Musical Web Series THE HINTERLANDS Nominated for Four IAWTV Awards; Ceremony Set for Tonight

THE HINTERLANDS, a free online musical web series about a bullied gay teen, was nominated for four International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) Awards, including "Best Dramatic Series." Connor Russell (Disney's Aladdin world premiere), star of THE HINTERLANDS, was nominated for "Best Male Performance in a Drama." Danny Larsen and Michelle Elliott, the co-creators of the show, were nominated for "Best Writing (Drama)." Mr. Larsen was also nominated for "Best Cinematography." The IAWTV Awards recognize the best in original online programming and honor the content creators driving today's rapidly evolving digital entertainment industry. The 2014 IAWTV Awards will take place tonight, January 7, 2014 in Las Vegas.

THE HINTERLANDS features an array of established and rising Broadway musical theatre stars, including by Tony Award-nominee Erin Dilly (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Nice Work If You Can Get It) and John Bolton (A Christmas Story, Curtains, Spamalot), Caitlin Kinnunen (The Bridges of Madison County, Spring Awakening, next to normal), Daniel Quadrino (Newsies, Bye Bye Birdie), Andrew Brewer (Off-Broadway's Cougar, The Musical and Nymph Errant), David Andrew Anderson (Meet John Doe) and Brianne Wylie.

Created as a response to suicides by bullied LGBTQ youth, the show is about Paul, a 16-year-old bullied gay kid who is growing up in a rural community with few resources for kids like him. All seven episodes of THE HINTERLANDS are available at www.HinterlandsTheMusical.com.

THE HINTERLANDS, was created by the writing team of Michelle Elliott and Danny Larsen (Cloaked, The Yellow Wood). Elliott and Larsen have received several prestigious awards for their stage musicals, including a Jonathan Larson Grant and Kleban Award for Cloaked, and a Richard Rodgers Development Award and Daryl Roth Award for The Yellow Wood. Their shows have had productions, workshops and readings at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (winning the Excellence in Music award), National Alliance for Musical Theatre, CAP21 Theatre Company, Vital Theatre Company, and Village Theatre, among others. They are currently working on Maiden Voyage, a musical about the legendary female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonney. THE HINTERLANDS was directed by Brandon Ivie (A Christmas Story, First Date).

For more information on THE HINTERLANDS, visit www.hinterlandsthemusical.com.

For a full list of IAWTV nominees, go to http://www.iawtv.org/nominees-for-the-2014-iawtv-awards/.