The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include websites, advertising and media, online film and video, mobile sites and apps, and social.
Epicurious is an American digital brand that focuses on food and cooking-related topics. Created by Condé Nast in 1995, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, where it is part of the publisher's Food Innovation Group that also includes Bon Appétit, with significant overlap in staff between the two companies.
A web series is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single instance of a web series program can be called an episode or a "webisode"; however, the term is not always used. In general, web series can be watched on a range of platforms and devices, including desktop, laptop, tablets and smartphones. They are different from streaming television, which is purposed to be watched on various streaming platforms, though the term "web series" is sometimes used to refer to streaming television series. Because of the nature of the Internet itself, a web series may be interactive. Web series are classified as new media.
The 1999 Webby Awards were held on March 18, 1999, at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, California. IDG, which still owned the awards organization, continued to retain Tiffany Shlain to produce the awards even though the magazine division she had been working for had been shut down. Mayor Rudy Giuliani had lobbied to move the ceremony to New York City, but San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown interceded with Schlain by promising the city's support, including hosting a post-award party at the newly remodeled City Hall.
The 1998 Webby Awards were held on March 6, 1998, at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, and were the first event ever to be broadcast live via the Web in 3D. The "People's Voice" awards, chosen by online poll, received 100,000 cumulative votes that year.
Held in San Francisco's Masonic Center for a crowd of 3,000 invited guests, the 2000 Webby Awards were widely considered the peak of the Webby Awards and a watershed of dot-com party culture. The event took place May 11, 2000, shortly before many of the event's perennial nominees and participants suffered business failures in the dot com crash.
The 12th annual 2008 Webby Awards were held on June 10, 2008 and emceed by SNL head writer Seth Meyers and help at Cipriani, a massive banquet hall in Manhattan's financial district. The Webby Film and Video Awards were held on June 9 at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts and were hosted by Judah Friedlander. The awards were judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and winners were selected from over 10,000 entries. Lorne Michaels was honored with a lifetime achievement award.
Fun Little Movies (FLM) is a production and distribution company of short films intended for the internet and mobile devices. It was founded in 1988 by Frank Chindamo, currently an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California. Based in Burbank, California, Fun Little Movies was the first U.S. company to produce comedic films for mobile phones worldwide. By the time the company was in development of Psyche 101 in 2004, they had already begun producing shorts promoting internet dating services. In 2007, ROK Entertainment bought controlling interest in FLM, although in 2008 ROK defaulted on their agreement.
Destructoid is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
Crimeface is an online interactive film thriller / police procedural released in 2008, and directed by Krishna Stott.
The 10th annual 2006 Webby Awards were held on June 12, 2006, at the Cipriani Hotel in New York City and were hosted by the comedian Jon Stewart. Judging was provided by the 500-person International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and winners were selected from among 5,500 entries from around 40 countries worldwide. This award ceremony saw the creation of a new award category, "Best Viral Video".
The 7th Annual Webby Awards were held in San Francisco, California on June 5, 2003. Due to budget cutbacks made in response to the 2002 Internet bubble, the decision was made to hold this year's ceremony partially online. This would be the last year that the Webbys would be presented in California prior to their relocation in New York City. For this award ceremony, the business category was expanded with the addition of a new award for "Best Online Businesses." This award would be presented for "sites that excel at achieving fundamental business goals such as increasing sales lead generation or enhancing customer loyalty and retention, marketplace impact and innovation."
The 8th Annual Webby Awards was held on May 12, 2004. Due to cutbacks in the Webby event budget resulting from the 2002 Internet bubble, the decision was made to hold this year's ceremony entirely online. Judging was provided by the 480-person International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
The 15th annual 2011 Webby Awards were held on June 13, 2011 in New York City. The show was hosted by Lisa Kudrow and was streamed live via Facebook, The Huffington Post and Funny or Die. The Webby for lifetime achievement was awarded to former Motorola executive, Martin Cooper.
The 13th annual 2009 Webby Awards were held in New York City on June 8, 2009. They were hosted by SNL head writer Seth Meyers, and the lifetime achievement award was given to Jimmy Fallon. The awards were judged by the 650-person International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and winners were selected from among nearly 10,000 entries from 60 countries and all 50 United States. Voting by the public was available prior to April 30, and over 500,000 votes were cast. The awards ceremony was made available for viewers via the official Webby YouTube channel.
The 14th annual 2010 Webby Awards were held in New York City on June 14, 2010. They were hosted by comedian B. J. Novak, and the lifetime achievement award was given to Vinton Cerf. The awards were judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
The 16th annual Webby Awards for 2012 were held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 21, 2012, and hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt. Winners were selected from among roughly 10,000 entries and voting by the public for the People's Choice Award was available prior to April 26. The awards ceremony was streamed live in HD on its website.
Scott Zakarin is an American film producer. He is known as the creator of the Web series medium due to his introduction of the first internet episodic website The Spot.
The 2020 Webby Awards ceremony was posted online on May 19, 2020, and was hosted by Patton Oswalt. Named Webbys From Home, it recognized the best of Internet content. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the award ceremony was held virtually at the organization's official website with pre-recorded material at remote locations. The ceremony included guest appearances from Michelle Obama, Kristen Bell, Tom Hanks, Demi Lovato, Anthony Fauci, Jill Scott and Questlove, among others. The awards were dedicated "to honoring individuals and organizations who are using the internet in response to the coronavirus pandemic."
