Indie Series Award Winners Include 'Giants', 'Indoor Boys', 'The Rich and the Ruthless', 'Only Children' & 'After Forever'

The winners of the 10th Annual Indie Series Awards were announced in a ceremony on Wednesday, April 3, hosted by Eric Martsolf, Kevin Spirtas and Patrika Darbo, all former hosts who returned. Not announced prior to the ceremony, one by one they took the stage declaring they were the best former host and should, obviously, host the milestone 10th anniversary celebration.

Top honors went to Giants and Indoor Boys, named best drama and best comedy series of the year. Giants won awards in a record-breaking seven categories, including best writing (J. August Richards, lead actor (James Bland), lead actress (Vanessa Baden Kelly), supporting actress (Tanee McCall), score (Austin Wintory) and original song ("More Love" by Kareem James and Ashly Williams). Indoor Boys took home four ISAs, including best writing (Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse), guest actress in a comedy (Krysta Rodriguez) and guest actor in a comedy (Michael Kostroff).

Other acting winners included Alex Wyse (Only Children), Lou Diamond Phillips (Conversations in L.A.), Lauren B. Martin (Anacostia), Paul Soles (My 90-Year-Old Roommate), Alesha Renee (The Rich and the Ruthless), Ryan Wesen (190 Lorimer) and Inessa Frantowski (The Amazing Gayl Pile: Apocolypse Soonish).

The Witching Hour took home the prize for best non-fiction series.

Since 2009, the Indie Series Award has honored the most creative and progressive talent in independent web series. The ceremony was hosted by Emmy winners Patrika Darbo and Emmy Martsolf, and Emmy nominee Kevin Spirtas, a previous ISA winner who leads the all-star cast of best drama ensemble winner After Forever. All three previously hosted and returned as part of the 10th annual celebration, "A Decade of Indie Excellence."

In all, 45 series were nominated from around the globe, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and India.

Check out a complete list of winners below.

Best Drama Series
Giants

Best Directing - Drama
Conversations in L.A., Anne Marie Cummings

Victoria Rowell Lays it Down in 'The Rich & The Ruthless'

The Rich & The Ruthless, the much-anticipated dramedy created by and starring The Young and the Restless fan favorite Victoria Rowell, premiered on Robert L. Johnson's Urban Movie Channel (UMC) last week. The second episode was released on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

The Rich & The Ruthless is loosely based on Rowell's popular novels "Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva" and "The Young and the Ruthless: Back in The Bubbles". Written by Rowell and the brilliantly funny Jamey Giddens, the plot centers on Augustus Barringer (Being Mary Jane's Richard Brooks), creator of daytime's only black-owned soap opera, as he battles ruthless network executives, scheming underlings, temperamental soap actors, and budget cuts to keep his show in production. Rowell (who also serves as executive producer and director) stars as Augustus's fresh-from-rehab wife Kitty, a former soap queen determined to reclaim her spotlight.

Robert Richard plays Barringer bad boy, Max, a soap opera writer. Chrystale Wilson (The Players Club) is nefarious suds diva Alison Fairchild Roberts, who thinks because she's married to one of the producers she's the Queen Bee. Dawnn Lewis (A Different World) is Beth, the long-suffering wardrobe mistress, and .

The Young and the Restless alum Brenda Epperson appears as network executive Edith Norman. Former Bold and the Beautiful star Mykel Shannon Jenkins is soap hunk Derrick Taylor, while B&B's recently returned Kimberlin Brown is set to appear as the mysterious Dr. Maya Cooper.

There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, including a laundry room scene featuring Rowell in the second episode. Alesha Renee (MTV's Girl Code) is fabulous as plucky soap heroine Calysta Jeffries, while the supporting cast steals a number of scenes.

Rowell also brings the drama, and delivers my favorite line so far during Kitty's argument wtih August.

"My fans will never forget me, because I laid it down!" Kitty snarled at the end of the first episode.

Watch the trailer below, and check out the first two episodes at umc.tv/film/rich-ruthless/.

'The Rich and the Ruthless' Coming Soon to Urban Movie Channel!

Victoria Rowell's long-awaited series, The Rich and the Ruthless, will premiere later this month on Urban Movie Channel. Written with Daytime Confidential's Jamey Giddens, R&R is a character driven story centered on two kindred spirits— soap ingénue Calysta Jeffries (Aleesha Renee) and legendary producer Augustus Barringer (Richard Brooks). The moment he auditioned her years earlier for the role of Ruby Stargazer, Augustus knew he had found his latest muse in the raw and talented Calysta.

While the driving arc is the complicated bond between Calysta and Augustus, R&R is "a multigenerational, dramedy ensemble piece. The audience will grow to love, hate and, in some cases, love to hate many among the motley crew of vicious soap divas, chiseled hunks, and treacherous network television executives who make up this world."

The cast includes Victoria Rowell as Kitty Barringer, Mykel Shannon Jenkins as Derrick Taylor, Chrysale Wilson as Alison Fairchild Roberts, Robert Ri'chard as Max Barringer, Michael Colyar as Willie Turner, Elizabeth Carlisle as Emmy Abernathy, Valenzia Algarin as Veronica Barringer, Hunter Bodine as Randall Roberts, Brenda Epperson as Edith Norman and Shadoe Stevens as Phillip McQueen. Kimberlin Brown also appears as Dr. Maya Cooper, while Dawnn Lewis plays a bitter costume designed named Beth.

Check out the fun series trailer below, along with a sneak peek from the first episode.