Teenagers (web series)
teenagers | |
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File:Screen Shot 2015-11-28 at 2.15.40 AM.png | |
Created by |
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Directed by | Mathew Murray |
Starring |
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Composer(s) | Spencer Creaghan |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 17 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | T.J. Scott |
Cinematography | Dmitry Lopatin |
Editor(s) | Mathew Murray |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 10-15 minutes |
Production company(s) | Black Elephant Productions |
External links | |
Official Twitter |
Teenagers (often stylized as teenagers) is a Canadian web series written and directed by Mathew Murray and executive produced by T.J. Scott.
The series premiered on a dedicated YouTube channel on January 19, 2014. It features an ensemble cast that includes actress Chloe Rose as the main female protagonist.[1] Emmanuel Kabongo stars as the central male protagonist and co-produced the first season alongside Murray.[2] The series has been called "gritty" and "provocative,"[3] and focuses on issues such as teen angst, racism, violence and sexuality.[4]
As of March 2016, teenagers has been viewed over 5 million times online, amassing over 15,000 subscribers on YouTube.[5][6]
Contents
Plot
The series presents various storylines and characters in the form of vignettes. In season one, the central storylines revolve around Bree (played by Chloe Rose), who loses her virginity to someone with chlamydia, and T (played by Emmanuel Kabongo), who struggles with racism and bullying.[7] In its second season, the series focused more on LGBT characters and themes.[8][9]
Background
teenagers initially attracted media attention because its cast included several Degrassi stars, most notably Chloe Rose,[10][11] who went on to be nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series by the International Academy of Web Television for her role in the first season.[12]
Murray began working on the concept with Tamosauskas when they were both 19 and still in film school.[4][13] When interviewed about how the idea for the series came to fruition, Murray said:
We were inspired by the emotions we felt in High School, but we were also inspired by classic 80’s teen films like “Breakfast Club” and “Pretty In Pink,” and wanted to showcase those themes in a modernistic way... So many of the teen shows out there are censored, corny, and simply not very realistic. In reality, teenagers deal with everything from drugs to sex, they swear, they curse…[14]
The first season of the series was filmed in and around Toronto and Mississauga as an ACTRA Co-Op production on a shoe-string budget.[14]
Release
Season 1
Upon release, the series was voted #1 in the 'Indie Series Of The Week' poll by WeLoveSoaps.com users for the week of January 19 to 25, 2014.[15] It received positive reviews from blogs and indie publications,[16][17][18][19][20] and screened at festivals around the world,[21][22] winning awards at both the 2014 and 2015 Los Angeles Web Series Festival.[23] Susie Stone of culturestarved.com wrote: "I saw humans. Shattering and trembling, but at times so quiet and beautifully real. I saw short spurts of what is really happening in the teen world. This series is evocative, sweet, daring, and scary."[24]
The popular Canadian industry journal Playback published a piece on the series, writing: "the young creators of teenagers had to have plenty of luck, pluck, talent and grit to get this far. And that portends a Hollywood ending."[25]
Season 2
For the second season of the series, award-winning television director T.J. Scott served as executive producer.[26][27] The first episode of the second season premiered on July 26, 2015,[28] and has since been viewed over 2 million times on YouTube.[29] shedoesthecity.com wrote: "Unhindered by politics and the rules of big networks, teenagers pushes boundaries ... tackling tough themes like racial issues, violence, STDs, drug abuse and family heartache in a raw and real way, reminding us of the early years of Degrassi ... For a web series, the cinematography and post production is slick and impressive."[3]
In 2016, the series was nominated for several awards.[30][31][32] Murray won the award for Best Screenplay at the Vancouver Web Series Festival[33] and Raymond Ablack won the Indie Series Award for Best Supporting Actor – Drama.[34][35] Kabongo was nominated for Best Performance in a Series Produced for Digital Media by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for his role in the second season.[36]
In popular culture
The series has frequently been compared to both Degrassi and the UK TV series Skins.[3][37][38][39]
Awards and nominations
Year | Association | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
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2016 | ||||
Indie Series Awards[40] | Best Ensemble | Main Cast | Nominated | |
Best Lead Actress – Drama | Chloe Rose | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actor – Drama | Raymond Ablack | Won | ||
Best Supporting Actress – Drama | Allyson Pratt | Nominated | ||
Vancouver Web Series Festival[41] | ||||
Best Drama Series | Mathew Murray | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay | Mathew Murray
Garrett Hnatiuk |
Won | ||
Best Actress | Chloe Rose | Nominated | ||
Canadian Screen Awards[36] | Best Performance in a Program or Series Produced for Digital Media | Emmanuel Kabongo | Nominated | |
2015 | International Academy of Web Television[12] | Best Female Performance in a Drama | Chloe Rose | Nominated |
Los Angeles Web Series Festival[42] | Outstanding Drama Series | Mathew Murray
Sara Tamosauskas Dmitry Lopatin |
Won | |
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series | Mathew Murray
Garrett Hnatiuk |
Nominated | ||
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Chloe Rose | Nominated | ||
2014 | Los Angeles Web Series Festival[43] | Outstanding Sound Design | Andy Kloske | Won |
Outstanding Drama Series | Mathew Murray
Sara Tamosauskas |
Won | ||
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series | Mathew Murray
Sara Tamosauskas |
Won |
References
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- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpakh6I-DAAkUYSkQVZIig
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- ↑ 12.0 12.1 http://www.iawtv.org/2015-iawtv-award-nominees/
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- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.welovesoaps.net/2014/01/indie-series-of-week-results-january-19.html
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://playbackonline.ca/2014/01/15/new-web-series-teenagers-attracts-degrassi-alum/
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- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46lEpsZv5vA
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- ↑ 36.0 36.1 http://www.academy.ca/Canadian-Screen-Awards/2016-Nominees-Winners/Digital-Media
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- ↑ http://www.indieseriesawards.com/2016/02/nominations-announced-for-7th-annual.html
- ↑ http://www.vancouverwebfest.com/index.html
- ↑ http://www.lawebfest.com
- ↑ http://www.romawebfest.it/losangeles/2014-lawebfest-list-of-award-winning-show/
External links
- Teenagers Official YouTube Channel
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Teenagers at IMDb