WINNERS: 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards

The 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards were held on Monday night at The Ailey Studios in New York City hosted by the hilarious Martha Byrne and presented by We Love Soaps.  DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM captured the Indie Soap of the Year award.  The show also took home the prize for Outstanding Lead Actress with Monica Calhoun winning her first Indie Soap Award.  Anthony Anderson from ANACOSTIA was named Outstanding Lead Actor giving perhaps the most poignant speech of the night.  The mostly industry crowd praised the new frontier of storytelling on the web in a number of speeches from winners that consisted of former daytime soap favorites and new indie pioneers. 

The complete list of winners are below:

INDIE SOAP OF THE YEAR
DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Anthony Anderson, ANACOSTIA

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS
Monica Calhoun, DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM

2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards: Lead Actor Nominees

The nominees in the Outstanding Lead Actor category at Monday's 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards were equally dramatic and comedic driving some of the best stories in web series during 2010.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Anthony Anderson, ANACOSTIA
Danny Cameron, CELL
Michael Park, GOTHAM
Nick Mathews, IN BETWEEN MEN
Will Conlon, OUT WITH DAD
Trevor Nelson, MISS BEHAVE
Sam Pancake, PRETTY
Camden Toy, THE BAY

Take a look at a sample of work by these talented men in the episodes below.

2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards: Lead Actress Nominees

The nominees in the Outstanding Lead Actress category at Monday's 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards all brought their "A" games in 2010.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS
Tamieka Chavis, ANACOSTIA
Rachael Hip-Flores, ANYONE BUT ME
Jourdan Gibson, CELL
Monica Calhoun, DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM
Tina Sloan, EMPIRE
Martha Byrne, GOTHAM
Jillian Clare, MISS BEHAVE
Cwennen Corral, THE CAVANAUGHS
Crystal Chappell, VENICE

Take a look at a sample of work by these talented women in the episodes below.

NOMINATIONS: 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards

WE LOVE SOAPS TV announced on Monday the nominees for the 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards, honoring the best in continuing story format web series in 2010.   Last year's winner for Indie Soap of the Year, DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM, received 13 nominations to lead the pack.  In total, 29 web series were nominated for awards, including 15 shows receiving "Fan's Choice" nominations for being one of the Top 15 vote-getters in 2010 in the weekly WLS TV Indie Soap of the Week Poll.

This year's awards show will be a live event in New York City on February 21, hosted by GOTHAM creator and star, Martha Byrne.   You can order tickets here.

The Indie Soap Awards were founded by WE LOVE SOAPS TV in 2009 to celebrate the creative talents of the indie web series world, who are blazing a trail into the future for the continuing story format.  Sometimes on a shoestring budget, these producers, writers, actors, crew manage to develop amazing work and are the inspiration for this event.

See the full list of nominations below:

INDIE SOAP OF THE YEAR

8.13
ANYONE BUT ME

CELESTE BRIGHT
CELL

DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM

MISS BEHAVE
PRETTY

THE BEST FRIEND

WE LOVE SOAPS TV's Indie Soap Beat Fall Preview Guide

The fall television season is shifting into high gear this week as the broadcast networks continue to roll out exciting new shows and new twists in old shows. The world of indie soaps is heating up as well on the web. Whether it's drama or comedy or somewhere in between, the continuing story format is alive and well. WE LOVE SOAPS TV takes a lot at some of the exciting indie soaps of fall in our very first Indie Soap Beat Fall Preview Guide.

INTERVIEW: Beth Chamberlin One Year After GUIDING LIGHT

We Love Soaps had the pleasure of catching up with Beth Chamberlin at the GUIDING LIGHT So Long Springfield Cruise Bon Voyage party. How has this ravishing beauty and Emmy-nominated daytime talent turned indie soap star been taking care of herself this past year?  And what makes GUIDING LIGHT fans so special?  Find out below! 

We Love Soaps: It is so wonderful how the spirit and continuity of GUIDING LIGHT is continuing through these [fan] events. 
Beth Chamberlin: It is a testament to the uniqueness of GUIDING LIGHT.  These events are a testament to the fact that not only did we feel like a family, but the fans felt like they were part of a family with us, and we felt that in return.  It is a big extended family.  This is a testament to saying those are not just empty words. 

We Love Soaps: Its been nearly a year since GUIDING LIGHT wrapped.  In this past year what have you learned about yourself?
Beth Chamberlin: I have to say that I realize even more how fortunate I was to be a part of the show.  I will be honest with you.  There were a few months after the show ended, until the beginning of the year, that I was secretly glad I wasn’t working.  Not that I was glad GUIDING LIGHT was canceled.  But as an actor you have to have to have full well to draw on.  And soaps deplete that well.  I really felt the well was depleted, and I really needed to live life a little bit to fill the well back up.  So I was secretly happy I wasn’t working for awhile.  But now that I have gotten beyond that so I can look back at GUIDING LIGHT and say, “What an amazing experience” and how fortunate I was.  I screen-tested for tons of soaps and prime time series before GUIDING LIGHT.  I feel very fortunate that I ended up on that particular show.

WE LOVE SOAPS TV 1.60 Beth Chamberlin

On Episode 1.60 of WE LOVE SOAPS TV, Roger Newcomb and Damon L. Jacobs caught up with longtime GUIDING LIGHT star Beth Chamberlin at SD26 in New York during the Bon Voyage party to celebrate the So Long Springfield Cruise. Chamberlin shares her thoughts on the cruise, the end of GUIDING LIGHT, and her latest career turn on web series like STEAMBOAT and CELL. This interview was in a rather dark room at the bar so we've posted a transcript here so you can read as well.



If you are in the New York City area and would like to be in the audience during a taping of a future episode of WE LOVE SOAPS TV, email us at audience@welovesoaps.net and we will keep you posted on our upcoming schedule.

Check out these links related to this episode:
- CELL: The Web Series
- STEAMBOAT
- So Long Springfield
- GUIDING LIGHT

Become a We Love Soaps Supporter!

PHOTOS: ITVFest 2010 Opening Night Gala

The 5th Annual ITVFest kicked off on Friday with an Opening Night Gala held at Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatre in West Hollywood. ANYONE BUT ME was represented by Indie Soap Award winners Rachael Hip-Flores, Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward, and nominee Nicole Pacent.

WATCH: Beth Chamberlin Debuts on CELL: The Series

CELL: The Series continues a run of mind-blowing episodes with the first season final which introduces the character of Brenda, played by former GUIDING LIGHT Emmy nominee Beth Chamberlin. Watch it below.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: June 18, 2010

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature we reveal the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera and web series production. Click the show logos to visit the official websites.

WINDSOR HILL is a web series chronicling the lives, loves and tribulations of theater majors at the Fictional Dowell University in the fictional city of Windsor Hill, Georgia. Creator Lawrence Weber tells We Love Soaps: "I wrote the pilot about four years ago when I lived in California, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, I was inspired by the crazy memories of my time as a theater major at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana (where the show is filmed) and wrote it out of missing my friends. The actors are actual Theater majors at Dillard, for that extra accuracy. In fact, the very first episode was a final grade! WINDSOR HILL has eight episodes in the first season, with us filming the second season in the fall of this year. Stay tuned as we will have more interesting storyline and an ending that will blow you away!"

MONTECITO HEIGHTS, the soap written, directed by, and starring Gene Gabriel, has three more episodes before the season finale. Says Gabriel of the project, "I knew I had to do my own thing and the web was the best, cheapest and fastest way to do it. Iʼve known that the internet was the future of Hollywood for some time now and by doing MONTECITO HEIGHTS I have gotten myself out of a three year slump. Itʼs funny as soon as I uploaded the first episode the phone started to ring and it hasnʼt stopped since."

ANACOSTIA will be featured in the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum Documentary which will run for an entire year. The Indie Soap Award winning show is also nearing completion on its second season with only two more episodes left to shoot teases creator and star Anthony Anderson.

LUCK AND THE VIRGIN (La suerte y la Virgen), the 60 second soap from Jaime Byrd, has now aired 20 episodes. The show takes you on a wild ride of how things can go very wrong in the small Mexican city of San Miguel de Allende. Ricardo, a burnt out hit man with a funny accent, and Valentina, a clueless women running from her boyfriend with all his drug money, end up becoming involved in some unfortunate ways after their bags are switched accidentally at a tamale stand.

Beth Chamberlin Joins Cast Of CELL: The Web Series

Former GUIDING LIGHT star Beth Chamberlin, nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award this year, is joining the cast of CELL: The Web Series. The news was revealed on "Indie Intertube" on Wednesday night.

When asked about the new addition to his already stellar cast, writer/director Mark Gardner had this to say, "We’re very excited to have Beth join the cast of CELL: The Web Series. CELL has worked hard to deliver excellent character based drama and an actor of Beth’s caliber will help us push to the next level in creating high-quality independent drama. We hope with the inclusion of Beth Chamberlin in CELL that we can not only increase interest in what we’re doing but also increase exposure and interest in independent drama all over the web to a new group of fans."

The show is nearing the explosive conclusion to its freshman season with its finale going live on July 21, 2010. The series stars Jourdan Gibson, Kevin McCarthy and Danny Cameron.