Film Independent Spirit Awards 2023: Television nominations revealed

Film Independent, the nonprofit organisation dedicated to fostering independence and inclusivity in visual storytelling, has announced the television nominations for the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Film Independent President Josh Welsh introduced the prerecorded video announcement, which featured guest presenter Asia Kate Dillon (Billions, Orange is the New Black, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum).

The 2023 Best New Scripted Series nominees included The Bear, Pachinko, The Porter, Severance and Station Eleven. Of the scripted series nominees, Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Severance and Station Eleven led the way with three nominations each.

In the Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series category, the nominees were made up of Children of the Underground, Mind Over Murder, Pepsi, Where’s my Jet?, The Rehearsal and We Need to Talk About Cosby.

“As the television landscape continues to evolve, and independent artists expand the idea of how stories can be told, we’re proud to be changing with them,” said Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent. “With our new categories and gender-neutral acting awards, we hope to better reflect the diversity of incredible work being created by these talented artists.”

New this year, as with the film nominees, is a switch to gender neutral acting awards, with the best actor and actress categories being replaced by a 10-nominee Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series award. In addition to this change, a Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series award has been added to honour performances outside of the leading roles.

Celebrating creative independence, diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision, the 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards will take place on Saturday 4 March 2023. The in-person show, held on the beach in Santa Monica, will be streamed internationally across multiple online and digital platforms. The Spirit Awards are the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round slate of programs, which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity and inclusion in the industry.

This year the Spirit Awards Television Nominating Committees selected nominees applying the following guidelines: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means. The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees are comprised of creators, writers, directors, producers, actors, critics, film festival programmers and other working film professionals. Of all nominated television creators, executive producers and co-executive producers, 37% are women and 26% are BIPOC. Of all nominated television performers, 47% are women and 67% are BIPOC. This year, the Spirit Awards nominating committees are 50% female, 6% Nonbinary, 3% Transgender, and 61% BIPOC; 32% identify as LGBTQ+ and 8% identify as people with disabilities (PWD).

2023 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS TELEVISION NOMINATIONS

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Children of the Underground

Executive Producers: Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin, Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Kate Barry

Co-Executive Producer: Julie Gaither

Mind Over Murder

Executive Producers: Marc Smerling, Nanfu Wang, Max Heckman, Chad Mumm, Mark W. Olsen, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez

Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?

Executive Producers: Nick Boak, Andrew Renzi, Andrew D. Corkin, Theo James, Andrew Fried, Jordan Wynn, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma

Co-Executive Producer: Jeremiah Murphy

The Rehearsal

Creator/Executive Producer: Nathan Fielder

Executive Producers: Dave Paige, Dan McManus, Christie Smith

Co-Executive Producers: Carrie Kemper, Eric Notarnicola

We Need to Talk About Cosby

Executive Producers: W. Kamau Bell, Andrew Fried, Katie A. King, Vinnie Malhotra, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma, Jordan Wynn

Co-Executive Producer: Geraldine L. Porras

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

The Bear

Creator/Executive Producer: Christopher Storer

Executive Producers: Joanna Calo, Josh Senior, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson

Co-Executive Producer: Rene Gube

Pachinko

Creator/Executive Producer: Soo Hugh

Executive Producers: Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, Theresa Kang-Lowe, Richard Middleton, Justin Chon, Kogonada

Co-Executive Producers: Dani Gorin, Sebastian Lee, David Kim, Ethan Kuperberg

The Porter

Creators/Executive Producers: Marsha Greene, Annmarie Morais, Arnold Pinnock

Creator/Co-Executive Producer: Bruce Ramsay

Creator: Aubrey Nealon

Executive Producers: Ian Dimerman, Jennifer Kawaja, Charles Officer, R.T. Thorne, Aml Ameen, Bruno Dubé, Alfre Woodard, Rose Catherine Pinkney, Devin Griffin

Co-Executive Producers: Elise Cousineau, Andrea Glinski, Steve Cochrane, Daphne Park

Severance

Creator/Executive Producer: Dan Erickson

Executive Producers: Ben Stiller, Nicholas Weinstock, Jackie Cohn, Mark Friedman, Andrew Colville, Chris Black, John Cameron

Co-Executive Producers: Jill Footlick, Kari Drake

Station Eleven

Creator/Executive Producer: Patrick Somerville

Executive Producers: Jessica Rhoades, Scott Steindorff, Dylan Russell, Scott Delman, Jeremy Podeswa, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson

Co-Executive Producers: David Nicksay, Nick Cuse

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Aml Ameen

The Porter

Mohammed Amer

Mo

Quinta Brunson

Abbott Elementary

Bridget Everett

Somebody Somewhere

KaMillion

Rap Sh!t

Melanie Lynskey

Yellowjackets

Himesh Patel

Station Eleven

Sue Ann Pien

As We See It

Adam Scott

Severance

Ben Whishaw

This is Going to Hurt

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Danielle Deadwyler

Station Eleven 

Ayo Edibiri

The Bear

Jeff Hiller

Somebody Somewhere

Gbemisola Ikumelo

A League of Their Own

Janelle James

Abbott Elementary

Ebon Moss-Bachrach

The Bear

Frankie Quiñones

This Fool

Sheryl Lee Ralph

Abbott Elementary

Molly Shannon

I Love That For You

Tramell Tillman

Severance

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Pachinko

Ensemble Cast: Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Inji Jeong, Minha Kim, Kaho Minami, Lee Minho, Steve Sanghyun Noh, Anna Sawai, Jimmi Simpson, Yuh-jung Youn