Audience Award Win at SeriesFest for Chicago Pilot ‘I Didn’t Mean to Go Mental’
One of the most prestigious television pilot showcases in the country is SeriesFest in Denver, and a promising Chicago project brought home one of the festival’s most coveted awards. I Didn’t Mean to Go Mental won the Audience Award in the Independent Pilot Competition for Drama. The pilot is the co-creation of Carly Glenn and Amy McIntyre, directed by Layne Marie Williams, alongside a stellar Chicago cast and crew. The pilot made its World Premiere at SeriesFest this past Monday, May 8th, and winners were announced over the weekend.
“My team and I are so thrilled to have taken home the audience award for best drama pilot,” Glenn shared with SCREEN. “I can’t explain how amazing it feels to have such a personal story so well received by a sold out audience.”
“Thank you to our amazing cast and crew that brought this story to life,” director Layne Marie Williams declared to SCREEN. “We had a blast on set while also dealing with this subject matter with a lot of compassion. It’s great when that translates to audiences.”
If you weren’t in Denver for SeriesFest this week, here is your first look for I Didn’t Mean to Go Mental…
A Closer Look at the Pilot
I Didn’t Mean To Go Mental, written by Glenn and co-created with McIntyre, filmed in Chicago last June. This unlikely story of two women, a 27 year old just off her dad’s insurance and a working mom, who crash their cars into each other in a school parking lot and forced to spend a weekend together in a psychiatric ward, is inspired by the very different lives of Glenn and McIntyre. “It’s honestly just a very heightened version of some of the things we experience individually,” McIntyre says, “and it’s such a lovely, unlikely friendship that Carly and I just felt we had to put it in a script.”
Click here for SCREEN’s exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and coverage from the shoot this summer.
What’s Next for the Pilot: NYC Premiere then Off to LA
Following the SeriesFest World Premiere, I Didn’t Mean to Go Mental heads to its New York City premiere, which will hosted by the Big Apple Film Festival on May 22nd. The pilot plays the Art Of Brooklyn Film Festival in early June.
“We are riding the festival wave,” Glenn declared to SCREEN today. “And we are so excited to see how IDMTGM performs in front of all of these audiences.”
“This Chicago cast and crew is so talented, and the pilot reflects just how much chemistry we all had on set,” McIntyre shared with SCREEN. “We are confident we will find the perfect home for IDMTGM.”
Standing with the WGA
As for moving forward with production on new episodes, Glenn made one point clear to SCREEN. “We stand with the WGA and will only be making steps forward when the strike is over.” Click here for more of SCREEN’s coverage of the WGA Strike and learn how you can support the effort.
Check back here at SCREEN for updates as this pilot forges ahead. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.
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