Three years into the making of his passion project, Jonathan Robbins hopes the nominations his web series Clutch received from the International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) will make big industry players take note of his production.

Clutch, a web series about a pickpocket named Kylie who is offered to the mob after her boyfriend fails to pay his debts, is one of four Canadian web series nominated for IAWTV awards. The awards recognize the best in original online programming.

The three other Canadian web series that are up for nominations are One Hit Die,  Spencer Estabrooks; Versus Valerie, created by and starring Valerie Lapomme; Smokebomb Entertainment’s State of Syn and Standard Action, created by Joanna Gaskell. The nominees are voted on by the  IAWTV membership.

“It’s the first time in entertainment history where the indies are able to play on the level playing field as the studios,” said Robbins, creator of Clutch. The show received IAWTV nominations for best performance by an ensemble cast and best original music.

For Robbins, the nominations give him the opportunity to network and present his show to big  industry players “who you otherwise wouldn’t get the time of day from.”

Robbins also noted that Guidestones, a Canadian webs series that was nominated for an IAWTV award last year, was later picked up by CTV. Guidestones also won an International Emmy award this year for best fiction digital program. 

“There certainly is the potential when you are nominated for an award like that that you will attract the attention of the people who are in a position to sell your shows,” Robbins said.

Clutch was also nominated for a Streamy award last year, Robbins added, which lead to the sale of  the first season to a South African network.

Online, the two seasons of Clutch have over two million views in total. Robbins said he’d like to see more views for the show, but doesn’t expect the IAWTV nomination to immediately increase his audience online.

“The audiences are not as drawn to the awards as they would be with, say, the Oscars,” Robbins said.

Other big-name nominees in various IAWTV award categories include Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, and Anna Paquin for her role in the dramatic series Susanna.

The 2014 IAWT awards will be given out on Jan. 7 in Las Vegas.

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