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Amid the Trump Administration’s hotly debated positions on immigration, actress Gina Rodriguez is working on two timely television pilots centered on Latino immigrants. The shows, which will be aired on the CW and CBS, are all about the Hispanic community. Both programs will be produced by I Can & I Will Productions, the Jane the Virgin star’s multi-media company, and CBS TV Studios.

The first series titled Illegal is based on the life of Rafael Agustin, one of the screenwriters of Jane The Virgin, who was born in Ecuador and immigrated as a child to the United States. The plot of the show,...

The world of independent television is pretty chaotic right now, largely because, unlike the indie film scene, there’s no clear trajectory to success. Some shows threw all their money into shooting a pilot. Some shows have shot multiple episodes. Some shows have found alternate distribution opportunities already. Some shows remain unseen. All of them, though, want to go beyond their current status.

Read More: SeriesFest 2016 Winners Include Fan Fiction and Irish Crime

As an attendee of SeriesFest 2016, I had the opportunity to see a large percentage of the pilots screened as part of the independent pilot competition. Some of these pilots were not world premieres, but all of the ones I saw represented the impressive state of independent production today; where a shoestring budget can still produce content on a level equal to what you might watch on TV. Below are just a few of the pilots that impressed me most,...

For the second year in a row, the Denver-based independent television festival SeriesFest has selected winners from its pool of 34 original pilots.

Read More: SeriesFest: There’s a Diy Way to Break into TV

Winning for Best Drama was “Farr,” a crime drama set in Northern Ireland (which also won the same prize at last fall’s ITVFest). Per the drama jury’s statement, “The pilot we would like to recognize is ‘Farr’ since we were invested in the characters and storyline. We can’t wait to see how it unfolds!”

Best Comedy was awarded to “Truth Slash Fiction,” which revolved around a teenage girl’s discovery of erotic fan fiction. According to the jury’s statement, “We decided to recognize work that exists as a true pilot – establishing a mood, conflicts, characters, relationships and an ongoing story that would make a compelling series. With our choices, we wanted to...