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FESTIVALS / AWARDS Czech Republic / USA

The International Emmy Award goes to the Czech Republic in a historic win

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- Czech online series #martyisdead netted the coveted prize in the Best Short-Form Series category, becoming the first ever Czech Emmy winner

The International Emmy Award goes to the Czech Republic in a historic win
Vratislav Šlajer (left), series co-writer Karel Spěšný (right) (© Luiz C Ribeiro for International Emmy Awards)

The Czech Republic made a historic win at the 48th International Emmy Awards, which honours TV production created and first broadcast outside the United States, when Czech online series #martyisdead won the prestigious award in the Best Short-Form Series category. “We consider this historic Emmy win for the #martyisdead series as a success for Czech filmmakers and the entire Czech Republic. We are also pleased that Czech genre production has succeeded in such a large global competition,” said producers Milan Kuchynka and Vratislav Šlajer.

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The 8-part web thriller sees the eponymous character of 15 year-old Marty die in a tragic accident. His grief-stricken father follows his son’s online activities to find answers and encounters the dark side of the internet and social networks. Before netting the so-called TV Oscar, #martyisdead had a successful run on the festival circuit, netting accolades at Austin Film Festival, Marseille Web Fest as well as on the domestic turf at Finále Plzeň (read the news) and Serial Killer.

The series was created as part of the Safer Internet initiative and inspired by real-life cases of cyberbullying (such as, for example, the infamous Blue Whale Challenge) and was written by Jaroslav T. Miška and Jan Stehlík. Emerging director Pavel Soukup helmed the series produced by Czech production outfit Bionaut, Czech association cz.nic and Mall TV, the online television channel belonging to the largest e-commerce company in Central and Eastern Europe, producing its own original programming. Bionaut is also co-producing Soukup’s feature-length project Leshy (read the news).

Soukup is already attached as the director to the sequel series #annaismissing (read the news) which should start shooting early next year, with a planned premiere in Spring 2021. #annaismissing, which will be again co-produced by Bionaut and Mall TV, will revolve around the topic of child abductions for the purposes of producing illegal videos.

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