my point is that just because you CAN say something in anger doesn’t mean it gets anything done.

As I say approximately 140 times in the post — it was indeed a bad show — but there’s no need for a witch hunt. It doesn’t get anything done. Let level heads prevail.

I think you’re missing one very big point here. Like other awards shows, the Streamy Awards are the public face of the industry as a whole. Casual viewers don’t find us on Twitter or read our blogs. They see us in our shows, and through events such as the Streamys. And in that way it is damaging for all involved.

Much of the anger is a feeling of betrayal. Many of the nominees and fans of the show told their viewers to watch, told their family and friends back home to watch, and some brought family and friends with them – including children. They were excited and wanted their social circles to share that excitement with them. And they have every right to feel angered, shocked, saddened, humiliated and betrayed by the events of Sunday night.

Don’t deny people’s right to speak out in anger. Rather, let the anger be expressed, let the questions and accusations be raised, and lets deal with them after everyone has had some time to calm down. One way or another the medium and the community will move past this, but we all have a right to share our reactions to the subject.