SeriesFest 2026 Indie Pilot Competition Winners Include ‘Woodstockers,’ ‘Seasoned’ — Full List

Corbin Bernsen's drama pilot and Mandy Patinkin's comedy series took home top honors at the Denver-based TV festival, alongside "Choir Games" (Unscripted), "Banana" (Digital Short), "Haint" (Late Night), and more category champions.

SeriesFest Season 12 — the Denver-based festival dedicated to discovering and championing innovative television projects — has announced its 2026 winners, including pilots from Corbin Bernsen, Mandy Patinkin, and Kathryn Grody. The awards were handed out at a ceremony on Sunday, March 10 and bestowed by juries of industry executives, journalists, creators, and experts.

“The Independent Content Competition is the heart of SeriesFest. It’s why we started this whole thing: to spotlight emerging creators, elevate unheard voices, and help new stories make their way into the world,” SeriesFest Co-Founder and CEO, Randi Kleiner, and Chief Programming Officer, Claire Taylor Smith said in a statement. “We received hundreds of submissions this year and narrowing it down was no small feat. Every pilot is packed with passion and talent, and we are thrilled to honor their hard work.”

Winners were chosen from more than 50 independent pilots in the Comedy, Drama, and Unscripted competitions, which will receive $25K in-kind post production support from Company 3. Held from May 6-10, the non-profit organization hosted a wide array of programs including scripted, unscripted, and late-night pilot competitions, exclusive screenings (including “Lord of the Flies”), series premieres (featuring “The Four Seasons” Season 2), panels, and workshops.

SeriesFest and Shondaland also partnered on the seventh cycle of the Women Directing Mentorship, a competition designed to discover aspiring female directors with a unique voice and provide a launchpad for their careers. This year’s winner, Kim Blanck, will have the opportunity to shadow a director on an episode of a Shondaland original series.

SeriesFest also announced the final selections for five festival initiatives:

• Caz Matthews, a Colorado-based supporter of SeriesFest and independent creators of television content, awarded Independent Drama Pilot director and co-writer Robin Wang (“Neither Donkey Nor Horse”) a one-time grant from the Caz Matthews Fund. 
  This recipient represents the independent filmmakers with projects fighting to tell stories and build teams that celebrate cultural richness and nuanced mosaic of our global society. This fund was established to help selected projects continue the positive impact they are making on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the television landscape.

• The Inclusive Creator Fund, supported by the Anna & John J. Sie Foundation and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, awarded creators Eoin Cleland and PJ Hart (“Careless”) as the recipients of this year’s grant. Established in 2024, the fund provides financial support to television projects that include talent with intellectual disabilities both in front of and behind the camera. 

• The Outstanding Series Format Deck Presented by Canva Award recognizes one project in competition with $1,000 toward the creation of an exemplary format deck. This year’s award was given to creator Hannah Shealy (“Birth Is for P*ssies”) in the Digital Short Series category. 

• The Pitch-a-thon Award, sponsored by Collective Moxie, Working Artists Group, the Rural Intersectionality Fund, and Women in Film and Media Colorado, awarded creators Marteene Gabrielle Diaz and Eric Todd Patton (“Golden Groves”) with $500 courtesy of Collective Moxie for their winning pitch. 

• The Rural Intersectionality Fund, created by Sarah Sellman and Julie Mordecai, aims to foster and uplift the voices of neurodiverse, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and creators telling stories from their lived experience. The purpose of this fund is to identify and financially support independent creators who have important stories to tell that positively impact and image the communities described above, and to further promote the role of intersectionality in the creation of meaningful stories. This year’s selected recipients — Jill Bennett and Lauren Neal (“Bad Habits”), Nicol Ragland and Amy Janes (“Poetic Justice”), and Michael Doshier (“Ronita Rambo”) — will receive cash funds to support the development of their series.

Read the full list of winners below:

Independent Pilot – Drama

Best Drama Pilot: “Woodstockers”
Creator: Corbin Bernsen
Jury Statement: For establishing a clear sense of place, filled with memorable and authentic characters, and emotional resonance and a compelling story engine, the best pilot award goes to “Woodstockers.”

Best Director: Keenan O’Reilly, “Reentry”
Jury Statement: For its ambitious use of 16mm film, its remarkable verisimilitude, and its commitment to powerful characters and real-life issues, the best director award goes to Keenan O’Reilly of “Reentry.” 

Best Writer: Alexa Polivka & Natasha Mynhier, “Aptitude”
Jury Statement: For creating an imaginative and visually striking sci-fi world, with a script that raises intriguing questions about ideas that are sometimes scarily relevant to our current world, the best writer award goes to “Aptitude.” 

Best Performance: Daniel Diemer, “In My Blood”
Jury Statement: For a nuanced lead performance that ranges from quiet emotional devastation to powerful range, much of it without dialogue, the best performance award goes to Daniel Diemer of “In My Blood.”

Honorable Mention, Best Production Design: “Neither Donkey Nor Horse”
Jury Statement: For creating dazzling period detail that felt completely immersive — we just can’t believe you shot this in the summer in LA.

Jury: Sean  Charles (Development / Production Manager, ALLBLK), Adam Goldworm (Founder, Aperture Entertainment), Katey Rich (Awards Editor, The Ankler), Matthew Hodgson (Executive Producer / Writer)

Independent Pilot – Comedy

Best Comedy Pilot: “Seasoned”
Creators: Ewen Wright, Gideon Grody-Patinkin
Jury Statement: In totality, this intimate romantic-comedy was the most exquisitely produced pilot in this category. For its performances, assured direction, and impeccable writing, we celebrate and congratulate “Seasoned.”

Best Director: Julien Turner & Justen Turner, “Freelance”
Jury Statement: A passion for excavating comedy in every frame is the life-force behind this ambitious, collaborative directing team. Their directing is relentless, inventive, and unforgettable.

Best Writer: Brice Beckham & David Fickas, “Batshit”
Jury Statement: The writing for this genre-specific pilot brings rhythmic perfection, tonal and structural mastery, and word-perfect joke construction. The result is an outrageous, laugh-out-loud comedy anchored in relatable humanity.

Best Performance: Camille Wormser, “Soft Boil”
Jury Statement: This actor’s singular voice serves as the foundation of her piece. We see in her a wild, unafraid, and truly genius comedic actor deserving to be seen and celebrated. 

Honorable Mention: “Dragged”
Jury Statement: The jury would like to give an honorable mention to “Dragged” for its honesty, necessity, and joy in telling this queer story today.

Jury: Marco Calvani (Filmmaker / Actor), Jack Dolgen (Writer / Producer / Director), Teri Weinberg (President, Yellow Brick Road)

Unscripted Pilot

Best Unscripted Pilot: “Choir Games”
Creators: Leanne Pooley,  Andrew Akman
Jury Statement: For its moving depiction of the uplifting and healing power of music, and its engaging ensemble of children and their dedicated teachers who left us wanting more, this Unscripted Series award goes to “Choir Games.”

Best Director: David Anthony Ngo, “Never Get Busted!”
Jury Statement: For its nuanced portrait of a complicated — and often hilarious — person who undergoes a life-changing epiphany, this award for Best Unscripted Series goes to “Never Get Busted!’s” David Anthony Ngo.

Jury: Havva Eisenbaum (Unscripted TV Development Exec, Reality of Change), John Horn (Entertainment Correspondent, NPR 1A), Yvette Frampton (Board Member / Filmmaker, SeriesFest)

Digital Short Series

Best Digital Short Series: “Banana”
Creators: Crystal Kim, Kieran Barry
Jury Statement: The pilot’s clear and articulate premise, strong characters, and complicated family dynamics create many opportunities to follow the characters across multiple seasons. Its focus on self-worth and identity in a world where it’s easy to get lost is not only relatable but topical.

Best Director: Vidhya Iyer, “Giving Mom the Talk”
Jury Statement: For her bold visual storytelling and fearless ability to flip the narrative and explore female pleasure through the female gaze with honesty, humor, and striking originality, this award goes to Vidhya Iyer. 

Best Writer: Dave Niedoba & Edward Bursch, “The Human, Will”
Jury Statement: “The Human, Will” is clear and thorough in unpacking a charming lead character whose micro, everyday decisions come to feel major, purposeful, and compelling. 

Best Performance: Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier, “Giving Mom the Talk”
Jury Statement: This award goes to Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier of “Giving Mom the Talk,” who effortlessly blends comedy and drama, anxiety and courage, as well as a curiosity that pulls the audience into her journey of sexual awakening.

Honorable Mention, Ensemble Performance: “Birth Is for P*ssies”

Jury: Ben Travers (Head TV Critic, IndieWire), Dana Jackson (Manager / Producer, Echo Lake Entertainment), Nelson Moses Lassiter (Creative Executive, DramaBox)

Late-Night Pilot

Best Late-Night Pilot: “HAINT”
Creator: Jahmil Eady
Jury Statement: “HAINT” paints a clear vision for a tantalizing supernatural mystery. It’s filled with cohesive world building, innovative creature design, and told from a necessary cultural perspective.

Pitch-a-Thon Winner

Pitch-A-Thon Winner: “Golden Groves”
Creators: Marteene Gabrielle Diaz & Eric Todd Patton
Jury Statement: The jurors unanimously agree: One pitch arrived with a clear point of view, a full-throttle sense of humor, a vibrant setting, and characters living it up while getting it on as if every day is the last. We cannot wait to see Josette find her way to “Golden Groves” and take us on the golf cart ride of our lives.

Jury: Wendy Calhoun (Executive Producer, Edgewood Place Entertainment), Kelly Brown (Producer, Liston James Productions), Crystal Holt (Executive Producer, Saviaj MEDIA), Alex Schmider (Sr. Director, Entertainment, GLAAD)

Audience Award Winners

Independent Pilot – Drama: “Woodstockers”
Independent Pilot – Comedy: “Soft Boil”
Independent Pilot – Unscripted: “Choir Games”
Digital Short Series: “Birth Is For P*ssies”
Late Night: “HAINT”